CHAPTER ELEVEN

The second I opened the door to the Land Rover, my mother began to sniff the air. I knew she could smell it. Her eyes darted to mine, first with panic, then with pity.

"Oh my goddess, Aria. Who—"

I saw her eyes fall on the door to the event center, where Bastion was watching me closely, both hands shoved into his pockets in a defeated posture.

"Please, let's drive," I begged quietly.

She nodded, her eyes still wide as she waved to Bastion, and he nodded kindly in return.

"Holy shit in a biscuit!""Mom!""I'm sorry, Aria. I just... well, damn it, what are you going to do?"

I groaned into my palms. "I don't know, Mom. What would you do?"

"Nu-uh, don't ask me. I thought your dads' and my relationship was messed up. This is... I mean, wow, Aria. Both a mate and a royal? What were the gods thinking?"

"Those two bastards are probably loving the show," I grumbled, earning a swat from my mom.

"Don't be sour.""What else is there to be when I'm hopelessly and spiritually connected with two different men of different species, Mom? This is so messed up. I wanted one, not both. How am I supposed to choose between the two?"

She pulled her lip between her teeth, concentrating hard. "Maybe you don't need to choose."

I gasped at her suggestion. "I'm not forming some cross-species reverse harem, Mom. I can't be with both of them. How would they feel about that?"

I groaned when I remembered my talk with Rory the previous night. "Oh, Mom. I promised Rory that I wouldn't get a mate at the Eclipse Ceremony!"

My mom's eyes widened. "Aria! Why would you do that?"

"I don't know, I guess I didn't expect James to actually be right about Bas and I!" I growled, immediately softening after seeing my mother's wounded expression. "I'm sorry, Mom. I just... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to see Rory in like five minutes, and I have no idea how to act with him now."

My mom placed a maternal hand on my thigh. "Honey, I think you need to be honest. With both of them. It's not fair for you to keep them in the dark about where your love lies. Who knows? They might even give you some more time to make the decision."

My heart clenched at her words. I knew she was right, but I really wasn't looking forward to the look on either of their faces when I broke the news. I sighed anyway, slouching my shoulders and peering out the window at the passing Nevada landscape. If I ever saw those gods again...

My pity was short-lived when we approached the gas station located directly on territory lines. I could hear the rush of Rory's blood as we came into view. He looked relieved, probably because we were so late. As soon as my greedy eyes took in his navy pants and partially unbuttoned signature white dress shirt, I had completely forgotten the bad news I had to deliver.

I jumped from the passenger seat of my mom's car, bounding into his warm and waiting embrace. As soon as he took a deep breath of my hair, however, he let out a low hiss, gently pushing me an arm's length away.

"Mutt," he choked out through gritted teeth, glancing behind me for a brief second before using his lightning-fast reflexes to relocate himself between my mom's car and me.

I turned around to ask him what was going on when it hit me. The overwhelming smell of spearmint and Hugo.

"Aria? Who the hell is that?" Bastion's growl flooded my sensitive ears.

I peeked around Rory tentatively, taking in the sight of my mom with her jaw on the floor, standing beside a very angry Bastion. Great help, Mom.

I swallowed hard, placing one hand on Rory's shoulder and stepping past him. He eyed me with hurt and confusion, and for a moment I contemplated what would happen if I lost both of my loves at the exact same time. Both men waited for me to clear my throat and speak, their eyes centered on their only loves.

I started by looking at Rory. "Rory, meet Bastion. He's my mate."

His eyes immediately flashed red, his fangs bared at the wolf in front of him.

"Bastion... meet Rory. He's my royal."

Bastion's eyes went from loving to burning hatred for Rory in a blink, and before I knew it, both men were in a standoff that would make the council seek refuge. Could this possibly be any worse? I could see Bastion's wolf fighting for control, and panic overtook me. There were humans at this station. If they saw Bastion transform, we would all be indicted and punished. Rory's back was to them, so they couldn't see his glowing eyes and fangs, but Bastion was facing them, and a small crowd of whispering onlookers was starting to form. Maybe I should've brought them into the desert to tell them where they could at least be free to express themselves. But it was too late for that. I needed to calm Bastion down immediately.

"Rory, trust me, love," I whispered, so quietly that only he and other vampires could hear. He answered with a hiss, but I knew it wasn't directed at me.

"Bastion, baby. I need you to calm down, okay?"

I approached him like a tamer would approach a wild lion, my arms held in front of me in hopes that he would heed my warnings. Instead of responding, he took three long steps towards me, crushing me to his body as tightly as he could without breaking me while continuing to growl at Rory. His tongue darted out to lick up the side of my neck, and Rory took a menacing step forward.

"Don't you touch her neck, you filthy dog!" He spat, slowly losing his composure.

I tried desperately to force Bastion to make eye contact with me, gripping the side of his face firmly, but he wouldn't stray from eyeing his threat.

"Stay back, leech! Mine! She's mine!" He snarled in return, shaking my grip and hugging me tighter against his body.

"Like hell she is!" Rory finally shouted.

Stop! Stop fighting!

Suddenly overwhelmed with the hostile energy flowing between my two loves, I pushed back, breaking Bastion's steel grip with ease using my vampire strength and curling myself into a ball on the concrete with my hands over my ears. I could hear myself whimpering, the pathetic sound drowning out the chaos around me effectively. It was peaceful like this. Controlled. There were no men, no decisions. Just. Me.

I wasn't sure how long I stayed locked away like that, but eventually I heard Bastion speak into my mind. "Baby, it's okay. You can come out now."

I had never been mind-linked by anyone besides my mom, and the use of it startled me. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times in utter confusion. We were no longer at the gas station, but we were in a vast expanse of land just outside of the city. Perhaps even more surprising than that, though, was the fact that I was in my wolf form.

"Sella? What happened?" I asked, a little frightened.

"Not sure. All I remember is being suddenly handed control."

I glanced around us, furrowing my brow when I took in the sight of my mother standing about thirty feet away from me with Rory and Bastion on either side of her, eyeing me with looks of concern and shame. I felt like an injured kitten with how they were staring at me, and I didn't care for it. I quickly transformed back into my human form, forgetting my nudity until I saw a set of black and red eyes staring back at me. Thankfully, my mom moved swiftly, draping me in a spare solid black fleece blanket from the car. I flinched at their heated gazes, making them soften immediately.

Rory glanced at Bastion before making the first move towards my cowering form. "Love, I'm so sorry that we frightened you. We were just caught off guard with the news. Please forgive us."

Us? We? Is he speaking for both of them?

Bastion also took a few careful steps towards me. "Your mom explained the, uh, situation to us. I'm sorry about this, baby. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have followed you. If I had just waited for you to tell me, you wouldn't have been so freaked out. I just... I missed you as soon as you left. And I didn't understand why you would want to leave. Damn it, I'm rambling..."

I let out a small giggle at Bastion's adorable display, making both their eyes widen.

"Love?""Baby?"

They both said simultaneously, obviously trying to hide their annoyance with the person beside them. I didn't care, though, because at least they were trying to get along. I stood slowly, my eyes dancing between the two glorious men before me. Both so different, but both completely mine.

"Kings."

I flinched at the sound of my voice saying something that I didn't will it to say.

"Aria? Did you just say-?" My mother started.

"Kings." Both men finished for her, also seemingly surprised by their own voices.

"Fuck. I need to talk to my dad." Bastion groaned, running his hand through his dark hair in an exasperated gesture.

"What? What's going on, love? Why did you call me a King? And why did I call myself a king? And why are we both kings?" I ignored Rory's anxious ramblings and faced Bas.

"Wait, why your dad? Do you think he knows something about this?"

He nodded slowly, a guilty look written over his powerful features. "Before the ceremony, he mentioned something about Kings. He seemed really hyped up about it, but then he started rambling about the prophecy, so I sort of cut him out."

"Woah, what prophecy? Love, please answer me." He pleaded.

It broke my heart hearing and feeling his anxiety, so I opened my arms for him to come to me. He gave me a hopeful smile before dashing into them, but as soon as his skin came into contact with mine, he fell to his knees groaning.

I looked on in astonishment and horror as a bead of light traveled from his clenched fist, burning its way up his arm and towards his shoulder. "Rory!"

Suddenly, what appeared to be a flash of light like lightning struck him, and he fell back to the ground with a hard thud. A fading trace of light beneath his white shirt drew me in, and I immediately, frantically began to unbutton it to get a better look.

Rory was freshly unconscious, but I could hear his blood pumping strongly beneath his veins. He was alive. Healthy. Stronger? His heart sang along to a new, more powerful rhythm, and I couldn't contain the gasp that escaped my lips when I pulled back the high-end fabric.

"Holy shit, what's that?" Bastion asked, one step away from a panic attack of his own.

"A tattoo?" My mother answered, stepping forward to get a better look.

On his right shoulder was what looked like a crown with a moon crescent just to the right above it and a foreign script that simply read, "King."

"He got a royal seal. How is this possible?" I mumbled so quietly, I wondered if anyone had heard me. I had heard about royal seals being granted before, but only to Alpha, Luna, Beta, and Sire King titles.

I lifted my hand to gently stroke it, invoking a flash of blurry images that flew through my mind like a silent movie. The woods in Pittsburgh. The gods. Their second point.

With a gasp, Rory shot up to a sitting position, breaking my concentration and embracing me in his steel grip. I could feel his rapid panting against my chest.

"Queen, send Bastion." He breathed against my neck.

"Nu uh, hell nah, blood sucker. I'll pass." He stepped back, his hands crossing in front of him.

"Rory, what do you mean by that?" I took his eager face in my hands, giving him a light peck on the tip of his nose. He shivered at the contact, pulling me in tighter.

"Touch him, love." My eyes shot to Bastion whose jaw was practically on the cracked desert sand.

"If you touch me, I'll get struck by lightning? You got to be kidding me."

"It doesn't hurt. Don't be such a coward." Rory scoffed, moving his face into my neck and kissing over where Bas had licked earlier, doing what I assumed was erasing his scent.

"Hold on, this is getting a little crazy." My mom chimed in.

Then, I heard the faint whisper of Rory against my neck so quiet that even with my heightened hearing, I had to strain to pick it up. "You have to touch him, Aria. His Goddess is calling for him. Concentrate on getting to him quickly, and your new speed will make it happen. All it takes is one touch, my love."

At his words, my eyes glowed red, and before I could even realize what I'd done, I was blinded by another flash of light followed by a hard thud. A similar pattern of light danced up Bastion's torso, settling on his left shoulder. I tore the thin cotton fabric of his black t-shirt to expose it, revealing a similar tattoo from the other, except the crescent was on the left instead of the right.

I could hear Bastion's pulse picking up, and I sat back on my heels, waiting for the same loving greeting I got from Rory. His was not nearly as gentle, though, and as soon as his eyes shot open, I was knocked to the coarse and heated floor beneath Bastion's weight. His mouth sought mine hungrily, desperately, and my body immediately responded to him by latching on and allowing him to devour me.

"Queen..."

Panic rose in my chest, and I pushed him off of me, darting to my feet with urgency. "Your dad. Now."