Page 9 of Mates in Memory

“Two new ones,” he whispered. “One for me and one for…”

He didn’t say Raziel’s name. He didn’t have to. For a second, I had the very clinical thought of wondering if there had ever been a group of four true-mates before. Then it sank into every cell inside my soul. Whatever we’d done had tied all of us to Raziel. If he came back to Alpha Talk and ran into me or Silas he’d have the true-mate response just as if he crossed paths with Creon. Would he know ahead of time? Did he know?

“Maybe his came up first and that’s why he’s staying away,” my bear chimed into my thoughts.

Creon ran his long, nimble fingers over my new claiming glands and then down my chest. I swallowed a longing-filled growl and kissed him once before pulling away and reaching for my shirt.

“Silas is waiting on us?” he asked and I nodded before starting out of the room.

Chapter 6

Silas

Raven Hollow Wolf Pack Territory

I stopped for food at a local place and arrived in our spot before my guys. I spread out the blanket I kept in the truck for emergency romps and picnics. Thought after thought hammered through my head. I was tied to Uriel now. Only we were supposed to call him Raziel. Creon was trying to change how he looked at him and that made sense. One day we’d come face to face with him again, one way or another. Calling him by his past life name might be a low blow.

I’d seen him a few times in passing and he never looked all that impressive. Sure, that was partially because fifty percent of alphas still gave me the creeps. Not Kodiak or Micah, but most of them. Xander got a pass too because he was straight. Zoey was his true-mate and they had two girlfriends now too. We hung out with them whenever they were in town because not many people understood how intimate and intricate poly relationships were. Sometimes it was nice to be around folks who didn’t demand explanations about our private lives.

Plus, why look at any other alpha when I had Kodiak? He was all the alpha I needed. Would that change the first time I caught a whiff of Raziel? Would I love him as I loved Kodiak and Creon? Sitting under the trees with the sunlight dappling down through the canopy, I couldn’t imagine I would, but even if I didn’t, I’d fake it as intensely as Creon wanted me to. I’d fake it until I felt something for the dragon because if he added good things to Creon’s life, I’d love him for real eventually. I couldn’t imagine losing Kodiak before I ever got the chance to really know him and in such a violent way.

Kodiak’s green truck rolled to a stop and Creon flung himself out before the engine died. He leapt as only an elf could, landing next to me. His scent wrapped around me and my wolf howled. “MINE!” the word played over and over through my thoughts as our mouths met for a long, slow kiss.

Kodiak killed the engine and climbed out of the truck. He circled to the front and leaned back against the hood, watching us kiss. I knew that thrill of comperBWsion that came from watching one of us being intimate with the other. It was like watching the two people I loved most in the world, outside my children, love each other just as much as I loved them.

I pulled Creon down onto the blanket and waved a finger to beckon our big bear to join us. Kodiak’s deep, throaty growl echoed through the forest. A few birds fled not wanting to be gobbled up. Lucky for them, the only ones he wanted to gobble up out here in the woods were me and Creon.

For a dizzying moment, I was kissing both of them at the same time. Our tongues out and dancing between our mouths as Kodiak’s fingers fumbled over the clasps on Creon’s elven style robes. He always struggled with the delicate, little clasps. Pushing his hands away, I undid them while he kissed Creon. Kodiak was right. Our mate had way too much clothing on. Too much was anything.

“We should all live naked forever!” my wolf howled into my thoughts. I shook off the thought. My guys were my forever, but things might change soon. How would our lives look ten years from now?

I watched as Kodiak kissed up and down Creon’s throat, marking his territory. Kodiak’s nostrils flared like they always did when his bear was serious about something. I pushed up Kodiak’s shirt and grazed my nails up and down his back until goosebumps rose on his skin.

Babies crossed Creon’s mind and for a second, I thought he was trying to ask who had the baby, but then it hit me. This was an exchange of more permanent claiming vows. One of us was very likely to get pregnant.

“Uh…” Kodiak lifted his head enough to speak. “Not this time. Not when I’m shooting blanks.”

He had a vasectomy not long after our last one was born. Creon and I both laughed. Even after all this time he seemed to have forgotten that Creon and I had the ability to conceive together. Under normal circumstances it might take us a few tries because we weren’t alphas but we’d done it before.

“Oh,” Kodiak said, laughing at his own shortsightedness. “I.. I thought about it earlier on the way here and had the vasectomy on my mind.”

“Are you against another baby?” Creon asked.

I bit my lip because it was a loaded question. Kodiak had gotten his vasectomy to slow down the rate our family expanded. With shifters they never lasted forever. Our genetics and magic constantly repaired things until eventually things were back in order like a factory reset. I had heard a rumor that harpies just grow new ones and repair the old vas deferens too. How many of them could they have?

Creon laughed and Kodiak looked at me over his shoulder. He was smiling but in the way that he always did when my train of thought after thought lost him somewhere.

“Are we going to mate with a harpy too?” he teased.

“I think four might be our limit,” Creon laughed. “If not, we’ll need a bigger bed. Maybe the harpy could sleep in a hammock over the bed?”

I tried to imagine Kodiak cuddled up to Raziel but couldn’t picture it. Kodiak was cuddly with us and the kids. He had been cuddly with Finn’s cubs when they were younger too. Outside of that he wasn’t the cuddliest guy. Creon picked up my thought and grinned.

“Why are you two shipping me with another alpha?” Kodiak arched a brow.

“Why shouldn’t we daydream about two big, burly alphas cuddling after kissing and humping all over each other?” I asked, arching a brow. Yeah, we were all flying a little high on the magic that had awoken in us since Creon planted his seeds in our shoulders.

Creon took advantage of all the distractions and stripped Kodiak naked. I undressed while he straddled Kodiak’s hips. Both of them were hard and the scent of Creon’s slickness covered the clearing. That was the real reason Kodiak was having trouble thinking straight. Creon smelled delicious but Kodiak’s bear had never been able to resist either of us in heat. This wasn’t heat but it was close enough.