Page 71 of Serpentine

“What?”

Uncomfortable, he rubs the back of his neck. “We’ve been giving things a lot of thought, gorgeous, trying to figure things out. We didn’t want to bring it up until we saw if it was even a possibility. But, well-” he groans, looking over at the other two. “I suck at explaining shit. Tap out.”

Stryker swallows, looking suddenly nervous. “Packs, prides, nests; they’re strong for many reasons, but mainly because there's safety in numbers. You can lean on each other, one person’s strengths counteracting another’s weaknesses, but still, it’s the heart that makes them a force to be reckoned with. If they didn’t have something to fight for, to keep them together for a common goal, they’d fall apart. You’re that for us, Risa... our center. You give us a purpose, make us continue to put one foot in front of the other when before, we were always one hard blow away from falling apart.”

Meeting my eye, he takes a deep breath. “I have spent my entire life thinking that something was wrong with me, that I was broken. But-” he rakes a hand through his hair, glaring up at the night sky and clenching a fist as he rushes out “-I was wrong. I wasn’t broken, I was so fucking lonely that I shut down, trapped in a pit of my own making, and told myself it was because I was tainted with darkness after everything. Sure, I went through the motions day to day, but I didn’t understand until I met you that I was waiting for something to wake me up, to make me feel anything other than numb.”

I have to clear my suddenly dry throat before I can get any words out. “Why the dramatic declarations? Not like you’re about to propose; we’re already mated.”

Bane kisses the side of my head, more composed now that Stryker kicked things into motion. “Because we did everything wrong. Most people fall in love and then implement the bond, so there’s no room for doubt. But with us doing things backward, it’s easy for the bond to make things confusing. We want to make sure that there’s no doubt in your mind that if we had met you under normal circumstances, we absolutely would have still tricked you into letting us court you, would have tried to turn you.”

Mason gives me a sad smile. “Whether it was the pull from your blood or fated mates are really a thing, we’d have found you eventually. And even though things have been less than ideal for all of us, I’m selfish enough to be glad they happened, because it brought us here.”

Stryker cuts in, “So we came up with a solution that might finally make all of our lives a little easier. Since interacting with people makes Mason want to stab something, we needed some distance, but didn’t want the kids to pay the price for our discomfort. This seemed like the best compromise for all six of our various issues; together, but apart.”

Bane takes my hand, guiding us away from the shore, towards the vacant houses. “What’s the saying? It takes a village to raise a child? Well good news, there's about forty nearby. We’ll just slip Hunter and Addie in with someone else's litter and be the wise old mentors that people hike mountains to train with, or some shit.”

A laugh bursts from my lips before I can stop it. “Free range parenting; where we make sure they have food and are there when they need advice, but mostly just let them run wild and keep the bar at ‘not dead’.”

Stryker turns to walk backwards in front of us. “I think it would take a hurricane to get either of those kids back inside a house for more than a night. The jungle has them now; it’s too late.”

Mason smacks his chest on his way past him, rolling his eyes. “They need tolive, and we’re just... content with being left alone. We’re perfectly happy staying holed up in a house at the top of a mountain until we get stir crazy, coming down long enough to wreak some havoc, have a feast of roast beast with the happy villagers, and then retreat to our lair for a quiet life with our mate. What do you think?"

While they appear confident enough, nerves flow through the bond as they wait for an answer, like they actually think I’d be upset by any part of this. Whether that’s the declarations making them squirmy and awkward, admitting that they’d rather set the kids loose to be the communities’ problem instead of moving somewhere isolated and making raising them our full-time job, or that they’re worried I’ll ask how the heck they managed to bribe an entire village into relocating, I know one thing for sure.

Like I told Stryker what seems like a lifetime ago, I don’t have a damn clue how to respond to grand gestures and declarations. Everything that pops into my head falls flat, and every additional second that passes without me saying anything only serves to make them more anxious.

Releasing a long, slow breath to center myself, I slip my hand out of Bane’s, taking a few steps back so that I can see all three of their faces. They pull to an abrupt stop, nervous gazes flitting between each other. Mason stuffs his hands in his pockets, thinking he’s concealing the way he’s clenching his fists, letting his nails bite into his palms so that he doesn’t spiral. Bane becomes unnaturally still, like he’s bracing for a blow, not even breathing. And Stryker simply looks at me with a small smile, recalling our conversation and trusting in me as much as I believe in them.

“Do you remember the night you first walked me through how to shift?”

Bane growls, “Marcus made it hard to forget.”

Clucking my tongue, I take a small step backward. “When you warned me against being in the woods alone, because people would want to hunt me down and sink their teeth into me, prove they were big enough monsters to keep the rest at bay.”

Wariness morphs into hunger as they catch on, and the next step I take is tracked with a predatory glint in their eyes. “You say that if things had been different for us, you’d still have found me,” I continue. “That you’d have hunted me down and convinced me that every other option beyond the three of you was a stupid one, right?”

Mason’s gaze languidly roves over my body. “Are you trying to tell us that fact is still in question?”

Winking, I take another step towards the trees, a thrill running through me as they match the distance this time. “I’m saying that if we’re doing everything backwards, then what better time to prove it? You also claimed that you were taking ‘incorruptible’ as a personal challenge, so I’m simply being kind enough to offer an opportunity for you to put your money where your mouth is.”

Bane purrs in approval, taking another step that I mirror. “And when we do? After we catch you and fuck you hard enough that you won’t be able to even think of running from us again? When our blood is sliding down your throat to muffle your screams while you come?

Taking one final step, dirt and sand shifting beneath my feet as I prepare to sprint into the woods, I grin. “Then you get to finally make good on your threats and drag my ass back where it belongs; home.”

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