After Amun had conjured up another set of horses and a different chariot we climbed in and were pulled through the desert by the completely black horses who knew exactly where they were headed. They sprinted through the desert kicking up sand as their hooves barely touched the ground. The mini sand storm that we had been experiencing completely disappeared and it didn't seem strange until I thought about what Set had told us.
He was the god of storms...
Did he do that on purpose? Was he the one that caused the storm just to keep us in one spot for long enough to come and get us? Maybe we shouldn't have come to his realm like this. Whenever we get out of this I'm never listening to Rue again.
"So what was that all about?" I questioned turning my head to face my little sister.
"What? He's cute." She replied with a shrug as she sat down on the floor of the chariot. She pushed her red hair behind her ear and began to play with a stray piece of thread at the bottom of her outfit.
"And that's cause to probably get us killed?" I questioned.
"Killed? Who said anything about killing anyone? They wouldn't kill us." Her head shot up as she gave me a confused look and replied as if she had known these men for years.
"I'm pretty sure he could and no one would know what happened to us. They'd be looking for our bodies for years to come and no one would know anything..." I replied in frustration.
"Hermes knows where we're at besides I don't think he'd kill either of you and Amun wouldn't let anyone touch Kaya and I." She answered with a small smirk playing on her lips.
"What do you mean?" I questioned her.
"You may not have seen it because you were too busy trying to find something wrong with him and the entire situation but he was eyeing the two of you like you were the last coconuts on deserted island and he was stranded." She giggled.
"No he wasn't." Owen protested his cheeks burning bright red.
"Oh he was. Right Kaya?" She asked him.
'I refuse to answer.' He replied in our minds without turning around to face us.
"Party pooper." Rue mumbled.
The conversation fell dead after that because there was nothing left to say. She says that he wouldn't hurt us but we had trespassed in his land and we were now being taken to his home where he would probably keep us until someone showed up to take us away.
We rode through the desert until the faint sounds of music carried on the warm breeze that flowed past us. Turning to the right the horses brought us over a huge sand dune revealing a little town on the other side of it. Before we reached what looked like a marketplace we could hear the sounds of people talking, music playing and encouraging people to dance and see children running around playing whatever game they were playing.
As we rode on through the town everyone seemed to move out of the way as we approached. Everyone who saw the two chariots as they passed by bowed their heads in respect before continuing on their way. Most people tried to figure out who we were and why we were important enough to ride in the chariot of the Lord of this Realm.
Truth be told I didn't even know why we were important. I'm sure that the proper protocol for someone sneaking into another realm was handled the exact same way we handled rogues. If you're not supposed to be on our land then you're questioned, told to leave immediately or killed on the spot. Set hasn't done any of those.
He's pretty much treating us like we're some sort of royalty. We have our own chariot, we're riding through the desert as people bowed to us. Set could of had us in chains being dragged behind his chariot but no, here we were in our own chariot just relaxing.
The horses neighed and whinnied as they slowed down to an easy trot before stopping in front of a building with a sign that I couldn't read above it. In a matter of seconds Amun was beside the chariot with his hand outstretched waiting for us to climb out.
Rue was the first to jump at him, wrap her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and hold on tight. She buried her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. He let out a groan as he tried to pull her away from his body but her grip remained and he rolled his eyes as he held out his hand once again to us.
Kaya stepped forward and jumped out the chariot on his own. Stepping towards Amun he leaned forward, whispered something in Rue's ear before pulling her off of the large man. The bodyguard must of heard what Kaya said to her because he quirked and eyebrow at him and had Kaya's cheeks burning a bright red.
"Come on now." Called the deep calming voice of Set.
"Where are we?" Owen questioned as he kept close to me.
"We're at a store of sorts. Just think of it as the Ancient Egyptian version of Walmart." He smiled.
Somehow that smile was so charming that I couldn't find it in me to hate him too much. Don't get me wrong I was still awfully suspicious of everything he did and I would watch him like a hawk but for some reason I wasn't too worried about him.
"We need to get you guys some things for your stay here." He spoke up again as he strolled closer to the chariot. Like Amun he held out his hand to us and waited for one of us to take it. Owen looked up at me as I looked down at him to see what his reaction was.
'Can we trust him?' He asked me via our mate link.
'I don't know yet but it's probably best not to anger him before we can figure out what's going on.' I answered him.
A soft sigh escaped his mouth before he moved towards the edge of the chariot reluctantly. He shook his head and flicked the hair out of his face before looking back at me one last time. He looked at Seth's outstretched hand and as soon as my mate's delicate hand touched Set's his larger hand closed in around his and jerked him forward causing Owen to stumble as he fell out the chariot. I jerked forward on instinct and froze when I saw how Set had caught Owen.
The one hand that had been holding onto Owen's still firmly held his and both were in the air. Set spun them both around in an attempt not to stumble back and have them both falling. His other arm was wrapped around the small of Owen's back and their movements together was as poetic as beautiful dance.
When he was sure that neither of them were going to fall he held a smiling Owen close to his body for a minute or two before Owen came to his sense and pushed him away, confused as he moved towards Kaya. I jumped out the chariot and walked over to Owen who was cautiously glaring at Set who looked almost confused himself as he stared down at the hand that had been holding Owen.
"Lord Set." Came a deep, rasp voice that caused Kaya to literally purr.
Our heads snapped towards Kaya whose face was completely red and his head was hanging low as his eyes scanned the desert ground looking everywhere else other than at our faces. That was not something we were used to happening. Amun looked down at Kaya, picked up his large hand and just dropped it on Kaya's head before smoothing down the back of his hair and leaving his head to rest on the back of Kaya's neck.
"It's fine little hellhound." The deep voice spoke.
"How'd you know that?" Kaya spoke up and we all looked at Amun waiting for his answer.
"So you speak?" Amun questioned with a small smirk.
"How did you know." Kaya questioned again beginning to sound agitated.
"I am one of the oldest creatures in existence. If there is one thing I am capable of is being able to tell the difference between a shifter and a hellhound. So you my little hellhound have nothing to hide from me, therefore you should not be ashamed of your reactions to me as well." He spoke wisely and deep.
"Well now that that's all settled how about we go inside and find some clothes for our guests?" Set spoke up easing the slight tension that was rising.
"You mean captives..." I whispered as we began walking towards the store.
"Same thing." Set smiled as he brushed past me.
"Whatever..." I grunted before turning to follow behind him.
Amun was standing by the door holding it open as Owen and I approached with Set leading the way. Rue was standing beside Amun and was trying to hold his hand. Every time she'd grab it he'd snatch it away before she had the chance to intertwine their fingers. Kaya sighed heavily before grabbing Rue's arm and pulling her away from Amun and standing in between them. Rue huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as we crossed the threshold of the store.
We were met the smell of fragrant spices that wafted throughout the store on the cool air that contrasted greatly to the warmth outside. I felt a bit under-dressed as I walked inside with no shirt on and without the scarf to at least hid some of my naked chest.
"Don't worry you're fine." Set answered my unasked question.
"But I don't even have a shirt on." I countered.
"Trust me that is not a problem at all." He smiled as his eyes dipped down raking over my chest.
'Did he just check you out?' Owen asked me through our link.
'I think so.' I replied quizzically.
"So babe what do we need to buy?" Rue asked casually as she fell into step beside Amun who was still trying to ignore her the best he could.
"We buy clothes that fit and cover your body because we don't need anyone getting sunburn or damaged in this realm, especially under my watch. Also we buy clothes that I'll like on you." Set smirked as his eyes roamed over my body and then Owen's.
"Stop that." I growled lowly in my throat.
"Stop what? I haven't done anything yet." He laughed as he walked off further into the store.
My eyes roamed over him as he walked off with Amun and Kaya trailing behind him. He didn't even walk like a normal person. H practically glided as he moved past various patrons o the store who were shopping as well. They all bowed when they realized who it was but he quickly made him them stand up. They flashed him smiles and he replied with a small wave in return.
"There's something...different about him." Owen spoke up softly.
"I know." I replied thoughtfully as I looked at him.
Looking at him with his eyes wide and confused I just wanted to wrap myself around him and keep him safe. He didn't know what was going on and neither did I but at least we were together in this. There was something definitely different about Set that had seemed to catch both of our attentions. I knew what I was looking at but I didn't want to really talk about it with my mate because I wasn't sure if we were thinking the same things.
We had known Set for only about an hour and already we were intrigued by him. His mannerisms, the way he walked, the way he talked, just Set in general was interesting. I wanted to know more about him and didn't know how to approach the subject with Owen.
"Maybe Rue was right?" I asked as he grabbed my hand to pull me forward behind the rest of them.
'Of course I was.' Rue's voice echoed in both our minds.
"Can we disown her?" Owen asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand.
"No, unfortunately if we disown her our dads will kill us." I groaned in defeat.
Then the thoughts of our family came up and my heart jumped in my chest. What were they thinking right now? They probably thought that we ran off again, convincing Kaya and Owen to join us. They wouldn't really realize we were missing until the morning or tomorrow afternoon at least when we wouldn't have shown back up yet. Then what?
"Seth as fun as this is I don't think you can keep us here for very long." I spoke up as he reached out and ran his fingers delicately across the racks of clothing within his reach.
"Why not?" He questioned in genuine confusion.
"We have a family back home who will start worrying about us and will start some sort of search party when we don't come back." I replied in an even tone as not to upset him.
"Well we'll just have to solve that." He replied thoughtfully. "Amun." He called out to the man who was still trying to avoid Rue.
"Yes Lord Set?" The rich deep voice questioned.
"In the morning please send word to Lord Thanatos that we have four young people in are care and please ask him to find their parents and inform them where they are. Surly since they came through the portal he must know who it is that they belong to. Once you have sent the message please close off the portal." Seth instructed him.
The large man simply bowed his head in understanding before turning back around and walking ahead of us. Seth turned around and flashed a dazzling smile at the two of us as we just stared at him in disbelief. What he had just done was...insane.
There was no way that he was just going to keep us in this hot deserted place like this and expect us to just comply to his wishes. He had to be crazy. Even if Rue and Kaya seemed to like the situation they found themselves in I wasn't to thrilled about being here with someone who we didn't know, who was insistent upon keeping us as his own personal pets.
"I like the color white on Kaya. What do you think Amun?" Seth questioned as he picked up the hem of a shirt that was more of a tank top than anything else.
"I think you're right. It does work well but black looks just as good." He replied with no emotion in his voice at all. "Black would work for the both of them, maybe gold too."
"I'll wear anything you want me to." Rue purred as Amun looked at a black and gold pair of harem pants, much like the ones he was wearing. He looked over at Rue and smirked as his eyes dipped down and he looked at my little sister with a look that I never wanted to see a guy giver her.
"Can you not?" I growled more in defeat than anything else. I knew that once she got started nothing would stop her.
"I think that you two would look good absolutely naked but since we have to clothe you I think that you'd look really in white and gold, or maybe even a light blue for Owen and a black for you Declan." He replied placing his finger on his bottom lip and eyeing us up and down.
Owen threw his arms across his chest and squeaked causing us to all look up at him. His cheeks were blushing a bright red as he hung his head causing his hair to fall into his face, successfully hiding himself from us.
"What was that?" Set questioned.
"Stop staring at us like that. It's weird." Owen squeaked.
"I can look at you any way I want." Set grunted before spinning around, pushing past Rue who was clinging onto Amun for dear life.
"What crawled up his ass and died?" Rue questioned more to herself but Amun sighed and pulled his arm away from hers to follow after Set who was storming down the aisles of the story a lot less happy then when we originally started this little shopping trip.
"What the hell is going on around here?" I groaned.
"Can't we just run away right now?" Owen questioned as he dropped his arms and looked around to make sure no one was watching us.
"We probably could but since he's in charge of this realm he could easily just stop us before we got to the portal and we have no idea who we would be going up against if we pissed him off." I replied thoughtfully.
Imani had always taught us to think about the situation we were in before acting while Damien always taught us to act first and ask questions later. Mateus usually just shook his head and stood on the sideline with Nicholai as the two began to fight over attacking styles.
"You're right. So do we go after them?" Owen asked.
"Yeah, I guess we do." I replied softly before reaching down and linking our fingers together as I pulled him forward.
Rue cooed from behind us about how cute we were and Kaya mimicked my action pulling her along and shutting her up all at the same time. She looked down at their connected fingers and then up at Kaya with a slight red tint on her cheeks. With her other hand she puled her hair from behind her back, pulling it to one side.
'What's that about?' Owen questioned me through our mate link.
Shrugging my shoulders at him I simply kept walking until I spotted Amun standing beside a pouting Set who was standing in front of a jewelry counter. He was staring down at something but he wasn't really looking at anything in particular just staring at everything in there.
"Which would they like Amun?" He asked the large man while we were still feet away.
"Why don't you just ask them?" He questioned.
"Because that's not how things wo-Oh! Hello." Set greeted us as if nothing had just happened.
"Hey." I replied for the group as Owen clung to me.
"So I was thinking about getting you two something to signify that you belong to me and no one can harm you." Set explained.
"What about Rue and Kaya?" Owen piped up.
"Amun will deal with that." He responded dismissively as he leaned down to examine the glass case that held various rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
"But we don't belong to you." I replied in a huff.
"You don't?" He questioned me turning back around to look at me. "When did this happen?"
"What?" I replied confused myself.
"Well if you weren't mine then I wouldn't be keeping you here. Therefore and henceforth you're mine." He smiled as if what he said had made sense and was the only real reason that we needed.
The rest of the day spent in the store consisted of Owen and I following behind Set as he walked and picked up clothes every so often. He would hold it up to either me or Owen to see how it would look on us. Owen would flush anytime Set complimented him on the way he looked or the way he could look in any outfit.
I could see the flush on his cheek and the smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I had to agree that there was something about Set that was completely and utterly enthralling but I didn't understand what it meant. Owen and I were mates and Set didn't exactly feel like another mate but there was something there.
"What about you Declan?" Set's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"What about me what?" I questioned.
"What do you think I should get?" He asked again.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well I'm getting you two rings that have my symbol carved into the side and charmed so that no one will be able to do anything to harm you even if I'm not there." Set explained.
"Does it matter?" I questioned not really caring what he got.
"Yes. It does. It matters to me and I'd appreciate it if you would at least put a little thought into getting me something. I'm trying so hard not to just force you into this but you're not even trying. At least Owen is smiling and blushing and showing some reaction but you? You? Nothing! Well fine! If you don't want this to work I'll just keep Owen and you can go." He ranted sounding angrier by the second.
The initial anger that coursed through me stemmed from him threatening to take Owen and leave me alone by myself. Owen and I have been together through everything for as long as I could remember and the thought of losing someone else that meant so much to me scared me to know end. But then I realized that a part of the pain that felt like a punch to the gut was from the thought of actually leaving.
What the hell was wrong with me? I wanted to get out of here...right? We were practically being kidnapped by this guy and he was forcing us to come with him...right? What was happening in my life? I just stared at him in disbelief as he moved quickly. His hand wrapped around Owen's more delicate one and pulled my mate away from me.
My wolf didn't like that.
"Don't." I growled.
"Don't what pup?" He smirked.
"Don't do that." I replied.
"Do what?"
"What is your problem? Seriously? All we wanted to do was explore and nothing else. Simple request? You would think so but no you just had to go and ruin it. Just let us go home and you won't have to worry about me trying anything." I snarled.
"You're so aggravating!" He shouted at me.
"I'm aggravating? Have you met you yet?" I replied marching over to them. Reaching down I grabbed Owen's hand, snatching it out of Set's hand.
"Yes I have and I think you're confusing me with you. I'm absolutely amazing, don't you think Owen?" He questioned turning to my mate who simply ducked his head, refusing to answer the question.
"Lord Set we should get going now. Osiris and Isis are doing their rounds in a half an hour." Amun spoke up interrupting our little fight.
"Well I guess we'll just have to shop from home." Set pouted as reached down and took my hand in one of his and took Owen's hand in the other dragging us forward.
His mood swings always confused the hell out of me. One minute he was angry with me and the next he was smiling brightly and showering us with compliments. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to act around him.
'What was that about?' I asked Owen feeling a little hurt that he didn't stand up to me.
'I don't know. My wolf wanted to stay put. He felt comfortable.' He replied sounding guilty.
'Comfortable? Your wolf felt comfortable with another person?' I questioned skeptically.
The thing that kept us together for so long was our wolves. Even as kids our wolves never wanted to be apart from each other for too long. We didn't feel like that towards anyone else until we met Nicholai and our dads. There was something about them that calmed our wolves and called to us. Even if I didn't want to admit it my wolf was drawn to them and I couldn't help but love them.
'You remember what happened with our dads?' He asked just as I snapped out of my thoughts.
'Yeah but what does that mean?' I asked him.
'I don't know but whatever it is we'll have to handle it together.' He replied wisely.
"So what are you two talking about?" Set questioned as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
"What?" I questioned as I tried to look down at where his hand rested on my waist.
"I can tell the two of you are talking but about what I won't find out until later." He answered as his fingers dug into my side.
The warm breeze hit my face as we exited the store and was taken back to the chariots that stood in the front of the store waiting on us. The horses neighed and stomped their hooves as we approached. Amun helped Kaya and Rue into the chariot before turning around and holding out his hand to Owen.
"Wait! Before you climb in..." Set's sentence trailed off as his hand slipped off my waist.
Owen turned back around to face him and I turned towards him as well waiting for him to say something important. He held out both hands and a small little sand tornado formed in each of his palms before the sands dispersed and lying in the middle of his hands were two golden rings that looked like two coiled up snakes with rubies as eyes.
"What's this?" I questioned as I reached forward to take it without actually thinking about it.
"It's yours." Set replied with a soft smile on his face.
"Why?" I questioned narrowing my eyes at him as I slipped the ring over my middle finger trying to see if it fit.
"Because I told you I wanted to give you something." He replied as Owen reached forward and began slipping the ring on different fingers trying to find which one it fit best on. When he settled it on the ring finger of his left hand and mine fit perfectly on the same finger there was a sharp sense of pain. Looking down at the ring I swear the eyes of the snake was glowing a bright red.
"What the hell was that?" Owen shouted at Set shaking his hand out in his face.
"Oh the bite? That was so that I could find you wherever you're at and be able to come to you. That and you won't be able to leave without my permission." He answered as he grabbed Owen's flailing hand and looked at the ring on his hand.
"There really is something wrong with you isn't there?" I questioned with a straight face.
"Yes but now that you two are here whatever it is that's been hurting me seems to have stopped." He answered truthfully. "And now that we've discussed that how about we all jump into the chariot so that we can get out of here before Osiris comes out here and tries to kill me again."
"Who's Osiris?" I snarled.
"Calm down little puppy." Set teased me as he dropped Owen's hand but reached up to caress my face. "I'll tell you about him another time but for now let's go."
He dropped his hand before walking over to his chariot and climbing in. Amun held out his hand again and waited until Owen grabbed it and hopped into the chariot. I refused his help and climbed in by myself. Amun turned around and went to the chariot with Set who was patiently waiting for him but keeping a close watch on the horizon.
"What was that all about Dec?" Kaya asked me with a smirk mocking me from before when he had his little moment.
"What?" I asked genuinely confused.
"You got angry over the fact that someone would try to kill Set." Rue exclaimed getting all fangirly again.
"No I didn't." I replied with a sigh as I turned away from them.
"Yeah you did babe." Owen laughed as he moved over to where I was standing. I wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him in place just as the chariot took off following behind Amun as he steered the horses back out towards the desert.
"I highly doubt it." I replied looking at my mate who was only a little shorter than I.
"Trust me that's what it sounded like. Your voice got all deep and you sounded like you were two seconds away from going out to find Osiris and kill him yourself. Which probably isn't the best idea so don't even think about it." He smiled.
"Why would I do that? Maybe that Osiris guy would let us go once he has Set." I replied trying to think of a plan to get us out of this barren wasteland and covering my mistake all at the same time.
"Come on! Do you really not want to be here right now? Set's hot, Amun's way hotter and both want to keep us around. Can't you tell by the way they're treating us?" Rue questioned.
"What I can tell is that they like how we look and want to dress us up to fit their sick sexual needs." I replied.
"Really?" Rue huffed. "For once don't take after Damien or Imani. Follow Nicholai and look inside, listen to your wolf because he alone knows what you need. Stop trying to over think everything and just go with the flow." She chastised.
"Whatever." I mumbled but decided that maybe she was right.
Closing my eyes as we traveled I tried to tune out everything and focus on the one piece of me that had never steered me wrong. My head would get me in trouble as would my mouth but my wolf always knew what to do.
"Hello Declan." My wolf greeted me.
"Hey. So got any advice for me today?" I questioned.
"Yeah just a little. How about you stop fighting our mate?"
"I'm not fighting with Owen. I would never fight with him."
"Not him. Our other mate."
"What? Other mate?" I questioned again.
"Set. Set knows that we belong to him as well as he belongs to us. Don't shut him out like you do other people. He's ours and he needs our help." My wolf pleaded.
"We have another mate?" Was all I repeated.
"Yes." My wolf laughed before he disappeared from my conscious mind.
"So...What did your wolf tell you?" Rue questioned nosily.
Ignoring her I turned to look at Owen who was looking at me expectantly. He wanted to know what my wolf had to say but deep down I think he already knew what was happening. I took a deep breath before pulling Owen into my arms and holding him close.
"I know you know Owen." I spoke into his hair as I breathed in his scent.
"But it doesn't feel the same as when we first changed and knew for sure." He replied.
"What are you talking about?" Rue questioned impatiently.
"We seem to have another mate." I answered her.
"Really? Us too!"
"Us who?" I asked her my head snapping up to meet her eyes.
"Kaya and I share a mate." She replied blushing.
"I knew something was going on!" Owen shouted as he pulled away from me, turned around and pointed at Rue.
"I never said nothing was happening." She replied flippantly.
"When did this happen?" I asked.
"When we left we just sort of realized that we had a deeper bond then brother and sister." She answered.
"Let me guess. Amun is your shared mate?" I questioned remembering how Kaya reacted earlier and Kaya knew what I was thinking because immediately his cheeks began to burn red.
"Yes! Isn't he so freaking adorable?" She gushed.
"No, I think we'll just stick to Set and trying to actually understand him." I commented.
'You won't have to try very hard pup.' Set's voice sounded in my mind.
Owen's head snapped up to look at me and I knew that he heard it as well. Squinting my eyes I looked up at chariot ahead of us and saw Set looking back smiling as Amun controlled the horses. He waved at us as his voice sounded in my head again.
'It's the ring.' He told me. 'Now we can talk to each other, I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine.'
Shaking my head and pinching the bridge of my nose I looked up at Owen who was examining his ring. He looked up at me and shrugged his shoulders before looking over at Set who was still staring at us like the happiest person on earth.
"This is going to be an interesting adventure." I laughed.
'Most certainly my little pups.' Set's voice echoed in our minds.
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What do you think? Vote and comment my little macaroons.