Abraxas's Kismet (Sentinels of Apollo Book 1)

Brax

I was beating the punching bag in my home gym. I’d been at it for what felt like hours since I returned from the disastrous meeting with Cerys. I was equal parts angry and miserable, and it was my fault. I’d been a thoughtless asshole, and now I was paying for it. Knowing I’d hurt her and that my words of love didn’t seem to help gutted me. Watching her run from me had been worse. I almost chased her, but I knew she might never listen if I did.

The whole encounter started because I’d been out letting Nightstalker run. He’d picked up on a scent trail we knew. Eager to see her, he’d kept going. We hadn’t meant to frighten her. Seeing her lying against that rock and unaware scared us. Anyone or anything could’ve come along and hurt or killed her. Poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders, mountain lions, and coyotes came to mind. That wasn’t including human predators. There were other shifters in and around Needles. While I thought most were good, it didn’t mean anything, not when it came to her and her safety. The only ones I’d trust with her were my friends.

“Brax, where the hell are you?” I heard Royal yell. I hadn’t heard any vehicles, and I wasn’t paying attention to other noises, so I hadn’t heard them approach my house. However, now that I was, I noted the distinct walk of all six of my friends. I wanted to groan. What were they doing here?

I could stay quiet, but they’d just ferret me out, which they didn’t need to do since they could sense me. “Gym,” I shouted before I landed more blows. When they walked into the room, I barely glanced at them. I was soaked with sweat, but it hadn’t helped me.

“See, I told you. He’s killing himself,” Nico muttered.

All of them could sense many things, but Nico could feel emotions. I hated it. I didn’t need anyone to know how I was feeling. I let out a growl of warning.

“You can growl all you want, but we’re not leaving. Based on your condition, it’s safe to assume you saw Cerys, and it didn’t go well,” Gunnar said.

I grunted.

“Yep, he’s reverted to animal sounds only. Maybe if we beat his ass a little, he’ll use his words,” Royal said.

Whipping around, I snarled, “If you’d like to have your asses beat, then try it!”

“Ooh, the big bad wolf is coming out, guys. Should we shake in our shoes?” Fennick asked.

None of them were easy to beat, even if taken on one at a time, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. Letting out a roar, I launched myself at the closest, who happened to be Keir. He was ready for me. We rolled on the ground, punching each other. It was as if they planned it. Each would move away, and another would take his place until each had traded blows and kicks with me. It wasn’t until I was lying on the ground, panting like mad, sore, and unable to fight more, that they stopped. They each dropped to the floor and gave me sympathetic looks. They sported bruises and cuts and were panting, too. It made me feel better.

“You ready to talk, Brax?” Banner asked.

“Or do we need to beat on that hard head of yours more?” Keir asked.

“Fuck you,” I muttered tiredly.

“Sorry, I don’t swing that way, but you can keep hoping,” Keir jokes.

I was too tired to respond.

“Mind telling us what she said?” Nico asked.

“I do mind.”

“Ah, come on, how can we help if we don’t know how bad it is?” Banner asked.

“You can’t help. I don’t know what will help if anything. I asked. She isn’t ready to talk to me. From the sound of it, maybe she never will be. In a nutshell, my ego made me not care what she wanted or needed. I hurt her. She wasn’t impressed when I told her I love her and will do whatever it takes to earn her forgiveness. She said I’m not the first guy to tell her that, and he left her. Cerys doesn’t know if love is even real, or at least not for her. She couldn’t deal, and then she ran off crying.”

“Jesus,” Gunnar muttered.

“Christ,” Royal remarked.

“Fuck,” Fennick whispered.

“Well, you know what you have to do then,” Nico said decisively.

“Did you not hear what I just said? She hates me. The likelihood she’ll forgive me or give me a second chance is damn near nil. The one woman I’ve ever loved is done with me!” I shouted. I pounded the floor with my fist.

“Calm your tits. I heard you. But it’s not hopeless. It just means you’ll need your best buddies to help you. There’s no way we’re letting you lose her. She makes you tolerable. I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been during those few weeks of dating. We’re all public servants in one way or another. We can’t let the citizens of Needles down. Which means we’re gonna help you get your woman back,” Nico continued.

“How?” I asked. I was fighting not to let hope build.

“That’s what we have to figure out. Go shower because you stink, and then we’ll eat and talk. Before we leave here tonight, we’ll have a game plan in place. Operation Save Shithead will be underway,” he said with a smirk. I flipped him off. They all laughed as I climbed wearily to my feet and trudged toward my bathroom. I wasn’t out anything by listening to them.

After a hot shower to help with my tense muscles, I threw on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts and came back out. They were gathered in the living room. Keir pointed to my chair. There was an unopened beer on the table in front of it. I sat and then opened it. I took a long swallow, drinking a third of it.

When I lowered it, I belched and asked, “What about dinner?”

“Hang on. We’ve got it coming. We ordered pizza, wings, and breadsticks from Rustic Crust. It should be here in the next ten minutes,” Royal answered.

My stomach growled. Even Nightstalker was happy. Rustic Crust was hands down the best pizzeria in town and beyond. They served regular, Sicilian, and stuffed brick oven pizzas. In addition, they had wings, breadsticks, strombolis, calzones, and pasta dishes. For those who wanted something lighter, they had a variety of salads, too.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you helping, but why are you? Don’t tell me that crap about making the citizens happy is true,” I asked.

“Because it could be one of us next. None of us have experience with claiming a woman. Sure, we’ve had sex with plenty, but that’s not the same as having one special person for the rest of your life. Even if she’s not a mate in the traditional sense, Cerys is yours, Brax. The vibes that came off the two of you scream it. Let’s face it, as men, we’ll probably fuck it up. You need all the help you can get. We will, too, if it happens to us,” Royal explained.

I almost objected, and then I stopped. Royal was right. I nodded.

“I appreciate it,” I muttered.

“Wish there was a way to get a female perspective. No offense, but women think differently,” Banner added.

“What about Twyla? Do you think she’d help if you begged and swore to high heaven you’d never be such a bonehead again?” Fennick asked.

“I doubt it. Twyla more or less told me she wouldn’t go against Cerys. I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t castrate me for hurting her,” I told them.

They winced and cupped themselves.

“Okay, so no Twyla. What about her girlfriends?” Keir asked.

“When I spoke to Denise and Sam asked Norah, the answer was no. They didn’t want to betray her when I was looking for her, but it’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.”

“I can see if Sam has any ideas. I mean, he’s married to one of her friends. He’s got double experience. He’s with one of those friends, and he’s used to how women think,” Nico offered.

“Christ, do you know how pathetic we sound? With all the years of experience we have sexually with women, we’re clueless when it comes to the emotional side of things with the fairer sex. They should teach sociology courses on this shit in college instead of those worthless ones like culture, capitalism, globalization, and climate change,” Gunnar grumbled.

None of us laughed. He had a point. Before going further into the talk department, we got quiet. We could hear the sound of an engine coming. Even though it was still a distance away, it was likely the delivery person. As it got closer, we all sighed to hear it slowing. Yep, it had to be. I had the only house along this stretch. Gunnar and Banner got up. I left my chair and went to the kitchen to grab paper plates, napkins, and more beers. Nico came with me.

I loaded his arms with beers, and I carried the rest. “Thanks for making me carry the heavy stuff,” he complained.

“I can carry it, but if I do, that means you don’t get more beer,” I shot back.

He zipped his lips. Within no time, we had boxes open and our plates piled high. There was no room to talk while we ate. We wolfed it down, no pun intended. By the time we were full, there were mere scraps left. Knowing I couldn’t postpone it any longer, I initiated the planning party.

“Okay, so who has an idea? At the moment, I say make a list of all ideas, and then we can go back through them, decide which might work, and plan those out.”

“Well shit, let me get a notebook,” Gunnar muttered.

He went to the kitchen to get a pen and notebook from my junk drawer. They knew my house almost as well as I did. When he got back, the talking commenced. Two hours later, we ran out of steam and decided we had enough to get started. I wasn’t sure if any of them would work, but I was willing to try anything to win back astéri mou . If they failed, then I might have to listen to Nightstalker and kidnap her.

We all had to be up early in the morning, so it wasn’t long after we stopped that they headed out. I gave each of them a backslapping hug. They muttered that everything would be alright and then left. I cleaned up the mess and went to bed but didn’t fall asleep. Instead, I lay there daydreaming about Cerys and fighting my nervousness for the campaign commencing tomorrow. Operation Save Shithead, as the guys insisted on calling it. I snorted. Yeah, that was me.