"Very nice of you to let them stay with us for free," Ryan hissed as he followed Theo out of the kitchen and to the dining room. With Melissa and Lucas asleep upstairs in the guest room, the two knew they had to be quiet.
There was an obvious plan in the making, something devious. Ryan wanted to know exactly what was happening, because with all the secrecy Theo was subtly shoving in his face, he needed to know who was going to end up heartbroken by the end of the season.
"It's not free free. They have to have dinner with us at least once a week."
"What sort of plan are you forming?"
"I'm sorry. Weren't you the one who wanted Melissa to stay with us while she was in town for the season?"
"I did, and now she's engaged to your mate. You are up to something."
"Fine. Maybe I am up to something. But you don't know if it's good or bad."
"Tell me. Now," he growled, his dominance seeping through his teeth. Ryan was a strong wolf. He had plenty of respect in the werewolf community. If his wolf were to poke through in the midst of his anger, it would be a frightening sight for anyone to behold. And with Theo already guilty, it caused his own wolf to whimper.
"Mates need to be around one another. It brings them comfort and stability, because they are not going to be awake every night wondering if their mate is alright. I know it was a struggle for you for a while after Melissa stopped messaging, but we both knew she was alright. You just saw her again, so the long nights are going to come back. It happened to me last night, and I do not want to go through that again while I know he's in town. Call me selfish, but I know we'll both be sleeping better knowing our mates are alive and in the safety of our house."
Groaning, Ryan leaned against the table as Theo began to eat his late night snack of a strawberry shortcake cupcake from Costco. He looked up towards the stairs and said, "Why did it have to be this way? What good is supposed to come of our mates being with each other instead of us?"
"Now you're feeling down?" Theo scoffed.
"I've always been depressed."
"I know we're supposed to be happy for them and not get in the way, but don't you think there might be a chance we can be with them?"
"No."
"I'm not suggesting we force it to happen. I'm not going to create a wedge between them or anything. I'm just saying that if there's an opening, is it so wrong to take it?"
"It is wrong," Ryan stated. "We shouldn't do anything that could jeopardize their relationship just because we're soulmates."
"Isn't that all the more reason to interfere?"
"Would you want Lucas to be with you because he loves you or because he feels like he has to?"
Theo glared at his plate. "Loves me."
"That's why I never told Melissa when I met her. I do regret not telling her, but I can't do anything about it now. She doesn't need to know so long as she is engaged to Lucas, and we both know that they are in love."
"They are in love." Theo stood up and grabbed his plate. "But so long as they live in this house and spend time with us, our mate bonds will begin to grow stronger. They will begin to feel an attraction towards us, because at the end of the day, we are soulmates. Sometimes the things that feel wrong wind up being right."
Ryan let out a long sigh as Theo stormed into the kitchen. He hated to admit that Theo was right.
As he stood up from his seat, an alarm in the kitchen rang. Its sole purpose was to alert all werewolves and other mythicals if a hunter was nearby. A special beep blared whenever they were attacking, while the default was for whenever they were spotted nearby. The special beep rang through the alarm, and Ryan pushed his way into the kitchen.
Theo began to type up the coordinates, looking to see where the attacks were coming from. "It's the Copper Blossom Posse."
Ryan growled as he slammed his hand against the wall. They were the most vicious gang of mythical hunters in the area. They found mythicals to be a sin against nature. They were slowly dying out due to mythicals fighting back whenever provoked. Though murder was illegal, there was still a war between the mythicals willing to fight for their right to be out and proud versus those who wanted mythicals to be extinct. As long as they never attacked anyone who wasn't fighting, no one had a problem with either of the clans dying. But since the hunters always attacked the most vulnerable, mythicals had every right to fight back.
"Where are they?"
"Taiga Crow Steppe." Twenty miles away. A forest preserve hiding a small cliff leading down into the Lotus Canal.
"Let's go."
The brothers sent a message to their neighbors, asking them to look after their houseguests while they attended business. Ryan and Theo shifted, ripping their clothes in the process as they ran toward the war zone, reaching it in five minutes.
A battle was already in the midst. Werewolves were fighting back, using their own weapons to counterattack, while others shifted to attack the hunters who shot at them or released their wild boars onto them. Most mythicals preferred not to shift or use dangerous magic unless it was necessary. They didn't want to prove the hunters right, nor give them any reason to believe they were. But when the battles were tough, they used whatever precautions were necessary to fight back.
The two split, and Theo ran over to a man who shot a gun his way. He dodged each bullet as he ran up to the hunter and scratched at his neck, killing him instantly. He fell into the pile of other dead hunters
Instantly, Ryan shifted as he ran over to the hunter's leader of the fight. Each attack prompted someone new to lead in the fight. It was always their job to kill the Alpha, as he was the mythicals' leader. He instantly pounced onto the leader, punching him square in the nose. The leader bounced back, groaning before punching Ryan back in the mouth.
He spat out blood onto his foe's face before kicking him in the gut, causing the leader to fly into his truck. Another hunter jumped on his back, stabbing his arm with a knife. Ryan let out a ferocious growl as he grabbed the hunter off his back and flung him out into the trees, hitting a tree trunk. He pulled the knife out of his chest and ran over to the leader, who ran up to Ryan as well. Ryan threw his hand back, ready to strike the leader, but the leader grabbed his hands and began to inch the knife towards Ryan's own chest.
A dagger flew out of nowhere and struck the knife, knocking it out of both their hands. The two glanced back, and Ryan paled as he spotted Melissa in sport shorts and an oversized t-shirt, holding several daggers in her grip. Theo, sensing his friend, ran to her side to protect her. The hunters noticed the way the two protected the girl, and they soon began to shoot at her, running her way.
As Melissa ran towards Ryan, she tossed her daggers towards the gunmen, striking their guns and knocking it out of their grips. With the hunters preoccupied with the girl, the mythicals ran out to attack them.
With Ryan's attention solely on his mate, the leader grabbed the dagger from the ground, prepared to stab his back. Theo ran ahead of Melissa, shielding her. She dashed forward, calling out to Ryan as she hopped onto Theo's back and jumped over Ryan, striking down on the leader's chest as she flipped over his head. She skidded on the ground as the leader stumbled back. He coughed up blood and began to chase her, but he fell down, striking the dagger further through his heart.
Ryan began to run towards her, but two more hunters came out to attack both Theo and Ryan. Another two began to chase Melissa, including the second in command. Without any of her daggers left, she ran towards the cliff leading to the Lotus Canal. Ryan called out to Melissa, shifting as he ran to reach her. If she took another step, she'd fall over into the water and drown instantly from the strong currents. The hunters knew that and continued to chase her.
She did not slow down, instead picking up speed as she dived over the cliff's edge, screaming, "Tag!" as she jumped. The hunters peered over the edge, expecting to watch her fall into the canal. Instead, they were knocked off their feet as a heavy wind current flew upward. A shadow casted over the everyone's head, landing behind them.
Melissa jumped out of Lucas's arms, allowing him to grab two hunters by the collar and throw them into the canal. Everyone stared up at Lucas flying in the sky. They'd heard the stories of human sized fairies, but they had never seen one before. He was topless, his bottom half covered with white, iridescent silk that clung onto him like second skin. His wings were iridescent, shimmering in the moonlight and headlights of the trucks.
Theo stared at his mate in awe, insatiably happy that his mate was a mythical like himself. But as his mind was transfixed on the beauty of Lucas, he was unaware of the hunter about to shoot his back. Lucas, noticing him, flew down at lightning fast speed and tilted the gun back, prompting the hunter to shoot himself in the head instead.
With the hunters giving up, they climbed into the trucks and drove off, speeding out of the preserves and back to their base to plan a new attack.
The moment they were alone, the mythicals stared at Lucas in awe as a cloud of glitter puffed around him. His wings were gone, and his clothes were replaced with plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt. He stared Theo straight in the eye, and Theo stared right back. Neither of them could look away from the other.
Ryan's wolf ran up to Melissa, skidding to a stop as she stepped up to him. He licked her cheek and whimpered as he nuzzled himself against her. She petted his head, scratching behind his ear, and he panted happily as he gazed up at her. She was alive. Safe. And as she smiled down at him, he knew he would use whatever opening he'd get to become her mate.