by J. E. Cluney
‘About what?’ Leon’s smooth voice asked, a hint of uncertainty in it.
‘She chose us,’ Tristan chuckled, the sound bouncing around inside my mind.
‘For what?’ Wesley spoke up.
‘Her mates.’
15
“I don’t think I chose anyone,” I grumbled as we sat on the floor of the training room, all naked and confused.
“I can feel it, and you can hear us,” Tristan stated, grinning at me as he leaned back, not caring that his cock was in full view of everyone. Now that the lust episode was over, the other three had covered themselves, either by crossing their legs in a way that hid their cock, or by covering it with their hands, which was what Wesley was doing.
’Can you hear me?’ Damien’s voice resounded in my head as clear as day, and I turned to him with an apologetic look.
“Yeah, clear as day,” I said.
“Fuck,” Damien murmured, but he didn’t seem pissed by this revelation. Instead, he was watching me with interest now. Like he was seeing me properly for the first time.
Looking around at all the men I’d just had sex with, I found myself rather content and at complete ease in their presence.
And inside me, I felt a pull to each one of them, something so profound and deep that it had me nibbling on my lip.
Had I somehow mated with them? Bonded with them?
What did that even mean?
“Hang on,” Tristan mumbled as he stood up, walking over to his discarded clothing without a care in the world that his dick was swaying around for us all to see.
Not to mention that gorgeous little ass, so firm and tight.
He dug into the pockets of his jeans and retrieved his phone, texting quickly before deciding to get dressed.
“Dom will be in shortly, he can give us some answers,” Tristan said as he yanked his briefs and jeans up in one go. “He spends so much time reading and learning in the library, way more than me, and he’s got a memory on him like a steel trap, he will know heaps more about kitsunes.”
I groaned as I stood up, not wanting the butler to see me naked. I gathered up my clothes that had ended up in weird places and dressed, the other boys doing the same.
Except Wesley, who had no clothes now.
“Here,” Tristan sighed as he offered his shirt to the pouting redhead.
Wesley grumbled put pulled the oversized shirt on, looking like a girlfriend in a too big shirt. At least it hid his dick. Just.
I snickered at how cute he was, and found a strange warmth flooding my chest at the sight of him and Tristan joking with each other.
Hell no. I was a no strings girl.
This mated thing had to be wrong.
Dominic pushed through the heavy wooden door after a few moments, stumbling as his eyes widened.
“What the…” he frowned as he looked around at us.
“We were teaching Sav to shift, then there was a big light flash and it resulted in sex all round. Then another light flash, now telepathy,” Tristan summed it up quickly, leaving Dominic with his mouth open as he took it all in.
“Hang on, back it up. What was the light flash like?” he put his hand up as he frowned.
“Looked like a crazy intense aura, with tails coming out to touch us I guess. Forced me back to being an adult,” Wesley shrugged, holding the front of his shirt, well, Tristan’s, down to cover his crotch.
“Sounds like you guys got chosen as her mates,” Dominic mused. “Turning you guys back to human adult males was a side affect of her magic. It’s powerful, the kitsune needed you all in the right form for mating. And the sex was the bond joining that occurs. It needs to be done in order to become her mates. The drive for sex once you’ve been chosen is pretty strong,” Dominic murmured.
“I didn’t choose them!” I threw up my arms in a huff.
“Your kitsune did. It will choose those it deems worthy. Sometimes it’ll choose one at a time, sometimes it’ll choose them all at once. Looks like it was the latter. Maybe a spur of the moment because it’s been dormant, only activated and alive now,” Dominic suggested, but he seemed unhappy with this change as he flicked his eyes sadly at Tristan.
Great. Now Dominic was going to hate me because I stole his fuck buddy.
‘Can I not fuck him anymore?’ Tristan pouted as he looked at me.
‘Do whatever the fuck you want!’ I thought back as I crossed my arms. I wasn’t one to settle down. This mates thing was ridiculous. I didn’t feel any different. Well, maybe a little.
‘I don’t think you understand the concept of being mated,’ Damien muttered. ‘We’re bound now, all of us to you. Whether we want to be or not.’
‘You’re the one who shoved your dick into me,’ I growled back as I faced him.
‘I’m more interested in how you turned me back to me again,’ Wesley joined in.
“Get out of my head,” I growled. “All of you.” God, they were all starting to talk and it was getting noisy in my own mind.
“We can still fuck, Dom, she’s cool with it,” Tristan added.
Dominic cleared his throat as he shot him a pointed look. Tristan just grinned cheekily at this.
“So how’s my life change by having mates?” I growled, shaking my head in annoyance.
“Well, they’re bound to you now,” Dominic said, as if I magically knew what that meant. He realized this and sighed. “You probably won’t find yourself attracted to other men now, you’ll only want them, and they’ll mainly want you,” Dominic murmured the last part as he glanced at Tristan.
“Can I undo it?” I asked immediately.
“No, it is what it is,” Dominic shrugged.
Great. So, what? I was, like, married to these guys now? Hell no.
“I can still live my own life, right?” I asked.
“Yes, you can. It’s not like your chained to them, but you’ll always be drawn to them,” Dominic frowned at me. Guess he wasn’t used to someone being so against a bonding, mated thing.
“Good, cause I want to find my real family, and you guys aren’t getting in my way,” I said pointedly.
‘We’ll help you,’ Leon said.
‘Maybe Sav can help us too?’ Wes murmured.
‘How?’ Tristan asked.
‘We could always use more skill in the bounty hunting,’ Wesley answered.
“Bounty hunting?” I arched a brow at this.
“I’m guessing you guys are talking in your minds,” Dominic sighed.
“Yes, we are. And yes, bounty hunting. Why else do you think we found you? We were sent out to deal with the vamp you put down, but we’d been warned you’d been seen in the area, a huntress who was making a name for herself in the supe community,” Tristan cocked his head at me. “And how things have changed.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I muttered.
I went from being a trained killer dealing with the monsters in the shadows to being a monster in the shadows, to shifting, to finding out my whole life was a lie and I had real family, and now, I’m mated to four sexy as fuck supes who I barely know? Yep, a wonderful little fuckcoaster.
‘When you put it that way,’ Leon clicked his tongue.
“I need a shower. I have semen all throughout my panties and reek of sex. And this mated thing is not on!” I growled as I headed for the door.
“You can’t just pretend it’s not there,” Dominic said, completely taken aback by my attitude. Stuff him. This was my life being messed with.
“Watch me,” I said bluntly as I slammed the door shut.
16
Damien.
“So we’re mated to her now? What the fuck?” I shook my head. This was utterly absurd. How could this happen?
‘I’m not too fond of hearing everyone’s thoughts to be honest, I’m used to only hearing yours when we choose to share, not consistently,’ Leon’s voice rang out in my mind. We shared a pack mentality due to being brothers, but this thing with all of us was new. And there was a serious lack of a filter.
‘I’m still impressed she could take two dicks at once. That’s some skill right there,’ Wesley remarked, and I rubbed my temple in frustration. As if I needed that little shit in my head all the time.
“But she could be of use, she’s got mad warrior skills as a huntress. We got into the bounty game late, she’s been a huntress most of her life,” Leon mused.
“After you guys fucked up with her, I don’t think Mr Oxley is too keen to get you on for more bounty hunting jobs too soon,” Dominic informed us.
“She was a girl! We didn’t know she was a supe either. We’ve pulled off many bounty hunts with ease, she was different!” Wesley interjected.
“You’ve taken down vampires, witches, werewolves, and shifters, all working in a team and yet you got your ass handed to you by one girl?” Dominic was unimpressed.
“She asked us for sex,” Tristan shrugged, like that made it all okay.
Dominic just gave him a stupefied look.
“She was a kitsune, but dormant. We underestimated her, and then Tristan tested her, and things went haywire,” Leon tried to explain.
Dominic was right though.
We’d done so many hunts and never screwed up, we usually worked so well in a unit, so precise and on point, but last night? We were a bumbling mess with her.
“Maybe we were already connected somehow?” I suggested, although the idea was strange.
“As in, that’s why you couldn’t attack her properly?” Dominic didn’t sound convinced.
“I hesitated before I attacked her, barely, but I did. I never hesitate,” I said firmly.
“That’s true,” Leon agreed. “I felt it too, like I shouldn’t be going after her.”
“Well, she had no trouble killing Wesley,” Dominic pointed out.
“He doesn’t die die,” Tristan said.
“She didn’t know that,” Dominic said.
“Maybe her training overrode it,” Leon suggested.
“Look, you can come up with excuses, but it doesn’t change the fact that you were less than on your game last night. Mr Oxley is worried you will screw up worse next time, lose one of you, properly,” Dominic had to add that last part for emphasis.
“We won’t, especially not if she’s with us,” Tristan said cooly.
“Well, you’ll have to take that up with him, but that’s also dependent on whether or not she’s willing to be a bounty hunter,” Dominic shrugged.
“She’s already been a huntress, not much difference, except it’s only going after bad guys,” I said as I folded my arms.
I was already thinking about her again, about that beautiful body and charming smile.
Fuck. We really were mated.
17
I growled as I climbed out of the shower, having scrubbed myself down and washing my hair. There was a brand new toothbrush and hairbrush on the vanity sink, along with a hairdryer. I brushed my teeth as I dried my hair before stalking out into the room and scowling at my messenger bag. I didn’t have many clothes in there, and I found myself slipping back into my denim shorts and stockings from the vampire episode, although I had new panties now.
I picked up my phone from the bed where I’d left it.
More calls from Thomas and Jackson.
Did they really think I was just going to answer and let them find and kill me?
I also had quite a few voicemails apparently.
Guess it couldn’t hurt to listen to them.
Most of the messages were from Thomas, my supposed father figure, asking me to come home and that we needed to sort this out, to fix me.
Jackson’s were less demanding, more worried about me, asking if I was okay. He really sounded stressed and worried for my well-being.
I felt bad about it, and I contemplated shooting him a text to tell him I was okay.
What would I tell him? That I knew the truth now? That I knew I was one of the monsters we’d all hunted for so long. That I was the exact thing they wanted dead?
A knock on my door made me scowl, but then Mr Oxley’s gentle voice asked to come in.
“Of course,” I called out, and the door swung open as I sat on the bed.
“I felt an unusual flare of magic, Dominic has informed me you’ve bonded with the boys. How very interesting,” Mr Oxley mused as he walked over, his cane clicking on the wooden flooring.
“I don’t think so,” I grumbled.
“It’s not going to change your life, only improve it. You have mates now, who are bound to you. They will be your family now, and you will all wish to protect each other. Your mating with them has also bound them together like brothers, more-so than before,” Mr Oxley said as he came to a standstill before me.
“My last family wanted to kill me,” I reminded him.
“We’ve been looking into your ancestry, the Dorian lines. Dominic is back in his workshop trying to find out more about your fathers and brothers, but they’re not easy to track down. They’ve masked themselves well, probably wanting to protect themselves,” he said, his voice soft and tired. But there was an underlying power there, and I opened up my senses to see his pulsating vibrant aura. Gold and white, encasing him in a divine power. Just what was this man?
“What are the Dorians like?” I asked, shutting my mind off from the blinding aura.
“A very old lineage, powerful warriors who protected royals like Dominic said, but they became assassins in more recent years, revered for their prowess and skill. Kitsunes are one of the fastest supes alive, faster than even vampires in short distances. Deadly too with how they can wield their aura as a weapon. The Dorian lines were known to be extremely skilled at this, so were sought after,” Mr Oxley said. “It seems your family were some of the last of them, and all the others have fallen into hiding.”
“Why?” I frowned. Why would all the Dorians be hiding?
“Hunted to the brink of extinction by the Hunter Order, an order that sacrificed themselves to kill off kitsunes. The Supernatural Council believed to have destroyed it, but it seems a few factions have reappeared in recent years, and the Council is having trouble dealing with them,” Mr Oxley said sadly.
So maybe my family was in danger, and that’s why they hadn’t reached out to me.
“You are welcome to remain here, you’ll be safe here. The grounds of the Institute are heavily warded, and you can learn and train while you’re here.”
“What do I have to do in return to earn my keep?” I asked instantly. There was no such thing as a free meal and bed, I knew that.
“Nothing. Although, the boys think they can get you to assist them on their bounty hunts,” Mr Oxley’s golden eyes looked entertained by this idea.
“Killing supes?” I growled.
“Not always. Some are wanted alive. But those deemed too dangerous, killers and rogues, are kill on sight most of the time,” he said as he shifted his weight and moved his cane to jut out before him instead.
He rested both his hands on it, and stared down at me.
“I know you want to repent for the sins of your past, the innocents,” he murmured.
Ugh. Here he was in my head again. Except strangely, I could feel him now, prodding around inside my mind. I could probably force him out if I wanted to, but I had nothing to hide. He knew everything already.
“Will I be fixing up my brownie points by going after bad guys only?” I said sarcastically. As if it fixed the deaths of those undeserved. But I couldn’t undo that either.
“There’s no fixing the past, only moving forward. You can choose to follow a better path, a path suited to your skillset where you can help others. Save them. I’m sure in your hunting, you’ve saved people, haven’t you?” he asked as he cocked his head at me, those golden eyes seeing right through me.
He was right, many families we had rescued. One stuck out to me. I was hunting a werewolf, one who had been brought to our attention by the trail of bodies he left. Young girls.
I found him with ease, spying his aura in a pa
rking lot one day when scouting out the area.
I watched, unable to get to him in time as he kidnapped a young girl in broad daylight.
I managed to follow him, and put him down at the little cabin on the outskirts of town.
Three girls he had there, locked in the basement. He’d been mauling them, eating the most tender parts of them and then leaving their bodies in public places. He’d been crazy, wanting to draw attention to himself.
And I’d rescued those three girls.
“You are capable of incredible goodness, Savage. You should seek a path where you can protect, just like your ancestors did,” Mr Oxley said gently.
I just stared at him, swallowing back any witty comeback. He was serious, and I knew he only wanted to push me on the right path.
Was bounty hunting seriously the answer?
Maybe, but I had a family I wanted to find, and I had so much more to learn about myself.
“The training room is yours to practice in and to learn,” he nodded.
“The boys said you took in orphans, were they all orphans?” I asked. It was something I’d been thinking about for a while.
“Yes, I took Tristan in when he was only a baby. He’s the only one who calls me father, as I was the one who fully raised him. He’s been with me the longest. His mother abandoned him as a newborn in a trashcan, deeming him evil. A good samaritan found him, and I caught wind of him. The twins I discovered when they were in their teens. Homeless and on the streets, spending months in their wolf forms in the woods to survive. Hunters were after them after some sightings, and I managed to get to them first and give them a home. As for Wesley, I found him five years ago. He’d been caught by the Council before the police got him after a string of robberies to keep his head above water. I learned about his uniqueness and took him in. He’d been raised by a woman after being found in an alley, but she died when he was a teen and he had to fend for himself. He didn’t even know what he was, didn’t have any memory of before he lived with this woman. Dominic later discovered he was hundreds of years old, but had been reset by a hunter. I’m always watching, keeping an eye out in the world for special children, those more special than ordinary supes.” Mr Oxley’s eyes glittered as he told me this.
