Falling For Them: A New Adult Reverse Harem Collection

by C. L. Stone

  Evie was fascinated. “So they marry each other?

  Cyne chimed in. “No, Love. There is usually nothing sexual about a Kaveri. Most view each other as brothers. They would die for each other.”

  “Now, on to mates. As you know, a Surmata male is born with a single soul mate. The term in our language is Toinen Puoli. In English, we refer to them as mates. When a Surmata male meets and bonds with his mate, his powers are amplified. They are stronger and faster. They are also very possessive. Each member of a Kaveri can have a mate. That is unless they are Sidottu.”

  “Sidottu?”

  “It means blessed by the goddess. All members of the Kaveri share the same mate. And instead of a single power boost, that number is multiplied by the amount of members within the group. So if a Kaveri is three members, each member receives three times the boost in power. Being Sidottu is not common. In fact, I can only name a few Kaveri throughout history that received such a blessing.”

  “What do you mean, they share a mate?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. She or he would be bonded to the entire unit. Become a lover to each. As they bond, the mate would grow in power as well, just like the brothers. Kaveri bond mates are always male. Females can be warriors, but they do not form units. Instead, they join the Kaveri their mate is part of when they bond.”

  “A mate can never be human, right? But it can be someone from another supernatural species?”

  “Correct. It’s not physically possible to mate with humans. Surmata are physically stronger. We could cause serious harm if we lose control. It would most likely result in the death of the human.”

  Sitting there quietly, Evie tried to absorb everything Dashiel had just shared with her. It was a lot to take in. She was also feeling a bit disappointed, but she couldn’t pin point why. She’d just met these men. Surely she wasn’t developing a crush on one of them.

  The conversation returned to normal after that. Max got up, saying he was grabbing another beer only to return with a birthday cake decorated with seventeen candles. As they helped themselves to the delicious dessert, each of the men took turns asking her questions about her life, never delving too deeply, keeping the questions fairly generic. Favorite color, favorite food, nothing directly related to the camp or the resistance.

  After a few minutes, Evie relaxed and let her guard down. She felt comfortable around the small group of virtual strangers. Their easy camaraderie with one another was refreshing. So used to everyone having an agenda, Evie was surprised they didn't pump her for information. But then again, Max knew the inner workings of the camp, he’d been there long enough. Maybe they didn't need Evie. Maybe this was what it truly looked like; a small get together to celebrate her seventeenth birthday.

  6

  LOYALTY TEST

  "Evie. Come in here."

  Her father’s gruff voice reached her through the thin walls of the cabin. She finished eating breakfast and was cleaning up her dishes when he bellowed. Trepidation filled her as she made her way to his office. The door was closed, and Evie was tempted to ease her way out of the house, ignoring her father’s summons. He might not know she was still here.

  "Get in here, girl. I heard you in the kitchen." The beginnings of anger laced his words.

  Evie squared her shoulders and entered her father’s domain. To keep him waiting any longer spelled disaster.

  Her father was a handsome man. Dark brown hair with silver threaded throughout his locks. Heavy mustache over a set of thin lips. He had broad muscular shoulders but was growing a bit thick about the waist. He never lacked for female companionship. He went through woman like a dishwasher would go through sponges. Evie could no longer count on her fingers and toes how many nights she slept with her earbuds in. Or the awkward mornings after when she made her way downstairs only to find a half- dressed woman in the kitchen. Evie referred to these women as the camp whores. Harsh but true. They only slept with her father because of the power that came from his position within the resistance. Eyelashes fluttered while lies dripped from their ruby lips. Luckily, her father saw these woman for who they truly were. His liaisons never amounted to anything more serious than a quick roll in the sack.

  He sat behind his massive desk, hastily scribbling on papers in front of him. At her entrance, he didn't bother looking up, just gestured for her to take a seat. Evie did so quietly. She knew from experience not to speak unless spoken to.

  Her father kept her waiting while he finished whatever business he was working on. He kept checking his journal against something on the computer screen in front of him and then jotted down notes in another book. His brow was furrowed, and he was concentrating while mumbling under his breathe. Evie eased forward an inch in her chair, trying to get a look at what he was writing. It was writing in another language; one Evie had never seen before.

  Closing his journal, Evie’s father stored it in a locked filing cabinet before turning his attention to her. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and stared darkly at her.

  “You are seventeen now, and you are still a fledgling. That reflects badly on me.”

  Shifting uncomfortably under his gaze, Evie remained quiet, biting her cheek in nervousness. Her father was up to something, and Evie instinctively knew it would not bode well for her.

  “On the next Fledgling Day, you will accept the role of mentor when it’s offered to you.”

  “Father, please…”

  “Silence!” He held up a hand, emphasizing his command. “You will do as I say. I have let this show of defiance go on long enough. It ends now. If you fail to accept the new role, your fledgling training time will be doubled each month. There will be no more mentors for you. Dominick’s men will be the ones administering your training. If you want to be insubordinate, I will treat you just like I would any other soldier under my command.”

  Her father’s desk chair made a scrapping noise against the hard wood floors as he pushed it back and stood up. Coming around the front of the desk, he leaned against it, directly in front of Evie.

  “Stand up.”

  Evie complied without complaint, her eyes downcast. She kept her head bent at an angle, staring at her purple Converses. Papers crumbled, and a folder was shoved into her hands.

  “Take this straightaway to Leon. Tell him it’s a list of small arms that’s scheduled to arrive from Covington tomorrow.”

  More shuffling sounded as her father walked back around the desk. “You’re dismissed.”

  Turning on her heal, she made a beeline for the office door. She made sure to shut it securely before making her way through the kitchen and out the back door. Taking a look at her watch, she noted it was still too early for Leon to be working at the makeshift armory.

  Instead of sitting around waiting on Leon to arrive, Evie was tempted to find Max. She hadn’t really seen him the last few days. Not since the party he arranged for her. She assumed he was spending time with Caleb. She hoped that was the case, and he wasn’t somewhere wallowing in misery over Cammie.

  Conflicted, Evie stood waffling over what to do. She really wanted to see Max. She was freaked out about what her father told her. She wanted to come clean with Max and tell him the truth about Fledgling Day. Maybe if she did, he could help her come up with a way out of it. She refused to become a mentor, but she really didn’t want to be beaten unconscious every month for the next eleven.

  Looking at the folder in her hand, she made her choice. Her father gave her a direct order, and one thing she couldn’t do was skirt her duties. She would deliver the information first and then go find Max. That way she could drag him off to the spring for a few hours. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t have anything urgent going on right now.

  Happy with her logic, she set out to find Leon. She’d stop at the armory first, and if he wasn’t there, then she would head over to the barracks. With a little luck, she would find him in one of those places.

  Ten minutes later, Evie entered the large barn
doors that secured the armory building. She was surprised to find them unlocked and open. She hoped it meant that Leon started his shift early. Rounding the corner, she’s surprised to see Dominick, along with a few of his soldiers standing around, as if they were waiting for her.

  Leon was with them, standing off to the side. He looked at her with a sad expression on his face. Evie made her way over to the older man. “Hi, Leon.”

  “Morning, Evie. What can I do for you?”

  “What’s going on?”

  No one answered her. “Evie.” Leon stressed, his eyes trying to tell her something. “Why are you here?”

  Taking the hint, Evie held out the folder. “My father asked me to drop this off to you. Said it was a list of the small arms coming in from Covington.”

  Ignoring the file she was holding out to him, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Did you open the folder?” he asked shamefaced.

  “What? Of course not.”

  Dominick pushed his way past Leon, practically shoulder checking him as he went by. Taking the file from Evie, he examined it. Not looking up, he demanded, “What took you so long to get here, Doll?”

  Alarm bells were clanging loudly in Evie’s head. Something was wrong, but Evie wasn’t sure what. “I came straight from the cabin. I took my time walking because I thought Leon would not be on duty yet.”

  Dominick handed the folder to one of the other men. “It’s still sealed. She didn’t look inside.”

  “Of course, I didn’t. Why would you think that?”

  “Cause, Doll, we have a traitor. Someone is sharing camp secrets so your father came up with a plan to try to determine the culprit.”

  “My father ordered my loyalty tested?”

  “Your father ordered everyone’s loyalty to be tested. You were the first. You passed.”

  “Why does my father think there is a traitor? Did something happen?”

  “Our plans in Covington were leaked to the Surmata. We were getting ready to move in to take out that nest of demons. We were hours away from launching an all-out assault when those supernatural assholes swooped in and wiped out the entire nest. They made us look like fucking amateurs.”

  Evie tried to pry more information from Dominick. “Do you have any suspicions on who the traitor could be? You must have some leads, surely?”

  “We have a few, but we aren’t ruling out anyone. Each member of the camp is going to have to prove their loyalty satisfactorily to us.”

  “How are you going to do that? This is a pretty large camp. We have hundreds of members.”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. We have the situation under control. We won’t have any problems figuring out who the traitor is. He’ll slip up, and then we will nail him to the nearest tree.”

  “Okay. Good luck with that. I’m sure you will figure it out. My father wouldn’t have placed his trust in you otherwise. I have chores around camp. Am I free to go?” Evie hoped her attempt at flattery didn’t fail. She wanted to get out of the barn without raising suspicion. Then she would find Max. They needed to discuss this newest revelation.

  “You’re dismissed. Don’t talk about this with anyone in the camp.”

  “Yes, Dominick.”

  Evie’s hands shook as she closed the barn door. That was close. She normally did inspect what her father handed her to deliver. It was usually mundane stuff, not very interesting at all. Supplies that needed to be ordered. Change in bunk assignments. New recruit rosters. Her father normally didn’t trust her with anything that could be considered classified. Still, Evie was naturally curious, and she always looked. This time, the worry pounding at her temples at her father’s words distracted her, and she hadn’t given a single thought to reading the contents.

  “Hey, Evie.”

  A cheery voice rang out, making Evie jump. She looked up spotting Johnny Marshall walking towards her. He was a fledgling like her, just a few years younger. He was a nice enough kid, and he seemed to genuinely idolize Max. Where Max went, the kid was sure to be only a few steps behind. Johnny dressed in army fatigues, but Evie liked the ball caps he wore. They never matched what he was wearing and had off color comments that had most people snickering.

  “Hi, Johnny. What’s up?”

  “Max asked me to deliver a message if I saw you. And here you are. So I guess I am seeing you.”

  Evie smiled at his eagerness. “I guess you are. What did Max say?”

  “He’s running some of the newbies through a training course over on the back field. Wants you to bring him some water. Said you were the camp gopher.”

  “He did, huh?”

  “Yes ma’am. Said you were the best fetcher ‘round. Told me if I ever needed anything, to just ask you.”

  “Hmm.” Evie looked at her watch. ”Shouldn’t you be at CT?”

  Johnny nodded excitedly, “They cancelled CT. For the entire week. Can you believe it? Said something about needing the fields for all the new troops coming in. Anyway, I need to get home and check in. I’m hoping my mom will let me go into town with the others. It’s not often we have time to ourselves to explore.”

  “Have fun, Johnny. I’ll see you later.”

  He waved and walked off, whistling softly. Evie changed directions and headed for the back field. Max must need to talk to her, too, since he sent Johnny with that message. It was a code they worked out when he needed to see her during the day. Who would question a fledgling being asked to bring water to a soldier? It was a normal enough occurrence. Fledglings were treated no better than personal caddies for some of the lieutenants.

  The back field had a series of obstacle courses setup that ranged from moderate to back breaking difficulty. Evie found Max standing at the start of one the most punishing ones. He stood alone observing a small platoon running the gauntlet. His arms folded over his chest, his face unreadable. Max, the adult, scared her when he was let out. Evie much preferred the version he was with her.

  “Hey, Maxie.”

  He rubbed his hand through his head wearily. “You’re never letting that nickname go, are you?”

  “Nope.” Evie popped the p for emphasis. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to stay awake by working their asses off.” Max pointed lazily at the soldiers on the field.

  “Shouldn’t you be out there with them then? Standing here watching can’t be that stimulating.”

  “No. This tired, I’m not sure I can maintain my control. I could slip up.”

  “Speaking of slipping up, something interesting just happened to me.”

  “Yeah? What happened?” Max was only half listening. His gaze was laser focused on the men in the field.

  “My father believes there is a spy amongst us. He had me tested this morning.”

  She had Max’s full attention now. “What! What the hell did he do?”

  Evie waved off Max, knowing he was getting ready to go into full panic mode. He wasn’t worried about himself. It was what could’ve happened to her that scared him.

  “He just tested me with a simple message delivery. Had Dominick and his goons waiting on me. No biggie.”

  “Fuck, Evie. That is big. You could be in serious danger if he found out that you were colluding with the enemy.”

  “But, I’m not. Colluding that is. We’re friends, but it’s not like I spy for you or for the Surmata.”

  “Guilt by association, Sweets. Your father wouldn’t take kindly to knowing that you befriended a Surmata. Hell, I’m half demon. That’s even worse in his eyes.”

  “He won’t find out. We just have to be more careful.”

  His worried gaze met hers. “Fuck, Evie. I’m sorry. I should never have dragged you into this mess. If you didn’t know my secret, you would be safe.”

  “Bullcrap, Max. I’m safer knowing who my friends are. What they truly are. No matter what he threatens, my father wouldn’t let anything horrendous happen to me. He’s my flesh and blood.”

  Max looked at her dou
btfully, pity heavy in his eyes. “Evie…”

  “No, Max,” Evie interrupted. “I don’t want to discuss it anymore. I will be fine.”

  “You’re more fucking stubborn than a Cyclops.”

  “A Cyclops? They’re real?”

  “Yep, only they’re about ten inches tall, not ten feet. Humans really fucked up that myth in the retelling.”

  “Wow.”

  “Shit! I almost forgot why I sent Johnny after you. Caleb and I are going into town tonight. We invited a few of the Shadewolf Kaveri along. You’ve met most of them already. Wanna come?”

  “I can’t be seen with you in Holden.” Evie murmured gloomily. She would’ve loved to see the guys again.

  “Not Holden, Sweets. Another town. It will be safe for you, promise.”

  Evie beamed. “Yes, I would love to come. Meet in the regular spot?”

  “You betcha. As soon as you can sneak away, we will head out.”

  7

  The Abyss

  With the approach of night, the forest grew quiet, slumbering around Evie. Soon it would wake with the clamoring of the nocturnal animals. Evie loved this time of day. When the sun met the horizon, like two worlds greeting each other. The shadows slowly descending, fighting to cover the world.

  Evie snuck out earlier than expected and found Max and Caleb already waiting. Her father left for a campaign and wouldn’t return until tomorrow so she didn’t have to worry about hurrying home later.

  “Evie, this is Jaxon.”

  A figure stepped into the clearing. He moved with grace, silently stalking Evie in the falling light. The weight of his gaze judged her where she stood. Evie wasn’t sure she passed muster when he looked away without acknowledging her. He didn't ignore her completely, just nodded his head at Max's introduction, but he didn't offer any words or encouragement for conversation.

  The new arrival wasn't what Evie expected. Like the others, he was taller than an average human man. In fact, he appeared taller than any of the others Evie had met. Dark hair, short and spiked, with the ends tipped in blue and silver complemented the cinnamon tone of his skin. Sunglasses covered his eyes obscuring his features even though the sun fell rapidly in the sky.