28. Vivianna
VIVIANNA
Walking into our room, I found all the guys waiting for me,scattered around with drinks in their hands.
A shiver ran down my back as I looked at all these men in their evening finery, the primal need to claim them hounding me.
Before I could act on it, I turned and headed up to my room, needing a moment and wanting to change out of my dress.
Thankfully, the zipper was on the side, so I could manage it on my own.
Just as I pulled on my sweats and started combing through my hair to take the pins out, Tav appeared in my mirror. The past week, I felt like we’d been ships passing in the night. Sure, the guys slept in my bed, but I had been so exhausted that I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
Tav stopped my hand and took over the job for me, letting me relax under his touch. “Care to share what’s bothering you, love?”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him flush against my back so I could cuddle into him.
Wrapping his arms around me, he held me, resting his head on mine and lending me his strength.
This is what I loved about Tav; I didn’t need to speak if I didn’t want to.
He was here to support me however I needed it.
“Things are changing so fast, Tav. I have a new mate and two other men that I picked to live with us. We didn’t even talk about it before I decided like we agreed.
” I shifted so I could look up at his beautiful brown eyes.
“When I walked in and saw all of you in my personal space, this primal need and pride overwhelmed me. It doesn’t make sense; I am beyond happy with the four of you…
well, most of the time. Darius is working on it. ”
Tav didn’t respond right away; he just held me close to him, placing a kiss on my temple.
“The four of us aren’t going anywhere, no matter how many mates you end up with.
We want you to be safe and happy, and if that means you need three more mates to make that happen, we’ll deal with it.
Besides, we knew you wouldn’t abandon Bentley, and it was very obvious with Tristan you were interested.
As for the primal factor, it could be a few things—it could mean you have finally found all your mates and your instincts are telling you it’s almost time for a heat. ”
“What?.” I squeaked. “Heat like real wolves do?”
Tav chuckled. “Yes, werewolf females are similar and go into heat twice a year. Remember how I said we didn’t need to worry about protection because you couldn’t have a kid until you’re in heat?
” I nodded, still frowning. “The other part of going into heat is that you default to your baser needs, become overprotective of your mates, hyper-sexual, and can become volatile with people who aren’t your mates.
Hell, I’ve seen some women even lose it on their mates when their heat is at its height. ”
“Wow, we sound delightful when this happens. How long does it last?” I asked, fearing his answer.
“Anywhere from five to seven days, depends on the wolf,” Tav said, grinning at the horror on my face.
“I’m going to be an angry sex addict for up to a week?.” I cried.
That’s my kind of a good time. Just think of all those men naked and at our disposal. Yes girl. Bring it on.
We can’t be trapped in a bedroom for a week getting our brains fucked out. There is way too much going on.
How are we stuck together? You are seriously no fun sometimes. I swear to god, I was created just to make sure you don’t waste your life.
I am not doing this with you right now. We need to find out who’s trying to get rid of me first.
I wonder if a side effect of being in heat is you turn into a total bitch, because that’s totally happening right now.
“I doubt you will hear any of us complaining, babe,” Koit said, making me jump. Clearly, I had missed him walking in as I was fighting with my wolf. “The guys sent me up to check on you since you called the meeting and all.”
Tav just raised an eyebrow. “You sure it’s not because you didn’t want to miss out if we were having sex?”
Koit gave us an overdramatic shocked face, placing his hand over his heart like we’d wounded him. “How could you think that of me? I am here purely out of concern for our mate.”
I tried to hold it back, but I just couldn’t, and my laughter burst out of me. Koit was many things, but self-sacrificing when it came to sex wasn’t one of them.
“Come on guys. There’s a new twist to the mystery that is Kursar,” I said, still grinning as I grabbed both their hands.
Settled on the couch between Tav and Koit with a glass of wine, I was ready to deal with the matter at hand.
Orion looked very at home sprawled out on one side of the couch while Bentley sat in his normal armchair.
Tristan sat in the second armchair, elbows on his knees, leaning forward and observing us all.
Darius sat on the couch next to Tav, while Rik sat by Koit.
Having them all surround me was more comforting than it should be.
“When I was chatting with the pack, I stumbled upon some very interesting information. It seems that Sarma and Juris had plans for a new leader of Kursar, and it wasn’t me,” I shared.
No one reacted to this information, other than Darius grabbing his laptop and starting to type something. Tristan also seemed more invested in my tablet than the words I’d just spoken. The others seemed to be waiting, not wanting to be the first to speak.
What the fuck is going on here?
A growl trickled out of my lips before I realized it, glaring at all the men in the room.
“I’m sorry, did everyone go deaf?” I snapped, my alpha energy bursting out of me, making everyone flinch.
“Calm down, my queen. What you said made me think of something,” Darius said, looking over his computer at me.
“Dama—”
“Tristan, if you’re truly interested in being a potential mate, call me Viv,” I interrupted.
I could have sworn that Tristan blushed at my chastisement. “Ah yes. Viv. Now that I am looking at these financial records differently, there is some extremely fishy stuff going on.”
Handsome and oh so smart—that is a rarity.
“Oh?” I leaned forward, my interest piqued.
“There is money coming and going that makes no sense for an island that is keeping itself cut off from the world,” Tristan said, handing the tablet over to Darius.
“Let me see if I can trace these bank accounts,” Darius said, fingers flying over the keyboard.
I leaned back against Tav as I absorbed this new information when something finally clicked. “When was the last time anyone could pinpoint where Dr. Faulk was?”
“It’s been years since they’ve looked for him. The first sighting was when he resurfaced after kidnapping you,” Tav answered.
“Hmm, and when did the doctor on the island die?” I asked, sitting up straight.
Darius paused and clicked around a few times before looking up at me. “Six months ago.”
“Would anyone on Kursar have a clue who Dr. Faulk was?”
Seeing the lightbulb go on in Darius’s eye made me smile.
“Holy shit.” Bentley said, jumping to his feet. “He was here working on the same research, but he couldn’t get the same supplies as before because The Collective was tracking where they were being shipped to. If he wanted to keep working, he needed alternatives.”
Then the reality came crashing down on me. “He was trying to do it again. Dr. Faulk was trying to create another me, but he couldn’t with Sarma. When he figured out there wasn’t another option, they had to go after me. Why wouldn’t they have done that in the first place?”
“Wait, what am I missing here?” Tristan asked, looking at me, then the rest of my mates. “What does this Faulk person have to do with Viv?”
They can’t know. If they do, what will they think of me?
None of your other mates seem to mind, why would these?
“We need to tell them, they can’t protect you if they don’t know,” Rik said to me silently, as if he could see the internal struggle I was having with my wolf.
He’s right, you know.
Orion was now sitting up, watching me carefully with his violet eyes. Tristan leaned forward and folded his hands, leaning on his elbows, waiting patiently for an answer.
“Faulk was a deranged scientist who thought he could save werewolves from dying out. He used live test subjects for all his experiments, and many of them died as the result… my father included,” Darius shared, his voice rough.
“The Collective decided that he had to be stopped. The man had gone crazy after using himself as a test subject. Before they could catch him, he went into hiding until Vadik came to kidnap Viv.”
“It’s clear he is an awful man, but what does this have to do with my dearest?” Orion asked, speaking for the first time.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, Tav and Koit both holding my hands.
“I am his masterpiece, the only experiment that we know of to have actually worked. The people who called themselves my parents aren’t.
I was grown in a test tube and implanted in the woman who calls herself my mother.
Dr. Faulk put me together using DNA from ancient werewolves, natural wolves, and humans. ”
Unsure of how they would react, I kept my eyes on the floor in front of me. I didn’t want to look at them and see the horror I felt at being a science experiment grown in a petri dish.
Someone crouched in front of me and lifted my chin with their hand.
I found myself looking into Bentley’s seafoam green eyes filled with compassion.
He’d been reviewing Dr. Faulk’s files for me, but we hadn’t really discussed the implications.
“Viv, this changes nothing. You are who you are because of the life you have lived. No amount of science can make you passionate, kind, smart, and courageous. That is all you, and that is the woman I am falling for.”
That has got to be the most adorable thing I have ever heard. I told you they wouldn’t care.
“You’re falling for me?” I asked, dumbfounded. I hadn’t caught any sign that he was interested.
Bentley gave me a soft smile that reached his eyes. “Yes, Viv, I am, but we can deal with those details later, ok?”
I nodded my head, unable to say anything as so many conflicting emotions swirled within me. Tav wrapped his arm around my waist, giving me more comfort but not pulling me away from Bentley.
After taking a few moments to gather myself, I shared a bit more.
“My parents would never talk about my birth; they didn’t have any pictures like most people do.
I had a school project on genealogy, and they wanted us to learn about our immediate family, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.
I do know that Mother couldn’t have any more kids…
or at least that’s what they said when I would ask for a sibling. ”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if that were true.
Your mother may have had a difficult time keeping a werewolf baby to term.
Add in the fact that you were made from outside DNA, he would have had her on anti-rejection medication—I would have if she were my patient—and as you know, taking those while pregnant is risky,” Bentley rattled on, sharing his medical opinion on the subject.
I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
Bentley’s face scrunched up in confusion. “For what?”
“Always remembering I’m a doctor and can handle blunt information,” I said with a grin.
“Viv, I will always treat you as an equal, whether it be personal or professional. You’ve earned your title, who am I to take it from you?” Bentley said, rising to his feet. “So now that we know Dr. Faulk was hiding out on the island, we need to know if Sarma knew who he was.”
“There is no doubt in my mind she knew full well who he was. From what I learned from Astrid, she wanted a child more than anything in this world. If she believed Dr. Faulk could give that to her, nothing would get in her way,” I declared.
“Sounds like we need to have a talk with Sarma then, doesn’t it,” Darius mused, pulling out his phone.
I reached over Tav, grabbing his arm. “Not tonight. I don’t want to ruin the evening for everyone else. It can wait until morning. She has no idea we’ve figured it out.”
Darius looked at me, his eyes searching mine, then put his phone back in his pocket without a word.
Now that right there earns him a reward.