by Zach Collins
“My father has gone after them. They knocked her out after she put up a fight and took her out the front door. Damn it, they had someone inside helping them. We need to get control,” Blake yelled and went to the next Wizard who entered the hall ready for battle against them. Where the hell were they coming from?
“We need to find our mate,” Killian said quietly, no one needed to know yet that Sasha was their mate. It would cause even more of an uproar.
“I will find her,” Zade said confidently, pushing his pain to the back of his mind and focusing only on his mate. It seemed to help the constant ache. He looked at Killian, who nodded and said.
“I will follow you then,” Killian said quietly and watched as one of his mates shifted into a glorious tiger. Damn that was hot, he thought for a second before the cat bound out the door, Killian on his heels, knowing they had to find their other mate to make sure she was safe.
Zade picked up her scent and ran down the stairs to the front of the house, and then turned to the left, they found her in the gardens being dragged by several Rebels. Ryker and several of the Warlocks were in a battle with some of the Rebels who were trying to cover the man who held their mate.
Sasha’s head flopped around, and Zade knew she was still unconscious, and he smelled blood, his mate’s blood, and that was not acceptable. With a loud roar, Zade jumped over the Rebel line and went toward his mate.
He heard Killian cuss, but Zade could only ignore him for now, he had plenty of men helping him. Sasha was alone, hurt and at the hands of a madman.
The man who held Sasha narrowed his eyes, and then signaled to someone to his right, suddenly a group of men appeared in front of him, ready for battle, Zade’s head twisted to the side, two of the men he recognized as shifters.
What the fuck was this about? he thought a second before the men shifted into a jaguar, and a large wolf, then attacked. His tiger was huge, and he knew it—being the Second of the Shifter Stratum, he had to be. With a burst of power, Zade lunged forward and took on the wolf.
The jaguar, not wanting to be left out, jumped into the fray, and locked his jaw around the back of Zade’s neck, sinking his teeth in deeply. Shit, that was gonna leave a mark, he thought as he felt the blood trickle down his neck as he fought the wolf. With a swipe of his paw, he slashed the wolf's hind flank but not deep enough to hurt him.
The wolf turned quickly and grabbed his back leg and held on, they were working together, trying to pull him apart. His tiger felt the anger rush through him and shook his whole body with force. The jaguar tore out a chunk of his neck and the wolf's teeth scrapped down his leg as he was thrown off.
Zade turned quickly and attacked the wolf, who was already wounded, and clamped onto his neck, biting down hard. He heard bones break, and wanted to roar in victory when the wolf yelped loudly. He hung on to its neck, pushed with his front paws, and tore skin and hair from his back.
The jaguar attacked and Zade moved at the right time, making the jaguar hit the wolf in the side with his claws, raking a bloody path. The wolf fell to the side panting while Zade turned his attention to the cat.
When he heard the roar of his Alpha, Zade made a chuffing noise and then roared in response. Finally, he thought, knowing that Crispin had been busy. The lion jumped through the air and landed in front of the men who were getting ready to attack Zade, the non-shifters didn’t stand a chance this close to a lion shifter, they could not get enough room to throw a spell or use a sword—Crispin was on them as soon as he landed.
The jaguar looked at him warily, before attacking again, what the hell had made this cat turn against their King, it didn’t make sense, as Zade tore through the cats hold and swiped his paws repeatedly at the jaguar, causing a huge amount of damage. Zade felt bad for a second, he knew this cat's family. His wife was one of the sweetest members of their Stratum. It was a shame, but Zade couldn’t think of that right now, he needed to get to his mate, and protect her.
He watched the man who held Sasha, out of the corner of his eye, move closer to the edge of the garden where there were more men waiting for her to be handed off. Killian saw what was going on and began to fight around the edge, trying to make it to where Sasha was currently being taken.
The tiger snapped at the jaguar, it was a warning—back down or die—but with a desperate look in his eye, the jaguar attacked and Zade killed him with the swipe of his paw, cutting his jugular. The jaguar dropped and Zade moved forward with only one intent—get to his mate.
“Dion, hurry, we are going to miss the chance to get her,” the man yelled and Zade saw the creepy little man who Blake had been fighting. What did he want with his mate?
“You idiot, you better not have damaged her too much, I told you she needed to be protected. She is going to be my vessel, birthing the next genius generation,” Dion snapped loudly and Zade roared.
What the hell was the crazy asshole talking about? Birthing the next generation? Sasha was not pregnant. He would have scented it. It could only mean one thing, someone wanted to impregnate his mate—that would mean sex with his mate—which would mean he would have to kill someone. Kill Dion, he thought and ran for where the men were struggling to take Sasha away from him and Killian.
Dion turned when he heard the roar and frowned, the look turned to horror when he saw the huge tiger running right at him. With a squeak, the chicken-shit turned and ran, calling over his shoulder for his men to move quickly.
Refusing to allow that to happen, Zade ran faster, closing the distance between him and the man struggling with Sasha over his shoulder. Killian broke free of the man he was fighting at the same time.
Zade got to them first, and knocked the man down, making him release Sasha, flipping her and flinging her as he fell. Killian was in the right place and caught her, plucking her from the air, and falling and rolling with their unconscious mate as Zade took care of the man who dared to touch her. Dion was getting away, but neither of them cared right now. Sasha was what was important.
Zade shifted when he finished and ran to where Killian had laid their mate down. She was bleeding from her side and head. Her face bruised as they saw the fight she put up to get away from the Rebels. Someone had stabbed her in the side during the fight.
“We need to get her to the medical wing,” Killian said brusquely. “You too, your back is torn up.”
Zade nodded, pushed himself up, and helped carry their mate back inside. Ryker and the others called out as they walked by, but they didn’t stop until they had her in the medical wing. When they finally laid her on the table, Zade allowed himself to breath, then the pain hit him again, and his last thought was, FUCKIN' A—NOT AGAIN.
“MA, stop!” Sasha yelled as her mother fussed around her. After she had healed her, it had been like this. Her mother fluffed her pillow, ordered her food, and made sure she was cleaned up. It was all her brothers' fault.
When her father and brothers walked into the medical room from the fight, they had been pissed when they saw Sasha—it sucked. They were dismayed at their parents' poor daughter, their sister, being hurt.
“Young lady, you will lay there and shut it, I am trying to make sure that your hair and stuff are clean from blood. If your father sees you like that again, I am worried he will have a heart attack. Seeing you hurt and bleeding, it took years off my life,” Bria said and Sasha rolled her eyes. Granted she had never been hurt like this before, but still, a bit over-dramatic.
“Fine, whatever, when are they coming back to brief me,” Sasha said and laid back.
“What are you talking about?” Bria said.
“The briefing, I want to be in on it,” Sasha declared stubbornly.
“Oh no, you will not,” Bria argued.
“It was me they were trying to take and impregnate with that bastard’s child. There is no way I will not be in on this,” Sasha yelled and winced when she realized whoever was in the other rooms could probably hear her.
“That's why you are not going to be in
on the briefing. You will rest and get well first. I don’t have time to heal you again. I'm too busy. I need to go and talk to Zade, he is in the next room,” Bria said and turned her back, thank goodness. If not, she would have seen her daughter stiffen and flinch at the thought of Zade being hurt.
“Oh, did he get hurt in the fight?” Sasha asked politely and then grimaced at how she sounded.
“Yes and no, he was sick beforehand, then joined the fight for some strange reason and received a few minor injuries, but he is healing fine,” Bria said absently and then turned to her daughter, who cleared any emotion from her face. “Just relax.”
Sasha waited and heard her mother in the next room. She waved a hand and frowned when she heard what her mother was telling the shifter.
“It was the mating heat, same as we saw with Crispin, only you had it much worse, I am not sure why, but you are obviously around your mate, you need to claim him. Plus, you have the other injuries. If you mated it would help,” Bria said gently.
“Are you sure that is all? I have felt the pull before and it was nothing like this,” Zade murmured.
Sasha leaned back on the pillow and folded her arms, oh really? He felt the pull before. What the fuck was that about? She knew that Zade and Killian were her mates, she had felt it, but so far, she had not done anything about it. She needed time to think about this—not one, but two men. She was not sure how to deal with it. She had to be cautious because when she looked at the men, she could so see losing herself in the two of them. That worried her most.
She thought she had more time to figure this out, but it seemed as if her days were numbered when she looked at things. Crispin had been in terrible pain when the mating heat hit him, she didn’t want Zade to suffer, but she needed to figure a few things out first.
Chapter Three
“Are you okay?” Killian asked quietly. The men were walking back to Zade’s room to pack his things up.
While Zade had been in the hospital, Killian told Bortant that he found his mates, the man had been pissed and stormed off. Killian had not seen hide nor hair of him since. Zade and Sasha were his mates, and therefore his Seconds. Now that Zane healed, he was ready to move on. Crispin was happy for him and supported his mating, although he still didn’t know about the tri-mating.
A new Second to the Shifter Stratum was going to be chosen when they could return to their home, until then, Chase was filling in on his duties. Currently, Zade was moving from his set of rooms to the Fae’s in hopes of making the transition smoother.
“Fine, just a little sore still, and the mating heat is better now that my cat sees us together,” Zade said.
“There is a meeting tomorrow with the others, we will be able to see Sasha then. It has been damn hard not to see her, but you know as well as I do, if we want to win her trust, we have to wait.” Killian laughed.
“Yeah, I needed time to figure this whole thing out anyway,” Zade said.
They continued to talk as they moved Zade’s things, getting to know each other and basically thinking of a plan to deal with Sasha. She refused to see them as her mates yet. They moved Zade’s things and then ordered a meal from the kitchen, deciding to remain in their rooms for the night so they could get to know one another.
They finished their meal with comfortable conversation, and then Zade helped Killian clean up the dishes and the kitchen. They seemed to work well together, like they were very in tune with each other. When one moved, the other matched his movements. They joked about who was going to wash and who was going to dry. It was very domesticated.
When they were done, Killian turned to him, looked at him with passion in his eyes, and said, "How about we go and watch a little television?"
Zade shrugged and followed the other man into the living room he had seen when he entered the suite of rooms. It was very tastefully decorated in deep greens and blues. The couch was huge and plush with a lot of pillows all over it. Killian sat in the middle, leaving him a choice of either side to sit, or move to the large chair that was on the side.
Zade decided he wanted to be close to the man and sat down next to him, touching his thigh as he sat. Zade felt the tingle of awareness at being this close to Killian. The pull to him so strong.
Killian had the remote in his hand and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels until they agreed to watch the sports channel. They talked about the teams and were both surprised that they liked the same teams and sports. Football season was going to be fun, Zade thought.
Killian let his hand drift over and hold Zade's as they talked. He was shocked that he didn’t feel the awkwardness that you would on a first date, or with someone you just met. Touching him seemed natural to Killian.
"So, you said that you had to be with both your mates in order for us to claim you," Zade said, clearing his throat a little. Killian would not be able to claim a true triad mating unless they did.
"That’s just claiming, it has nothing to do with sex,” Killian laughed.
"Good," Zade said and leaned over and kissed him. He pulled his head firmly toward him, letting him know that he wanted him badly.
Killian moaned into his mouth and then opened his lips, allowing Zade to explore his mouth. The kiss deepened and they dueled with their tongues, both seeming to fight for the best angle.
When Killian pulled back and saw Zade's eyes, he grinned. They turned yellow with a little green and he could swear he felt the heat of the fire that seemed to radiate from them. They actually glowed at him, and then Zade made a strange noise. If he had time to think, Killian would have compared it to a growl and a purr at the same time.
Zade captured his lips again and leaned forward, forcing him back against the cushions of the couch. He wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew—he was lying on the couch with Zade sprawled on top of him. They were about the same size, so they fit perfectly together.
Zade felt Killian grind his cock against his thigh, and he reached down and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer.
The man was sex on a stick, and he was ready to lick him up. Zade pushed back a little, pulled Killian’s shirt up, and flung it off. He ran his hands across his chest and sighed when he felt the rippling muscles. Killian held so much power, Zade could feel it under his hands as he smoothed them over his chest. He pushed him until they lay side-by-side, and then Zade moved down a little and captured Killian’s nipple in his mouth.
Killian groaned and held the back of his head. "Ah, yeah, you feel so good. I have never felt like this before with anyone. I am so lucky to have found you."
Zade smiled, then nipped at his skin and looked up. "I need you."
Killian pulled Zade's shirt up and over his head until they were chest-to-chest. "Fuck yeah," Killian said as he tossed the shirt on the floor.
Killian smelled like crisp, clean mountain air. He leaned in, kissed him slowly, and felt him run his hands down his back, exploring him.
Suddenly, Zade felt his impatience rise from feeling Killian's naked form against his, and he moved his hands down and began to undress both of them at the same time. First unbuttoning his pants and then doing the same to Killian. He kicked off his shoes and then used his own feet to help Killian get his sandals off.
Slowly but easily, their clothes began to fall off them while they kissed each other and murmured encouraging words at the same time.
When they were finally naked, Zade let out a breath of relief, pulled Killian back over him, and just felt. He explored his back and hips, his chest and ass. He felt his growing erection against his own stomach. He was almost afraid to look down because of the size he was feeling. Shit, the man was hung like a bear. Zade wanted to laugh at his own joke, but the feelings he was having prevented him from even taking a deep breath, let alone form two words together.
Killian looked into Zade’s eyes, “Would you like to move this to my bedroom?”
“I’d like that a lot,” Zade answered.
Killia
n stood and then reached out a hand to Zade. They walked together down the hall kissing and touching each other along the way.
Killian squeezed Zade ass and gave him a smacking kiss. Turning back to the bed, he took a running jump and dove, landing on the bed. Looking back at Zade, he said, “Get over here, I really need to suck you off in this bed.”
At that remark, Zade made another growly purr in his throat. “Then I’m going to suck you off at the same time.” And he leapt on to the bed in one bound. He positioned himself on his left side in a sixty-nine position from Killian.
Killian grabbed Zade's cock in his right hand. He immediately began to lick down the sides to lubricate the movements of his hand.
Zade groaned at the feeling of Killian going down on him, and he was pleased to hear some groaning coming from Killian as well. He immediately took in as much of his mate’s cock as he could and swallowed once, then twice, deep-throating him. He knew Killian loved it, and he loved the way Killian purred around his own cock.
It seemed like they were both on the same page because they each pulled at the other's balls to stave off coming, making the moment last. Then he felt Killian reaching between his legs and rimming his back hole. Damn that felt good. He decided to copy Killian's actions and see if he could find his mate’s internal happy spot. Within moments both of them were trying desperately to hold off, to make the wonderful feelings last. They could not and they both felt the tingling at the base of their spines, they started thrusting into each other’s mouths.
Zade felt Killian starting to come just as he was and took the deepest breath he could so he could deep-throat Killian again just as he began to lose it. He wanted to know what Killian tasted like. Then they were both coming, with groans, moans, and growls.
"I have never come that hard before," Killian whispered as he fell over on his back.
Zade chuckled deeply and said, "Me neither."
"Give me a few minutes to recover, and we can have the bottom and top discussion.” He heard Zade chuckle at that.
