Chapter 53: 51, Time to talk

Selene slowly glided towards them. There was no better word for it, Colin thought. She stopped in front of Adina and placed a hand on her forehead. She put her other hand on Sean’s, and to Colin’s surprise, he felt a third hand on his forehead. The goddess chuckled.

“I’m not bound by the physical constraints of a mortal body, alpha Colin,” she said.

That made sense, Colin guessed.

“By the power as the goddess of the moon and protector of werewolves, as the one that intertwines the bond of mates, I, Selene, bless this union. May their bond be strong and everlasting, and may it provide the love, protection, and strength the three of them need,” Selene said.

Colin felt a cool sensation from his forehead and spreading through his body. He felt it connect to Adina and Sean and filled them all. Then it was gone.

“It’s time for me to leave, my child,” the goddess smiled.

“Go with love,” Adina smiled back.

“I’ll be seeing the three of you sooner than you might expect,” the goddess laughed and then she was gone.

“What did she mean by that?” Colin asked.

“Who knows, the gods love to be mysterious and ambiguous,” Adina shrugged.

“I’m going to drop the second sight. Everyone ready?” she then asked. Both Colin and Sean nodded, and Colin’s world turned to normal.

He felt a pang of longing for the other version of the world. But then he focused back on his mates. He smiled at Adina and then at Sean. When he looked at Sean, he was surprised to see an almost white lock of hair framing one side of Sean’s face.

Colin reached out and touched it. Sean first looked at his hand in surprise, then he looked at Collin and seemed even more surprised as he mirrored Colin’s motion and reached out to touch his hair. Adina smiled at them and summoned a handheld mirror so they could look at themselves. Both of them had a white lock of hair.

“You have been touched by the divine,” she smiled at them.

“So were you,” Sean pointed out, and Colin nodded.

“Why do you think my hair is as light as it is?” she asked. “I was born with divine blessing. I’m all bleached out,” she laughed. She took a step forward and played with each of their locks.

“I like it,” she smiled.

“Good, now we are going to go home and have a serious talk,” Colin said.

“About what?” Adina asked. She looked surprised.

“About you not sharing your worries with us, your mates,” Sean told her.

“You mean about the dark magic?” she asked as they started walking, still holding her hands firmly.

“Yes, that is what we mean,” Colin said.

“But there was nothing we could do about it,” Adina tried to say.

“Not the point,” Sean huffed.

Adina’s POV

Colin and Sean ended up dragging her into their apartment. She wasn’t sure why they were upset with her, but it was clear that they were.

“Sit,” Colin said, pulling a stool from the breakfast bar. Adina did as he told her.

Colin and Sean stood before her; both had their arms crossed and a look of worry and irritation on their faces.

“What’s this about black magic?” Sean asked.

“It’s nothing. I was unsure where the sparks came from,” Adina told them.

“You thought they came from black magic?” Colin asked.

“It was one possibility,” Adina admitted.

“You usually know these things,” Sean pointed out.

“I know, but things like mate bond magic and divine magic, in general, aren’t something I can see or sense. That’s why I wasn’t that worried. I just had a little part of me say what if,” she told them.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Collin wanted to know.

“Because it wasn’t that important. The odds of it being black magic were small,” she sighed.

“Adina, you need to tell us things like this. We are your mates. We love you and want to help you carry things like this,” Sean said. His voice had gotten gentler.

“He is right, baby,” Colin told her, stroking her cheek.

“There wasn’t anything we could do until we spoke to Selene. I didn’t want you to worry,” Adina admitted.

“We are more than willing to share a burden like that with you,” Colin said.

“Even if we can’t do anything about the problem, we can at least talk about it,” Sean told her and ran his hand through her hair.

‘I know that after everything, you are hard-wired to question things when you feel happy. But it’s okay, baby cake. You are allowed happiness without bad things happening,’ Sean then mind linked her.

He had hit the nail on the head, as usual. The happiness she had felt the past weeks had, in her mind, been too good to be true. Something was bound to mess things up.

 “I’m sorry; I promise I won’t hold back things like this in the future,” she told them.

“Thank you, baby,” Colin said, kissing her.

“We will always be here for you, no matter what,” Sean reassured her and kissed her.

“Okay. Now, Colin, I think we dragged you out of a meeting with Mateo. Sean and I were about to train. Should we continue our day?” she asked, running her fingers along their white locks.

As they walked out of the apartment, Mateo came up the stairs. Colin must have mind-linked him. He looked at Colin and then at Sean before looking at Adina.

“You coloured their hair? Is it some ownership thing?” he asked. Adina laughed so hard that tears started running down her face.

Colin smiled, shook his head at his beta, and ushered him into his office. Sean smiled and waited for Adina to stop laughing before they went out to train.

A week had passed since Selene had visited them. Adina had received the last of Cernack’s reports. It was a lot of material to go through and see the consequences. Sean was helping her with the analysis, and the two of them and Colin then spent some evenings discussing it.

That was what they had been doing this evening. But they had stopped working about an hour ago. Instead, they had snuggled up on the couch. Adina had her head in Colin’s lap and her feet in Sean’s. They were watching a movie they had seen before, but it was relaxing, and they could talk if they felt like it.

Sean’s phone buzzed for the fifth time that evening, and he glanced at it and then put it to the side. That had been going on for a couple of days. Adina was waiting for him to speak about what was going on. But so far, he had been quiet. Colin had had enough.

“What’s up?” he asked Sean. Sean just grunted and shrugged as if to say it wasn’t necessary.

“Come on, man. Those texts have had you in a bad mood for days. Something is up,” Colin insisted.

Adina saw that Sean looked uncomfortable. She sat up and crawled up into his lap. His arm encircled her as by habit and drew her in closer. Colin moved closer and put Adina’s feet in his lap.

“Love, you know you can talk to us,” Adina told Sean.

“I know that Adina has told you some things about how I ended up as her protector,” Sean started, and Colin nodded.

“Well, it didn’t make for the best family ties,” Sean said. A hint of bitterness and anger in his voice made Adina crawl in closer and rub his chest. Sean smiled down at her.

“I can imagine,” Colin nodded, placing a hand on Sean’s shoulder.

“Well, I have talked with my older brother since our father’s death. Not that often, but every once in a while. Now my mother has reached out, asking me to come for a visit,” Sean sighed.

“You don’t want to go?” Adina asked.

“My place is here. I left that pack behind me years ago. I have a new life with other responsibilities now,” Sean said.

“That’s not what she asked,” Colin smiled.

“If you didn’t need to keep me safe, and if you were being selfish, would you want to go?” Adina asked again.

Sean considered her question, and while he did, Adina put her head on his shoulder and continued to rub his chest. As he thought about it, his hand rested on her knee, and his thumb gently stroked circles while his other hand supported her back. Colin kept his hand on Sean’s shoulder and the other on Adina’s foot.

“Maybe I would go. Not so much for my mother, but for my brother,” Sean finally said.

Adina smiled. It was hard for Sean to ask for things for himself. She was happy it had changed. He deserved to do something just for him.

“Then you need to go,” Colin said, and Adina nodded. “I can take some time off. Mateo can handle the pack for a week,” he continued.

“You’re coming as well?” Sean asked, surprised.

“We all are. You didn’t think you needed to do this alone?” Adina said.

“Adina is right; we will be there for you,” Colin nodded.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Sean objected.

“That’s what’s nice, being in a relationship. You don’t have to ask,” Adina told him, giving him a peck on the cheek.

“But the pack,” Sean said.

“The pack will be alright. Mateo knows what he is doing,” Colin smiled.

“Okay, it’s her birthday on Monday. It would be nice if we could head back for that,” Sean surrendered.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Adina agreed.

“Where are we going?” Colin asked.

“The Silver River pack,” Sean said. Adina saw the tension the name brought to his shoulders.

They planned the trip. Adina would make sure they could use the White Rose pack jet, as they needed to go to Arizona.

Colin’s phone rang, and he frowned as he read the caller’s name.

‘Alpha Aries,’ he mind linked Sean and Adina.

“Aries, how can I help you?” he answered.

Adina watched as he listened to the other alpha’s answer. He looked more and more grim. The few words Adina could make out through there weren’t encouraging.

“Thank you for letting us know. We will prepare for it. We should arrange a meeting with the other alphas in the area,” Colin said.

After exchanging a few more sentences, he hung up and looked at his mates.

“Aries has gotten reports of increased rogue activity in our area. He would guess that an attack on a local pack is in the works,” Colin explained.

“We will postpone the trip,” Sean said.

“No,” Colin shook his head and looked at Adina.

“You and Adina should still go. It would get her out of harm’s way for a while,” Colin added.

“We won’t abandon you and the pack,” Adina exclaimed, and Sean agreed.

“You won’t be abandoning anyone. We have already planned the trip. I need to stay here for the pack,” Colin said.

“We should be here for the pack as well,” Adina said.

Adina looked to Sean for support but saw that he looked torn. She understood him. He was battling his desire to stay and protect the pack and his need to ensure Adina was safe.

“Sean, you know this is the right thing to do,” Colin said, ignoring Adina.

“It doesn’t feel right to leave you and the pack behind,” Sean said.

“I’ll be fine, and the pack will as well,” Colin smiled. “Call your brother and let him know that you and Adina will visit their pack with four warriors,” Colin told him. Sean nodded and reached for his phone.

Adina changed lap and went to sit on Colins instead. She kissed him and snuggled into his chest.

“I don’t like this. I will not be around to protect you this time,” she told him.

“I know, but you will be safe. And by the time you and Sean get back, we will hopefully know more about the rogues,” he told her.

Sean finished his call.

“They are expecting us in four days,” he told them as he snuggled up against Adina’s back. The three of them sat and enjoyed the closeness. They all dreaded being apart for the first time.