Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  Thaniel sat on the floor in the circle of their arms and by the silence in the room, he suddenly realized they knew, and horrified shame filled him.

  “No, Thaniel,” Tierney crooned, petting him.

  “The bastard never reached out to help you,” Jax said between gritted teeth, and something in his voice told Thaniel that his friend understood all too well.

  “Yeah,” he whispered, still not looking at them, but when the next silence became deafening, he slowly raised his eyes. His mouth dropped open to see the tears streaming down both of their faces.

  After that, they took him to bed and as he lay there with both Tierney’s and Jax’s arms locked around him, holding him, with sudden insight, Thaniel finally realized this was where his heart was. He was home.

  But all too soon, the whole day became overwhelming again. So much had happened and he still didn’t know what to think of it all. Tierney continued to run her hand up and down his arm. Thaniel met her eyes. His heart hitched when she gave him a sad little smile as if she understood what he was feeling, and he supposed she did. Now though, that thought didn’t bother him so much for some reason. He felt like he was right where he was supposed to be. Yet, he knew it wouldn’t last.

  “You were pretty impressive out there,” she said, and the pride, the love, shining in her eyes had his face turning red.

  “I don’t even know how I shifted into—” What was it he shifted into? It wasn’t his leopard form.

  “Your half-form,” Jax and Tierney said.

  “Kyrian said he helped you out,” Tierney prompted and Thaniel nodded.

  “Yes, Kyrian did some kind of spell on me to make it quicker and less painful, but he also told me I needed to accept my beast, and I guess he was right. When I was with the Were-leopards, George told me that since I already had the Were-leopard gene, I just needed to be bitten to start shifting.”

  “So if Elianna hadn’t bitten you, you’d still be human,” Tierney said and blew out a breath. “And, fighting the shift, is what made it painful for you?”

  Thaniel nodded and thought about that evening’s shift. “But this time I changed back with clothes on—” he said stunned, they both nodded and Tierney hugged him close. “You sure did.” Then she lay her head next to his.

  With a smile, Thaniel closed his eyes. He knew it wouldn’t last, but it felt so good to be here with them. He hadn’t felt so loved in years.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Spy Cat

  THE TOMLEE'S CLAWS retracted and he shifted back into human form. Thaniel wasn’t the only one who could do a half-shift, he thought gleefully as he smirked at the lifeless body of his useless snitch. Bending down, he slid the alley cat’s phone from the piece of shit’s pocket. Stepping away from the sticky mess on the ground, he slid the back of the phone open, pulled the sim card out and then tossed the phone into the nearby dumpster. Then, breaking the card into two pieces, he slid them into his pocket to be disposed of later.

  Quickly, he inspected his suit, making sure he didn’t have any blood anywhere on him. Once assured he was spatter free, he made his way carefully back down the dark alley to the mouth where he paused.

  A quick glance around showed that there wasn’t too many people about, and no one seemed to be paying him the least bit of attention.

  Still, he drew the baseball hat he wore lower over his face, took another look around and then made his way over to his black Saab, unlocked the car and climbed in.

  A moment later, he pulled out and drove away, glancing in the rearview mirror. Again, he didn’t notice anyone watching. With a grin, he pulled the baseball cap off and tossed it in the passenger seat. Good, one less problem to deal with! Still, although his anger hadn’t completely gone away over the whole fiasco with Thaniel and Elianna, at least his beast was sated and happily purring inside of him after his feast.

  ***

  TIERNEY RAISED HERSELF up on her elbow and looked at Jax after Thaniel’s breathing evened out, telling them he was asleep.

  “Man, he was spectacular when he stood up to his father,” Jax said.

  “Yes, he was, but it hurt him.” Tierney sniffed back her tears, hating how weepy she’d gotten.

  Jax had also raised up onto his elbow and now he nodded. “I hate to see him hurting, but he was so brave. He’d never have been able to do what he did tonight, a few weeks ago.”

  “No, you’re right.” Back then he’d been a real mess, but he’d come so far. The emotion in Jax’s eyes as he gazed at Thaniel melted her heart. “You were right,” she said, referring to when Jax said that Thaniel loved them.

  “I know.” He gave her a teasing smile, then it dissolved as he studied their sleeping friend again.

  Tierney turned her gaze back on Thaniel as well. “I just want him to be happy, you know, find his own mate, someone to love who will love him back.”

  “Yeah, I know. I want that for him too,” Jax said.

  Tierney bit the inside of her cheek “I had an interesting conversation with Dad the other day.”

  She waited while Jax raised his eyes to hers, and then swallowed deeply. “He … ah … told me something.” She wasn’t sure where she was going with this, or why she was even telling him, but for some reason, she did. When Jax didn’t say anything, she continued. “Do you remember the Dracones families back in Razukeen?”

  “I guess. But what am I supposed to remember about them?” he asked.

  Now she chewed on her lower lip until Jax groaned. “Would you just stop? You are driving me crazy.”

  Tierney blushed and let her lip go. “It’s kinda weird.” At Jax’s glare she sighed. “Dad said that they often had multiple mates, not just one.”

  Jax frowned and Tierney’s heart began to plummet until he spoke. “I think I remember that … it was pretty common.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Dad said too. He said that here that kind of thing is typically frowned on, but that for us, for Dracones … it is normal to love more than one mate,” she said, worried about what he’d think.

  As Jax continued to stare down at Thaniel, Tierney began to panic until he met her gaze. “It makes so much sense,” he said, and Tierney gaped at him.

  “I know you said that you know what I feel for him, that you feel the same way, but I’m having a hard time understanding it myself,” she said.

  “Yeah, me too,” he said with a sigh.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s definitely weird.”

  Tierney swallowed deeply. “You also know how much you mean to me, right?” she asked.

  Jax’s eyes softened as he gazed at her and nodded. “I do.”

  Tierney swallowed deeply. “Good.”

  Jax held her gaze. “I really care about him, and this afternoon scared me, the thought of something happening to him, but you … I’d die without you, Tierney, I don’t know what I’d do if you—” He gazed at Thaniel and the tension she felt coming from him set her heart thumping crazily.

  “It’s fine, love, I get it, and I’m not going anywhere,” she said, knowing he feared losing her in any way, even to Thaniel. With all he’d been through when he was younger, she couldn’t blame him. “Jax, you are my soul mate. My feelings for you only grow stronger, and what I feel for Thaniel won’t ever change that—”

  Jax held up his hand to her and after a slight hesitation, she took it. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes at the thought of hurting her mate, the other half of her soul.

  “I know that, I just … I’m sorry,” he began. He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them, the emotions in them made her breath catch. “I didn’t mean … I don’t know what I mean. I know how you feel about me and how you feel about him, I just … my heart knows, but my mind—” He paused and Tierney could almost see him collecting his thoughts, trying to find the words he was looking for. “Besides, you know I’m not … I’ve never, ah … been into men.”

  “Oh, love, I know,” she said with a gentle smile,
feeling his confusion.

  Jax sighed as he gazed once more at Thaniel. Finally, he raised his eyes to hers. “I too have these feelings and I don’t understand them.” He smoothed the hair back from Kitty’s eye. “What I feel for him … I love him and not like I love Sami. I just … I don’t see him as a guy. I mean—I do, but …” Frustrated with trying to explain, he stopped.

  Tierney understood what he was trying to say. “You just see him as someone you love.”

  “Yeah,” he said, and with a nod, he met her gaze. “It’s just kind of a lot to wrap my head around.”

  “I know.” She looked down at Thaniel again. “I’ve been having a hard time accepting my feelings for him,” she said, staring at Jax while their love swirled between them. “I just love you so deeply and have for so long, that it is hard for me to accept that I can love someone else as well.”

  “I guess if I couldn’t feel what you do, I might be jealous, but because I can, and I feel pretty much the same way—” Jax shrugged and Tierney wished she could hug him tight. He was so wonderful, so perfect for her.

  Gods, why had it taken them so long to get together? But she knew why. Her sweet, precious mate had been so sure he’d hurt her. The idiot.

  “Yeah, I know I’m an idiot,” he said, and Tierney smirked at him then ran her hand down Thaniel’s hair again.

  “His soul is so pure, so beautiful, just like the rest of him.”

  “Yeah, it is … and he’s begun to fill out too! Did you see the muscles on him when he changed his shirt earlier?” Jax asked, eyes wide with shock.

  Tierney smiled and nodded. She had noticed, but didn’t want Jax to know she noticed. They both chuckled then Jax grew serious and he didn’t look at her. “I just … I don’t know that I could ever—” He stopped.

  Tierney reached out and cupped her mate’s face. “I know, love, and that’s perfectly fine,” she said, knowing he was in a dark place once more, thinking about his own abuse. “Besides, it really is a moot point,” she added sadly.

  “Why? What do you mean?” Jax asked.

  “He told Elianna he’d mate her, remember?” she said, feeling like her heart was breaking all over again.

  “Yeah—that’s fucked up. Who knows, maybe they will figure it out and be happy,” Jax suggested and wiggled his eyebrows.

  Tierney snorted. “Yeah, and maybe I’m Santa Claus.”

  Jax grinned. “I could try to find you a costume. Could you be the Easter bunny too? With a cute little fluffy white tail?”

  “Right, and you are a dragon, you’d try to eat me.” She grinned and raised her eyebrows.

  “Oh yeah, definitely,” he said suggestively and she let out a laugh.

  “You’ll have to catch me first, rabbits are fast—” She grinned and Jax groaned, and then fell back onto the bed.

  “Okay, stop. You’re killing me here, and my balls are turning blue.”

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Aftermath

  THANIEL AWOKE the next morning to find both Tierney and Jax up on their elbows, smiling down at him. He had a brief moment of panic and glanced down at the blanket covering his body.

  “You’re still dressed,” Tierney reassured him and grinned.

  Thaniel felt himself blush, but was happy to realize that he hadn’t dreamed it. He had actually done it, shifted into a half-form in a split second and then later he had shifted back with no conscious thought. On top of it, he’d shifted back wearing clothes. How awesome was that? “I think I’m getting used to being a Were-leopard.”

  Tierney smiled and nodded. “I know it wasn’t easy for you, but you were so amazing yesterday.”

  Hearing the awe in her voice, Thaniel blinked, surprised. Jax nodding his agreement as well. Then reality set in.

  Where he got the courage to do what he had the night before, he didn’t know. “I was just so angry,” he said, and swallowed deeply. Yeah, he’d been beyond angry, and just completely done. Other than on the streets, and now with Tierney and Jax, someone was always trying to control his life and there was no way he was going back to that. He’d rather die than be subjected to that again. “I’m tired of being scared all the time,” he whispered and Tierney sniffled, then she reached down and hugged him.

  Thaniel’s heart soared. It felt so good to be hugged, to feel loved. Though he’d craved it all his life, he’d forgotten what it felt like. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, embarrassing him, but when he looked up at Jax, he saw tears on his face as well.

  Then Jax reached down and laid his hand on Thaniel’s shoulder. “You don’t need to be scared around here anymore.”

  Heart overflowing with love, he heard Tierney sniffle as she pulled away, then she smiled at him and wiped her eyes. “Do you know how long I’ve ached to hug you?” she asked.

  Feeling himself turning red, he shrugged and Tierney blew out a breath. “Well, I’m just glad you’re over your aversion.”

  Jax laughed and Thaniel felt a smile tugging at his lips. Then his stomach gave a loud rumble. They all laughed again and he marveled. When had he last laughed? He had no idea.

  He quickly sobered though as he realized that all too soon he’d have to leave this bed. As generous as Tierney and Jax had been to let him sleep at the bottom of their bed, they’d done it because they knew he didn’t want to be alone, and while that hadn’t changed, he knew he could no longer take advantage of it. They were a newly mated couple and deserved some privacy.

  Not only mated, but bonded and he’d learned that the bond lent them a very special closeness. A sharing of the soul that tied them together, and there was no way he could compete with that. Not that he’d want to compete. He loved them both and would never want to hurt either of them.

  When they got downstairs and he saw that Chloe had started breakfast, a touch of jealousy rushed through him. Then Thaniel realized that he thought of it as his kitchen, and that stopped him dead.

  “It’s all right, she just wants to help out. I told her you liked to do the cooking and that maybe she can help, as well as take turns, for when you want a break,” Tierney suggested, rubbing her elbow against him.

  Sudden heat flooded him and he began to step away, then seeing Tierney’s surprised frown, he stopped. “Sorry, habit, and ahm.” His heart was racing. Her touch did something to him. Before he became a Were-leopard he never got this hard. His face turned red and he could see understanding dawn as her eyes grew wider.

  “Ah,” she said with a tiny smile and before she turned away he thought he saw her blush as well.

  “Here,” Jax said, nudging him out of his dreams of Tierney. Thaniel looked at what Jax was trying to hand him. “Thanks,” he said as he accepted the plate.

  “You need to eat,” Jax said, then he leaned down. “I don’t blame you, she has the same effect on me.”

  At Jax’s words, Thaniel just about started to choke. Oh shit! Jax grinned at him and Thaniel knew his face must be almost purple by now.

  Sami came in looking distracted and worried, grabbed a plate and began filling it, then he grabbed a second plate and filled it as well. “Hungry much?” Jax asked.

  Sami glanced at his brother, snorted and rolled his eyes. “One’s for Dimitina and the other is for Hellfire, she’s not feeling very good this morning.”

  “Is she sick?” Thaniel asked.

  Sami shook his head. “No. Pregnant with twins.” As Sami hurried out of the kitchen with the plates, Thaniel gaped at Jax and Tierney who both smirked and nodded.

  “Yeah, you missed quite a bit the few days you were gone,” Tierney said.

  A moment later, Goldy walked in talking to another man that he had seen outside with everyone the night before.

  When she saw Thaniel, Goldy came over and gave him a hug. “Thaniel. It is so good to see you back. We all missed you.” Then she turned to the male she’d been talking to. “Isoul, this is Thaniel. Thaniel, this is Isoul,” she said, and her smile practically lit up the room.

  �
�Ah, hi,” Thaniel said shyly.

  “Nice to meet you, Thaniel,” Isoul said, and filled a plate.

  Thaniel walked over and set his plate on the counter, and had just climbed up on one of the stools to eat, when Genna walked in with her friend Caden who it seemed no longer needed Genna’s help to get around.

  “Hi Thaniel, nice to see you back here,” Caden said, and Thaniel nodded.

  “Good to see you on your feet.” At his words, Caden smiled.

  “Pretty Kitty-catsy. Good thing you come back here. Those two were polar bears while you be gone,” Genna said nodding at Tierney and Jax as she circled around behind Thaniel. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

  Genna had always scared him and now was no different. Then, remembering that he was done being scared, he stiffened his spine. Yes, she had some wicked skills and though she’d threatened to practically castrate him, she’d never actually harmed him.

  He turned and though his heart was racing, met her eyes. “Hi, Genna.”

  He almost smiled when she stopped dead in her tracks and stared back at him in shock. Then she smiled and he realized she was actually very pretty, though not as pretty as Tierney.

  “You gonna be fine, Pretty Kitty-catsy,” she said with a nod. Then, dismissing him, she walked around the counter and grabbed a plate. “Caden, come on, let’s eat.”

  Thaniel had just finished his breakfast when Elianna appeared and hovered in the doorway of the kitchen, unsure. Her gaze took in everyone, before landing on the food.

  Used to the ways of the Were-leopard clan, Thaniel recognized the guarded look in her eyes now. “You don’t have to wait on anyone. Come and get something to eat,” he said, nodding at the food on the counter and stove. Slowly, Elianna moved into the kitchen and without looking at anyone, she grabbed a plate and began to fill it.