Fallen Mate

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Kelani

Mate!

The word echoed loud and clear in his mind. Kelani stared at Fallen, frozen in place as he took in the colour of her eyes and the strange aura around her. Usually, her aura burned red with a hint of orange that sometimes looked like shimmering gold, but now it burned a cold blue matching her eyes, which was strange. Fallen’s eyes were a strange mix of purple and grey. They were unsettling, as if she could see deep inside him. This was not Fallen. But why was he reacting to her as if she was his mate when he knew she wasn’t Fallen. Kelani stared at her confused.

“Who’s that?” Kelani asked, bringing his eyes to Triam.

“I told you last night. Fallen took something from me. This is Jesse, my mate,” Triam said. Kelani looked down at Fallen. He growled deep inside of him as Triam pulled her close to him. “Don’t touch her,” he bit out.

“She’s my mate,” the vampire said forcefully. “I have every right to touch her.”

“And she’s inside my mate’s body. If you don’t want us to kill each other, you better let her go,” he said, stepping close to him menacingly. Triam growled in frustration, but he did let her go.

“Let’s talk,” Kelani said walking away. He heard Triam speak to Fallen…no…not Fallen…Jesse. He shook his head, confused all over again. He didn’t understand what was going on. How did the human girl’s soul end up inside Fallen?

And why did he react to her that way? Why did he call her his mate even though he could sense she wasn’t Fallen?

What is going on? He asked his beast. The being inside him had never stirred him wrong. He trusted him with his life. He’d been with him since he was young.

I don’t know, Beasty told him. But she feels like our mate.

She did, Kelani thought.

“I’ll get rid of him and be right back. Don’t go anyway,” he heard Triam tell her. Kelani clenched his jaw and forced himself to walk away, or he might do something they would all regret and their parents would be very angry about. Why did this have to happen to them? Fate must be twisted to do this to them. Two males couldn’t be given one mate with two souls inside her. They were going to kill each other. He was already feeling the need to mark his mate, to claim her as his own. He’d barely stopped himself from claiming Fallen last night. Now, he was glad he hadn’t or he and Triam would kill each other before sunset.

They were both hybrids, the strongest of their kind, even his father was afraid of what Beasty was capable of. Damn, this was a disaster.

Kelani came to a stop a few paces away and turned to face Triam. He gave him a lethal look, obviously hating that he pulled him away from his mate. Kelani gritted his teeth. She was his mate too. He hated that he was being the rational one between them, when he was farthest from that. But he knew things could get complicated between them if they started fighting for her, especially since Fallen wasn’t just any girl. He was Triam’s adopted cousin and she was his… father’s second in command’s daughter. Their parents would kill them if they found out that they were fighting over her. They had to find a solution.

What exactly? Kelani asked himself as he stared at Fallen/Jesse. Triam stepped in front of him, blocking his view. Kelani balled his hands into fists, wanting to punch him, but he calmed himself down. They were not going to fight each other. They were damn princes.

“You said you wanted to talk.”

“What are we going to do about this?”

“About what?”

“Don’t act dump. You know what I’m talking about. We can’t both have her or fight over her. We need to come up with a solution to this mess,” Kelani said, trying to think of one, but he couldn’t come up with anything except for Triam to give up on his mate, she was in Fallen’s body after all …where she didn’t belong.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop. I’m not going to give up on my mate just because she died. Fallen shouldn’t have swallowed her if she didn’t want this.”

“You think she did it on purpose?” Kelani stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. Fallen wouldn’t do such a thing. Have you forgotten the person she is? She grew up right in front of you.”

“I hardly know her. Don’t pretend that you know anything about her. We know nothing. All I know is that she did something to my mate and now she’s inside her,” Triam said, his voice rising. “She has to pay for what she did.”

Kelani stepped close to him. “Have you stopped to think that she might have saved your mate's soul? If it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t be here.”

“That’s not…”

“She did,” Kelani interrupted. “Whether you like it or not. Your mate is here because of Fallen.”

“Whatever. What did you want to talk about? You’re wasting my time and I don’t have enough of it because my mate is inside another body. I don’t know when she might disappear, bringing Fallen back. I want to spend every second with her, I want to be with her and claim her.”

“No!”

“What?”

“You’ll be claiming my mate…Fallen. Did you forget that?”

Triam turned to stare at Fallen. The reality of the situation seemed to hit him right then. He balled his hands into fists and seemed to get angrier the more he stared at her.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” Kelani stepped in front of him, blocking his view. “She didn’t do this on purpose. Fallen wouldn’t do that.”

Triam sighed, looking away from him.

“What are we going to do about this?” Triam asked.

“First thing first, promise me you won’t claim your mate, that you’ll control yourself.”

“And you? Will you do the same?” Triam bit out. “I saw the way you looked at her. You want her.”

Kelani laughed. “She’s my mate, of course I want her. But I won’t complicate our situation by acting like you. Take a deep breath, Triam and think. Both our mates are in one body, yours died. You have to find a way to save her instead of acting out and blaming everything on Fallen. You should be thanking her.”

“f**k,” Triam said, clutching his head with both hands. “What the hell happened last night?”

“I think that’s what we need to find out. And we have to protect both our mates in the process. That means no claiming her and sharing time until we find a way to safely remove your mate’s soul from Fallen.”

Triam dropped his hands and stared at him. “Do you think there’s a way?” He asked desperately. He looked so scared it was heartbreaking. Kelani’s heart went out to him. But he knew there had to be a way. The fairylands were full of magic and mysterious things; anything was possible.

“Yes,” he told him, touching his shoulder. “We’ll find a way. I promise.”

“Okay,” he said. “But for now, how do you suggest we share time? Fallen doesn’t want to let my mate out.”

She didn’t? Kelani turned to her and found Jesse staring right back at him. His heart gave a strange thud.

Mate! The word echoed in his mind all over again. It was strange. Or maybe it was because he was looking at Fallen. On the surface they were one, except when he looked deep into her eyes and read her aura.

“Kelani?”

“I’ll talk to her,” he said.

“Okay,” Triam said, walking back to Jesse.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s my time now. You can come back tonight. Fallen will return once she falls asleep,” he said, waving him away.

“Don’t claim her, Triam. I’ll kill you if you do,” Kelani warned.

“I won’t. Now, go away,” Triam said. Kelani watched him walk to Jesse. His heart ached as he watched him take her hand.

Fuck. He couldn’t watch. He turned away before his wolf's side took over. He forced himself to walk away, vowing to come back tonight.