We stay in the castle for a whole week more, long after all the other guests have gone. Uncle Max tells me the castle belongs to his acquaintance, Lucifer Draven, a reclusive Otherworlder that he has some business dealings with.
Now that everyone is gone home, it is like the castle belongs to just us. The only other people we see are the numerous staff who cater to our every need.
Each day one or other of the men accompany me on walks along the forested grounds or the lakes around the castle, or we explore the many towers and numerous stunning gardens. They teach me to ride a beautiful snowy white horse, and tease me that I like her more than them.
Otherworld is simply stunning. The evening sky often glows and shimmers somewhat like the northern lights, which I have only seen on TV. Here it feels like magic is infused in the sky itself.
I spend my nights either with Uncles Max and Karl, or with Uncles Jake and Anthony, taking turns on whose room to sleep in. It is wonderful.
I am so sad to say goodbye to Otherworld, but Uncle Max promises we can visit frequently. Sadly we need to go home because their work commitments can’t wait any longer. I don’t even want to think about my grades.
I am dropped off at my dorm by Uncle Jake, who gives me a rakish kiss goodbye that leaves me blushing.
Before we’d left Otherworld, Juniper had returned my phone – she’d retrieved it from an irate Roxy. As I reluctantly approach my room, I switch it on. I find dozens of missed calls from my friends. They are frantic about my whereabouts.
I get back to my room to find all of my belongings have been packed up into boxes and cases. Roxy is nowhere to be seen, but Lola is sprawled on my bed reading a lifestyle magazine.
She leaps up when she sees me, and engulfs me in a half-annoyed, half-ecstatic hug.
“You have to tell me everything!” she commands.
“Why are my things packed up?” I ask, dazedly.
“Because your mystery man called me and requested – well sort of insisted – that I do it. He said it had to be me. Why me?”
I flush with pleasure at the thought that Uncle Max really was listening to every word I said.
“Because I told him you were the friend I would probably tell first. I’m not sure how the others will take it.”
“So tell me already,” she insists, locking my door behind me and saying, “Fuck Roxy!”
We both giggle.
“Did he say why he wanted you to pack my things?” I ask.
“Yep. It’s a surprise. No more changing the topic!”
So I tell her about Otherworld. About my secret crushes on my dad’s best friends, and how this week I have fallen deeply in love with them.
She looks stunned and a bit anxious when I finish, as if she can’t wrap her head around it fully. But to her credit she doesn’t question any of what I have said.
“So?” I ask nervously.
“I’m not sure what I think. I don’t know if it matters.”
“It does! You’re one of my best friends. And with what happened to you and the guys in high school, I thought you might understand. I mean, you said you loved Aeron, but you’d started to have feelings for Tyler…”
My voice trails off. She has flushed pink.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mutters.
I sigh. “If it can happen for me, then maybe–”
“No,” she says firmly. “I can’t do it. These guys all love you. Aeron made it clear he didn’t love me anymore.”
“Oh.”
I squeeze her hand in sympathy. I know this one thing has haunted Lola for years. She hasn’t dated anyone since she split up with Aeron.
For a while she looks like she is about to cry. But then her phone buzzes. She looks grateful for the distraction. She glances at the phone, but doesn’t mention who the message is from.
She springs to her feet and says with forceful cheeriness, and says, “And now for your surprise!”
The surprise is every bit as wonderful as it could be. Uncle Max has rented me a house. He calls me when I get there to say he wishes he could have shown it to me in person, but that would have meant a delay, and he didn’t want me to have to put up with Roxy for a minute longer.
The house is near enough to college for me to get there easily, but far enough away to maintain my privacy. I know full well why he would want that.
They don’t disappoint me, visiting me frequently for the rest of the semester. Sometimes together, sometimes just one.
The only thing to spoil my joy is that I have not yet dared call my dad yet.
It is an aching worry at the back of my mind. I used to call him at least once a week before. Now he has texted me a single time to ask how I am, and I have texted back to say I’m well. Just that.
I feel heartache thinking about it. Uncle Max tells me not to worry, but I can’t help it.
On the last day of the semester, Uncle Max comes to pick me up. I will be staying with him for the summer and I am very much looking forward to it.
On the drive back I drift off, exhausted from my packing. I awake from a pleasant little snooze to find that Uncle Max has pulled up outside dad’s house.
I stare at Max accusingly. These days I call him Max, and Uncle Max only in private.
He takes my hand reassuringly and we go and knock on the front door. A stunning woman opens it. She is tall and lean, with red hair. Her skin seems to glow with inner light.
“Hi, you must be Clara,” she purrs. “I’m Anyanka.”
“And I’m Zanice,” says another voice behind her.
It is another stunning woman, this one with curly bronze hair like a halo around her head, and a luscious curvy figure.
As we follow the women to the lounge, I turn wide eyes on Uncle Max.
“Succubae,” he whispers to me.
I can’t believe it. Succubae in my dad’s house?
Dad is waiting for me in the lounge. He seems slightly stiff and awkward. We all eat brunch together. Throughout it all the two succubae tease him. Clearly they are very comfortable with him. Their pleasant conversation makes things seem almost normal.
When brunch is done, Zanice tells me she has planted Otherworld flowers in the garden and they are blooming nicely. She suggests dad take me out to see them.
To my surprise, he sheepishly gives me him arm. I tuck mine into it and we stroll to the garden in silence.
The flowers are stunning. A shimmering blue that is clearly not earthly flora. They really are flourishing, which is odd because I had heard Otherworld plants grow poorly on earth.
Dad clears his throat. “They’re doing well. It’s a good sign, isn’t it?”
I smile at him gratefully. “Yes, I think so.”
“He says he loves you,” he says.
I look to him startled. Uncle Max has never said those words to me.
Dad notices my surprise and nods. “They all say they do.”
“They… erm, they all came to see you? They said that to you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh!” I don’t know what else to say. I stare at the flowers with a lump in my throat.
“I think things are going to be alright,” he says quietly.
I take his hand and squeeze it, blinking away tears of relief. “I do too.”
But the biggest surprise is waiting for me when I get home to Uncle Max’s house. That night after dinner, with Karl, Jake and Anthony looking on, Max declares his intention to make me his mate.
He declares it forcefully, as if I have no choice in the matter, in the way of werewolves who claim their mates.
And then he smiles sheepishly, gets down on one knee and asks me to spend my life with him. With his pack.
The others kneel behind him, offering themselves to me.
There is no doubt as to my answer, and no stopping the tears of joy that run down my cheeks. My cry of, “Yes!” comes out hoarse.
They surround me and gather me into their arms, and I know, truly, that I am the happiest I could ever be.
The end.
