Twenty-One
Micah
Ember landed in our backyard much more sedately than last time, and I slid the door open, leaning outside to watch him.
Last time, we hadn't really gotten a chance to study him before he'd shifted to his human form, but this time I got a good look, and realized Ember was stunning in both forms.
He was the size of an eagle in this form, with a plume of vibrant red-and-yellow feathers sticking out of the top of his head and adding another few inches to his height.
His eyes were the same warm blue, but beadier, birdlike. His feathers were a mix of red, yellow, orange, and brown, with the lightest hints of blue at the very tips.
All in all, he looked magnificent, and if I could draw for shit, I'd tell him to stay in this form so I could draw him.
Hmm...maybe I could ask Amelia to take a picture? I'd have to keep it somewhere safe, like Cam's hoard.
Ember shifted, running his fingers through his shoulder-length hair instantly, as if he was worried about how they looked. Like Cam, it seemed like his mane also got a little windblown, and I wasn't going to break my brain again trying to figure out why.
I'd realized sometimes magic just did things simply to be illogical. If magic and logic were sentient beings, they would probably be the type of siblings who were always fighting each other...unless there's a third person threatening one of them. Then they're on the same team.
Shaking my head, I was glad neither of my mates could read minds. I'd be in a perpetual state of embarrassment at my thoughts if they could.
"Micah, it's good to see you again!" Ember greeted as he stepped closer. "May I hug you?"
I blinked in surprise, then nodded, stepping outside.
His big, warm arms wrapped around me, and it took me a moment to sink into the hug. I inhaled softly, breathing in the scent of crisp fire and Ember.
"Space for one more?" Cam asked from my side, and I sucked in a breath, surprised. I hadn't sensed his approach at all, and I knew it wasn't because Cam was trying to be quiet. I'd have heard his mind either way.
No, it was because I'd been so focused on Ember, because his warmth and softness had somehow put me into such a state of calm that for a few blissful seconds, my powers had just shut down. My brain felt like a laptop in sleep mode, but it was slowly waking up as Ember pulled back so he could hug Cam as well.
I started to step back, but Ember's other arm tightened around me, and then Cam wrapped his arm around me too.
Hugging them both at the same time felt even better, and there was that blissful quiet in my head.
We stayed like that for a few very short minutes before Ember pulled back and we separated.
MICAH!!
Cam's shout in my head made me jump, and I turned to him, eyes wide.
"What?"
"Holy shit," Cam murmured as Ember's brows furrowed.
"What is it?"
Cam grinned, his eyes sparkling in that way that told me to brace for whatever was going to come out of his mouth next. "Well, Ember, it looks like we finally found something that will stop our dear Micah's mind from going into overdrive...or from reading thoughts."
I flushed as Cam grinned at me, then at Ember. "It's your hug, Ember. Your hug makes Micah's mind go quiet. I wonder what a kiss will do..."
Cam trailed off, and I felt like my cheeks were on fire.
Turning around, I rushed into the house as Cam chuckled softly. I knew Cam too well to be annoyed by his teasing, but I did feel flustered. I didn't want Ember to know how much he affected me just yet.
In the living room, I jerked to a halt at the sight before my eyes.
"Uh..." I trailed off, unsure what to say.
Cam and Ember arrived behind me a minute later, and then paused just like me to take it all in.
On the couch, taking up the whole damned thing, were Jodi and Saaya, happily curled up like they had absolutely no worries in the world.
"Wait. Did Saaya bring Jodi through the shadows?" Cam demanded, walking around me and stepping closer to the pair to gaze down at them, as if he'd still find shadows clinging to them.
"Looks like it." I glanced at Ember. "It seems like they didn't want to be left behind."
Ember shook his head, a smile curling his lips. "Clearly."
Since the couch was occupied, Ember moved the coffee table to the side and we settled on the rug, Ember with his legs stretched out in front of him, me with my legs crossed, and Cam with his folded under him.
Before the silence could even start to get awkward, Cam broke it.
"So! What do you do when you're not running one of your businesses or flying through the skies, Ember?"
We'd talked about our favorite movies and books before, but somehow we hadn't talked about hobbies. Probably because our conversation had derailed into tangents again and again last time.
"Well, I enjoy playing with Jodi, of course."
Jodi huffed softly at the sound of her name, raising her head a little before falling asleep again. The sight made me smile, and since I was closest to the couch, I reached up and gave her a few pets.
"Other than that, I...I like volunteering. At pet shelters, soup kitchens, wherever help is needed. I like taking care of people."
See, I told you. Daddy!
I shook my head at Cam's words, then smiled at Ember. "That sounds really good. Can I come with you next time? I'd like to help too."
"Me three!" Cam raised his hand like we were in school, and Ember's eyes slid between us.
"Really? You'd want to?"
Ember
I hadn't expected them to make that offer, and I was unreasonably touched by it.
While I made friends wherever I volunteered, I'd always done it on my own. I didn't really have any supe friends, and I tended to keep my human friends at a distance because I'd have to leave them one day, and it was too heartbreaking otherwise.
All of that to say I wasn't close enough to anyone to ask them to volunteer with me.
The idea of working at a soup kitchen or a community center with Cam and Micah at my side felt too good to be true. I'd love to share something like that with them, for them to feel that sense of joy and contentment that I felt whenever I saw the smiles of the people I was helping.
"Yeah. It's important to you, isn't it? And helping people is never a bad thing. So we'd like to join, if it's okay with you."
My wide smile was all the answer needed, but I nodded anyway so there were no doubts.
"I'd like that. I have a shift coming up at the soup kitchen on Friday."
"Just tell us when and where, and we'll be there," Cam said, and Micah nodded in agreement.
My heart felt too big for my chest, and I had to clear my throat a few times before I could speak.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Their smiles made my belly warm, and I wondered what their lips tasted like. Shaking my head, I spoke, if only to keep my thoughts from drifting that way again. "What about you? What do you two do in your free time?"
For the next few hours, Cam regaled me with tales of his pranks, while Micah piped in every now and then with some pointed comments that had Cam and me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. They'd clearly gotten up to a lot of trouble in their younger days, and Cam at least seemed to be determined to keep his antics going even now.
Over the hours, our conversation had drifted toward the trips Cam and Micah had taken in search of their mates, and Cam was telling me about the month they'd spent in a small fishing town in India when Micah's eyes turned toward the window that faced the front of the house...and narrowed.
"Excuse me a minute."
Moving surprisingly fast, Micah walked across the room, opened the window, and grabbed something, pulling it inside.
I blinked as I realized it was a white, fluffy owl, and I remembered Micah had said he had two owl shifter brothers. Was this one of them?
"What are you doing here, Mateo? Did the dads send you to spy on us?"
Micah was silent for a moment, and I realized he was reading Mateo's answer from his mind.
Micah scoffed. "That makes it so much better. Well, if you want to meet him..." Walking over to me, Micah held the owl out with his face toward me, the owl's light blue eyes blinking at me.
"Ember, this is my troublemaker brother, Mateo. Mateo, this is my mate, Ember."
"Hello, Mateo," I greeted him with a smile, and whatever he thought in return had Micah's cheeks going red.
"I'm not telling him that!"
In answer, Mateo shifted. I jerked my eyes to the ceiling as he fell on the rug in front of me, slipping out of Micah's grip mid-change. Unlike older magical beings like dragons and phoenixes, shifters had to get naked before they shifted, or they'd end up tearing their clothes. Consequently, when they shifted back, they were always nude.
"Mateo!" Micah shouted, his voice louder than I'd ever heard it as Mateo cackled.
"I just wanted to tell you, Ember, that you look very handsome. Micah truly has the best luck. I mean, I could accept one hot mate, but two? It seems a little unfair."
"Why, thank you!" Cam said, a grin in his voice.
"Mateo, if you don't shift back and get out of here, I'll tell Papa it was you who added the tabasco sauce in his blood."
"Hey, we had a deal!" Mateo protested, then sighed. "Fine, fine. I'm leaving. But you better bring him by soon. Miles wants to meet him too, even if he wasn't willing to come with me."
"I will."
Mateo shifted and flew up into the air, taking off through the still-open window, and I finally lowered my head, my own cheeks a little red.
I wasn't a prude by any means, and I knew most shifters didn't really care about being naked, but Mateo was Micah's brother. He was family. Which made it a little awkward in my opinion.
"Well, that was exciting." Somehow, Cam always knew what to say to break any awkward silence, and my eyes flicked to him, then to an equally red-cheeked Micah, and I chuckled.
"The speed with which you looked away, Ember." Cam laughed, shaking his head, and my cheeks heated again.
"I haven't spent much time around shifters, and I was...startled."
"You looked startled alright," Micah joined in on the fun, and suddenly, we were all laughing like kids about something that wasn't that funny to begin with.
When we'd calmed down, I offered to cook dinner, and they jumped on it, though Cam had to go borrow some ingredients from his dads because they only had the basics. I was tempted to stock up their pantry, to take care of them since clearly neither of them cooked. Their refrigerator was full of Tupperwares of food, and while I was glad their dads were clearly keeping them fed, I wanted to be the one to do it.
I didn't think they had to learn to cook, because I was pretty sure they already did. Micah helped me without needing to ask, and he seemed to know his way around the kitchen. No, it was more that neither of them enjoyed cooking, not like I did. And since they had people in their lives who did and were happy to feed them, they weren't forced to anyway.
Once our bond was stronger, I'd make sure to cook for them everyday, to keep them healthy, their stomachs full, and their hearts happy. Nothing would give me greater pleasure.