It has no effect as I squirm in his arms. I give up on hitting him and sink my teeth into his back, letting go when I feel his hand come down on my ass. I hit his back and feel him laugh. My hand stings from smacking him when he smacks my ass again, harder, making me forget my hand. I feel tears brim at the sudden intense pain, feel his handprint bruising. Suddenly, I am dumped on the bed, and I glare at him as I try to hop off the bed.
“I wouldn’t, Evelyn. You try to leave, and I will spank your ass until it bleeds,” Ryland warns me, as he pushes me over and lies down next to me.
“So, what? I am supposed to wait here until the psychopath returns from his killing spree?” I ask, glaring at him and defiantly fold my arms over my chest.
“You look so cute when you’re angry. And yes, that is exactly what I expect you to do. Take it up with Thaddeus when he returns. For now, lay down,” he says, tugging me down.
Groaning, I flop down on the bed. Ryland rolls on his side, trying to pull me against him. I throw his arm off and hear him sigh. “No point being angry about it, Evelyn. What’s done is done.”
“If I had known, I never would have let him meddle in my head,” I tell him.
“He would have done it anyway; Thaddeus isn’t a patient man. You will come to see that. You leaving when he’s gone will only make things worse. After all, he’s on his way home, so you wouldn’t get very far.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
“I feel him getting closer, feel his mood has shifted, and he is calmer,” Ryland answers. We sit in silence for God knows how long, waiting until the silence becomes too much.
“So, how does one reject someone?”
“I can’t believe you expect me to tell you. You are ours; whether or not you reject us, you aren’t leaving,” Ryland says.
“Well, if it means he won’t kill anyone, I will reject him.”
Suddenly, his hand is clamped over my mouth. “Shh, someone is in the house,” he whispers, making my heartbeat pick up. Ryland rolls off me and gets up. “Get in the closet,” he growls. I dart off the bed, doing as he says, feeling his alarm through the bond. Closing the door, I hear him walk downstairs. A growl leaves his lips.
Evelyn
My heart is pounding hard in my chest as I hear a loud growl that makes me jump. Then, I hear a woman’s voice. “You want to explain why my son is currently destroying the city north of here, Ryland?” The woman sounds young, but the authority behind her voice intimidates me. This woman isn’t to be messed around with.
“Evelyn, you may come down!” Ryland yells out.
I hesitantly get up from my hiding spot as I hear another woman’s voice. Her voice is softer but easily heard. “Evelyn? Who is Evelyn?” the person asks, just as I get to the top step.
I see two women standing at the bottom of the stairs. Both look to be in their mid-twenties and are strikingly similar. Both have long blonde hair to their waist, the younger-looking one has hers tied in a braid, and she has green eyes like Thaddeus. The older woman has blue eyes, and her hair is hanging loose down her back. I walk down the stairs, watching them stare up at me, shocked.
“This is Evelyn, our mate,” Ryland says, putting his hand out for me to grab. I grip it tightly, letting him pull me to him. The older woman, whom I would guess is around twenty-five, steps forward, a shocked look on her face as she looks at Ryland, confused. “Evelyn, this is Imogen, Thaddeus’ mother, and that one over there is Amara, Thaddeus’ sister.”
“Hi,” I tell them, giving them a brief wave.
It shocks me that the woman standing in front of me is his mother. She looks younger than Thaddeus, and the girl, that I reckon looks around my age, just stares at me. Her hypnotic green eyes are watching me.
“She is human?” Amara whispers, not even hiding her shock.
“I’m more shocked she is female,” Imogen says, looking me up and down. “Nice to meet you, hun. I wish it was under better circumstances, and that my son had told me. It has been twelve years since I laid eyes on him, besides seeing him on a goddamn TV screen, Ryland,” she says, turning to glare at him.
Ryland shrinks back under her gaze, and I chuckle softly. This woman is small, but man, she is fierce.
“Call your brother; he answers your calls. Get him back here now,” she says to her daughter. Amara pulls a phone from her pocket and dials a number. She places the phone to her ear, but no answer. Ryland pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it over to her.
Thaddeus answers after a few rings, but I can only hear one side of the conversation.
“Hey, brother, about time you answered.” She goes quiet for a few seconds and speaks again.
“You have thirty minutes to get home, or I am taking your mate,” she says, and hangs up on him. I step back away from her and Amara puts her hands up. “I won’t. I just said it to get him moving faster. Come, let’s make coffee,” she says, wandering off to the kitchen.
Imogen and Amara enter the kitchen and sit, while Ryland makes the coffee. I sit across from them, unsure what to do or say.
“Orion called a week ago and said you were all home. Thought I would stop in and see him; try to talk some sense into him,” Imogen tells us.
Ryland nods and hands her a coffee. Amara watches me, her head turning from side to side occasionally, like she is examining some science experiment. Her green eyes pierce into mine as I stare back, uneasy. She then blinks, shaking her head and looking away.
“She was trying to get a reading on you,” Imogen tells me. I nod, wondering if she saw anything.
“So, I see two of them have marked you already. Orion hasn’t?” Imogen asks, as she sniffs the air, and I pull my hair over my shoulder, covering my mark.
“Don’t worry, hun, nothing to be worried about. I have two mates myself. Just wasn’t expecting you to be female, honestly. Been decades since these two dragged Orion into this mess. Didn’t think they would drag a human girl into it.”
“She is fated, mom. Not like we had a choice,” Ryland says, shaking his head.
“So, you gave her a choice? She came willingly?” Imogen asks, raising an eyebrow at him. Ryland looks away. “Like I thought,” she says, turning back to me.
“So, you’re Thaddeus’ mother?” I ask, to change the topic of conversation.
“Yes. I know it must be a bit of a shock, considering technically, I am younger than him in human years.”
I nod. “So why are you shocked I am their mate?” I ask curiously.
“Because I thought he was gay. He never showed much interest in women besides killing them.”
“You know how mate bonds work, mom,” Amara says, and Imogen shrugs.
“Still a bit of a shock.”