CASSIUS

by Alexi Ferreira

  “Let’s hope papa bear isn’t there.” Nova quips, when she sees my raised eyebrows, she laughs. “Since the birth that Bjarni has been super overprotective.” She explains.

  “What do you mean since the birth, he has always been like that. If it wasn’t for Gabriela putting her foot down, that man would have been carrying her everywhere when she was pregnant.” Aria says as she shakes her head.

  “One thing you will learn about our men is that they’re all a bit overprotective, but you know what? they make up for it with their . . . umm, big personalities.” She jokes, which makes all of us laugh. When we finally arrive, I see Jasmine sitting on one of the couches with Orion on her lap.

  “Look Orion, look who it is?” she says, “Your mad auntie.” The baby gives us a big smile as he coos and stretches out his arms for Nova.

  “You’ve met Jasmine when she came to visit you at the infirmary, and this gorgeous little guy over here is Orion.” Aria says as I take a seat next to Jasmine and sigh. She pats my leg as Nova takes the baby and starts to blow bubbles on his stomach making him laugh.

  “Where’s Brielle?” Jasmine asks

  “I thought she was with you?” Nova answers

  “She was, but she got a text from Cassius and left. I thought she would be with you by now.” Jasmine answers.

  “Did you break your man yesterday, for him to need Brielle’s assistance?” Aria teases as she takes a seat on the opposite couch.

  “Don’t think I could even if I wanted to.” I quip, just as Brielle enters the bar followed by Burkhart.

  “I’m fine, really.” I hear Brielle say before she approaches us. Only then do I see her swollen lip and bruised chin.

  “What happened to you?” Jasmine gasps, “You were fine when you left here.”

  “I tripped and fell.” She mumbles, but I get a feeling that she’s not telling the truth. Strange, I don’t have the normal feeling of when someone is lying and knowing that they are lying, but this is more of a subtle push. I hear Burkhart huff before he throws up his hands and walks towards the bar where a woman that I still haven’t met is standing while cleaning some spoons.

  “Are you sure?” from all the women here, Brielle is the one that I’ve spoken to the most and I believe that the two of us have become fast friends.

  “Darn, if you guys don’t believe me Bion never will.” She grumbles as she strokes her finger gently over her swollen lip and cringes. “I went to help Gunner that was having a seizure and he slapped me by mistake.”

  “Oh boy, has Gunner started running yet?” Nova asks

  “Don’t joke, it was by mistake and he’s feeling bad enough as it is.” Brielle complains, “Bion will just have to understand.”

  “Sure, let me know how that goes.” Nova says sarcastically.

  “Maybe he will be fine with it, after all it was by mistake.” I suggest and am surprised when all the women look at me with smiles on their faces.

  “You will find that our men aren’t very forgiving when someone hurts us, if anything they are downright mean.” Aria says

  “Yeah, understanding does not come into their vocabulary when it comes to us and violence.” Jasmine grumbles, “but when it’s them that have been hurt we need to be understanding.”

  “Not likely, if Ceric gets hurt he will have to answer to me.” Nova says, which makes me laugh as I can just imagine her arguing with him.

  “It is our job to keep you safe, not the other way around.” Burkhart says from the bar as he turns to look at our group.

  Leaning towards Jasmine I whisper, “It’s a shame he’s such a chauvinist because he’s gorgeous.” At my words Jasmine breaks out in a grin, and I see him look at me and then the naughtiest smile I have ever seen on a person appears on his face. There is no way he could have heard me, is there?

  “Well thank you pretty lady, now don’t go tell your man or he will start to feel inferior to my gorgeous looks.” At his words I can feel my cheeks heat with colour, how did he hear me? I look at Jasmine and she nods at me as she giggles.

  “Thought you knew, they have very, very good hearing.” The others look from me to Burkhart and as they start to catch on to what is happening they smile.

  “Prepare yourself, that is something you have to look forward to every day.” Nova teases, “this place has the hottest guys you will ever find.”

  “Yeah, I’m even thinking of getting glasses to see better.” Brielle jokes

  “And sometimes you are lucky, and they are standing in the hallway stark naked. That’s when you need to carry an extra pair of panties with you.” Nova mumbles

  “Nova!” Jasmine and Aria gasp before we all start laughing at her look of innocence.

  “Woman, what are you up to now?” Ceric says from the doorway, his hands on his lower waist but I can see a twinkle in his eyes. Cassius is standing before him, a frown on his face as he looks around.

  “Me? Nothing.” She answers sweetly as Ceric pushes Cassius out of his way and comes to stand behind Nova and Orion. He places his hands around her waist and nuzzles her neck, Orion instantly grabs his hair and pulls.

  “Hey kid,” Ceric greets, as he opens the babies fist, loosening his hair and makes as if his going to eat it, making the baby laugh. I notice Nova leaning her head back against her man and smile tenderly.

  “You shouldn’t be out of bed yet.” Cassius says as he lifts me from the couch, sits and then places me on his lap.

  “I wouldn’t be, if you had still been there with me.” I murmur back.

  “I had to go and sort something out.” He murmurs as I lean back against him. His nose is rubbing up and down my neck and his hand is stroking my stomach just under my t-shirt. I move slightly and feel his cock twitch against my ass. My breath catches when he groans quietly against my ear. “Maybe you should go take a nap, I’ll join you.” His voice is gruff with want, but before I can agree Bion and Celmund walk in.

  Looking over at Brielle I see her lower her head as the men approach. “Are all the cameras up?” Ceric asks.

  “Ours are, let’s see how long Caelius and Brandr take.” Celmund answers

  “Missed you.” I hear Bion say to Brielle as he squats down next to her chair, and then his face changes when he sees her face. “How?” his voice is deceptively quiet as he presses gently around her bruised chin. Brielle places her hand against his cheek as she looks into his eyes.

  “Don’t get angry.” She murmurs

  At her words I see him tense, “Why would I get angry?” he asks suspiciously.

  “It was by mistake.” She murmurs, “Just trust me and leave it alone.” But I can see his jaw is tight and he shakes his head.

  “How?” her shoulders sag but she just shakes her head. Bion looks around at everyone before he finds who he was looking for. “Burkhart?”

  “It was me. I slapped her by mistake.” Gunner says from the doorway, Bion stands and is about to take a step towards Gunner when Brielle jumps on his back.

  “No, don’t hurt him. He was having a seizure, he didn’t know what was happening.” She gasps as he stops, the look of surprise on his face is comical if the situation wasn’t so volatile. He starts to pull her arms open that are holding him around his shoulders, but as he pulls one away the other one comes back, her legs are also entwined around him.

  “Fuck, Brielle let go.” He rasps, but she just shakes her head and holds on.

  “If you hurt him, I’m going to have to heal him again.” She persuades, I see Bion looking at Gunner and then there is a slight nod from Gunner. I don’t know what just passed between the two men, but something did. Gunner turns and then leaves, Brielle slumps against Bion’s back in relief but I think this isn’t going to be the end of it somehow.

  “Get down Beauty.” Bion grunts, finally she lowers her legs and let’s go of him. He snaps around so quickly that she would have fallen if he hadn’t grabbed her.

  “Bion!” she yells as he picks her up by the waist and throws her over hi
s shoulder, “What are you doing?”

  “Showing you who’s boss.” He mumbles as he starts to walk out of the bar.

  “I beg your pardon!” she gasps

  “Not yet, but you will.” He promises as he spanks her ass just as they go out the door. We all laugh at them, I don’t know most of these people, but I somehow feel at home something that I have never felt unless I was with Kade.

  “I guess that’s our que.” Cassius says as he starts to pick me up, but Nova stops him.

  “No wait, we told Scarlett we would introduce her to everyone. Just keep that big boy in your pants for a little longer.” She grumbles

  “Nova! Damit.” Ceric grunts

  “What baby? yours is bigger than his, don’t worry.” She mumbles

  “How the fuck would you know that?” he yells as he lets go of her waist and turns her around.

  “Shht, don’t frighten Orion.” She says as she bounces the baby on her hip.

  “Nova!” he growls

  “Jeez, you so dramatic. Aria and I saw him naked this morning. Are you happy now?” I see Ceric’s look of surprise and then anger as he looks at Cassius, I’m sure that I have the same look on my face.

  “What?” I ask as I turn on his lap and look at him. “How did they see you naked?” he looks back at me unperturbed and shrugs before he answers.

  “Burkhart kept on knocking this morning, I went outside our room before he could wake you.” I sigh at his explanation; how can I be upset when he was being considerate. “Don’t worry baby, you the only one that touches him.” He whispers in my ear, making my cheeks flame when I remember that all the guys can most probably hear him.

  “Would anyone like a drink?” the woman behind the bar asks. I feel Cassius tense, but I ignore him, as I look at the woman. She’s somehow different from the others, looking around at the other women I notice that they not as open with her as they are with each other.

  “Who does she belong to?” I ask Cassius quietly,

  “To all of them.” Jasmine answers as she heard my question. To all of them?

  I lean towards Jasmine, “What do you mean?” I see her looking over my shoulder at Cassius before she replies.

  “Her name is Gloria, there is also Tina and they are what the men call Jezebels. They are here to help the men with whatever they desire.” She says sarcastically as she continues to look over my shoulder. I know that I’ve tensed, but what she’s saying is too farfetched to be true. Do these men share these women?

  “Are you saying . . . do they . . . no way.” I can’t even put a sentence together.

  “Baby, let me explain.” Cassius says against my ear. What is there to explain, these men all sleep with these women. How can their mates agree to this? And then another idea pops into my head, no way. Do they all share their mates too? No, that can’t be possible as Ceric was to upset because of Nova seeing Cassius naked to be allowing her to sleep with anyone else.

  “Did you,” I point to him and Gloria, “sleep with her.” I can see the answer on his face before he answers. “Did you sleep with the other one too?” Cassius scrunches up his eyes in frustration. When he opens them he finally answers.

  “Yes” he grunts

  “Together?” I ask my stomach feeling like my intestines are in a knot.

  “Why does that matter?” at his guilty look, I know. I start to get up, but he holds my wrist. “Where are you going?”

  “Did you sleep with both of them?” I hear Nova ask

  “This has nothing to do with us Hellcat, come let’s go and give them some space.” Ceric suggests

  “Oh no you don’t, answer me?” she insists

  “What the fuck Nova?” he grunts as he throws up his arms in frustration and walks out of the bar.

  “Oh my, did Wulf? . . . Most probably not he was too busy with Katya for that. Or he might have just done all of them.” Jasmine snaps as she crosses her arms in anger.

  “Let go of my arm.” I ask

  “No, we’re going to talk about this.” Cassius states with a frown

  “Really, are you going to tell me all the ways you did both of them or was their more?” I snap, “Did you really think that I would be with someone that was having sex with other women at the same time as me.” I see his eyes darken in anger, he lets go of my wrist and stands.

  “I haven’t touched anyone since I met you.” He roars making me jump.

  “But you plan too.” I accuse angrily

  “No, I don’t, why the fuck would I touch anyone else after having you.” He asks angrily with his hands low on his waist

  “Well, I don’t know. Let’s see, maybe because only one partner isn’t enough for you. They are here, aren’t they? Very conveniently at your beck and call.” I scream

  “What the hell is going on here? I can hear the screaming all the way down by the wall.” Brandr asks as he walks into the bar. Looking around I notice that Gloria has left, while we were all arguing.

  “Did you have sex with them at the same time?” Aria ask suddenly

  “What?” Brandr asks as he stops his approach, “What are you talking about?”

  “Gloria and Tina and the others that used to be here, did you have sex with all of them?”

  “Why the hell are we talking about this?” Brandr roars as he looks around at Burkhart that is still leaning against the counter looking at us, and Celmund that is sitting on one of the tables sipping a beer.

  “Why are they still here?” Nova asks, “It’s very convenient isn’t it?”

  “You all know that we can’t touch other women after we’ve mated, where the hell did this come from?” Brandr yells,

  “Do you still . . . umm, think about it with them when you see them?” Aria asks, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Damn hormones.” She mutters.

  “Sunshine?” he murmurs as he lifts his hands, “You know I don’t.”

  “How do I know?” she asks, I look at Cassius as he paces before me a scowl on his face. I don’t like the idea of having women around that my man has slept with before, and that are happy to have him again.

  “You know, I think that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If you can have your hook-ups here, then we should be able to have men strippers here.” Nova argues, Cassius stops and glares at her before he growls deep in his throat and kicks a chair out of his way before he leaves the bar.

  “Nova, you go ahead and invite all the strippers you want.” Brandr says pleasantly as he starts to follow Cassius, “Like that we can kill them all at once.”

  CASSIUS 9

  Ceric and I have been going at each other for the last two hours and my anger still hasn’t diminished. I knew the moment Ceric mentioned that Scarlett was at the bar that this was going to be a problem; I should have gone with my gut feel and carried her away the moment I walked in.

  The door to the training area bangs open and Wulf stalks in, “What the fuck happened? I leave for a few hours and when I come back my woman is upset with me.” He roars, Draco and Bjarni entering after him. Ceric and I continue fighting as we ignore them, Burkhart that has been on the side-lines skipping rope stops and relates what happened to them.

  “That’s not all,” Brandr intervenes as he drops his weights, “Nova suggested that what’s good for one is good for the other. Therefore, they should have a right to male strippers. I told her she should invite as many strippers as she wants.” Ceric stops and drops his hands as he looks over at Brandr.

  “What the . . .” Ceric roars but Brandr interrupts him.

  “So, we can kill them all together.” He finishes.

  “Why is this a problem? They know we don’t want any other woman once we meet our mate?” Ceric grumbles.

  “I don’t see why this is an issue suddenly?” Bjarni quips, “Your women are too sensitive.”

  “Really, why don’t you let the women go and visit yours for a little while and then we’ll talk.” I ask

  “They have a point.” Calius says
suddenly from where he’s training. “Think about it, if it was the other way around and you had to see your woman in proximity of some guy that had screwed her before, how happy would you be?” we all stand in silence looking at him as he continues to train.

  “These women, and all the mating has become a pain, I will rather deal with Keres than fucking women.” Draco growls

  “Yeah, wait until you find yours.” Ceric states, winning himself a glare from Draco.

  “What do you all propose we do? I only see two solutions. One, we leave it as it is and hope they forget about it and move on. Two, we move Gloria and Tina to one of our other chapters.” Draco asks as he looks around at everyone present.

  “I think the brothers with no mates must vote on this one, it’s unfair for us to vote now that we have bonded.” I suggest, everyone grunts or nods in agreement.

  “Caelius, shall we start with you?” Draco asks

  “As I said, I believe the women have a point. If it was my mate I wouldn’t want her to go through the awkwardness if unnecessary. Therefore, I vote for the Jezebel’s to relocate.”

  “Burkhart?”

  “I didn’t like the pain I saw in Aria’s eyes when she thought my brother could be thinking about the Jezebel’s. Therefore, I vote that they leave.” Burkhart says

  “My vote is the same” Celmund’s voice says through the intercom. I shake my head as I look up at one of the cameras. That fucker has eyes and ears everywhere.

  “Mine too” Gunner grunts as he steps out of the changing rooms.

  “The vote is unanimous, hopefully now I can have some peace when I get home.” Draco growls, “You pussies, go and make love to your women because we’ll be leaving tomorrow for the run.” He grunts as he turns and leaves. I hurriedly make my way towards the showers, I need to try and make this right, there’s no way that I’m leaving for this run with her upset with me.