Chapter 25 Avery #2
Aiden finished up his blessings and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “If you’re going to pilfer from the kitchens, you could have brought the rest of us something.”
Elijah shrugged. “It was a quick dash in and out, and as always, Avery is my priority.”
I took pity on Aiden and passed over my open bottle. His smile was grateful, and then I was subjected to the lewd movement of his Adam’s apple as he took several big swallows of the drink.
“Plus,” Elijah went on, “I didn’t want to linger too long in my pilfering. I figured you might all like an update on my little field trip down to Fulton City as soon as possible.”
I snapped my head in his direction like a Doberman. “Your what?”
My ire only excited him. He beamed a big smile at me and then nudged the handle of Wyatt’s ax out of the way. He flopped down onto the sand next to me, his long legs splayed out in front of him.
“I sent Elijah to visit the Martins,” Heath said in the matter-of-fact don’t argue with me tone of a quad leader.
“You what?”
“Don’t worry, Dove,” Elijah said smoothly. “Your neighbors are just fine. Minor shifters are incredibly susceptible to the basilisk’s hypnosis. It took only the lightest touch to get them to forget they ever saw a beautiful silver tiger tearing apart a Giant wraith last December.”
“More like it was tearing me apart,” I muttered, and Aiden made a pained noise. “Wait, your beast can hypnotize?”
Elijah’s grin was sly. “He can lull or stun all but the most powerful shifters. I learned the art of hypnosis myself to… complement the power.”
I blinked at him. Elijah really was an incredibly dangerous shifter. He needed to become a Guardian as much as I did—before he became a target.
“Fine. If you’re sure you didn’t do any permanent damage to them.”
“I’m sure, love.”
Heath speared him with a serious look. “And before you wiped their memories, were you able to discern whether they told anyone about Avery’s tiger? In particular anyone within our parents’ social circle or with even loose ties to the Council?”
“Mr. Martin was adamant that neither he nor his wife told anyone,” Elijah replied. “He doesn’t talk to his brother or the rest of his family, who are all Prime felines of some sort. I didn’t want to pry as to his beast, but his pheromones tasted like rodent—squirrel if I had to guess.”
Ah. Poor Mr. Martin. While it wasn’t a given that Prime families would produce children who manifested with a Prime beast soul, it was likely that anyone who didn’t would be latent.
It was expected—prized—in females, but it could also happen in males, and they often went on to excel in secondary affinities because their magical abilities were strong.
It might be unfortunate in the eyes of some, but it was also expected and normal.
But to pull a random minor beast from the genetic deck of cards in a family full of Primes? That was rough, and I understood now more than ever why Mr. Martin and his wife chose to live as humans in the city.
Heath blew out a breath, the tension bleeding from his shoulders.
“Thank the Moon. I mean, it’s been seven months, so you would think we’d have heard by now if there was a rumor flying around our community about the appearance of a white or silver female tiger, but I just…
.” He looked at me, a worried frown marring his stunning face. “I had to be sure.”
“We all did,” Aiden agreed.
I let their words hang in the air, taking a moment to look up at the sky. The Moon was almost directly overhead, still big and luminous and thrumming with power.
Still not imparting any sage wisdom either.
These men, my Fated, had been so concerned by the event—the sheer bad luck—that’d sent me on my quest to become a Guardian that Elijah had snuck out of camp, driven two hours, tracked down the Martins, and used his unnerving basilisk talents to (gently) warp their minds.
It was a lot to take in, even if it didn’t exactly surprise me.
“Thank you,” I said, taking care to look each of them in the eyes. “The fact that there were two people I don’t exactly trust out there with the knowledge of my beast was weighing on my family, and I appreciate you all helping me lift that weight.”
Aiden reached over and squeezed my knee. “There’s nothing more important to us than your safety, sweetheart.”
“That’s just it,” I said. “You guys have had this awful shit with Clara hanging over you. I don’t want you to have to keep cleaning up my messes. I don’t want to add to your burden.”
“You are never a burden,” Heath growled. “Not to us. You’re our mate.”
“We’re gonna keep you safe, Wildcat,” Wyatt added. “Get fucking used to it.”
My throat was dry, despite all the Gatorade I’d chugged, but for some reason, I kept talking.
“Deep down, this wasn’t really all about the Martins.
My dads were right when they pushed me to find a way to stop hiding if I ever want to really live my life.
Becoming a Guardian is the way I chose to do that.
” I locked eyes with Heath and let my beast shine through.
“And being a part of this group, this quintet, is the right thing for me to accomplish that goal. I know it is. It doesn’t mean I’ve agreed to be your mate or your central, but I am agreeing, wholeheartedly and no longer under protest, to be a part of this team. ”
Heath beamed the most beautiful smile I’d ever beheld. “I’ll take it, Killer.”
Elijah pulled my hand from my lap and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my inner wrist. “We’re better when you’re with us, Dove.” He rolled gracefully to his feet and offered me a hand up.
I accepted, and then I dug my feet into the sand and stretched my sore limbs. While I did that, Elijah gathered my swords and handed them over.
Wyatt scooped his ax off the ground and then dropped a kiss on top of my head. “Thanks again, baby. I love watching you work.” He tossed his ax onto his shoulder and sauntered off. I didn’t not stare at his round, muscular ass as he went.
Elijah exchanged a knowing look with Ian, which was weird, but then he winked at me and trailed after Wyatt.
Heath took his newly blessed saber from Aiden, threaded it through his belt, and gave me one last heated glance before he strode away.
Aiden packed up Elijah’s knives, then slid his saber into the sheath on his back. In a few strides, he was in front of me, peering down into my face, his expression tender. “Best rune student I’ve ever had,” he whispered, lifting a hand to caress my cheek softly. “The most beautiful too.”
And then he kissed me.
His kiss was soft but insistent, and entirely too brief. My brain shut down, and my tiger purred happily as he stroked my tongue with his before pressing his lips one last time to mine, then to my nose, then to my forehead.
“Thank you for allowing yourself to trust us,” he murmured. “We’re going to show you that trust is not misplaced.”
With those parting words, he left, jogging down the beach to catch up with the others.
A throat cleared behind me. I whirled to find Ian smirking at me, his towel balled under his arm and all his potion-making supplies packed away in his backpack. Brody had come down from his rock, his arm thrown around Ian’s shoulders and a knowing smile on his face.
I sighed. “Shut up, both of you.”
“Come on, Aves,” Ian said, laughing. “We’ll walk you back.”
I pointed his katana at him. “Not a word. I mean it.”
“Sure thing. Neither Brody nor I have any comment whatsoever on your doting mates running around and fixing all our problems.”
I grumbled at them, but they were both mercifully silent as they led me back to my cabin and tucked me into bed.