18. Nathan

Ipaced the floor of my living room, impatiently waiting for my most trusted men to settle Lorna in her room for the night. All three of them insisted they had to be there. Like the woman wasn't capable of navigating a bedroom with an attached bath. Damon's wing of the tower was set up exactly like mine, so she'd have to be blind not to see the open concept living space.

I shook my head and continued pacing. Lorna's arrival only confirmed how besotted my men really were. Once again, I asked myself the same question: was it because of her dhampir magic or fate? I wanted it to be fate.

Elliott deserved to find his mate. He'd been alone for way too long. I'd actually considered letting him take an extended vacation to visit some of the larger wolf packs across the country. Being in our clan didn't seem conducive to finding a mate for him. There were several smaller packs in our clan, but none of the females attracted Elliott's attention despite their best efforts.

I'd sort of assumed Damon would always be alone. He refused to go back to the Underworld, and other demons didn't live on Earth as he did. I never would've guessed that a demon would choose anyone other than a demon. They were more magic than anything else. Yes, they had a body made of flesh, but their otherworldliness separated them from everyone. I had to wonder what it was about Lorna that made the fates think she was good for Damon.

Kenrid was just as much a surprise as Damon. None of the Exiled had ever found a soulmate outside of the fae realm. At least not that I knew of, and I'd been around for several hundred years. Again, I had to wonder what the fates were thinking.

Technically, vampires didn't have soulmates. So, what was it about Lorna that pulled me to her? Her dhampir magic, or a spell buried inside her DNA by the fae? I needed to talk to Kenrid about my theory, if he'd even listen. If she hadn't twisted his loyalties to the point of no return. No matter what I wanted, it was really hard to accept that the fates had anything to do with it. It was too hard to believe that they'd pick four completely different species to mate with a single woman.

Not just any woman but a dhampir who supposedly couldn't procreate. Or could she? She wasn't just a dhampir. She had to be a little bit human. Kenrid had confirmed her fae half. But if the fae Winter Court had introduced the DNA of other magical creatures, could she also have their traits? What species were they? Would we ever be able to find out?

I shook my head again and realized I'd quit pacing. I stood in the middle of a room that normally brought me peace and tranquility. My wing of the tower was my escape. Not today.

The sound of the elevator rising brought me back to the present. I crossed the room and dropped onto the sofa, leaning back and kicking my feet up on the coffee table. My team needed to see me as their calm, collected, and in-charge leader. Or maybe I did. I sure didn't feel calm or collected.

Damon entered the room first, his demon on full display. He flexed his wings in the wide space, then headed for the bar. Kenrid followed behind him with a deep scowl on his face. Rather than going to the bar, he dropped into the chair across from me. Elliott stood in the doorway glaring at the other two men. The shifter's body trembled, and I realized he was barely in control of his wolf.

I almost stood to intervene in the fight that was surely about to explode, but I stopped myself. Elliott couldn't hurt Damon, and I wouldn't let him harm Kenrid. I draped my arm over the back of the sofa and remained silent.

Damon poured himself a glass of whiskey, keeping his back to Elliott despite the shifter's low growls. Kenrid rubbed his chest with his fingertips, almost like he was trying to ease something painful. Had Elliott hit him in the elevator?

"It's both of you then?" Elliott snapped, drawing my attention back to the man still standing in the doorway. His nostrils flared with his shifter magic.

Damon spun around and pointed a clawed finger at Elliott. "Do not disparage my bond with my mate."

I would've been surprised by Damon's sudden anger—he never got mad at Elliott—but I couldn't look away from the demon's chest. A pair of lavender eyes blinked against his dark brown skin, then seemed to focus on me. I rubbed my palms over my face and looked again. Yep. Two little eyes stared at me from Damon's chest, just over his heart.

"What the hell?" I asked, rising to my feet.

"Exactly," Elliott hissed.

Damon dropped his arm and turned to face me. Now that I could see his entire pectoral, it was easier to make out the outline of a small black bird. Almost like a living tattoo, it fluttered its wings and blinked again.

"I claimed my mate," Damon explained. "This is Lorna's mark." He brushed a finger down the bird's back. It shivered, then closed its eyes, making it nearly impossible to see.

How could a tattoo be alive? I glanced over at Kenrid, whose palm was now flattened against his breast. He'd obviously also claimed his mate, and she'd left her mark. A surge of jealousy burned my throat, but I forced it down. I didn't have a fated mate to claim.

"You as well?" I asked the fae.

Kenrid nodded.

"Can I see it?"

Kenrid stood and pulled his T-shirt over his head. The small black bird contrasted wildly with his pale skin. It tucked its wings against its back and looked up at me with lavender eyes. It cocked its head to the side and blinked several times. It was so unnatural to see a two-dimensional drawing look at me with intelligence.

"Can Lorna see me through this?" I asked, reaching out and almost touching the small bird.

"I don't think so," Kenrid said. "I can feel it moving against my skin, but that's it. Lorna said she can sense our magic but nothing more."

I wasn't convinced. The bird seemed intelligent enough to watch everything happening around it, only solidifying my theory about the fae planting a spell in Lorna's DNA.

A low growl rumbled from the doorway along with an explosion of shifter magic. Elliott's wolf lunged for Damon a moment later. He didn't hesitate to meet the attack. I cringed when one of Damon's wings slammed into a painting on the wall, knocking it to the floor. The frame split in two, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn't mad about the damned painting. I was angry because this entire situation sucked.

My own monster clawed at the surface, trying to insert his need for violence. But attacking my team wouldn't solve anything. Giving in to my baser instincts would only make it worse.

"That's enough!" I yelled over the growls reverberating through my living room.

Damon tossed Elliott's wolf on the floor, the impact shaking another painting off the wall.

Elliott shifted from wolf to human. "You could have waited," he snarled.

"She's my mate," Damon hissed.

"She's not just yours," Elliott countered, his knuckles white from his clenched fists.

"Do you hear yourselves?" I snapped, stepping between the two men and facing Damon. "Has it occurred to you that this might be a fae spell? Has any of you even seen a mark like this before?"

I poked the bird on Damon's chest. It snapped its two-dimensional beak at me, and Damon growled.

"Don't," I warned the demon. "Think about it for just a moment. We know nearly nothing of her parentage. Dhampir should not be able to procreate, but Lorna is obviously half-fae and dhampir. What if the fae embedded a spell in her DNA that would only be triggered when her dhampir was awakened?"

Damon still glared at me, but I could almost see his mind working. I turned to face Elliott. "What if this isn't the call of a fated mate, but just a spell as you suspected from the beginning?"

Elliott frowned and looked over my head at Damon. He didn't say anything, but he couldn't hide his doubt. I finally turned to Kenrid, who'd already put his shirt back on.

"Have you told them?" I asked the fae, knowing he'd understand what I meant.

"No," he mumbled. "Can we all sit down for this?"

Seeing his slumped shoulders made my anger shift to empathy. He hadn't wanted to share his secret with me a few weeks ago, and now he'd be revealing an ugly part of his past to the others. I just hoped Elliott and Damon would understand.

"Elliott, find some clothes," I said as I headed for the bar. This wouldn't be a pleasant conversation.