“It would just be hurting us all to do that,” Ransom says. “We like sharing you. We like that you like all of us, and that you fit so well with us individually and as a family as well.”
“You’re ours,” River says, his eyes catching mine. His gaze fills with understanding, and he repeats, “You’re not just mine, you’re ours.”
“And before your mind goes elsewhere, because I know it’s about to,” Reed says, as he takes hold of my hand, “we are yours, only yours.”
“Making you choose between us hadn’t even crossed our minds, Nene,” Van adds gently.
“We promise that we will never put you in that position,” Griff says, and then adds, “and you should know that if you ever run off with no word or explanation, then we will come after you.”
I grin, “Good. If I run off with no word, then I’m not doing it willingly. You come and rescue me straight away.”
The guys chuckle.
“Deal,” Coen and River say together.
“Now for the second part, and the mate bit,” Reed says, raising his eyebrows, and my smile dims.
“Don’t look at us like that, Love,” Coen says, gently.
I shrug, “I can’t help it. I said that I understand that you are all going to get your mates, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect me when you do.”
“You’re it for us,” Reed says. “Demons don’t have mates or other halves, you’re mine.”
My eyes widen. I didn’t know that.
“Sirens get to choose their true mate, Nene, you refused to be in those classes when we got taught at the compound, or you would know that,” Van says, his eyebrow raised.
It was an argument that we had pretty regularly. One of our only arguments actually. He wanted me to be in the classes or at least be able to tell me about them. I refused to go, and every time that he tried to talk to me about them, I refused to listen. Thankfully, I’ve grown out of that now, and I am more willing to listen than I was back then.
Raiden grins, “Reapers don’t have mates either. It’s actually a lot rarer in the supernatural world to have mates than the humans think it is. Apart from where the shifters are concerned, most shifters have mates.”
“Which you would know if you came to any of the supernatural lessons when we were kids,” Evander says with a smirk.
He’s waited twenty years to win that argument, talk about being stubborn. I try not to show him just how amused I am.
I stick my tongue out at him, “I was mad that I wasn’t a supernatural, and the kids were really fucking mean. I liked being in the trees or helping out instead.”
Understanding floods Evander’s eyes, “I know, Nene.”
Doc takes over the conversation, “Incubi don’t have mates as such, they have Bonded. Bonded can only be another Incubus or Succubus, but it’s not supposed to be an uncontrollable thing, like some mate bonds. We get a choice,” he frowns slightly as if something has just occurred to him, and I catch the look that he shares with Raiden. Before I have a chance to askanything, though, he continues, he makes sure that I’m looking at him when he adds sincerely, “You’re it for me, the only one.”
We might have to discuss that later, because I’m reasonably sure that he’s going to need to feed, and that I won’t be enough to sustain him by myself. I don’t allow that thought process to go any further. I’m already on one spiral, let's not add another one. Images of interconnecting spirals and me screaming uselessly as I hop from one spiral to the other flash through my mind and momentarily distract me.
My mind is so fucking weird sometimes.
Ransom nods and smiles at me, “Mages don’t have mates or bonded or anything really, Neith. You’ve got me for as long as you want me.”
“Forever?” I ask.
His eyes light up, “I’m good with that.”
“Dragons have mates,” Coen starts.
My heart sinks. I don’t know why it does because I know that dragons have mates. It’s one of the reasons that I refused to take our relationship any further, or even acknowledge that we had a relationship in the first place. I knew he was going to be taken away from me at some point, and I didn’t want to deal with how messy it would be.
I didn’t want to get hurt.
I somehow thought that if I pretended I didn’t have real feelings for him, or Dimitri actually, that it wouldn’t hurt as much.
