Chapter Seven #3
Alek huffed. Mitch was right. He’d also already stated all these facts, which was why Alek had agreed in the first place.
But now that Mitch was returned from his home realm with a sword forged in the pits of hell, Alek couldn’t help his worry.
They were about to hand Wylder a weapon from the depths of hell. Literally.
“But I was reading!” Theo’s whine traveled down the steps to them.
Alek shook his head. The entire time that Theo had been back, Dario was either shoving food in Theo’s mouth or the little shifter had his head buried in one of Tate’s journals. While Alek approved of the studying, he knew how easy it was to become obsessed.
There was a difference in spending his entire life learning and Theo trying to learn everything in one day. That was not going to work. But now was not the time for Alek to address that quite yet. He had to back Mitch in the plan for Wylder.
“You need to give your eyes and brain a break,” Wylder said. “And you like coming to the gym with us. Remember shirts come off down here.”
“Both your shirts,” Theo said. “And you better sweat too.”
“Kinky!” Wylder joked.
They reached the bottom of the steps and stopped when they spotted Alek and Mitch standing in the middle of the mats.
“What’s going on?” Wylder asked as he looked from Alek to Mitch and back again.
“Come on, little one.” Dario urged Theo across the room, leaving Wylder standing in front of them.
“Wait…what?” Theo tried to ask.
“Shh,” Dario told Theo before he started to whisper.
Theo gasped but it was Wylder’s moment. The ceremony of this mattered.
“Shoes off, please,” Alek ordered Wylder.
Wylder frowned bending to remove his shoes and socks. “If I have to go against both of you, I just have to say that is not very fair.”
“You did well in the fae realm fighting for us,” Alek praised.
Wylder straightened and pushed out his chest. “Thanks.”
“We underestimated you,” Mitch added. “That is not something that we will do again.”
“It’s fine.” Wylder shrugged. “I didn’t even know that I had it in me until it came down to it. Other than a few fists fights, I’m not a violent guy.”
Alek took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “I truly believed that our destiny would be during the times of peace that my fathers worked so hard for. Now my concern is to keep all of us safe before we even have to take over as the chosen.”
Wylder was beginning to look nervous. He wiped his palms against his sweatpants.
First the rules. “You will train every day. Either with Mitch or myself. And absolutely no joking around. You are to take this seriously.”
Wylder nodded.
Alek stepped to the side, revealing Mitch in his true form, kneeling with the gold sword in front of him.
“What the fuck?” Wylder yelled.
“Come, mate.” Alek held his hand out for Wylder.
“Uh, okay.” Wylder stepped onto the mat. He walked to Alek but his gaze was locked onto the sword.
Leaning forward, Alek kissed Wylder gently. “Congratulations.”
“What?” Wylder asked.
“Kneel, please,” Alek requested.
Without questioning, Wylder lowered himself to kneel in front of Alek, mimicking Mitch’s form. The boy was a quick learner.
Alek stepped to the side between his two mates.
“Micitian Yates, demon warrior, one of your four mates, is offering you this sword forged in the pits of hell by his own hands. Coated in his own blood to add protection for you as he had given some of his own magic. This is the highest honor a demon can endow to someone. Wylder Carter. Do you accept this gift from your mate?”
Wylder cleared his throat. “I accept my mate’s gift with all the love, trust, and honor I have in my heart for him and all my mates.”
Mitch lifted the gold sword and held it up where the light of the gym shone off it. Bending, he placed his lips over the metal for a kiss. He rose and crossed the mat toward Wylder.
“Stand, Wylder,” Alek encouraged.
Wylder stood.
“I present this sword to you with all my heart to keep yourself and our mates safe,” Mitch said.
“I accept this sword. I will protect myself and my mates.” Wylder held out both hands.
Mitch bowed before placing the sword in Wylder’s hands.
Wylder bowed back then grinned. “I’ve got a fucking sword!”
“Yay! Wylder! Wylder!” Theo clapped and cheered for their human.
Alek turned toward Theo. “Tomorrow night after dinner Sebastian will come and start training you in magic.”
“Me?” Theo pointed at himself in confusion.
Alek nodded. “Sebastian has trained in all types of magic and had experience with unseelie. He is going to teach you how to use the magic inside you and control it instead of letting it control you.”
“But I don’t want to be magical!” Theo told him.
“Baby.” Wylder stepped forward.
“No!” Theo stomped his foot. “I’m a shifter.”
“That’s not all you are, though,” Alek said as kindly as he could.
“I’m a shifter,” Theo declared again. “I’ve just gotten comfortable with my cat. I love him! I don’t want to be unseelie!”
In front of their eyes Theo started to shrink as he shifted.
“Theo!” Dario reached for Theo, but the little shifter was already climbing out of his clothes and taking off for the stairs.
“Theo!” Wylder yelled and started after him.
Alek caught Wylder’s shoulder. “Let me go after him. You need to listen to Mitch’s instructions about your new weapon. And start your training.”
Wylder glanced down at the sword in his hands. “I’ve got a fucking sword.”
That was not what Alek wanted to hear. “No playing around with it. If you cut your own hand off, I swear I will kill you myself.”
“I’ll take it seriously. I promise.” Wylder kissed Alek’s cheek. “Now, my demon, show me the way.”
Alek caught Dario’s worried gaze and nodded. “I’ll go talk to him.”
“Just…” Dario sighed. “He’s going through a lot.”
“He needs to accept this new change.” Alek wished he could give Theo more time but with the unseelie king still out there, they didn’t know what was headed in their direction.
“I know.” Dario looked even more upset.
Leaving Wylder and Mitch on the mat, Alek crossed to his golden dragon. He pulled Dario into his arms, loving how the man felt against him. Dario spent so much time worrying over Theo and Wylder that he didn’t take the time to worry about himself.
“How about you get ready for bed. I’ll talk to Theo and we’ll join you shortly,” Alek offered.
“I could use a nice soak in the tub,” Dario admitted.
Alek kissed him. He’d witnessed his fathers work a relationship with five mates.
They made it seem so simple but Alek was learning there was nothing simple about loving four men.
Each one of his mates was special in their own way.
They also came with unique insecurities and worries. Navigating that was hard.
He drew back and cupped Dario’s face. “You’ve been consumed with worry for Theo.
I’ve watched you work all day and cater to his every need.
I understand why. But you need time for yourself too.
Go soak and rest for a few minutes. I’ll take care of Theo.
He’s going to be fine. We both know that he’s scared.
Him running off is not anything new. We should be thankful that he just went to his room instead of going back to campus or something. ”
Dario nodded. “Okay, thanks.”
“Go.” Alek urged Dario away. Turning, he smiled at Mitch already giving Wylder instructions on caring for his new weapon.
Now Alek had a little cat to track down.
At least the mate bond alerted Alek that Theo was in his bedroom. The room that Dario had set up for him, and not the master bedroom. Which meant that Theo was hiding.
That was not going to do at all.
Alek strode up the stairs from the gym and through the rest of the house.
Aurelia had already done her work for the night and the entire apartment gleamed clean and dust free.
It had been a long time since Alek had lived in a house with a brownie.
They’d had a family of brownies for a few decades before Alek had left home.
They were the sweetest little creatures and Alek loved that Theo had rescued Aurelia from the unseelie king.
Ahead of him, Dario entered the master suite. Alek had to give his golden dragon credit. It must have been torture for Dario to pass Theo’s room and not stop to check on him.
Alek knocked twice on Theo’s door before pushing it open. Peeking around the corner, Alek searched the room for his feline.
He spotted Aurelia first on one of the top shelves that ran along the top of the walls. The brownie was petting the top of Theo’s head while cooing to him.
The shelves had been placed to cater to Theo’s shifter side where he could jump or climb from one to another. Theo had gone as high as he could. Alek doubted that even Mitch would be able to reach Theo in his natural form.
“Are you okay, Theo?” Alek asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. His little shifter could try to hide behind Aurelia but he was still bigger than her.
‘Mer.’
Alek still didn’t talk cat although Theo always spoke to him in that form. “Can you come down for me?”
‘Mer. Mer mer meow.’
“Honey. I don’t know what you’re saying.”
‘Meow. Meow. Mer. Mer.’
Okay, well if Theo wouldn’t come down or shift, then Alek would just talk. Hopefully his feline would at least listen to him.
“I know you’re scared. So much has happened so fast. You barely learned about being chosen then were attacked by the dark elves.
Then we mated and instead of getting to spend time getting to know each other or even move in together, you were stolen away from us.
And I’m so sorry about your mother and father.
You haven’t had time to process that either. ”
Stating everything out loud reminded Alek just how much Theo had been through.
The poor boy had thought this would be a simple start to his first year in college and it was anything but.
There were no fraternity parties and study dates for Theo. He had to deal with destiny and unknown creatures coming for him.
‘Meow.’
“I know you missed classes today but maybe this weekend we can go to my fathers’ house and see what they might know about your parents,” Alek offered.
‘Mer.’
“It’s okay to be curious about them.” There was movement from high above him. At least Alek knew that Theo was listening to him. “And I really do want you to work with Seb. My Pa is the best at using magic. At least on protection spells. We have three other mates to look out for.”
‘Mer. Mer mer mer. Meow.’
“I know you want to protect them. Wylder received his sword but you have magic. There is no reason to ignore that. Not when it will benefit you and your mates.”
Alek grunted as a massive weight landed on his lap. He hadn’t been expecting it.
Lifting Theo, Alek held the cat up to face him. “Hello, pretty.”
‘Mer.’ Theo batted a paw at him.
Should Alek consider himself lucky that there were no sharp claws directed at him? Probably.
Bringing Theo to his shoulder, Alek patted his furry back. “I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you before bringing up the magic. I’m just worried.”
‘Mer. Meow. Meow.’
Alek thought he’d be forgiven. He dug his fingers into Theo’s back, rubbing hard and making his cat purr.
A sound that Alek quite enjoyed. He just needed to ignore all the hair that was coating his suit. That was probably something that he needed to get used to.