Intertwined: her three mates

11. How to tame a mate

3rd Person POV

Luke drives towards the Wizard King’s Realm near the border where he meets her: Cassandra, the witch that will help him to get inside it. He stops his car for her to get inside. 

Cassandra looks at him, annoyed. “You are late.” she huffs. “We must enter now, we can't waste time, drive faster! They won't keep the protection spell lifted for much longer, the entourages of the King of Hell and the Elf King are already inside. If you want to enter undetected, it is now or never.”

“Relax Cassandra, we are almost there,” Luke says in a chill voice. 

“Bloody hell, I don't even know why I am helping you,” she grumbles, frowning at him. 

“Maybe it's because of my charm and eight pack,” he replies with a big grin and winks at her.

She rolls her eyes. “Less talk and more speed, Romeo! Your charm would be the last thing to convince me to do something that reckless! I am just doing it because Sarah begged me.”

“So, it’s all about her charm then!?” Luke asks, chuckling. 

She rolls her eyes again. Cassandra starts chanting a spell under her breath. “I have covered your scent, now they will think you are an Elf from the king's entourage and let us in.” 

He mumbles under his breath and shakes his head, “Me, an Elf…” 

They open the window when they reach the border patrol. “My King is waiting for us,” Luke says to the patrol officer. He nods and lets them in. 

Luke lets out the breath that he didn't know he was holding. 

They park the car near the castle. 

“You wait here, I will be back soon. For the sake of that stupid permanent grin in your face, don´t attract any attention to yourself.”

“Cassy,” Luke calls out to her. 

“What?”

“Think about Sarah more often… that will make you less grumpy... and call her,” he says, beaming at her with what she calls his permanent grin. She snarls at him and goes inside the castle using the back door. 

~ * ~

Elric is in his office, in his castle, waiting for Astoria and Maximus, when they both enter the room. The Elf King takes a few long steps towards them and explains why they were called. 

“Maximus, Astoria, we should go to Avalon’s castle to meet him and Laius,” Elric tells his second in command, and his main general. 

“Meet them? Why?” Maximus asks, narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion. He doesn’t trust Avalon or Laius. 

“After finding out that we almost lost our mate bond, the three of us understood that we have to act speedily. Hence, we decided to discuss the best way to deal with our atypical mating situation. Because even though it’s something dreadful, I  need them and they need me to be able to fully bond with Liv. Thus, after a long discussion, we agreed to have our meeting at Avalon’s castle. That way we all can stay closer to Liv,” Elric explains, and Maximus and Astoria nod at their king.

“It seems reasonable, now we can only hope that they can behave appropriately. I expect this from King Avalon, but I am not sure about the King of Hell,” Maximus mutters. 

“I must admit that those two sounded more cordial than before. I assume they were taken by a general feeling of cordiality and are less edgy since they have seen our mate and felt the bond,” Elric added.

All three kings knew well that the mating bond has this effect, especially on males. It washes them over with a feeling of peace they didn’t know ever existed.

“Why aren’t you meeting only the three of you?” Maximus wondered, thoughtfully. 

“I distrust them and this feeling is mutual. Thus, each one of us is to bring our first two or three in command. I’ve chosen you two since besides being my second in command and closest friend, you are Liv’s father and Astoria is her aunt,” the Elf King explains, “Avalon will bring his second in command, Galvin, his High Counsellor, Amalia, and his head-warrior, Linus. Mel will join them as well. Laius will bring his cousin and second in command and Lady Mircella, his head of diplomacy.” 

“Demons can be diplomatic?” Maximus asks with a scornful laugh. 

“I am glad they are trying,” Astoria replies. 

“We should go now,” Elric tells them. 

Without wasting any time, they flash to a large and richly decorated meeting room. Laius and Avalon’s group were already there in their seats. 

The elves take their seats and after a moment of heavy silence, Elric starts to speak. 

“How can we solve this problem?” The Elf King sighs, “She’s a teenage girl mated to three powerful kings. If only she was older. If we wait—”

“Do you seriously think you can wait?” Avalon asks incredulously. 

“No, I know I can’t,” Elric replies. 

“I would rather discuss more current issues such as who Sugar will sleep with tonight. It shall be me since you both have already slept with her.” Laius chimes in.  

“I’ve just kissed her and you’ve—” Elric starts. 

“Please, don’t discuss this here and now. She is my daughter.” Maximus tells Elric through their mind-link. 

Elric clears his throat. “We shouldn’t discuss this in front of everyone.”

“What else is there to discuss? We simply mark and mate her. What are we waiting for?” Laius asks.  

“It’s not that simple, she needs time to—” Avalon utters. 

“I guarantee she won’t complain afterward.” Laius cuts him off and smiles mischievously. 

Maximus makes a great effort to stop a growl from leaving his throat. Listening to his daughter being spoken of this way infuriates him. 

“That’s not an option,” Elric replies. 

“Let’s give her time... Hopefully, she doesn’t need much,” Avalon mutters the last part under his breath.

Astoria rolls her eyes, sharing her brother’s discomfort. But if someone can handle these three, it is her spitfire mouthy niece. That fearless and impulsive girl. A meek girl wouldn’t last one day with these three. 

“Who would say that our teenage mate would unite us, US, on a quest, let alone the quest of trying to ease her unwillingness and win her,” Laius comments with a smirk.  

Avalon chuckles, and some of the people present laugh slightly as well. If anyone would have told them that a stubborn teen would somehow bring them together to make a plan and agree upon something, they would deem that person beyond insane. But now, this young woman, without even trying, is the first being in centuries to bring these three together. They weren’t even arguing anymore. Something about her, about her very existence as their mate, made them at peace. They are all focusing on a greater good: having her, having her willing to accept them, having her love. 

“We have many aspects to discuss, from how to convince our unwilling mate to be with us to more prag—” Avalon starts. 

Laius interrupts him, “She doesn't have an option.” Avalon looks at him, narrowing his eyes.

“I agree with him.” Elric remarks. Everyone looks at him, surprised. “Mates are not optional, there is no opt-out. She won't be able to break the bond as she was planning to.”

“That kitten,” Laius mutters and chuckles lightly. 

“That is true, we won’t give up on her. So, she has to accept it at some point. The issue is the ‘at some point’, the time aspect.” Avalon remarks. 

“I am confident I can convince her,” Laius utters. 

Avalon and Elric give him a reprimanding look. They don’t even want to imagine what the Devil has in mind.  

“We just need to figure out what to do to speed it up, since we all agree that we can’t wait long,” Elric says.  

“Besides that, we have practical matters to discuss. Such as where she will live…” Avalon utters. 

“We can rotate her, take turns,” Laius utters. 

“You cannot pass her around like she is a ball.” Maximus chimes in.  

Laius and Avalon look at him, astounded. 

“Who are you to say what I am to do with MY mate?” Laius says harshly as his eyes glow bright red. 

Elric clears his throat and tries to mitigate the tension in the air, “The point is, she is supposed to be the one to choose. We can't decide everything for her and make this kind of decision without her. That will only infuriate that little spitfire even more.”

Elric has already realized that as Maximus said, it won’t be easy convincing Liv to do anything. She has her own and very strong will. She is willing to challenge even her own fate and the mate bonds. She may be quite young, but she certainly knows what she wants, or at least she thinks so with extreme resolution.

Avalon nods in agreement. 

“I like the idea of kitten deciding it,” Laius smirks. 

~ * ~

Liv and Lea are in Lea’s room, relaxing on her large pink bed and listening to music. 

“Liv, why do you have three mates?” Lea asks her sister, looking at her with her big and curious amber eyes. 

“I would like to know why too, Lea. I guess the Goddess has a twisted sense of humor.” Liv replies.  

Lea looks at her, confused.

Liv starts to explain, “Well, you know that the Goddess gives us mates, right?” Lea nods her head. “And that each person has one mate.” Lea nods again. “In my case, the Goddess decided to give me three. Maybe she thought Liv´s life is boring, so let's give her three males and see what happens. Maybe that is her crazy reality show experiment.” Liv sighs. “I don´t know why the Goddess gave me three mates, Lea. No one knows why. But I think it was a mistake.”

“But I thought that the Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.” the little girl says.  

Liv sighs. “I thought so too, until a few days ago.” 

Someone knocks on the door. “Come in,” Liv says.

A tall, brunette woman comes inside and says, “Princess Lea, your mother wants to talk to you. She is waiting for you in her room, please come with me.” Lea nods.

“Come back after you are done, Lea,” Liv says. 

“Yes, we can dance and have a pillow fight,” she says, giggling. 

“Get ready to lose, baby sis!” Liv says, smiling. 

They go down the stairs. “Wait, that is not the way to my mom’s room,” Lea says, confused as she looks around.

Cassandra says, “Well, we are not going to your mom´s room, your mother wants to surprise your sister.”

“Oh… To cheer her up! That is a good idea! She is a bit sad that she has three mates.” Lea concludes.

Cassandra nods. They go out of the palace using the backdoor, which guides them to a parking lot. 

Lea looks surprised at the SUV. “Are we going by car?” she asks.

“Yes,” Cassandra answers shortly.

“We never go by car. Just by flashes or opening portals.” Lea tells him. 

“Going by car is funnier, and your mother is waiting for you in a beautiful garden. There you both can prepare an amazing surprise for your sister.” Lea smiles at that. “This nice man will take you there.” the woman says, motioning to a dark-haired, tall man. Lea smiles at her and the man, Luke, smiles back.

“Thank you!” Lea says sweetly. Cassandra smiles at her and waves goodbye. 

“Bye, Cassy!” Luke waves to the woman with a grin.  

“Hello,” the man says as he walks in Lea’s direction, grinning at her as he motions for her to follow him towards the SUV’s back door. 

“Hello,” she says with her own toothy smile. 

“So, ready to go to that beautiful garden?” he asks, opening the door for the little girl, and he fastens her seatbelt when she is seated.

“Yes!” She squeals excitedly. 

The man goes to the driver's seat, starting the car immediately. 

“What is your name?” Lea asks. 

“I am Lu-Luke, Lea.” Luke answers. 

“I’ve never seen you before. Are you friends with my mom?”

“Yes… but I… I live far away.”

“Where?” she asks curiously, looking at him intently through the rear-view mirror. 

“In … Next to… to the cliff lands. Yes, I live in the cliff lands.” Luke stutters “Do you want to listen to music, Lea?”

“Yes!” she squeals.