Aleera
My head throbs, and the back of my eyes ache but not nearly as much as my jaw. I groan, forcing my eyes open when I realize I’m not on the hard concrete floor of the dungeon. No, I feel warmer and more comfortable. Rolling on my side, I blink, trying to clear the blurriness of my vision to find a man sitting next to me. Peering around, I find I am in a bedroom… on a bed.
The man stares like he is looking through me as I jerk upright and pull away from him. He has dark hair that looks like he just ran his fingers through it only moments ago. His blue eyes are the lightest shade I have ever seen, so pale they are almost white. I would have assumed they were until he blinked if it weren't for my enhanced eyesight. The color returns to them. I wonder where his mind went as the color returns, and his eyes are now a startling cerulean blue.
“Drink, please,” he says, reaching for the tall glass of water from the bedside dresser. He hands it to me, and I clutch it with shaky hands, watching him warily. “Please,” he repeats, and for some unknown reason, I don’t like the idea of upsetting him, almost as if I can sense how fragile this man is. So I quickly obey, bringing the glass to my lips. The icy liquid pours into my mouth, which is so dry that I gulp it down, nearly choking on it.
“Slow. Not so fast,” he murmurs, gripping the glass. My fingers tingle where his bumps against mine. He slowly tips the cup up, allowing me to drink what is left.
He goes to open his mouth to say something when the door opens suddenly. He turns his head to look at who has entered, and so do I. Glancing over, I see Tobias leaning on the doorframe. I glance away from him, back to the man sitting beside me, and suddenly, realization dawns on me.
“You are Kalen?” I whisper, and he turns back to me. He studies me for a second before shifting closer to me, his hand outstretched, and I wonder if he will hit me. Instead, he cups my face in his hand, his thumb brushing under my eye. He smiles softly. Sparks rush across my skin and I sigh, leaning into his touch. He goes to say something when Tobias speaks from the doorway.
“Kalen, Darius wants to speak with you,” Tobias says while pushing off the doorframe. Kalen drops his hand and sighs, looking over at our mate.
“Why?” he asks, turning to look back at Tobias. His voice is velvety smooth, not demanding and cruel like the others; it doesn’t make me want to cringe upon hearing it, as Darius and Tobias’ voices do.
“You know why. Now, don’t make him wait. You know he hates waiting,” Tobias tells him, he nods toward the door, and Kalen hangs his head and then nods. However, I notice Tobias, his voice different, softer as he speaks to Kalen. Kalen’s shoulders drop as he gets up off the bed with a sigh. My hand twitches to stop him but one growl from Tobias makes me drop it. I don’t want him to leave. He is the only one that doesn’t appear to want to kill me. Yet as he moves around the edge of the bed and toward the door, I notice Tobias does not follow him.
“Close the door,” Tobias says, his eyes holding mine, and my heart rate picks up at his words. I glance toward Kalen, who nods, giving me a sad smile and shutting the door behind him as he leaves. Tobias steps slowly around the edge of the bed, and I move to the other side, getting ready to run if needed.
He chuckles as if he finds my fear of him amusing. He stops next to the dresser that sits along the wall.
“I would remain where you are, Aleera. Don’t tempt me because it will only end in pain for you,” Tobias states, the softer, kind voice he’d used with Kalen now replaced with a harsh cold one that carries a warning with every syllable. I hesitate to place my foot on the gray carpet. He turns his head to the side, and I bring my leg back onto the bed and tuck my knees to my chest.
“Good. You can listen,” he says as the door opens again. My other three mates walk back in. Darius is the most imposing among them. Second with Tobias, but they are all intimidating. Darius and Tobias command your attention effortlessly just by their presence alone, and if looks could kill, Lycus would have turned me to ash the moment he stepped inside the room.
He has changed his shirt to a white one. Darius wears black slacks and a white button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Not only is he menacing, but he also looks the part, with the way the shirt hugs his body like it is tailored to him. The fabric does nothing to hide the bulk of muscle beneath it.
Kalen has on jeans and a black shirt. He is leaner than the others yet still muscular from what I can tell by his arms and the ridges of his abs pressing against his shirt. Lycus, however, is all muscle, having werewolf genes mixed with his fae ones—typical shifter genes.
Lycus’ eyes have changed again, making me wonder if they changed with his temperament. He looks furious, yet his eye color is now amber. Maybe it was the light down in the dungeon. I know werewolf shifters have deep silver eyes in a semi-shifted or shifted state, so it must have been a trick of the light, which means this has to be the natural color of his eyes.
Darius folds his arms across his chest, glaring down at me, and I drop my gaze, unable to handle its intensity; it burns into me with a hatred that makes my stomach twist.
“Nothing to say, Aleera?” Darius asks. What can I say? What excuse will he accept that would be good enough because clearly murdering my parents and burning my family home down isn’t enough reason to run from them? If I told them the other reason, they will probably pin me down and use me to destroy the world. Use me as their personal power source and force me to mate with them.
Movement catches my eye, and Darius suddenly appears next to me. A gasp tears from me when I see his hand reach for me; he grips my face. His fingers dig into my cheeks as he forces me to meet his demonic eyes. Darkness is all I see in them. He is evil incarnate.
“I asked you a question,” he says, his voice deadly calm. He then shoves my face away. I rub my cheek where his nails dug in a little too hard, breaking the skin.
“You will remain in this room between classes. If you leave this castle without permission, you will find yourself back in the cells, understood?” Darius asks.
“Don’t try to run, Aleera. Our room is right next door, and I will have guards stationed on the stairs. They have permission to use force if necessary,” Tobias says, and Lycus walks over to a door I hadn’t noticed yet.
He opens it, revealing a bathroom. There is another door on the other end, which I guess leads into the room next door.
His words suddenly register. Did they all share the same room? I stare at them but say nothing when Darius leans down, making me lean back as his hands drop on the bed on either side of my hips.
My eyes go to the faint outline on his neck, three marks overlapping each other. I blink in shock, wondering if I’d imagined it. No, it can’t be. I am their keeper, and mates didn’t mark each other; usually, they only mark their keeper. I am the link between them, yet why did he have all three of their marks on his neck? I want to know if they all shared each other’s marks.
“Is that understood, Aleera?” Darius asks, and I tear my eyes away from his neck to look at his face. I quickly nod.