Triskele (The TriAlpha Chronicles Book 2)

by Serena Akeroyd

  Thalia gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “The prophecy.”

  “Aye.”

  “Sweet Gods, this is insane.”

  He couldn’t contain his laughter. “You already said that.”

  “I know, but that’s because it’s batshit.”

  “Perhaps.” He watched as she ran her hands through her hair, rubbing at the crown with the tips of her fingers, mussing up the white gold locks. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I don’t have all the answers. I will always tell you what I know, and even though that might seem like a lot, it isn’t.”

  She blinked at that. “The Elders say the Goddess, or Mother as we also call her, talks to them. Is that a lie?”

  “No,” he said slowly, staring out over the distance where the sea and sky merged, the two distinct blues forever separate. “After the ten commandments, the Fae were dealt another punishing blow. Terra chose to speak to the humans, she knew religion was the way to police their numbers. Whether it was a miscalculation or intended, humans can procreate with quantities that require ingrained policing. It was vital she instill morals in them, morals they couldn’t learn without the touch of a deity setting them in stone.”

  “Literally,” Thalia said drily. “If that Charlton Heston movie is anything to go by.”

  “It’s a relief to see that the youth of today are getting their knowledge from Hollywood movies,” he retorted with a snort. When she chuckled, he just rolled his eyes. “But yes. Literally. Then, she realized the supernaturals were the same. They had powers that made them infinitely more dangerous than the humans, and they too required help. But, as they were blessed in different ways, the Fae have come to believe that she knew they needed more in-depth help with matters that humans would never be affected by.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Thalia whispered slowly. “If any of this could ever make sense.”

  “It is a strange tale, that is true. The long and the short of it is, the Fae have been seeking a way to commune with Terra for a long time, and the prophecy is the way to do that.

  “We’ve been seeking a child, born of three, mated to three, and, we believe, she will bear three.”

  “And you think that’s me?”

  “I did. That’s why I came here,” he told her simply, his gaze shifting from the horizon and over to her once more. With their gazes holding, he carried on, “I came for the prophecy, Thalia, but that’s not why I’m still here.”

  In his periphery, he saw her swallow. “Why are you here then?”

  “Because you’re my mate.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe you don’t care about the prophecy anymore?”

  He winced a little. “I’m Fae, Thalia. My people were cast out, and we’re dying. We need our Mother to bring us back to the fold. That desperation, the need and urgency my people all feel, is as ingrained in me as your She-Wolf is in you. If you are the prophecy, then I shall rejoice, but it’s no longer the reason for my being here.

  “If it were, and I had a doubt you weren’t what I thought you were a few short days ago, I would have left by now. But I can’t do that. For you are mine.”

  Theo watched as she licked her lips, then she surprised him by asking, “Is Zeus real?”

  He blinked. “Aye.”

  “But your mother rules?”

  “Yes. Again, humans are obsessed with men. She is Hera. She rules the council, and she is mated to Zeus, although those are not their names.”

  “Where do the names come from?”

  He shrugged. “Where do any names come from? The humans created them.”

  “What are their real names?”

  Theo could no longer help himself. He twisted slightly and raised a hand. Cupping her cheek, he sighed out a breath when she didn’t pull back from him. She didn’t even stiffen. If anything, she hesitated for a split second and relaxed into his hold, pressing her cheek to his palm.

  The breath shuddered from his lungs, but he managed to get out, “Mother’s name is Isaura. Father is Kane.”

  He watched her lick her lips. “And she’s the boss?”

  He snorted. “Yes. She’s Queen. Although, I’m not sure it works that way in the bedroom.”

  She pulled a face. “Ew. Who wants to think of their parents in the sack?”

  “After twelve thousand years,” he said with a grin, “they become less like your parents.”

  “They do? How come?”

  Shrugging, Theo murmured, “I’ve been adult longer than I was a child. I will always respect them, their judgements and beliefs. They will always be wiser than I am for they have seen more than I could begin to imagine. But we are equals in the eyes of Terra. That is good enough for me.”

  “So, she’s Queen of the Fae, but that’s not dictated by Terra?”

  She was a perceptive little thing, Theo noted with some amusement. “No. Terra had nothing to do with it.” When she narrowed her eyes, he knew he was about to be peppered with more questions so he swiped his thumb along her mouth and pressed down gently on her lips. “That tale is for another time.” He didn’t want to speak of war, not now. Not when she was close, and she wasn’t pushing him away.

  Though her mouth twisted under his thumb, she didn’t argue. Instead, she nodded her understanding.

  “I didn’t even know I was looking for you,” he said, and he knew his tone was laced with the amazement he felt at having her here.

  “May I ask you something?”

  He knew his bemusement bled through because her lips twitched when he just gaped at her. Then, when she stayed silent, waiting on his answer, he retorted, “We’ve just gone through the creation story, and I’ve told you things few Lykens know about, yeah, you can ask me anything, Thalia. Anything you want.”

  She swallowed. “You know the visions I had?”

  Suddenly, he knew where she was going. “You saw me with a man.”

  Her nod was hesitant. “I did. For years. I wasn’t sure who it was, but I know Mikkel and Rafe are straight, and you… not that you’re not very hetero—” Thalia broke off, uncertainty making her shield her gaze from him.

  Was this why she’d been evading the connection with him?

  “Fluid is the word you’re seeking,” he told her quietly.

  She pondered that a second. “Okay. Fluid. Not gay?”

  “No. Not gay,” he assured her, watching as she released a shaky breath that twisted his insides.

  “I’ve heard of mate bonds that aren’t perfect,” she told him quietly, turning in her seat, her body language opening up more as she moved. “Males mated to other males, females to females, when they’re not even gay.”

  “Even Terra makes mistakes. Why do you think Miley Cyrus is a huge star and Tesla died in poverty?”

  She blinked. “That’s kind of random.”

  His lips twitched. “Maybe. But I knew Tesla. He was an odd man, for sure, but he was a good man too. But then, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and his were the best.”

  Thalia cleared her throat. “You’ve no idea how much I want to discuss that with you. I really, truly do, but I’m kind of interested in us right now, you know?”

  “I know. Sorry. My mind wandered.”

  “Did you love him?” she asked quietly, and the tone and the question hurt something inside him. The hurt was for her, for him, and for Brian. Brian, who he’d loved with all he was capable of, and who, with Thalia’s entry into his world, Theo realized, had been shortchanged.

  When Thalia and he were bound, Theo knew their connection would be beyond anything even his imagination was capable of conjuring.

  But, how to answer?

  When he hesitated, she stumbled on, “You were with him a long time.”

  “We were together for what feels like a lifetime,” Theo murmured. “But it was different. We were never faithful. That wasn’t how we worked. It didn’t stop me from loving him though.”

  “Were?”

  Theo winced at the r
elief in her voice. She’d thought he was still with Brian.

  Her reticence with him, her inability to open up to him was beginning to make sense.

  Dammit!

  What a fool he’d been.

  Her visions! She’d have seen him with Brian and other females; no wonder she felt uncertain around him.

  “Were,” he confirmed softly, sadly. “Brian died. He’s on the wheel of souls now, maybe gracing some lucky child with a part of his beautiful spirit.”

  “I’m sorry, Theo,” she whispered, her hand reaching for the one he still had on his lap. At her touch, his wings ruffled, making her jump. Then, she surprised him. She settled closer to him, and his wings curved tighter about her, cocooning her in a gentle clasp.

  Her scent filled the air and every part of him that was male stood to attention.

  “Thank you,” he told her quietly, staring ahead once more as he realized his grief had lessened in just the few days she’d been in his life. A notion that made him feel an insurmountable amount of guilt.

  Thalia could never replace Brian because, in comparison, there was nothing to replace.

  A human lover, a partner, though one Theo had adored, was nothing in comparison to a mate.

  Thalia would own his very soul when they bonded. That kind of connection was impossible to replicate.

  Theo released a shaky sigh, realizing belatedly that she was trying to comfort him. She’d turned her face into his arm, and with the hand she held, her thumb was swiping over the back of his fingers in a gentle caress.

  “We’re going to change the world, Thalia. You know that, don’t you?” When she stayed silent, he murmured, “Mikkel, Rafe, you and me… everything’s about to change, and we’re on the brink of that.”

  “I don’t want to think about it,” she said quietly.

  “You’re young,” he told her, his voice soothing, and he’d admit to no one that he used glamor to ease her distress.

  How did he know she was distressed?

  He could feel her She-Wolf roaming around under the surface. In his mind’s eye, through his stirring connection with her, he could see her pacing and turning in circles, eager to get out, to be let loose. To attack whatever was distressing the human.

  Theo turned his head and pressed a kiss to her crown. “In comparison to you, I’ve lived a few thousand lifetimes. It skews things.”

  He let her ponder that, then, she surprised him by asking, “Did your dad have sex with a swan?”

  He had to laugh at that, and it was wonderfully freeing to do so. To feel genuine humor, to feel something at long last.

  In his heart, he waved farewell to Brian. He thanked the man, he blessed him with all the magic he had in his veins, for Brian had eased the hardship of this last century, had made life worth living when Theo had been at his lowest. Without Brian, he might not have made it another decade, never mind another four.

  With laughter bubbling from him, he released the tight grasp grief had had on his heart, his soul, and wished his lover well.

  14

  Mikkel

  Mikkel put his hands on his hips and glowered at Louis. “You can’t be serious.”

  But the old man was. He knew it like he knew he didn’t have an ounce of Lyken blood in his veins.

  “It’s a full moon. We have to run tonight,” Louis retorted, stubborn as ever.

  Mikkel grunted, irritated beyond belief. For fuck’s sake, the day he decided to finally fucking make a move on his woman, and it was a fucking full fucking moon.

  And if he could have shoved more ‘fuckings’ in there, he totally would have.

  Running a hand over his head, he cursed under his breath.

  He really didn’t want to think it was a territorial move, but it was a territorial move that drove him to claim her. Maybe it was a dickish thing to do, but the sight of her in Rafe’s arms and touching Theo had driven him to distraction.

  Truth was, that distraction had made him realize something.

  While he’d been sat over in the corner with his thumb up his ass, all he’d been doing was avoiding the goddamn inevitable.

  He felt her in his fucking bones. Felt her so deep inside his being that fighting it was more than just churlish, it made him a fucking idiot.

  “What is it, boy?” Louis demanded, earning himself a grunt from Mikkel.

  Jesus, he hated when Louis called him a boy. “I was going to claim Thalia tonight,” he retorted, deciding to go with the truth as he stomped from one side of the study to the other.

  Having left Theo and Thalia alone to have a conversation they apparently needed to have privately, he’d decided to storm over to Louis’s office. Though she hadn’t said much, he’d heard her talking to Louis, here and there, about some human killings up in DC. With fuck all else to do, he’d figured now was as good a time as any to discuss that shit with the old TriAlpha.

  If it involved humans, then it was his territory, and he deserved to be involved. Why Thalia hadn’t raised the subject herself was a testimony to how Theo’s arrival had messed with her head.

  The past week had been a real mindfuck. Even he, well accustomed to living, fighting, and surviving in the worst war zones on the planet, was reeling from all the hits.

  And it was just going to keep on coming, that he knew.

  One punch after another.

  They’d never stop.

  Never, not while he was mated to Thalia. And maybe it made him a coward, because he knew that was one of the reasons why he’d maintained distance between them. Had chosen not to consummate the bond.

  With Thalia, life would never be boring, but it would also never be peaceful.

  At least, that was what he’d figured. Over these past few days, he’d slept with her. Had lain there in the silence as she slumbered, as she awoke. As she stayed quiet, snuggling into Rafe’s side and not his because he’d shoved a wall between them like an asshole.

  He let out another sigh.

  “I wanted to claim her tonight,” he repeated, his voice strident.

  Silence fell at his statement, then Louis grunted. “About time. Thought you were going to leave her hanging until the next Millennium.”

  He scowled over at the man who had once led the National Pack, who held more power in his pinkie as a retiree, than most Generals did while on active duty. For all that, Mikkel was too accustomed to the man to bow and scrape.

  “I had to think things through.”

  “She’s your mate, what’s to think through?”

  When it was phrased like that, he had to ask himself what the hell he’d been waiting for. Rafe had thrown the question to him several times before Theo had made an appearance in their lives and had totally fucked things up. As if Thalia didn’t have enough on her plate with one prophecy to answer to, now she had two.

  Double the trouble or what?

  “I’m human. I like being in human society.”

  Louis snorted. “You’re not in human society.”

  That had him scowling again. “What the fuck does that mean?” he demanded, turning to face the older man so he could spotlight him in his anger.

  Seated behind a wide plantation desk, Louis looked calmer than ever. His failure to react to his ire made Mikkel grit his teeth. “It means, your team… they’re all Lykens. They just don’t talk about it. They don’t know you’re a part of the pack—and neither did you. Until now.”

  For a second, his throat closed, then he bit off, “I’m not part of any pack.”

  Regret laced Louis’s features for a second. “I regret that. Sincerely.” He rubbed his jaw. “Makes me wonder…” He shook his head before Mikkel could start to ask what the man wondered. “Your team is one hundred per cent Lyken. You’ve been surrounded by supernaturals since you enlisted—I made sure of that.”

  For a second, Mikkel wasn’t sure whether to be angrier or just plain confused. “I don’t understand,” he admitted, shaking his head in bewilderment.

  “Sometimes, it behoove
s us to funnel Lykens into strategic teams in the human Armed Forces. I kept you in the dark because I knew you’d view it as some kind of nepotism, considering how quickly you soared through the ranks—a feat not engineered by me, I want to add—I knew that was a possibility anyway. But, considering the situations your team found itself in, I knew it was wise to take precautions. Having a team leader who knew what was what, I figured you wouldn’t be surprised if a man went down and shifted by accident.”

  Mikkel, feeling like he had water plugging his ears, shook his head. “They never let on.”

  “Why would they? I told you, they didn’t know you were aware of our culture, just like you don’t know what breed they are. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

  “But why? Why go to such lengths?”

  For a second, Louis just stared at him, then he admitted on a sigh, “I don’t know why.” Wanting to call bullshit on that, the older man frowned down at his desk as he tapped his pen against the leather-padded surface. In the background, Mikkel could hear a clock ticking, and it echoed around the room—that was how silent it was.

  Unlike the rest of the house, at least as far as he was aware, this seemed to be the only space that was in anyway traditional. Everywhere else, more modern tastes had been embraced, but here, it was like being in a study in a stately home in the UK.

  It suited Louis. He was old enough to probably have had that two hundred year old plantation desk since it was first built.

  “I’ve always had a good feeling about you,” Louis murmured. “When I met you that first time, something clicked. You were young and foolish, of course. If memory serves, you were heading out to football training. Your stepfather told me how good a boy you were. How smart. Stephen is very proud of you.”

  “I know he is,” Mikkel said, his tone thick with the truth of that.

  “He always talks about you, probably more than he does his own blood,” Louis commented, his tone musing. “But I can understand. There’s something about you, Mikkel. I don’t know what, but in a country of soldiers, I chose you to spearhead my Alpha team. I had Lykens, unbelievably strong ones who could have headed it, but no. I picked you. I knew it would be in safe hands.”