AVA
An hour later, my Kings, Jacob, Alex and I were all sitting around the table in my office. My coffee machine had even arrived and been set up! Jacob rolled his eyes at me, knowing that I’d been telling him for a long time that he should have one in his office. He drinks more than enough coffee to justify the expense.
Once we were all seated with coffee and some of Paula’s orgasmic muffins, we got down to business.
“So, Jacob, Alex. I’ll have to start from the beginning of this story.” I paused for a bite of muffin. “I was visited by the Moon Goddess in a dream.”
They gasped.
“The rogues will come for me on the next full moon, so we only have six days to avert this. One of the easiest ways for me to be safe is to have all four marks before then, however, I can’t necessarily have them that close together. With each mark, both the King Consort in question and I will gain new powers, but we don’t know what they are. When Callum and I marked and mated, as you all saw, things went a little mad. Fortunately that settled quickly.”
“What about with Oscar?” Alex asked. “You’ve marked him already?”
I nodded. “Oscar and I had to shift, but we expected it this time and we were already outside anyway.”
“Yeah, I heard you two had sex by the lake too,” Theo’s voice was bitter.
“Theo, we’ve been through this. It has to be in the order that you shifted for the first time, and there is no room for jealousy in this relationship.”
He kept grumbling, so I just ignored him and carried on.
“We’re not 100% sure yet what Oscar and I’s additional powers are yet, other than that Oscar can now resist and give commands. Realistically we need to know what they are before I can mark Noah in case shit hits the fan.”
Jacob and Alex nodded.
“Until I’m marked by and I’ve marked the four of them, I’m not safe. Not really. The rogue King would be able to break the bonds and mark me if they somehow caught me. If he did, it would break the connection with these four.” I paused, glancing at Oscar. “We need to work out what Oscar and I can now do, so after this, we’re going to go over to the training ground and try to work it out. Callum’s is all defensive and offensive, which makes sense as he’s destined to be my protector. Oscar’s… we’re just not sure yet.”
“Your new one is possibly the gift of premonition, Ava,” Callum interjected. “You said you know that the rogues know you’ve got two marks. How did you know?”
“Just a feeling, I guess. I almost heard in my mind a conversation where someone was telling their boss. They said they want to go for the weakest link to try to stop all four marks happening.”
“Sounds like a premonition to me, Ava,” Jacob replied.
“Possibly. Any ideas on what yours might be, Oscar?”
He shook his head. “Dionysus is brainstorming and testing to see if he can feel anything, but he’s not sure yet.”
“We’ll go through the training field later and put you through your paces. Sparing might be enough to bring it out. I want to test the premonition thing too, and we need Callum to test his power.”
“What can we help you with, Ava?” Jacob asked.
“We need to talk to the families that we took in from Blue Mountain. If Blue Mountain is working with rogues, they might know something.”
He nodded. “Alex and I can do that today.”
“I’ll come with you both.”
“Ava… if you’re going, I’m coming with you.”
“Callum, you do not need to be glued to my hip.”
“I’m coming with you, Ava, and that’s final.” Callum’s aura burst out of him, mine quickly following. Between us, we suffocated the room. Jacob, Alex, Theo and Noah all had their heads bowed.
I dragged mine back in, and relief filled their faces. “Callum, reign it in.”
He scowled, before doing just that.
“Thank you, Callum. As a compromise, why don’t you and Oscar go to the training ground which isn’t far from the houses where the families are staying. If I need you, I’ll mindlink. You’ll only be a couple minutes away on all fours.”
He nodded, sighing in resignation. “Okay.”
“I’m not going on my own, Callum. Jacob and Alex will be with me. And don’t forget, I’m strong. I can defend myself.”
He walked around the table to pull me into his arms. Apparently at some point in our aura-pissing-contest we’d both stood up. “I’m just worried about you, Ava,” he whispered through the mindlink. “I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt and I wasn’t with you.”
“And I couldn’t live with myself if you threw yourself in front of a bullet for me.”
“Okay,” he replied with a sigh. “If you need me, I’ll be there before you know it, okay?”
“Thank you,” I replied. “I won’t take any unnecessary risks, we’re just having a conversation. If things start getting heated, I’ll open the link so you know what’s going on.”
He pressed a kiss on my forehead. “I love you and couldn’t live without you, Avelina Wroblewski. I hope you know that.”
“I know that. And I love you too, Callum Joseph Lewis.”
I closed the link, and the smile he gave me was enough that it was like nothing existed but him. I sat back down, with him standing behind me, his hands on my shoulders.
“Alright then, shall we get going?”