Kalina ~ Book Four

Sylvie rolled around the egg-shaped day bed, all kisses and touches and pleasure as her hazy vision made her mates glow. Kian's brown skin shone a deep purple, and she stroked his face before straddling him and kissing his soft lips. The music in the room turned fast with bassy beats that made her throb in all the right places.

She would swap mates with each pitch in the music, standing and dancing from Kian's hands to Elias’. Glowing a vibrant crimson hue, he was the only sober one of the bunch, but he readily accepted her touch as she rubbed herself against him in a grinding dance.

He matched her movements with some of his own, making her desperate with need, though the growing feeling of being watched slowly wormed into her mind. She continued the dance but refrained from tearing her clothes off and turned to Rowan next.

He was completely fucked, his eyes and body glowing gold as if on the verge of a shift as he pulled her into his arms atop the bed. She grabbed his wandering hands, cuffed them over his head with her own, and kissed him until his chest rumbled.

Again, the sensation of being watched made her shiver, and she sat up, peering around. Through the dull lighting and past the writhing bodies meeting in drug-induced sex, there were eyes.

Orange. Yellow. White. Blue.

Dozens were watching her, not partaking in the orgy around them. Sylvie blinked a few times, wondering if she was hallucinating, but the staring Fae remained.

“What is it?” Elias asked from far away. She couldn't see him. Couldn't find him. Rubbing her eyes, she cleared the haziness and tried again.

The eyes. They were closer.

One Fae, all dressed in black, was almost in reach of her. She stifled a shocked shout and stood waving her hand in Elias’ direction.

A cold grip cupped her hand, and she jerked only briefly, calming when she realised it was him. She shook her head and tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. Nothing would come. She chuckled. Some things would come.

As if right on cue, the delirious moans of Fae filled her head.

Loud.

It was too loud in there.

She tugged Elias to the glass doors. Kian took her other hand while Rowan slunk off the bed and trailed behind her.

As they stumbled past two evergreen Fae, one latched onto her leg, and she stumbled toward them. Their tongues shot out, aiming for her toes, and Elias yanked her straight out of their grip before they could make contact. Rowan growled furiously at the Fae, but they just laughed and resumed theirpassionated fucking.

Elias set her down on wobbly feet and retook her hand.

“Weird,” Sylvie mumbled, pulling her mates for the doors. She needed fresh air. That would do some good. Already, her mind was defogging as the crisp night air seeped through the door seams. The door closest to her flung open, and a naked pair of moon Fae flitted past, still linked, before flying up to the highest branch of her tree.

Another Fae ran straight into her, grabbing her cheeks and kissing her head before Elias could react.

“Chosen one,” she purred before darting away.

Sylvie blinked, begging the drugs to leave her system and threw herself outside, sucking in cool lungfuls of air.

“What is happening?” she whispered.

“Fae parties can get out of hand,” Kian slurred a bit. Elias guided him to stand beside Sylvie and looked around for their other mate.

Rowan growled wildly at every Fae who so much looked at his mate, and when Elias grabbed him by the collar, throwing him towards Sylvie, he rumbled an animalistic, “Mine.”

“She’s been yours for years, Shifter. How much did you drink?” Elias thumbed his eyelids and checked his pupils. Whatever he saw made his lips tighten in a thin line. “Sea Holly.”

“Yep,” Sylvie said tiredly, rubbing and probably smearing her mascara. Kian noticed and gently wiped her cheek before booping her nose.

“Hey.”

“You have a cute nose,” he drawled.

Elias caged them all in and seemed to weigh his options. His serious expression mingled with his shiny red glow, drew a giggle from Sylvie.

Kian too. Kian's state seemed to concern Elias more as he grabbed him and checked his eyes. “Absinthe.”

“Yep,” Sylvie said with a chuckle, ticking off an imaginary list in the sky. Rowan grabbed her raised hand and brought it right before his eyes. She waggled her fingers in slow patterns, and his eyes followed mesmerised. “You’re a funny puppy,” she hiccuped.

“I’m going to get the Absinthe from your blood so you are sober enough to get these two home.”

Sylvie turned towards the voice, but a warm wetness enclosing her pinky finger stole her attention. “Bad doggy.”

“Hold still,” Elias growled before a pained gasp from Kian drew Sylvie's attention. His fangs in Kian's neck, and Kian’s pained look filled her with rage.

“Off,” she pushed Elias. “Get off him.” Her nudges did nothing but deepen the red in his eyes as he drank his fill.

“You’re hurting him!”

Kian placed his hands on hers and squeezed, a clarity filling his eyes. “I’m okay, Princess. That’s enough, E.”

With effort, Elias pulled away, sealing the gold-dripping cuts with blood of his own and staggered to Sylvie’s side. “Let’s go,” he slurred.

“I didn't get to say goodbye…”

“Kerensa is indisposed.”

Sylvie giggled softly and palmed her head with the hand not currently being made out with by Rowan.

“My head feels swimmy,” she said, accepting Elias’ tight hug that enclosed both her and the Shifter at her side. Kian pushed them through a portal, and they landed with a splat on the grass outside their house. Rowan growled and rolled over, dragging Sylvie with him while Elias stared at the stars on his back.

“Come get cleaned up,” Kian said, trying to pull any of them to their feet. When no one budged, he sighed and sat crosslegged on the grass. “Fine.”

Sylvie giggled, accepting one last wet kiss from Rowan before rolling off him, wedging between him and Elias. She eyed her mates and followed Elias’ gaze to the sky. The stars spun and swayed as if the music of Evergreen were still playing.

“They’re dancing.”

“Shh. Rest now, Princess.” Kian shuffled closer until his head was above hers, and he stroked her hair.

“Night, night.” She yawned and snuggled down into the lawn surrounded by her mates. They were so sweet. And cute. And nice.

“Princess.”

“Yeah.”

“To fall asleep, you need to stop talking.”

“I’m not talking.” Not talking. Not talking. Just sleep, sleep, sleeping. Night night stars. Night night moon. Night night-

“Ah, what the fuck!” Sylvie groaned and shielded her eyes from the sun. The bright sun. Where the hell was she? Sitting up, she almost puked from the sudden movement. Rowan was in wolf form, curled along her side, while Elias was already sitting, head hung between his bent knees. Kian was gone.

Through her eyelashes, she spied the forest and sighed. They were home. She had no recollection of how they got home nor the events after she got kissed on the head by some Fae. Though that could've been a hallucination. Her head ached, and she shakily climbed to her feet and wobbled into the house, leaving Elias and Rowan to drag themselves in where they were ready.

“Morning, princess.” Kian handed her a smoothie and kissed her forehead, alleviating some self-loathing and a fraction of the pain.

“What happened?”

“Nothing unsavoury; you’re probably feeling a bit of portal sickness with the drugs.”

“Yeah.” She closed her eyes and sipped the smoothie. That was something she never understood. Despite healing the division, as the Fates asked of her, they still hadn't rid the realm travel of portal sickness and after she lost her lycan form, her tolerance for it had left her, too. Amira didn’t know either.

She gasped suddenly, the act making her head throb. “Kerensa,” she choked through the pain. “She found her bonded one.”

Kian smiled. “Wren. They’re a Sun Fae. High borne.”

“They’re?” Sylvie asked carefully.

He nodded, wiping the counter down. “Dyad Anima. Similar to non-binary on earth but more fluid. Literally. Their bodies can change depending on their bonded or chosen partner.”

“Wow. And they’re born that way?”

“Exactly.”

She would have to visit her soon to get all the gossip and properly meet Wren. Maybe after the honeymoon period had cooled off a bit, though. Sylvie finished her smoothie and set it in the sink.

The hangover had already dwindled to a dull headache thanks to her healing, and she looked over her grass-stained, wrinkled dress. “I’m gonna go shower. Wake our mates, will you? We don’t need to pack, seeing their Alpha looking sloppy.”

Kian chuckled and headed for the door as she padded to the bedroom. “I’m sure the shifters know who their Alpha is, Princess. Both of them.”

Sylvie hummed and stepped into the bathroom, dropping the thin straps of her dress and letting it pool like liquid silk at her feet. As she washed the night of her skin, she pondered Kian’s words.

It was perhaps the first time in a long time that she didn't believe his words. The shifters adored her, unlike the vampires and maybe even some of the Fae based on their weird staring at the Gala, but that was because they didn't know what she had done.

They hadn’t seen the chaos she could and had left in her wake. The Vampires had, and although she didn't destroy Argyncia, she was a catalyst for its destruction just as much as her aunt Lazuli.

And the Fae, well, they sure liked to spread rumours. If any of them knew she was the relative of the Fae that destroyed a whole court, none of them would look at her with adoration in their eyes. The only ones who did were the Fae, who found their bonded.

They knew of Fate's prophecies, promising the creature with three mates would heal the division and the matebonds would return. Maybe they were following in the vampire's footsteps and believed she could control who received bondeds. She shuddered. It was the last thing she needed—more desperate enemies.

She was better off staying in the Earth realm in the safety of her pack wards. One party was more than enough. It was time to focus on her teaching and healing, the Gala reminding her exactly why she didn't go anywhere anymore.

She climbed from the shower and wrapped a towel around her as a trilling sound drew her from the bathroom. On the dresser, Rowan's phone rang and rang. She padded over and peeked at the caller's I.D.

Alpha Young.

Her brows knitted together. She didn't recognise the name and thought to take the phone to him, but it stopped ringing. She picked up the phone and headed for the door to find him when it rang again.

She sighed and answered the call. She was an Alpha, too. How bad could it be?

“Hello, Alpha Hex’s phone.”

“Hello, there. This is Fraser. Who might you be?” The rugged voice at the end of the line made her straighten, and she returned to the bedroom.

“I’m-” She paused for half a second and cleared her throat. “Kalina.” She had no clue why she used her birth name, but she didn't want him to know who she was.

“Kalina,” he almost purred before she shut him down with a scoff.

“Yes. That’s the name. What is the purpose of your call?” There was a pause, and she could almost see him smile at the end of the line.

“Well, Alpha Hex and I have been in communication recently regarding the influx of human activity on our pack borders and offered support in warding us from their attention.” He paused again before adding. “We’re two hours North.”

Sylvie sank back on the bed and gnawed her lower lip. She’d heard of a few packs surrounding them, but most had disbanded, and she had accepted the strays readily.

“To make the occasion more worthwhile, I wanted to suggest a mixer for unmated shifters. We’ve heard his pack has had great success on that front.”

He was right. They had. But his tone made her wary. And just when she’d sworn off parties.

“When?”