27: Athena and Luke, Sitting in a Tree

Luke stepped back towards me, face uneasy as his gaze flicked between my eyes and Nathaniel’s. “Luke, please, I need you here. I need you to hold me.”

Nathaniel tensed up besides me. “Effie, what do you need? What can we do to get you through this?”

“Now I’ve let my guard down, I don’t know how to describe it, but Artemis needs you, Nathaniel, and Athena needs you, Luke.”

“Effie, your eyes. Your left is red, your right is black.”

“Swap sides,” I growled. “Nathaniel on my right. Luke, please, my left.”

“We’re here, Effie. We’re here. Tell us what you need,” Luke’s voice was pleading.

I nodded, eyes falling closed. I don’t know what I needed, but even just the two of them with me helped calm Athena and Artemis.

I sighed in relief; Artemis was calm. She still radiated power, so much raw power, but she was calm. We were content. I opened my eyes again, glancing up at Nathaniel and Luke.

Their eyes were wide. “Artemis… her eyes are glowing, they’re closer to green than your usual black,” Nathaniel whispered, his hand stroking down my right cheek.

I leaned into his hand, eyes falling closed again.

I gasped as a sudden wave of power crashed through me. Athena. She waited for Artemis to calm before she let go.

Luke groaned. Athena affected him, and she always had.

“Luke, are you good?” Nathaniel asked.

I opened my eyes again. Luke had dropped to his knees in front of me, head low, hands in fists. His breathing was heavy. I could feel my power, Athena’s power, swirling around him.

“Luke, talk to me, please,” I begged.

He looked up, meeting my eyes. His face, his voice, pained. “Nathaniel, I’m so sorry.”

Before either Nathaniel or I could respond, a single word burst from Luke’s lips.

“Mate.”

Well, fuck.

Ten minutes later, Nathaniel was pacing, stressed. “How can we both be your mate?”

Could it be… no, surely not. Artemis was clearly Nathaniel’s, but Athena on the other hand…

“Let me try something,” I whispered. “Nathaniel, hold my right hand. Luke, my left.”

They both nodded, glaring at each other, but moving into position anyway. The effect was immediate, Athena rushed for Luke, Artemis for Nathaniel. Both men gasped as they felt the respective power hit them.

Artemis and Athena spoke in sync. “Mate.”

My eyes flew open. They both heard it too, their eyes were wide, mouths open.

Artemis was Nathaniel’s mate.

Athena was Luke’s.

We all sat in silence. Letting that knowledge settle. I didn’t know it was possible, but I guess it made sense. Both Artemis and Athena are their own entities, the chances of them liking the same person are slim to none.

“What happens now?” Nathaniel asked, voice low.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I guess we have to work out what this will look like.”

“I don’t want to share you, Effie,” Nathaniel growled.

Luke growled back.

They were both standing, growling, challenging each other, daring the other to shift. Both of them were refusing to stand down. They were equally matched, either one of them could have been my beta. If I wasn’t in the picture, either one of them could have held a pack too.

Artemis was growling at both of them, a growl that burst from my lips, reminding them that if anyone was in charge, it was me.

“Don’t you dare fight over this. Especially not here. This is new to all of us, and not exactly something any of us decided to do. If either of you want to be anywhere near me in a non-professional way, you will get on.”

They still didn’t stand down.

“Luke, Nathaniel. Stand down, now!” I threw power behind that command, both of them immediately stopping and turning towards me, heads bowed.

“That’s enough of this. I don’t want to command either of you. You’re both my mates, you should both have my back. You two threatening or challenging each other is not having my back. You both need to sit down, calm down, and don’t say anything unless it is productive.”

“Yes, alpha,” they replied in sync, sitting back down opposite me.

“Now that’s out of the way. What do we do?”

“There’s only one thing to do, Effie, if you want both of us, I mean,” Nathaniel whispered. I raised an eyebrow at him. “You need to mark Luke.”

“Won’t Luke marking me destroy your mark?”

We all fell silent. This was new territory.

“Artemis was in control when you and Nathaniel mated, right?” Luke said, voice low. I nodded. “Athena was suppressed, completely uninvolved?”

The penny dropped.

“So perhaps, if I suppress Artemis, and let Athena take charge, it might just work…”

“I don’t like this,” Nathaniel whispered.

“I know,” I sighed. “But don’t make me choose.”

“I might not like sharing you, but I won’t make you choose, Effie,” Luke whispered. “I’ll do what I can to get on with Nathaniel. It might not always be smooth sailing, but I’ll try.”

I gave Luke a smile, before turning back to Nathaniel. “And you?” I asked.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Okay, let’s do this thing. I don’t like the idea of sharing you, but I’d rather share than let Luke have you to himself, and I know you don’t want to reject Luke.”

“I don’t want to reject you either, Nathaniel. I don’t think Artemis will let me reject you, and Athena won’t let me reject Luke either. They’re both entirely on board with this.”

Luke and Nathaniel looked apprehensive, but agreed. Neither liked sharing, but they didn’t want to lose me either. This was going to be difficult, there was no denying that. But fingers crossed we could pull it off.

I looked up at Luke. “Well then,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “Mark me, mate. I promise not to remove it this time.