The Alphas & The Heiress
CHAPTER 23

Rohanor

To say I’m shocked when Kat slaps me across the face would be an understatement. I’m beyond the point of anger, there’s a wildfire tornadoing through my chest demanding to be released.

“Do you want me to go after her, sir?” Runidar asks, trying to be delicate with all this information.

“No, let her go. I’ll link my mother and have her —,” I freeze mid sentence as I catch Syble’s scent wafting in from the hallway. My inner wildfire is now an all consuming hurricane of rage and pain. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Ro get in control of your wolf you don’t want to do something stupid… like blaming Kat for us not being honest with our mate. Varian links me. I know he’s right, but I can’t help thinking how different things could be right now if we had talked to her yesterday.

Syble knocks on our office door even though it’s open, and Runidar is the one that calls for her to enter. Varian and I can’t do anything but stare at her, our eyes occasionally sizing up Incandis. I don’t care that we haven’t officially claimed her, she’s mine. I can’t tolerate the thought of his hands on her, let alone the thought of anyone inside her but me and Varian.

“Hey guys, mind if I stash these in here?” She smiles brightly and dumps a large burlap parcel onto the coffee table.

“Doing some redecorating?” She teases us and lifts a brow just noticing the overturned and burned desks.

Her smile falters when neither Varian nor I respond. Runidar is the only one who addresses her. “What’s all this?” He asks, gesturing vaguely to the parcel she dumped on the table.

Syble smiles brilliantly and gently undoes the top of the wrapping giving us a sneak peek at what’s inside. “I made Kat twin blades, like mine.” She’s practically giddy. The only time I’ve ever seen her like this was after sparing with our wolves, when Varian was tickling her with his snout.

“I’ll obviously train her myself on how to use them. When you told me her birthday was a few days away I felt like I needed to get her something but I didn’t know what she’d like or what would even be appropriate —“

“So naturally she made her weapons of war.” Incandis pokes fun at her.

“When did you have time to make these?” Varian finally addresses her directly.

“I’ve been working on them since Thursday night when I left your office, but Incandis helped me embed the blades this morning.” She says proudly.

“This morning? Like in your room this morning?”

“Yeah, it was the only place I could think to do it where no one would see and spoil the surprise. I waited for everyone to go down for breakfast so I wouldn’t wake up the whole house with the hammering. So… be honest, you think she’ll like them?”

Kat, come to our office immediately. There is something that requires your attention. I order her through mindlink.

“My L — lady,” Runidar nearly addresses her as Luna but covers his mistake by clearing his throat, “I’m sure Kat will love them.”

“Kat’s on her way here now, if you’d like to give them to her.” Varian says to Syble.

By the time Syble is done showing us her craftsmanship and re-wrapping the blades, Kat walks in still angry. Her mouth is pressed into a thin line, her face red with heat, and she doesn’t say a word to anyone.

“Kat,” I try to control my tone, “Syble has a birthday gift for you.”

Syble extends her hand out to Kat and gestures for her to come over around to the coffee table. Kat reluctantly walks over to the coffee table and sits on one of the couches.

Slowly, methodically, Kat unwraps the burlap to reveal her two new twin blades. Her face softens as she recognizes the enormous honor Syble has bestowed upon her. I’m sure no one here can say they have hand crafted war blades from the dragons’ combat specialist. Pride reverberates through the bond, both Syble’s pride in her creation and my pride in her. There’s the slimmest of chances that Kat was wrong about what she heard and I’m clinging to that hope like a life raft.

“When — how…” Kat stumbles over what to say.

“She’s been working on them for 2 nights, just finished this morning.” Varian says softly, offering Kat a possible explanation, opening the door for her to tell us she was wrong.

Syble warms at his praise and smiles broadly. “Well I can’t take all the credit, Incandis helped me a little bit.”

Kat’s head snaps to Syble’s, “is that what all the commotion was in your room this morning?”

Syble’s shoulders slump, “shit you heard us? I wanted to surprise you.”

Syble’s reaction seems genuine. If they had been screwing around she’d be more embarrassed, she’d try to deny the noise. Plus, though she always smells a little like Incandis, if he had touched her she’d reek of him, but my wolf is reassuring me that his scent on her isn’t any stronger than usual.

Kat throws her arms around Syble’s neck and hugs her tight, laughing and crying with relief. “No you did, it’s the best surprise. Thank you!”

Kat stands and tentatively walks up to Incandis before wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him too.

“Thanks for the blades,” she says to him.

I can hear his heartbeat quicken with her in his arms, he wraps his arms around her awkwardly, looking between her and Syble.

Syble watches them adoringly, if she’s bothered at all by the sight of them she doesn’t show it. Her heartbeat gives away nothing; there’s no sense of jealousy or irritation coming from her.

Kat finally pulls away from him and nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. I feel like such an idiot. I just thought…

It’s ok Kat, I’m glad we figured it out — for all our sakes. Varian reassures her.

“Will you teach me how to throw them?” Kat asks Syble.

“Later Kat,” I interject before Syble can respond. I walk over to the couch and hold my hand out to help Syble off the couch. “Come, we’re taking you to the lake.”

— — —

Syble (Magnolia)

I slip my hand into his, the sparks firing instantly. “Should I go change?“ I’m wearing ripped jean shorts and a black tee, but my new bathing suits are still upstairs in my room.

“Not necessary, you’re perfect in what you’re wearing.” Ro responds and pulls me towards the door, apparently not a moment to waste.

Ro rushes us out of the office and down the hall, gaining speed as we bolt to the door. Varian follows behind us silently.

When we get outside Ro shifts into his massive wolf. Varian comes up behind me, placing a firm, warm hand on my lower back, “he wants you to ride on him so we can get there quickly.”

My body shivers with a sudden unexpected desire. “I can fly and follow you,” I offer.

Varian shakes his head softly, “we’ll have no way to communicate with you, you may get lost. Come on, it’s not the first time you’ve ridden him, he won’t bite.” He smiles wickedly at me and desire explodes in my core.

He helps lift me onto Ro’s back and instinctively I wrap my arms around his thick neck, grabbing onto his fur. My face is nuzzled into his neck, I can’t get over how good he smells. I close my eyes and breathe him in as Varian shifts into his wolf and comes alongside us. He nuzzles my cheek before taking off into the woods.

Ro runs after him, moving gracefully through the forest dodging trees and rocks effortlessly. Varian was right, I wouldn’t have been able to follow them, the forest is too dense.

Fifteen minutes later we arrive at our destination. Deep in the forest sits a small, circular lake with crystal clear water. The lake seems oddly familiar. There’s a shallow beach-like entrance near us with several large boulders lining the water at the woods’ edge. Across the lake is a 30 foot tall rock face where the river above pours into the lake via gentle waterfall. Everything is so serene and peaceful. An eerie feeling creeps over me and the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. This is the lake from my dreams. A shiver runs up my spine as I remember what else happened in those dreams.

The twins emerge from the woods having shifted back into human form and throwing on basketball shorts. Varian lays out a thick blanket for us to sit on in the grassy clearing at the water’s edge.

Ro lays down on his side, propped up on one elbow. I sit facing him and Varian lays on his back beside me, placing his head on my leg and closing his eyes. My core is buzzing with electricity from the contact and proximity to my most intimate of places. Visions of my last dream push their way to the forefront of my mind, reminding me of their tongues and the heat they generated on my body.

The twins growl softly breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Why do you do that?” I ask them curiously, gently running my fingers through Varian’s thick, brown hair.

Varian grins but doesn’t open his eyes, “you really want to know?”

“You just do it so often, I was curious why.”

Varian smiles again and turns his head to look at Ro. A small, sly smile tugs at Ro’s lips. “We can smell your arousal, little spitfire. Our wolves are very drawn to your scent.”

My face drains of all color while my core clenches at Ro’s words. I’m still perplexed by how responsive my body is to them, their voices alone send delicious chills throughout me. Varian groans again and sits up so his head is no longer in my lap. I flush further now knowing that he can smell my arousal.

Varian runs his hands down his face before clearing his throat. “It was very generous of you to make those blades for Kat.” I can tell he’s trying to change the topic.

“It was my pleasure, she’s a good kid. Thank you, by the way, for financing our shopping trip yesterday. I can reimburse you after I return home.”

My chest constricts as I say the words. I haven’t given much thought to anything beyond finding my father and uncle. But something about the idea of leaving here, leaving them, bothers me.

The twins share a panicked look between them before Varian recovers , “you can repay us tonight by showing off what you bought.” My cheeks flush with heat. Little do they know of the dress Kat insisted I buy to wear at her party tonight, and how little there is of it.

“I could have shown you now but you wouldn’t let me grab my new bathing suit.” I tease them back.

“You want to go swimming?” Ro asks as if the idea hadn’t occurred to him.

“I mean… this place is beautiful and all, but surely you didn’t bring me here just to stare at the water.”

Varian stands and drops his basketball shorts leaving him in only his boxers. My mouth pops open in surprise and he rewards me a panty-dropping smile before heading into the water.

Ro follows suit, removing his shorts and wading into the water in his boxers. I delight in their broad chests, the way the water glistens on their skin. I watch them dive under the water again and again, running their wide hands through their golden brown hair when they surface.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted to swim, what are you waiting for?” Varian taunts me.

I lift my shirt up slowly over my head revealing the black lace bra that Kat encouraged me to buy. I couldn’t have predicted when I got dressed in it this morning that I’d be showing it off to the twins here and now. I’m acutely aware of their eyes glued to me, watching my every move. I slip my shorts off over my wide hips and slide them down my legs onto the blanket. I’m wearing the matching black thong panties with the bow in the back, but they can’t see yet how exposed I am in these panties. I tie my hair up in a messy bun and wade slowly into the water to join them.

The water is deliciously warm. I lay on my back peacefully floating in the water when I am launched into the air. I flail as I try to regain my bearings and I come crashing back down into the water. I surface for air, sputtering and coughing, to find Ro and Varian laughing like fools. One of them just fucking threw me.

I swim over to Varian and push myself up on his shoulders so I’m above water level. I open my wings and fly up a few feet before diving head first back down onto Ro. I crash into Ro, the force pushing us both deep down below the surface. When we come back up he grabs me and throws me to Varian, who catches me in his arms. The two of them toss me back and forth in the water a few times before I throw my arms around Ro’s neck, gripping him tightly so he can’t throw me again. “Please, no more I give up,” I beg of them between laughter.

Ro wraps his arms around my waist and smiles against my neck. “Have we doused your flames already, little spit fire?”

“Two against one hardly seems fair,” I sass back as I shimmy out of his hold. “I’m surprised there aren’t more people here, it’s the perfect place to swim.”

They tilt their heads and look at me with quiet amusement. “This is a thermal spring, it’s too hot for anyone without heat resistance to swim in. We’ve never been able to bring anyone here before.” Ro’s voice deepens at the end and his eyes begin to darken.

“No wonder it’s so warm, we have thermal pools like this back home, except there’s this one spot with a mineral mud pool. I love coating myself with its mud, it always makes my skin feel so good afterwards.”

Varian swims up next to me, “grab on, there’s something you should see.”

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