Chapter 15 To Protect You #2
“No, it’s fine,” I murmured. “So long as you don’t mind me calling you mates when I slip.”
“There is no slip, baby. You can call us your mates or your husbands or whatever you want, so long as you’re claiming us as yours.” He gave me a smile so warm and kind that the heaviness in my heart lifted. “Does the term beloved bother you?”
“No. I like it,” I admitted with a shy smile. “It makes me feel special.”
“You are special, sweet potato.” Zane recovered his chair and plopped onto it. “Specialler than you know.”
“Not a word, asshat,” Casimir muttered as he, too, dropped back down in his chair.
“She knows what I mean. Don’t you, gorgeous?”
I nodded, still staring at Koa’s hard, scarred hand between my palms.
“Serafina, I apologize,” Zane said more formally, and I glanced at him to see complete sincerity in his eyes. “I never meant to hurt you. Shitty jokes, remember? My superpower.”
“I’m sorry, too. I took it wrong. It’s just, if you knew what it was like to be made and kept powerless, you wouldn’t say things like that,” I whispered, then braced myself for scolding or smacks.
Neither came.
“While we’re on the subject of beloveds and mates, when do you want to get married?” Koa asked after a moment, and I stilled.
“I thought we already were?”
“While the contracts we signed are binding in our world, for humans, we’ll need a certified officiant to perform a marriage ceremony.” Casimir’s green eyes fixed on my face. “Father said he’ll arrange for someone to come here whenever you’re ready.”
“Oh. Any day is fine,” I assured him even as heat flooded my neck and cheeks.
Would they expect a wedding night right afterwards? Despite the mate bond encouraging me to be closer to them in every way possible, I was still exhausted and in a lot of pain and I didn’t know them, not really.
“Don’t you want a special dress first, darling?” Zane tilted his head to the side. “I thought all girls dreamed of their wedding gown.”
I rolled my shoulders. All I’d dreamed about the last few years was escaping the Harrows. And I didn’t have the money to buy anything like a fancy gown.
“I can’t afford it,” I whispered, dropping my eyes. “And it’s silly to waste so much on a dress I’ll wear once.”
“We’re rich now. If our positions were reversed, you’d buy us suits, wouldn’t you?
” Koa pulled his hand out from between mine to cup the side of my face in his palm.
“And it isn’t silly if it makes you happy.
If it bothers you, it doesn’t have to be a traditional gown.
It could be one that you can wear to formal events or even an everyday dress—”
“A boho theme, honeybee!” Zane chirped. “Totally come as you are! Barefoot or boots. Skirt or cargo pants. Tactical vest or clean t-shirt—”
“Bleeding night,” Casimir mumbled. “I don’t even want to know which of your deplorable tees you’d choose.”
“I have the perfect one! I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
“I hope it’s better than that one.” Casimir lifted one pale eyebrow as he looked at Zane’s navy t-shirt that had a picture of a goose and read, “Sometimes, I wonder if I’m too silly of a goose.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is!” Zane’s chin jutted out and his gingerbread eyes flared with a blend of mischief and rebellion. “It says, ‘Ready to lose my virg—”
“Zane!” Koa’s free hand fisted up and hit the table hard enough to scatter all the silverware.
As I flinched, Brumous scrambled up and tried to wedge himself between me and Koa. At first, I thought he was scared, too, but then a rumbly growl registered over the blood rushing in my ears, and I realized he was trying to protect me.
“It’s okay, Brummy,” I whispered to him, even though my hands shook as I sank them into his ruff.
“I apologize, beloved.” Koa drew in a sharp breath and released it slowly. “It was not my intention to scare you.”
I only nodded, and a long, quiet moment followed, broken only when Brumous passed gas so loudly that my plate rattled.
“Bat’s bones, Brumster!” Zane shouted. “You’re a walking bio weapon, you hairy farter!”
“You know,” Koa gasped as he waved a hand in front of his face, “we could totally turn him into a hunting partner. Gas out the enemy instead of smoke them out.”
“Hmm. Tactical harness,” Cas mused. “Emergency weapon holstered on one side, ammo pouches on the other.”
“Brummy is my baby,” I interjected since he seemed to be taking the joke seriously. “He’s not a soldier or a hunter, Simmy.”
“He’s going to become your guard, though,” Koa said. “We’ll at least train him to protect you.”
“He does that already.” I gave him a smile, and his eyes glimmered. “Didn’t you see him just now?”
“He can be our ring bearer at our wedding,” Zane teased. “Too bad he doesn’t have a mate. Could’ve been our flower girl.”
“Who’s going to be the husband?” Koa looked at his brothers.
“What?” I frowned as Brumous flopped down on my feet. “You all are, aren’t you?”
“Human laws only allow you to marry one person, so the other two will be witnesses,” Casimir explained. “Which of us do you want to be your legal husband?”
I might not have any experience with husbands, but if brothers were anything like sisters, I didn’t want them to be resentful or jealous of each other. I’d seen Amabel and Eluned fight too often to make that mistake.
“Oh, no!” I raised one hand and shook my head. “You three can work that out. Maybe Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
“Zane cheats,” Koa and Casimir grumbled at the same time.
“Then, my brothers, there is but one solution.” Zane punched his fist into the air with a savage grin. “A battle to the death!”
“Put that suggestion back in your ass.” Koa rolled his eyes before turning back to me. “We’ll sort it out, and you can shop online for a dress. Any dress you want.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he laid his finger over my lips. “A gift from us. Please accept it.”
I stared into his dark eyes long enough to get a little lost in them, then nodded, thanking him, all of them, for their thoughtfulness.
As we finished eating, Casmir asked if I knew where I wanted to start once my magic replenished.
“Well, there’s a ward I was trying to perfect before…”
I dribbled off, only partly because of the silence shackle, but mostly from the memory of Arabesque ripping my magic out of me.
“What was the ward for?” Koa asked.
I hesitated, unsure if the whisperbind would let me answer, but to my surprise, the words came out, clear and unhindered.
“Protection from siphoning.”