Born of Embers Read online

Those numbers were shocking. “Why don’t shifters mate with humans?”

  “Well, other than the fact that the bond doesn’t form when a shifter mates with a human, any children from the pairing would water down our bloodlines. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but some of those children won’t be able to shift, may not have any powers, and if they do have powers, they are usually significantly lower than a full-blood shifter. I mean, obviously it happens though, or we wouldn’t have part-bloods,” she shrugged.

  “I guess I understand but wouldn’t having part-blood offspring not be as bad as sharing a mate would be?” I questioned, honestly trying to understand what she was saying.

  “Nix.” She reached out to touch my hand and I forced myself to not retreat. This was a female, and a friend, so I was starting to feel more comfortable around her. My Phoenix cooed at the friendly touch. “There is nothing in the world like being mated. The bond, I can’t even describe it to you. It’s a true feeling of belonging, of being cared for and loved. It’s soul deep, permanent, forever.” Her eyes went dreamy and I knew she was thinking of her bears. I couldn’t help but give her a grin.

  “That good, huh?” I teased her.

  “All that and a bag of chips.” She laughed as her mind floated down from the clouds and re-entered her body, her face clearing and her focus returning to our conversation.

  “How do you know who your mate—er, mates—are supposed to be?”

  “It’s not like we don’t get a say. The bond may be magical but who we bond with is completely our choice. I can’t tell you that you won’t feel a pull, sparks, or attraction to those people, because I did. I knew right away that those three boys were mine, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t have walked away if I wanted to. I choose them and they choose me. I could have mated with anyone else and the bond would have sealed me to them. Does that make sense?”

  I felt heat creep into my cheeks as I thought about the instant attraction I’d had to five shifters in particular. Regardless, I surged forward with my inquisition. “So how does that work exactly? I mean, how do you manage so many relationships at one time? How do you split your time between them all?” God, people had enough trouble managing one relationship. How did Rini manage three? I wondered how she kept things fair.

  “I have it easy! We all get along so well that we end up spending a lot of our time all together, but they’re all really respectful of each other too. I go on dates with each of them separately and stay overnight alone with each one.” She gave me a conspiratorial smile. “The rest of the time we all stay together.”

  I balked for a moment. Did she mean… sexually? Nope! My friendship with Rini was growing every day but I was not ready to dive into that conversation yet!

  Instead, I changed the subject. However, I knew I was just jumping from one fire into another because the next question I wanted to ask would be equally embarrassing. My mind wandered again to the five mythological men that were never far from my thoughts. Clearing my throat and looking down into my coffee cup, I broached the subject with a wavering voice. “How many shifters are generally in a mated group?”

  Her cheshire grin was back, “Why Nix, that’s a very interesting question.” Rini was practically vibrating with excited energy. “You can have as many mates as you’d like, as long as they all accept sharing you. Say… one girl with five guys?”

  I swung my eyes up to her face and quickly narrowed them at her, giving her my best glare. The smile that split her face was cheeky as hell. “Yeah, time for a change in subject,” I said as I stood to go get a refill.

  “Aw, come on! The conversation was just getting interesting,” Her laughter followed me across the cafe.

  I laughed with her but worked my ass off during the rest of our coffee date to keep the conversation on neutral topics.

  Just before we were ready to leave, I felt a chill crawl up the back of my neck. Rubbing at the spot, I turned to look around, scanning the cafe and then craning to see out of the windows around the room. Seeing nothing, I turned back to Rini, an unsettled feeling pooling in my stomach.

  “What’s wrong?” Rini asked, looking around herself.

  “Nothing.” I wrapped my arms around my middle. God, I was probably just being paranoid but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. “Listen, do you mind if we head back to the room?” I asked Rini, hoping that she would agree. I didn’t want her to think that I was blowing her off. She was the first friend I’d had in longer than I cared to admit and I didn’t want to ruin what had been a great morning.

  Instead, I saw that Rini had grown serious and was scanning the area as well, breathing deeply before replying with a soft but tight smile. “Absolutely. Let’s go.” She stood and grabbed her things, and I did the same.

  Our walk back was quieter, we both seemed to be hyper aware of our surroundings. I was on the lookout for whatever had spooked me, but the closer we got to the dorm without incident, the more I doubted myself. Maybe I had just spooked myself? I did have issues in public spaces, with the press of people or becoming overwhelmed. Either way, the second I walked into my room I breathed a sigh of relief. I was safe and now my mind could run over everything that Rini had just shared with me. I was in a whole new world now. In more ways than I had ever anticipated.

  Twenty-One

  Killian

  It was day two and none of us had seen Nix. Yesterday she had acquiesced and agreed to a phone conversation with all of us. We kept the topics light, all pretending we didn’t hear the strain in her voice. Hiro’s gentle questions had helped to put her at ease, as had Ryder’s stupid sense of humor. It was a relief to hear her laugh a little with us by the end of the call, but it wasn’t enough. I was restless, pacing the living room as I thought about her. I needed to see her again. Something inside of me just needed to lay eyes on her. I had lived my whole twenty years never knowing her but now that I did, I didn’t feel like I could just leave her alone and move on. She’d been in the fucking forefront of my mind since I gave her that damn Uber ride. The urge to go marching up to her dorm, pound on the door, and make sure she was alright had me and my Puca anxious, and anxiety didn’t sit well with him. Trying to lighten the mood, he snickered at my using the word “pound”, phrasing it as something dirty, but it fell flat and all I could do was growl at him.

  I was worried she’d run. She was a fucking flight risk. We should be keeping an eye on her.

  I knew that Hiro was at the dorms, having gone back to do just that—keep an eye on things—but he had a job to do and couldn’t be vigilant every minute of every hour. No, one of us should go over there.

  I paced again, running a hand over the growing scruff on my jaw that was the same wine red color as my hair. My Puca and I were in agreement. Need number one was to keep her safe. Need number two was to get to know her. Not only was she beautiful but she was a fighter. A brazen, smart-mouthed, sexy little fighter who kept persevering despite all that she had been through, which was a hell of a lot if the visions we got during her shift were true, and I was sure they were.

  I couldn’t get the searing image of her in her shifted form out of my brain, the golden-red fiery glow emanating from her as she spread her wings. Damn but she was beautiful in her shifted form too. My Puca pushed against my barriers in agreement. Down boy. The image of her standing naked after her shift flashed through my mind next and I heard Damien groan from the kitchen.

  “Fuck, sorry.” I grumbled. He had been bombarded mentally by all of us for the last day.

  The pounding of footsteps coming down the stairs echoed through the living space as Theo emerged from his room. His hair was a mess and he had a dark look on his face. He carried his favorite mug, a teal monstrosity that looked like tentacles were spilling out of the top and down the sides while another tentacle served as the handle. Scrawled across the front in large orange letters was “Let’s Get Kraken!” He had a fucking ridiculous amount of kraken related mugs, but this one was his favori
te and he tended to use it when he was working. He strode to the coffee pot like he was on a mission. He must have buried himself in coding that program for the Council while we were waiting to hear from Nix. It didn’t look like he was faring much better than I was.

  Fuck this shit. I stormed to the front door, threw on my coat, grabbed my keys and headed for my Hummer. She wasn’t allowed to hide from us any longer.

  I knew she was in Hiro’s dorm so I headed in that direction. I had no idea which room she was in. Picking up my cell I tried Hiro first. No answer. I called Rini.

  “She’s fine, Kill.” She said in lieu of a greeting.

  “Room number?” I practically growled.

  “She doesn’t need your attitude coming at her, Killian.” Rini scolded. “She’s trying to process everything. I’m not so sure she wants the company right now.”

  I rolled my shoulders. Rini was a good friend, protecting her even from us. I would never say this out loud but I appreciated her efforts. I appreciated them but I needed that room number. Clearing my throat, I tried not to sound like such an ass.

  “Listen, I just want to see her. Make sure she’s ok. I need to lay eyes on her myself.” When Rini seemed to hesitate I pushed. “She needs winter clothes, Rini. I’m going to drive her to the mall if she lets me.”

  “Fine. But if you upset her I will come after you, or better yet I will send the triplets to beat your ass,” she threatened, though there was no true menace behind it.

  “Scouts fucking honor,” I said and she sighed.

  “Four Twenty Four.” She hung up.

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Driving across campus, I let my mind wander back to the other night. Once Rini, her bears, and Nix had left, we had all started talking at once.

  “She’s a fucking Phoenix,” Theo was in awe.

  “Fuck, she’s hot,” had come from Ryder.

  “I can’t get those images out of my head,” Damien groaned while running his hand through his brown hair.

  “We need to take care of her, protect her,” Hiro’s tone of voice held a hard edge. I could tell he was already fully invested and he was fucking serious about protecting her. We all were.

  Always the eloquent one I had simply stated, “Fuck.”

  We’d hashed over what could have happened to her but ultimately decided that we would let her tell us about her past someday. When she was ready. When she trusted us. I damn well hoped it would be sooner rather than later but you had to be around someone to build trust and she’d been ignoring us since that night.

  We’d also spent some time yesterday researching her Phoenix. I was right, there hadn’t been a documented Phoenix in the shifter world for hundreds of years. I had no idea how she existed but I was fucking glad she did. There were a number of powers that she could have and interest had lit all of our eyes as we tossed around ideas. Accelerated healing was probably a given, but she could have powers like enhanced senses, speed, atmospheric adaptations, power of flight, and more. We already knew she had fire powers, although she need to test out her abilities to see how far they extended and learn to control them. The possibilities were nearly endless and what she’d be able to do in shifted form would be greater than what she’d be able to do as a human. The days ahead would be difficult for her as she learned what she was capable of. It’s hard for all new shifters as they come into their powers, but being so rare and the fact that she hadn’t shifted until she was older would make her journey tougher. We had all wondered what kind of powers she may have already experienced. It was obvious she knew she wasn’t a normal human. It was another thing we hoped she’d trust us enough to share soon. We all were unanimously in agreement that we were going to keep her away from the Council for as long as possible. She needed time to acclimate, find out more about herself and come into her powers, but I had a sinking feeling the Council would find out about her before we were ready. Hopefully my feeling was wrong, at least about this one thing.

  I pulled into a parking space outside the dorm and focused back on the task at hand as I hurried indoors and took the stairs. As I knocked on her door I noticed a dent and some scratches notched into the wooden door where it latched. A few small splinters of wood were poking out. It looked like someone had been fucking with the lock. What the hell? Was this here before the girls moved in? Had the girls noticed this? My ire rose but I tried to tamp it down before Nix opened the door. I didn’t need to be snarling at her when she saw me. I was trying to extend an olive branch here, get back on her good side. The side that would let me and my brothers stay close. I filed the information on the door away for later when I heard the knob turn and the door pull away from the frame. There she was, her hair pulled up into a ponytail high on her head, dressed in a green sweater with a vee neck and a pair of tight black leggings. The clothing was skin tight and hugged her curves. I had to take a deep breath before I spoke.

  “Hi.” Yeah, not my best work. What was wrong with me?

  “Hi,” she echoed, still holding onto the door, barring me entrance to the room.

  I knew she didn’t want to let me in. That wary look was back in her eyes. Now that we knew a bit about her past I was pretty sure that it actually had nothing to do with me. Making a decision, I pressed onward.

  “Grab your stuff. We’re going out,” I ordered.

  Her eyes narrowed, and whether that look was about my tone of voice or the fact that I wanted to take her somewhere, I wasn’t sure. Probably both.

  “Are we now? Aren’t you feeling a little high and mighty today, Bugs.”

  “We’re going shopping. You need the appropriate clothing for living up here,” I crossed my arms over my chest in challenge, choosing to ignore her nickname for me. This was non-negotiable in my book.

  She sighed. “I was actually going to Uber a ride for that soon. I guess it’s better to go with someone I know than someone I don’t. Um, I need to grab my things,” she said, looking over her shoulder.

  “I’ll wait.” I leaned against the open doorway, propping it so I could keep my eyes on her. I couldn’t contain the surge of excitement that went through me at the thought of spending the afternoon with her.

  She quickly grabbed her things, closed up her dorm room, and headed down the hallway with me. Opening the door to the stairwell, I let her pass through first then followed her down the stairs. The jacket she was wearing wasn’t going to last her much longer in our Alaskan weather. That was the first thing I wanted to get for her.

  She recognized my Hummer and stepped around, pulling herself up into the vehicle. I climbed in myself and then cursed silently. Fuck, should I have opened her door for her?

  We sat in silence as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed off campus. I could see her fidgeting in my peripheral vision, inspecting her nails and then playing with her hair. Her nervous ticks were obvious.

  “The closest thrift store will be fine,” she looked out of the window at the passing view.

  I growled quietly. No fucking way. My brothers and I each received a salary from the Council, and although we were a new group—just starting to earn our keep from the Council—and college students, we had already started building our savings. Not one of us would flinch at buying Nix what she needed. No question. No hesitation. I would start with getting her a proper coat for the winter and then I’d buy her anything else she didn’t already have. My Puca revelled in the thought of providing for her. He was attached already, and fuck, so was I.

  The rest of the short ride went by in silence, but it was comfortable. She’d talk when she was ready.

  I couldn’t keep the sideways smirk off of my face as I drove us into the mall parking lot.

  She drew in a hissing breath and glared at me. “Killian, I said thrift store. Not the damn mall!”

  “You’re getting new things, woman, not someone else’s damn hand-me-downs,” I retorted, putting the Hummer in park. Hopping out, I walked around to her side of the car and opened the door for h
er. “Come on, out of the car,” my tone was teasing.

  She pivoted in her seat, her legs now hanging out of the door. I watched her shoulders slump on a sigh. She wouldn’t make eye contact with me and was fidgeting with her fingers. “I can’t afford the mall, Killian.” Her voice was low as she spoke.

  “It’s alright, Nix, I’m paying for it,” I murmured as I stepped forward and reached out, placing a hand on her outer thigh. I felt her power spark against mine instantaneously, felt her tense as she fought the urge to pull from my touch. God damnit. I pulled my hand away as fast as I could and shoved it in my pocket. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Nix.” I took a small step back, shaking my head. “Anyway, like I said, I’m paying. Come on, let’s go.” With that I turned and walked towards the mall, hoping like a mad man that she would follow.

  Twenty-Two

  Nix

  I stared at Killian’s back as he walked away. Why would he buy me things? No one had ever offered to get me things willingly. I only got things from others if they were absolutely necessary. Most of what I owned was hand-me-downs or things I had purchased at a thrift store. I had always pinched pennies to make sure I could afford food and necessities but I had become even more thrifty when I was working and saving all of the money I made to make it to Alaska. I was lucky I had been able to get student loans to cover room and board.

  I knew getting out of Killian’s ride meant that I was acquiescing to him buying me clothing and school supplies. I would get as much as I could myself but I would never be able to afford the things I needed if they were new. I was also well aware that I looked like an idiot sitting there while he left me behind. Making my choice, I hopped out, my feet hitting the asphalt as I locked and closed the door before running after him.

  When I caught up I saw the smirk on his face and playfully punched him in the arm before shoving my cold hands into my jacket. Killian had been right, my clothing wasn’t going to hold up for the cold winter that I knew was coming. It didn’t help that there would be limited sunlight during the winter. I was curious what those cold, dark days would be like.