Fallen Mate

7 Their sharing agreement.

Fallen

A scream welled up in her throat as she pushed through the darkness, fighting for consciousness. She gasped for air as her eyes opened wide and she looked around her. She was in her room, lying on her bed. She quickly got up and ran to the mirror. She touched her face just to make sure it was her in her body. She cringed as she remembered the feeling of another soul inside her. It had felt strange, especially when she shoved her out of the way as if she didn’t belong there. Fallen stared at herself, wishing she could see the soul inside her.

Why was the human girl inside her? And how did she swallow her anyway?

“What am I?” Fallen asked herself. She wanted to know the answer to that, now more than ever.

“You’re awake,” a familiar voice said from the window.

Kelani? Fallen walked to the window and gasped when he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Fallen didn’t mean to melt into him, but it felt wonderful to be held for once. And for someone to be happy to see her. Triam’s anger-filled eyes ran through her mind, but she viciously shoved them away.

I hate him, she thought as she leaned her cheek against Kelani’s chest. She couldn’t believe he literally choked her to force his mate’s soul out of her. Tears prickled her eyes and she sniffled.

“Shhh. It’s alright. I’ve got you,” Kelani said, softly brushing his hand down her spine. He hugged her until she felt a little better. Fallen pushed out of his arms and walked to the bed and sat down. She felt disoriented… lost. Of course, she felt disoriented. She’d a whole afternoon. She didn’t even know what Triam did with his mate.

What if he…?

Fallen suddenly touched her lips. She jumped to her feet and rushed to the mirror again. She pulled on her clothes, touching the side of her neck. There was no mating mark there, but she switched on the lights, just to make sure. Kelani came up behind her, his dark eyes falling on her neck. He seemed to be relieved as he turned her around.

“I told him not to claim you.”

He did? When?

Did he come when Jesse was in control of her body? Did he see her? Fallen wanted to ask him what she looked like when Jesse was inside her and how he felt, but she didn’t want to talk about the human girl. It hurt that she was even inside her – making Triam fall for her.

Jealousy burned through her. Kelani took her hand. His touch was warm and soothing. Fallen wished the feelings she had for Triam were for Kelani. He was kind and he treated her right.

“Don’t worry, we agreed not either one of us would claim you until we remove the soul inside you,” he said. “He won’t touch you until we resolve this mess.”

Fallen nodded relieved, but…

“Will you both be able to do that? You are both half werewolf after all.”

Kelani grimaced, but he forced a smile. “Its for you. I’ll do anything for my mate.”

Fallen bit the inside of her mouth at his words. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t his mate, that she didn’t feel any pull towards him. She felt it with Triam, but she didn’t tell him that. Maybe she would grow to like him. She just had to try.

“Come and sit down,” Kelani said, walking her to the bed. He sat her down and then loudly sighed. He looked worried, as if there were a lot of things on his mind.

“Is something wrong?” Fallen asked. He stared at her for a few minutes and then turned to look out of the window. His white hair caught the glowing light. He was handsome, but Triam was even worse.

Fallen shook her head, calling herself all kinds of stupid. Triam didn’t make it a secret that he didn’t want her. If it wasn’t for the soul inside her. He wouldn’t even speak to her.

“No. There’s nothing wrong. We just need to talk about something.”

“What?”

Kelani cleared his through looking uncomfortable. “We have to talk about us, and Triam.”

Fallen’s heart gave a start at the mention of his name. She didn’t want him anywhere near her. Not after what he’d done that morning.

“Triam? What about him?”

“His mate is inside of you,” Kelani said, finally looking at her.

“I know. I felt her this morning,” Fallen said cautiously as she looked at Kelani. She wondered if he thought that she killed her too like Triam did. “I didn’t kill her,” she declared before he accused her of murder.

Kelani walked to her and sat down next to her. “I know,” he said, taking her hand. “I think you saved her somehow. Don’t you remember what happened?”

“I heard her cry for help. That has never happened to me before. When I got there, the car was already turned over and I tried to help, but it was too late,” Fallen said with a shrug.

“Did you see anything else?” Triam asked, appearing inside the room. Fallen flinched shocked out of her mind.

Kelani growled, getting to his feet. “You said you would wait outside,” he said, facing off with him.

“I did, but you were taking too long to ask her,” he said, coming to a stop in front of her. Fallen snarled and jumped to the other side of the bed.

“Don’t you dare come close to me,” she said, glaring at him.

“I won’t. I don’t want you,” Triam said. His words caused her heart to clench painfully, but she didn’t let it show.

“What are you doing here then? Your mate is not here.”

“I know that. I have to find out what happened to her, and you were the one who was there before we arrived, and Kelani had a suggestion on how we could all get along until we find a way to safely remove my mate’s soul out of your body.”

Get along? Why did Fallen suddenly have a bad feeling about this? She turned to Kelani. He looked at her and then at Triam.

“You have a talent for messing things up,” he told him, before he walked to her and placed a soothing hand on her cheek. “I know this is going to be hard for you, but I came to the conclusion that for things to work between us we have to find a way to share you.”

“What?” Fallen stared at him horrified.

“Not like that. I meant giving each of us time to be with our mate.”

“That means when I come around you disappear and allow my mate to appear. I don’t want to hurt you every time I want to see her,” Triam said, looking her up and down. “You’re turning me into a monster.”

She was turning him into a monster? He was a monster. He didn’t care about anyone but himself.

“You hurt her?” Kelani turned on him. “You are a bastard, Triam.”

“Yeah, yeah. Can we get this over and done with?” he asked, staring at Fallen. “Do we have an agreement, Fallen? You have to allow my mate to come out when I come to see her.”

Fallen stared at him. She wanted to refuse him, but she knew he’d do whatever he wanted.

“Fine. But I don’t know how to do it.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Kelani said. “Triam will come to you during the day, and I’ll take the night.”

Fallen nodded reluctantly. She didn’t want this. She had to figure out how to get rid of the soul before things got complicated. She wasn’t a toy to be passed around.

“Is that all? I want to be alone now,” she said. She turned to Kelani. “I’m sorry.”

“Its fine. I understand. You’ve had a long day,” he said, pulling her into a hug. Triam stared at them with a strange look in his eyes. Fallen shook her head and looked away, focusing on the warmth that seeped from Kelani into her.

“Get some rest. Everything is going to be alright, I promise,” he said, tightening his arms around her before he let her go. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He walked to the window and jumped out. Triam stared at her for a few minutes before he left.

A cry left her lips and she crumbled to the floor, feeling drained. She pulled herself together and walked to the mirror. “I don’t know if you can hear me in there, but I’m going to find a way to get rid of you. I don’t want you inside me. You and Triam can have your stupid romance in ghost land, I don’t care as long as it's far away from me.”

Fallen rushed out of the room with the intention of interrogating her parents about where she came from. Maybe they knew something they forgot to tell her.

***

“I told you not to open the rift in the middle of the road. Now, we lost all our navigation systems and half our soldiers because the rift suddenly closed on them,” Ytra complained as he stared at the car that had caused the accident being towed away. The human girl who died had long been taken to the nearest hospital.

“You know it wasn’t my fault. Mortus must have miscalculated. Self-created rifts are unpredictable. They can appear anywhere,” Jun said. He was right. Natural rifts between the underworld and the living were seamless and safe – a gateway into the living. And there hasn’t been one in eighteen years. Ytra had been there when it swallowed the pregnant demoness his master had desperately wanted. After years of trying to find a way to follow her. He finally did. They were in the living world.

He turned to their remaining soldiers and gave them one command to search for the demoness and her child.

“She would be eighteen now, fair-skinned and with hair as black as the night like her mother. Find her and do it silently.” The dark soldier rushed away, turning into ghosts as they went in search of their master’s prize. Ytra looked around, breathing in the air so fresh and light unlike the air back home.

“Do you think she’s still alive? She got hurt when she went through the rift,” Jun said, looking around him too. Ytra wondered why Mortus sent the demon with him. He was such a pessimist.

“Her soul and that of her child haven’t come through to the underworld, which means she’s still up here somewhere.”

“I guess,” he said pessimistically. He pulled his clothes around him. “We better find her soon. It’s freezing here.”

Ytra shook his head and turned from him. He was right about one thing though. They had better find her before the king of demons noticed that Mortus was hunting for souls in the living.