I move into the small foyer as the doors slam shut behind me, making me wince.
Squeezing my eyes tight, I exhale heavily. Pushing my shoulders back, I raise my head.
No matter what happens when I walk into this room, I will survive this. This would be a small glitch in my overall plan. It meant nothing. After today, I would forget about this moment and move on.
Feigning indifference, I move into the main room and pause, looking straight ahead. From my peripheral vision, I make out five figures. Five very large and imposing tall figures. I could feel the power they radiated in their presence alone.
Taking one last deep breath, I turn my head and look right at them.
And freeze.
What the fuck? How was this possible?
How were they here?
The guys. My childhood friends.
Could it really be them?
No, it couldn’t be. They would never come here. Not now, after so long.
But… there they were, standing right in front of me.
Why were they here?
My best friends… Once upon a time.
My gaze flitters from Kai’s familiar sea green to Jax’s cool turquoise eyes. Axel’s deep hazel eyes to Rion’s golden amber flames.
From here, I can still see the small scar above Luka’s eye, remembering the moment like it was yesterday. Catching fireflies shouldn’t be all that dangerous, but Luka wanted to get me a nightlight, even if it meant climbing a crazy warlock’s house to catch them. He was lucky to make it out alive, his shadow wolf not yet awakened to heal his injuries.
A spear of elation shoots through me, seeing each of their familiar faces.
It was them. I was sure of it.
“A succubus?” Jax says, his eyes blown wide with lust as they trail along every inch of my body. I hide my own similar reaction as I subtly check them out.
“I don’t think she’s a succubus,” Rion replies, his stiff posture giving nothing away. “That’s all her… Whatever she is.” His voice is clinical, detached, every bit the cold-blooded Basilisk. Nothing like the thoughtful, caring boy I once knew, but there was a heat in his eyes that contradicted his posture and tone.
“A siren.”
Rion.
Once a lanky boy who knew about everything was now a man, his presence powerful. He was still tall but now built, filling out his sharp suit in all the right places. His fierce topaz eyes popped against his golden-brown skin, looking otherworldly.
Those eyes held me in place, making me feel things I had no right feeling.
“Maybe this agreement isn’t so bad after all.” Jax flashes a smug smile. I hear a grunt and catch the end of Luka elbowing him in the gut.
I hide my smirk, remembering their constant quarrelling, and how close we all used to be. That was before I left, before I was taken.
My slight happiness shrivels up.
Although Luka and Jax were twins, neither of them looked remotely alike. Jax was slightly shorter than Luka, with slick, black hair and piercing turquoise eyes. He wore his tattoos like armour. A skull with a snake wrapped around it climbed up his neck, reaching his sharp jawline.
Luka had blond hair, almost white, making his dark green eyes stand out. He looked polished in his dark trousers and tee.
Both shadow wolves, Luka and Jax were rare, even among their own kind.
Axel was staring at me with nothing but suspicion. The moody looking dragon was wearing dark jeans, and a matching black leather jacket and top. He gave Jax a run for his money with the bad boy look he had going on. He was all hard angles and defined muscles with a strong defined jawline and plump kissable lips. His hair was still long, reaching past his shoulders, bringing a small smirk to my lips. He was always too stubborn, never letting anyone touch it growing up. Not much has changed there.
My eyes drift from one boy to another, still not fully believing they were here. My eyes scan their tall stature, their strong bodies and physiques. No longer boys, but men.
My gaze finally lands on Kai, a hound of hell and alpha among alphas. The leader of our little group. The one who kept us all together, always keeping us safe and looking out for us.
The one we could always count on to be there, no matter what.
His quiet temperament and fierce loyalty for family assured we’d always look out for one another and stick together.
The same quiet stance glances around the room, searching for anything that could be a threat to his brothers. Positioning himself in front of them all, he turns his attention back to me.
Kai stares at me, frowning, his green eyes pulsing a red glow before widening as our eyes meet.
“Mate. ”
I blanch, taking a step back. No! No, no, no. He had to be mistaken. I couldn’t be his mate.
The guys freeze around him, their bodies turning stiff.
“You sure? I can’t pick up much with whatever spells they have cast in this room,” Luka breathes, the shock clear on his face.
Kai gives Luka a look, nodding his head before turning to me.
“Positive.”
This couldn’t be happening, not now. Not when I was so close to getting our freedom from this place.
Kai’s expression turns from confusion to pure hunger. The heat in his eyes, like flames. His nostrils flare as he stares unblinking at me.
I’m frozen to the spot, my core tightening with the heated looks around me.
“She’s our mate.”
Wait. Our?
Hearing Kai’s confirmation, the guys’ shocked expressions melt to one of outrage and anger.
“No fucking way!”
“Damn it!”
“So much for an easy deal.”
“We can still…”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you want to walk out of here with two working legs.” Kai growls at Jax’s comment.
Jax throws up his arms, losing his playful demeanour.
“Well? Then what are we going to do?”
“She’s our mate, doesn’t mean we have to accept the bond.” Axel leans back against the wall, crossing his arms. His expression holding nothing but arrogance and disgust. A far cry from the sweet, stubborn boy I knew.
“What about the agreement?” Luka ignores Axel, turning to Kai.
“We need this.”
Kai stays silent, his piercing stare cutting through me, attempting to touch my tainted soul and uncover all its secrets.
I fist my hand to stop it from pulling the robe tighter around me and giving me some cover against those knowing eyes.
“If we don’t go through with it, you know what will happen—” Jax grits out before Kai cuts him off. “I know how important this is to us all.” His eyes narrow on me.
“For now, we’ll stick with the plan, just slightly modified.”
Kai nods his head to himself. “I’m sure we can come to some agreement that suits us all.”
Their back-and-forth bickering was giving nothing away and irritating as hell. What plan? Any of their plans usually involved intricate pieces and a big mess. Even as kids, they were always looking ahead for something new to accomplish.
“What the hell are you all talking about?” I ask, my curiosity overshadowing the premise of being here.
“Ah, she speaks.” Jax grins at me, a twinkle in his eyes.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not your fucking mate. You all must have hit your thick skulls on the way in here.”
I couldn’t be their mate. We would’ve known when we were kids, wouldn’t we? We were always inseparable, but that’s how childhood friends are.
Rion’s chuckle was humourless.
“She has some bite.”
“I can’t be, that’s not possible!” My calm mask cracks some more. My chest gets tight as my cold indifference falls to the floor beneath me.
If they’re right, my plan will be ruined. All those months carefully planning every little detail, wasted.
“You are, most definitely, our mate.” Kai says, his nostrils flaring as his eyes pulse an eery red glow.
No. This wasn’t happening. I take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. My mask forming once more. If what they said was true. I’d figure it out. Like always.
“Fuck!” Axel shouts.
“Can’t believe we found our fucking mate,” Jax says, a crazy smile turning to a slight frown, realising where he is.
“In this hellhole no less,” Axel states. He always was a moody son of a bitch. I narrow my eyes at him. Of course, this place was a shit hole, but they’ve been here all of two seconds.
Kai’s lip twitches at seeing my frown, finding my frustration funny as usual. The shithead. I huff, rolling my eyes. Mates… Wait. There were five of them.
It isn’t unusual to have multiple mates, especially with different types of supes, but five…
“Why do you keep saying our ?”
“Because you belong to all of us,” Rion says, his voice a deep growl sending warm shivers down my spine. Fuck, if that wasn’t sexy as hell. But this was not possible.
I no longer believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters. When King brought me here after my mother’s death, I believed more in the nightmares and monsters.
This… This right here wasn’t real.
“This is obviously a mistake.”
They were more than likely just picking up on our connection as kids, but because of the bracelet masking who I was, they think I’m their mate. That’s all.
Jax chuckles, cracking his neck. “Doesn’t look that way now, does it sweetheart!”
“She can’t be our mate! She’s obviously cast some spell to trick us into a bonding for this shitty agreement,” Axel huffs out.
I roll my eyes at his absurd statement. That moron. No one could sway a mating bond. Not even dark magic could penetrate the bonds that held such a match.
“Yes, that was my whole plan all along.” I give him a mocking smile as his eyes narrow on me.
Axel thrusts his hand forward. “See, she even agrees. I knew we shouldn’t have come here.”
I didn’t realise Axel was always this fucking stupid. He must have hit his head after I left.
“We have no choice, you know that,” Kai answers, still staring at me, his reply bringing up a few questions of my own.
“Luka?” Kai asks him a silent question.
Luka eyes my bracelet. “I’m not sensing anything malicious, but there’s a slight spike in energy from that gold band she’s wearing.”
Shit!
Kai narrows his eyes on the offending piece of metal.
“Take it off,” he demands, so like the Kai I once knew, but he’s crazy if he thinks I was just going to obey.
“I’ll pass.” He wasn’t my alpha.
Kai’s eyes flare at the challenge.
“See! She’s up to something!” Axel says to the others, giving me a sneer.
Dick.
“You think I want this? What could I possibly gain from any of this?” Apart from five assholes with shitty attitudes.
“How about a bonding to the five most powerful alphas in Manhattan?”
Who apparently are also all so modest.
“How about… no.” The guy’s chuckle around us, earning a glare from Axel.
“I couldn’t give a shit about your alpha status. There’s enough assholes here that fit the type if that’s what I wanted.”
The chuckles quickly dry up, turning their glare on me.
Axel sneers. “I’m not mating to a prissy princess who’s a fucking sheep.”
Locking my jaw, I hold back my anger, but just barely.
“Like I’d want a fucking dickhead as a mate, anyway.”
Axel chuckles humourlessly. “If I wanted to, I’d have you on your knees, begging for it.”
“In your fucking dreams,” I grit out. The dick was pushing my buttons and not in the right way.
Axel’s smirk turns wicked. “I’m not Prince Charming. I’m a fucking nightmare who’ll make you wet enough to—”
“Enough!” Kai growls before turning his glare on me. “Remove the band or we’ll do it for you.”
The guys span out, caging me in. Axel blocks the exit with a smirk, thinking he’s got me right where he wants me. But if they’re trying to intimidate me, they’re going to have to work a hell of a lot harder.
I’ve been trapped here under King’s rule for six years. Locking me in a room with them was the least of my troubles.
Besides, nothing they did really mattered. It wasn’t like any of us could just walk out if we wanted, not without King’s approval.
“So, what will it be?” Jax asks, a cocky smirk on his face.
“Either take it off or we’ll have to do it for you,” Kai says.
I could see the promise in his eyes, the determined set in his jaw. The need to protect his family was always in the forefront of Kai’s mind. He always put everyone else’s needs above his own for the family.
Family.
Once mine too, but no longer.
A spear of sadness shoots through me at the thought, loosening some of my anger toward them.
I was no longer part of that bond. I was just the threat here now.
The enemy.
I guess we were all going to have a little reunion.
I just hoped they didn’t hate me when they found out.
“Fine, but you asked for it.”
The guys brace themselves, tensing up, awaiting an attack. The bracelet unlatches and clangs to the floor.
The guys turn confused before wearing matching shocked expressions.
“Kiarra?”
