Ravens_Sons of Olympia_Reverse Harem Romance

by Helen J Perry

  Brenna’s mouth hung open. The man ran his hand through his black hair and shook his head as if to work out kinks from his neck.

  “Y-You,” Brenna uttered. “You changed.”

  “Are you really that dense?”

  How rude.

  Brenna took an instant dislike to the creature, and the feeling was probably mutual. Even though they'd never met before, she had a feeling the man knew her well already. He was much bigger and broader than her men, and a little rougher around the edges.

  “I would have thought you would have pieced one and one together by now. It’s not like the Princes are keeping it much of a secret.”

  Brenna shrugged back into her shirt. The man was naked. She had nothing to hide, but Brenna didn’t feel as at ease about her body.

  “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  The man sighed. “I suppose it’s not surprising, coming from a hatchling.”

  When her lovers called her that, Brenna thought it was a pretty word; coming from this man’s mouth, it sounded more like an insult. Brenna clenched her fists. “Hey!”

  “Mm? You want to prove me wrong?” The man blinked. He crossed her arms over his chest. “You don’t see, and you don’t hear, hatchling. I don’t know why the Princes are so enamored with you.”

  “I…” Brenna didn’t know what to say, but she stood her ground regardless. She spoke the first words that came to mind. “Are you talking about Victor and Corbin?”

  The man’s face twisted as he held back a laugh. Brenna furrowed her brow and stepped forward. The man shook his head. “Victor. Corbin. Yes. Of course.”

  “Why is that so funny?” Brenna asked.

  “Because you have no clue.” He shook his head again. “You have no idea when you speak their names what greatness you refer to.”

  “Well, I would if any of you took the time to explain it to me!” Brenna was fed up with being kept in the dark. Someone had to tell her what was going on. If that meant the naked bird-man had to reveal Congress secrets, so be it. Brenna wouldn't stand for anyone else telling her knowledge wasn't important.

  “You’re petulant,” the man accused.

  “You would be, too, if you were being treated like a child.” Brenna kept her eyes locked on the man’s, not letting them drift downwards.

  She was not in the least bit interested in the man, at least not for sex. Still, it didn’t escape her that a naked, handsome man stood in her bedroom.

  And he didn't seem interested in her either.

  Still, the man was a stranger and an intruder, she should have felt threatened. But more importantly, Brenna’s heart and soul longed for her men. “Tell me what’s going on right now.”

  “The Princes have sent me to keep an eye on you. They care for you a great deal and have seen to your constant security.”

  Brenna supposed, in a way, it was a sweet gesture. Regardless, irritation prickled across her scalp and constricted in her throat.

  “If they care so much, then why aren't they here themselves to watch over me? Why don't they tell me anything?”

  “The Princes are busy. There have been ongoing matters that have divided their attention and forced them away from personal pleasures.”

  “I want to know why they think it’s okay to keep someone they care about in the dark,” Brenna said. “I know nothing about what’s going on. I’m struggling to put clues together and figure all this out on my own. I feel like I’m going crazy. If any of them care about me, then why don't they take time to explain?”

  Another bird distracted her attention as it flew in through the open window. Unlike the first bird this second one transformed while in flight as soon as it passed through the window. When it landed it stood on human feet. A second handsome naked man stood in the room. “You’re right, hatchling.” He said in a familiar voice.

  One of the brothers.

  They looked so alike and this was the first time she'd seen any of them outside of her dreams. She was sure this was the third brother, the eldest, Waldrom.

  “I’m here now.” Waldrom nodded at the man to dismiss him. From the corner of her eye, Brenna saw a flash of black as the man transformed and flew out the window. “So why don’t we talk? My time is yours. I am here to right the wrongs done to you. So, where should we start?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “I need you to start at the beginning,” Brenna insisted. It was the first time she’d faced one of the men outside of her dreamscape. Not only that, but she'd made love with two of his brothers and this man had watched, at least once.

  She found herself embarrassed and the fact he was naked and gorgeous didn't help to put her at ease.

  It didn’t feel possible, but Waldrom was even more attractive in real life. The slope of his nose and the angles of his face were sharper and more striking. The lines of his body were tightly defined. Only when Brenna looked back over her memories she realized the time in her dreams seemed blurry.

  Fleeting moments.

  Glimpses of beauty.

  Exquisite pleasure.

  All of it had been fantastic, but none of it had been real. At least, not how Waldrom was real now.

  “The beginning, hatchling?” Waldrom asked with a smile that turned Brenna’s knees to jelly. “That’s a lot to cover. Are you sure you don’t want to be more specific?”

  “You know what I mean,” Brenna accused. “I mean, I want to know what you are, and who you are, and—”

  Waldrom stepped forward and laced their fingers together. Brenna fell silent. She licked her lips and lifted her chin to look into his eyes—he stood a good few inches taller than her—and forgot what she intended to say. His touch kindled excitement deep inside her and banished the void she’d lamented over the last few days.

  “You are too distracting,” Waldrom whispered. “Beautiful.”

  When had their lips gotten so close? Brenna’s eyelids drooped. Chemistry crackled in the air between them. It raced through her, stirring excitement in her stomach and lower.

  “Come. While we talk, we should be comfortable. Take me to your bed, hatchling. Let us nest together.” His deep voice was warm, thick and comforting like a blanket wrapping around her.

  Brenna moved on instinct. Her fingers stayed laced with Waldrom’s as she guided him to the bedside. They sank onto the bed together. Waldrom nestled close, and it took a great deal of Brenna’s willpower not to claim his lips in a kiss.

  “Now, I’ll share with you what I know. Are you prepared to listen?”

  “Yes.” She was more ready than ever.

  “Then you shall know.” Waldrom pressed a kiss to Brenna’s forehead that made her wish his lips would travel south. “There exist other dimensions, hatchling, did you know?”

  “No,” Brenna said. “Not really.”

  “Well, there are. Many. Hundreds. Thousands. Endless possibilities. Endless alternate realities. Infinite variation. Many of those dimensions are like yours, who know nothing of life beyond their own. Many more, like mine, do.”

  “So… so you travel between dimensions?” Brenna asked. She watched his lips as she spoke, enchanted. “Is that how you found me?”

  “No, hatchling. You were the one who traveled between dimensions.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “What a brave little creature you are, so bold as to set off on your own when others of your kind shy away. What a brave thing you are.”

  Brenna glowed from the inside at the praise, but she wasn’t sure she deserved it. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” she admitted.

  “It’s of little consequence.” Waldrom drew her closer. Brenna had never felt so whole as she did when pressed against his chest. “Perhaps it makes you braver for facing so many unknowns and still pressing onward. You didn't understand what was happening, did you?”

  “No.” She didn't fully understand now, either.

  “I don't know how you did it, my little hatchling. You traversed through many worlds to reach my brother and to take him back t
o yours. It shouldn't be possible but you did it.”

  “How it that possible when I didn't know?”

  “I do not know. The other worlds usually have defenses, something to protect themselves and scare away invaders. But you didn’t flee. You came to us. You bravely saved my brother. And now you bound to us.” Waldrom smiled. The adoration in his eyes crept into his lips, and Brenna wondered if it would be rude to interrupt him to get a taste of it. “The woods beyond this dwelling harbor a weak place between dimensions; a veil draped over a hole in a wall that allows the passage of those from near and far. It is guarded. The gods have placed sentries to prevent unauthorized entry to their realm. The defenders of Olympia are empowered by the gods to prevent most from passing across, but there are some with permissions to come and go.”

  “Like me?” Brenna asked.

  “No. I suppose by the grace of Hermes you slipped through the cracks. The defenders are often occupied and distracted.”

  Hermes was a Greek god, Brenna knew that much but wasn’t sure she got the reference. “Hermes?”

  “God of travelers and tricksters, among other things.”

  Was it just colloquial saying where Waldrom was from, or did he believe in ancient gods? Brenna let it go. Hermes and the guardians weren’t her focus. “So I’ve traveled into other dimensions without knowing it?”

  “Mm, yes. You have. You passed through several dimensions when you carried Victor here. My brothers and I have discussed it and we do not know how it happened. It should not be so easy as it is for you. Unless...” He shook his head. “But there it is; it’s how we met.”

  “Unless what?” she asked.

  “I shouldn't have said that. We would have to ask the gods why you were able to pass unimpeded. We have other questions also to ask of them. A list, in fact.”

  “I have so many questions too. Now you’re here in my dimension to…?”

  “To set things right between us,” Waldrom said. “I regret that I haven’t had time to visit at night after that first time, but there have been issues I’ve had to tend to that have prevented me from visiting.”

  “And your brothers?”

  “I know Corbin has also bonded with you. Believe me we have all wanted to return since then.”

  Brenna wasn’t sure she understood all the pieces of the puzzle yet, but she was doing her best to get a look at the big picture. Waldrom, the raven, was a prince. They all were, and they had to tend to business in another dimension. Brenna had crossed at an interface between dimensions and had happened upon a prince while he was injured and in bird form.

  It was a lot to take in.

  “So… so what about the broken wing?” Brenna asked. “I mean if that was your brother. You are a raven, yes?”

  “We bear the blood of corvids, yes. When you found Victor, he was injured in a dimension other than our own. We were… well, the details are confidential, hatchling, but you can rest assured that you did us a favor by rescuing him.”

  “Is he a spy?” Brenna asked, her eyes narrowed.

  “He is many things, but out of all of them, the only important thing is that he is your lover.”

  Brenna blushed. “You’re saying that to distract me.”

  She shifted a little closer. She was fully clothed, but Waldrom was naked. It was very hard to resist running her hands down his body. And yet, she'd never made love with this man, only his two brothers. And he was talking about his brother as her lover as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  “Maybe.” Waldrom smirked. “And it is no bad thing.”

  The corner of her lips curled upwards, tantalizing. Brenna leaned a little closer, struggling to find a balance between listening to the information she needed and enjoying the things she wanted.

  “So, what? There’s still a lot to understand. When I found him and brought him back to my dimension, is wing healed. Why? How?” Brenna wanted to know and understand so much but didn’t know the right questions to ask.

  “On the way back to your dimension, you passed through another with deep wells of magical power,” Waldrom explained. “He utilized it to repair his body. There's no big mystery; it's not strange to us. The dimension in which he was injured didn’t have power like that and this dimension, in which you live, also lacks that magic.”

  “You’re magical?”

  “The things we can do are not magical but natural for us.” Waldrom shot her a heavy look. “I can transform into a raven, hatchling. I believe by your standards, I am very magical.”

  “Oh.” Brenna bit down on her bottom lip. “Can you teach me?”

  “I’m not sure. I might ask the gods of Olympus.” Waldrom looked thoughtful, as if asking the gods was a real possibility but not as simple as saying a quick prayer.

  “Will that work?”

  “If they will listen. Presently, I will have the ear of Athena. She is most likely to assist. She has done it before.” He unlaced their fingers and ran a hand affectionately down Brenna’s side. Brenna shivered at the touch. “If you want to learn, there’s not a thing I won’t teach so long as you retain an interest in it.”

  Why did that sound so erotic? Waldrom's touch was as distracting as the sight of him.

  Brenna felt she could listen all day to the mysteries of Waldrom’s world. She’d never believed in magic before, but she’d seen a raven transform into a man before her eyes. Brenna couldn’t explain that away. Not unless she’d ingested a very potent illness when drinking from that stream.

  “I’d like to learn. But there are still things I need to understand.”

  Waldrom’s hand stopped wandering. He cupped the modest dip of Brenna’s waist. “I am ready to answer.”

  “So I understand how we met and the circumstances surrounding Victor's sudden recovery. But what about who you are? You’re a prince?”

  “I am the regal crown prince, and first heir to the throne.”

  And everything about him confirmed this, even if he was naked in her bedroom. From his majestic body language both in person and in her dream, to the way he spoke, he projected an air of serenity that came from his station.

  “And so…” Brenna struggled to get the next words out. “So that makes me wonder why you’d give me the time of day. And why share me with your brothers? I mean… we had sex the first night in front of your eyes, right? Shouldn’t it have ended there?”

  Afraid to ask because she feared the answer.

  Since she’d met the brothers in her dreams, her world had changed. Brenna had never felt as connected to them as she had any other person. If Waldrom were to shoot her down now—to say the connection was totally one-sided—Brenna wasn’t sure what she would do.

  Waldrom stroked in small circles against Brenna’s hip. The silence lingered.

  Finally, he spoke. “I expected only one night. You’re right. He wanted to repay his debt. We are close and we all had a debt to repay you for your kindness. We expected to meet and have it over with.”

  “So… so what?” Brenna bit her cheek to keep from breaking down. “What changed? You came back.”

  “I did.” Waldrom looked worried. “When he pulled us all into the dimension of his dreamscape, Victor saw into you more transparently than before. We all did. Even though you are numb to magic, you called to us. You spoke to our souls, and our souls spoke to yours in kind.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Waldrom looked Brenna in the eye. The air hung thick with unspoken meaning. “You are a fit for our souls, hatchling. Our counterpart. Our other half. And now we three are bound to you.”

  Brenna suspected she blushed all the way to her toes. The sincerity in Waldrom’s voice mixed with honey sweetness, and it made Brenna melt.

  “Your soulmate?” Brenna asked in a near whisper.

  “Yes, in both the purest and most abstract sense of the word.”

  Her soulmate. Brenna blinked back sudden tears. Was she destined to spend her life with someone as special as Waldrom a
nd his brothers? It didn't seem possible. A magical prince from another dimension.

  Their time together had been short, but the connection they shared was strong. If it was to last her whole life long, Brenna didn’t think she’d ever grow tired of spending time with her raven princes.

  Brenna reached out to caress Waldrom’s cheek. “There's only one of me and three of you. Is that usual to you?”

  Waldrom’s eyes closed. “No, not at all. We did not expect it. It is not unheard of, but in our world, just as in yours, marriage is usually between two people. But we pleased that it happened. It binds us all closer. Love shared among a larger group is always much celebrated.”

  Always appearing overly confident, Waldrom seemed so sure of the soulmate connection.

  The moment between them was tender, and Brenna never wanted it to end. She had her doubts as humans do. “I’m just a woman. Isn’t there a raven out there who’s a better match for you all?”

  Opening his eyes, Waldrom took Brenna’s hand in his own. He guided it to the scant space between their bodies and held it loosely over his heart. The heat from Waldrom’s chest warmed Brenna's hand from one side, the heat from her own body warming the other. “Never.”

  “And so I’m…”

  “You are the one for us. The only one, forever. You are the keeper of our souls. One day, should you wish it, we shall raise a royal family together and do the kingdom proud.”

  A crown princess. A royal family. Brenna was about eighty percent sure she must be dreaming, but the twenty percent of her that insisted this was real life refused to be shut down.

  “I don’t even know the first thing about where you live. I mean… I live here. Are we going to live here? In this dimension?”

  “No.” Waldrom’s gaze flicked down Brenna’s body, making her very aware that he had not touched her in the way his brothers had, then met her eye again. “I live in my dimension and tend to the matters of my world from there. I cannot do the business I need to do from abroad. My life is enveloped in policies and decorum. I am expected to uphold certain standards—one of which is that I must maintain a residence in the palace. Is that an issue for you?”