AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"But she needs you just as much," Zeal told us. "Not just to do her homework, but that's a visible thing. She needs all of you to be happy. She is fighting so hard to give you what she thinks you deserve."
"Each other," Anver breathed as he figured out Zeal's real meaning. "Shit. She asks for nothing, gives everything, and is always the one paying."
"So how do we fix this?" I asked again. "Guys, it's not fair for her to do all the work and us to get all the glory by simply standing beside her. We need to do our fair share too."
Wraythe just leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. "We stop letting everything else pull us apart. We are not like other partnerships. We are not like other guardians. We are not like other fucking priests!"
"We don't get comfortable," Anver offered. "We certainly don't take her for granted."
"There you go," Zeal breathed, encouraging the ideas they were tossing out.
I just looked up and met Ela's eyes. "We love."
Ela smiled, but it was weak, almost shy - or would've been if it was on anyone else. "That's what they're trying to do, though. They couldn't break her, so they're trying to breakus. To destroy this thing we have. The four of us are the weak point here. We almost lost Anver. You and I, Talin, have been avoiding each other. I was so sure you'd all want to keep your space from me because of the things you'd been hearing, like how I would hurt you. The more strain there is on us, the more that's something else for Nari to worry about. She's got enough. The least we can do is handle our shit, right?"
"They say I'm useless," Anver said, his voice distant as if he was thinking out loud. "Wraythe's ugly. Eladehl's cruel and heartless. Talin's spoiled. We're all unworthy of a god. Those are the whispers going around. We've all heard them, butweignore them. Nari can't. It's just not that easy for her, even if she's doing a really good job of trying. I mean, after what I did, she's so scared of losing the ones she loves in some way. Of having her perfect family fray because of the strain she's been put under. She wants this to stay, well, like this."
"She doesn't want to be the center of it all," Ela realized, groaning as the idea hit him. "Shit. I kept thinking that if I gave Talin more time to be with her, or made it clear it was fine for her and Wraythe to be happy alone, that I was helping. Instead, all she sees is that we're not spending as much timetogetheras we used to. We're all spending it with her, which is more pressure that she doesn't need."
I was nodding in agreement. "That woman is beautiful, intelligent, and so amazing, but she can't stand up for herself without us. She can't do this on her own, so they're using our own fears against us to breakherdown. If they make Anver feel more useless, Wraythe to feel less like she loves him, Ela to pull away before he hurts her… and so on. I don't even know if they've realized it yet, but to break her, they need to remove us, and the one thing she can't handle is losing us!"
A string of profanity fell from Ela's lips. "I was supposed to be cruel to her in the last session. Oryll was so sure Nari would try to play the submissive, and then my needs should've taken over. He was trying to split us up. Not just romantically, but take away her support system. Instead, we're stronger than ever."
"And now we have Anver back too," Wraythe said. "The way I see it, they pulled us just far enough apart to make room for him to fit with us again."
"Which means we need to make surewedon't let her down," I told them. "Fuck the rules. I don't give a shit how this is supposed to work. Partner, guardian, friend. The titles are immaterial. We're all here to protect her. We all love her in some way. Doing her homework seems like nothing, but it'll matterto her. Not just tonight, guys. For the rest of the semester. It's not going to be glamorous, but let's handle all the little shit so she can worry about everything else coming at her. Let's make sure she doesn't break."
"Yeah," Wraythe said. "Because our girl is amazing, but she's still human. She's been so strong that it's easy to take that for granted, but she's exhausted. She didn't even wake up when I tucked her in. Things are better, but that's not the same as being easy. If they come at her now?"
"She wouldn't be able to take it," I finished for him. "This is how we protect her this time."
Anver lifted his hands, looking at the lace on them. "I think we all have these for a reason, huh? Obligation marks. Sometimes, the shit work is important too. And I'm in."
Zeal just flapped his hand. "Yeah, but give me the Obligation homework. I'm the one here with the most experience on that Path. I can also..." He reached down and patted the table. "...Make sure the handwriting matches. Believe it or not, I'm willing to do my part to take care of our woman."
"Ours," Ela said softly, and that smile on his lips looked sweeter than it ever had before. "All of ours."
Chapter 52
Nariana
Ididn't remember falling asleep, but I woke the next morning to Talin's arms around me as if I was his own plush toy. Puppy and Bunny were tangled between me and Wraythe. I'd let them go in my sleep to hug the man's arm instead. Behind him, Ela was wrapped around Wraythe's back, his face snuggled into the big guy's neck.
In all honesty, that was one of my favorite things. There was something so honest between Ela and his guardian, and I loved when they let it show. Ela loved that man, and Wraythe wasn't at all upset by it. They weren't on the same page, knew it, and accepted it without a problem. I kinda had a feeling that if things were different and Wraythe had liked men, I never would've stood a chance. Ela would've been his, through and through.
This worked, though. Somehow, Zeal had paired us in a way that made us even stronger. The only thing missing was Anver, but there was no way he'd fit in our bed. Unfortunately, a bigger bed wouldn't fit in our room. Still, having Anver around so much more had been nice. He was a bit timid around us, yet every day it was like he felt a little more secure. Hopefully he'd figure out that we weren't just being nice, that he really was welcome, and that I liked this so much more than I should.
I was thinking about that when I snuck out of bed, doing my best not to wake the guys. It was still early. They didn't need to be up for at least half an hour, which gave me time to get cleaned and dressed without disturbing them. I wasn't going for fancy today. Still, knowing that Oryll would announce our partner for the next session meant that I definitely wanted to look good. I wanted whichever man or woman he paired me with to know which of us was really in charge.
It didn't take me long to get ready, and then I tiptoed into the main room to brew myself a tea. The first thing I saw was the stack of books on the table. Mine had all been moved, and a collection of papers was tucked into the pages. I paused to turn up the light, keeping the gas low so it was just enough to read, and then opened the first book.
There, placed between the last pages of the chapter I'd been assigned, were all of the homework questions. Even more confusing, that was definitely my handwriting, but I didn't remember doing this. Had I done my homework in my sleep? Had I been so exhausted that I was operating on autopilot last night? I didn't exactly remember falling asleep...
"Zeal made us magic paper." The words were a croak, rough from sleep, but I turned to see Anver laying on my couch.
"Hey," I greeted him. "You stayed over?"
He waved his hand toward the books. "We were up late finishing your homework. Zeal did Obligation. I did Literature. I don't know which erotic whatever Talin and Ela did, but Wraythe has your Assignments course done through the end of the week."
