E
velyn
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.”
She says something else when the front door bursts open, and Thaddeus runs in, grabbing me and pulling me from the chair I am sitting on. “Don’t fucking threaten to take my mate again, Amara. Sister or not, I will kick your ass,” he says, glaring at her.
“Is that any way to greet your mother?” Imogen growls at him, and he suddenly realizes she is there.
“Mom?” he says, stepping back.
“Don’t you dare run, boy; you aren’t too old for me to spank!” she says, rising from her chair. His shoulders slump as he walks over, letting me go, and hugs her.
Orion leans against the doorframe, a grin on his face. Ryland gives him a look and Orion shrugs as he walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. Imogen sits back down, letting her son go.
“Mom,” Orion nods to her. The poor woman is the universal mother. It surprises me she isn’t gray, having to put up with their antics.
Thaddeus walks over, pulling me from Orion. He sits down and pulls me on his lap. Orion frowns but walks over to the kettle. “Don’t think I don’t know it was you who rang them, Orion,” Thaddeus says.
Orion says nothing, and it makes me wonder why Thaddeus hasn’t spoken to or seen his mother in years. She seems nice. Amara is watching me again, and Thaddeus.
“So, is there a reason you destroyed that city?” Imogen asks, but before he can answer, Amara does.
“Because he stole the darkness from his mate,” she says, watching me again. She doesn’t seem mad, but from the feeling coming through the bond I can tell Thaddeus is. Looking up at him, he kisses the side of my face.