19. Nineteen

Nineteen

Sunny

Watching Rainbow perform a complicated unbonding spell shouldn't have been as arousing as it was. Maybe I had a competence kink! Yeah, that was it. Seeing him unravel the magic binding the shifter couple together was amazing. He was so good at picking at each thread, only causing pain to James and not to poor Sarah.

The traitor was spending his time flinching and packing in between begging for help from his former Alpha. Who, for his own part, looked like he wanted no hand in anything other than watching over our mate.

Maybe Griffin had a competence kink, too, because he looked like he wanted to eat Rainbow up, and it didn't matter that the house we were in was full of shifters.

Breaking their bonding really didn't take Rainbow long. The look of relief Sarah gave to our witch would stay with me for a long time. I wondered what she had endured during their mating. Judging from the photos in the house, it hadn't all been bad.

I sidled up to Griffin. "Were they always like this?"

He shook his head and motioned for me to walk a distance away.

"James lost his job recently. They didn't say why, and I didn't pry into it. Turns out he enjoys gambling. Sarah thought they had savings to get them through the time until he got another job. Unfortunately, he'd spent them and was blacklisted for stealing from his job. The best thing he can do right now is give her a fresh start."

On that, I could agree. "Is it not tiring, being the pack Alpha?"

We kept in Rainbow's line of sight, just further away from the shifters who might be listening to our conversation.

"Yes, and also no. I love the pack most of the time. They've given me a family, made me a better person. The pack was my everything until it wasn't. Recently, it's been harder. Being alone and feeling like I had to stay that way so I wasn't challenged."

"What changed for you? You said you weren't going to accept the bond and then…"

"Seeing you together made me ache with loneliness. I realized just how much I was missing out on." He turned to me and planted a hard kiss on my mouth. "You fight for everything you want. You inspire me, Sunny."

"He gets a kiss for not understanding the word no?" Bow teased as he joined us. I didn't dignify that with an answer. Had Bow truly rejected me, I would have accepted it. Okay, I probably would have backed off for a bit and tried another plan. This was fate we were talking about! There was no handing back that gift. I was grateful it hadn't taken either of them long to come round to the idea of us all being together.

"So, it's all done. I need to go home and feed Jinx." He rubbed at his chest. "We've been apart too long and with all the magic…" He shrugged, but I could tell he was uncomfortable.

"Say no more!" I took his arm, snagged Griffin's hand, and led them from the house. The shifters gave us amused glances, aside from James, who looked destroyed. His own fault, really. I had no sympathy for him after he had hurt Bow and Griffin.

"Sunny, I wasn't quite done here," the werewolf tried to pull away. "Give me your numbers and I can call you when I'm finished with this." I held out my hand for his phone. I sent myself a text and saved the number.

Griffin smiled as he checked the contact before passing the phone to Bow. I'd used the sunshine emoji. Bow frowned and handed his phone back. "My number's already in there." He gave me a wry smile. "Someone's memorized my number. Stalker."

I'd given Bow the rainbow emoji, of course, and saved Griffin on my phone with the wolf one. Memorizing numbers was easy and smart. Phones broke all the time.

"Why don't you check on Jinx and maybe bring him and some stuff over to my house?" Griffin suggested. He grinned, lighting up his face. Our wolf was pretty handsome. "I know you've got stuff there, Sunny."

Caught. "Maybe some clothes," I hedged. "With Bow's blood in my system, I won't need to feed any time soon. I really need to look for somewhere closer to live, though," I mused.

"You can move in with me," Bow said at the same time as Griffin spoke.

"Move in with me."

They stared at each other in shock.

"Well, this leaves me with quite the choice." I stroked my chin, musing. "Mate number one or two? Hmm… That's a hard one. Griffin's bathroom is nicer, but Bow's house has a homey feeling. Not to mention Bow and Daisy."

My mates both grinned. So very handsome!

"Get out of here, you two. We can talk about this later. I want to meet Jinx properly, so bring him and his stuff with you." Griffin's expression was hopeful in a way I hadn't seen from him before. I didn't want to leave his side, but Bow needed to get to Jinx and was more vulnerable.

We left Griffin behind to oversee James leaving the territory and the cleanup of the mess he was leaving behind. It wouldn't be long before the other pack learned of what had happened with Griffin. There was a good chance bloodshed was in their future.

Bow went straight to Jinx when we got to his house. Daisy manifested beside me. I felt her breeze ruffle my hair before she took shape.

"Are you all okay?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Perfectly fine. Better than that, Griffin has asked us to come sleep over again!"

"Yay!" She clapped her little hands, then quickly became serious. "Could you ask Griffin to get the necromancer to let me go, please? I'd like to see my parents now that I know Rainbow is okay."

Bow returned to my side with Jinx on his shoulder, a piece of pepper hanging out of the bearded dragon's mouth.

"Thanks for trying to feed him, Daisy. I'm glad you tried the mealworms again and not the crickets. You did a great job!"

"They were too fast and jumpy for me!" Her expression was radiant with the praise.

"Will you be okay here by yourself?" Bow's concern for the little ghost was sweet, unnecessary, though.

"I'll be fine. I still need to rest. Can't hold this form for much longer." She faded out of sight, yet I knew she was still with us. The room was cooler where she lingered.

"Do you want to pack some things?"

I trailed Bow to the bedroom. He'd let me use his shower a couple of times after a long day painting his house or working in the shop, so naturally, some clothing had made its way into the laundry.

Unfortunately, the messiness I'd noticed in his motel room and old house had transferred over to his new place. I often spent time when Bow was sleeping, picking up after him. How he thought laundry was magically being done was a mystery to me.

In a corner of the wardrobe, I had a pile of my things. I found a spare duffel and loaded them into it. Trying to decide which of my mates to live with was hard.

Griffin's house was nicer and cleaner, overall. Yet it lacked the warmth of Bow's home. Each of the houses held a mate who was growing dear to me. I already loved Rainbow. It came with spending so much time with him. Our werewolf had a gooey center, I could tell. I think he really needed someone to choose him.

Packed, with my decision made, I went to find Bow. He was in the kitchen trying to clean up the blood.

"Here, let me."

With vampire speed and a centuries' experience of cleaning up blood, it was done in seconds with no mishaps to Bow.

"Thanks. You ready?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to speak to you about something."

"Everything okay?" Bow frowned, then pulled off his glasses to polish them with his t-shirt. Something I'd noticed he did when he was especially nervous.

"I'm going to move in with Griffin, but I wanted to explain why."

Bow looked hurt. "Okay. Why? We've spent all this time together. I thought you'd move in here."

"That's why."

"Huh?"

"We are further along with our bond. Griffin has been alone for so long. He needs the Sunny experience!" I waved my hands with a flourish.

My witch smiled. It was still a little sad. "That actually makes sense."

"I'll just be over the fence. I can slip into your bed every night that you aren't already with us."

He laughed. "Why does that sound cute? You broke me!"

The doorbell rang as we were collecting up everything we would need for a night at Griffin's. I went to the door beside my witch, only to blur ahead when I caught the familiar scent.

I threw open the door. "Amara! what are you doing here?"

Bow's steps paused, only the briefest of hesitations before he came forward to meet my friend. "Hey, Amara. It's lovely to meet you."

"Sunny, Rainbow, I've come with a business proposition."

We let our guest in and I made us all some tea with leaves Bow had grown himself.

Amara took a sip with a pleased sound. "Fantastic. Your greenhouse is wonderful. I had a look before ringing the bell.

"Thank you." Bow flushed. "About your business proposition?"

She put down her cup and turned to face him. "I think this will be mutually beneficial."

I texted Kayden to ask what was happening as Amara explained her plan.

The long and short of it was that she was unhappy in our coven. She wanted to come to Umberwood to keep an eye on me since I was "surrounded by shifters," for my safety. I didn't know she was so worried about me! She also expressed a desire to get back into cultivating plants like Bow did.

Working as his partner, she would look after the shop when he was out looking for plants, or she would look for them, being more durable than him, under his guidance.

In short, she wanted to solve his shop problem by working with him. She couldn't do the actual spells and potion working, but she could advise people and look after the place. Her help with sourcing the plants would be invaluable. Bow didn't want to have to close the shop to get materials. This way, he wouldn't have to, he could send Amara or have her work the store. Though, with Griffin here and his need to stay close to the pack, I imagined she would be heading out more often than Bow.

My phone buzzed with a message.

Kayden: She's your problem now. Good luck. Call me soon with an update.

So helpful!

Sunny: I had sex with my mates. Things are wonderful. Thank you for letting me have Amara. She was the best in the coven. Remind me to send you a thank you gift!

Kayden: Brat

Kayden: I miss you. Call me

Sunny: Later. Promise. I miss you too

Having Amara here lessened the longing I used to feel for my coven. I hoped Bow would take her up on her proposal.

"Well, I'm sold. Taking Jinx out to look for plants was a pain. With my mates next door, I want to spend as much time here as I can."

Fantastic! He was on board. I was glad I wouldn't have to convince him that Amara was the perfect choice for working in the store. Better than me, who was still learning how to care for his fragile seedlings.

"Thank you, Rainbow. I'm glad you accepted. I look forward to working with you." Amara was doing us a big favor moving to Umberwood. I'd have to get her a gift.

"As much as I'd like to chat all day, we promised Griffin we'd head over to his house," I reminded my witch.

"Do you have anywhere to stay, Amara?" Bow asked.

"I was going to use Sunny's place. You still have a lease, don't you?"

"Why don't you stay here? Save you heading back there. We can have breakfast in the morning and head to the store together." Bow's suggestion was both practical and kind.

"That would be lovely. I don't want to be an imposition."

"Just give me a moment," I stood, "just going to freshen Bow's room for you. The spare room doesn't have a bed."

Bow blushed. "I planned on it—"

"Don't be embarrassed. Since you've moved, you've set up a business and renovated this house!" I bent to give him a kiss and rushed from the room.

Griffin was waiting sort of patiently for us to arrive. He took our belongings and showed Bow a place to plug in the smaller vivarium for Jinx.

There was the formal introduction of the familiar and our werewolf mate to do, which Griffin sailed through. Like with me, he seemed to see Bow's mates as an extension of his witch and was quickly curling into the crook of Griffin's neck for a nap. We took some time to relax and talk some pack things through. Looked like they were accepting of our place in Griffin's life. None of them questioned what we were to him.

Surprising us both, Griffin cooked a tasty homemade meal. A pot roast with plenty of vegetables and a potato gratin. He even made a peach cobbler.

"You need the calories," he said gruffly to Bow, in explanation. "You fed Sunny after being injured and you've done a lot of magic today.

We ate in a companionable silence for a while before Bow's grumbling stomach stopped its protests.

"I have news!" Bow enthusiastically filled Griffin in on Amara's arrival on his doorstep. "It's not a problem, is it?"

"As long as she doesn't decide she's your mate, too, it's fine. I'm not into chicks."

Rainbow sat and looked at Griffin, his mouth hanging open for a full minute before he burst into laughter.

Once he calmed, Griffin dropped another bomb. "Why don't you rent your house out to her and move in here?"

"Seriously?" Bow asked, stars in his eyes.

"Sure. I'd like us all to be together. Will stop Sunny sneaking into your house in the middle of the night."

Okay, he knew me too well already.

"Why don't we go and celebrate?" I suggested as I rose from the table, peeling off my clothes as I headed for the bedroom.

Bow groaned. "I'm too stuffed for sex!"

"How about I suck your cock while Griffin fucks me?"

"That I can do!" Bow joined me in what was intended to be the quickest shower of our lives. I washed him thoroughly, giving him the care and attention he'd given me the day before. Griffin squeezed in with us, a look of affection on his face.

"I'm going to love living with you both."

We fell into bed soon after, hair still damp and bodies sort of dried. I brought Rainbow to full hardness in my mouth while Griffin demonstrated how good he was at eating ass. Just as good as I knew he would be.

"He's great at that, right?" Bow gave a delightful moan as his cock hit the back of my throat. I eased back, tasting a small bead of precome leaking onto my tongue.

"Hmm," I hummed, smirking at Bow's shudder. I sucked harder, taking him deeper. I opened my throat to him. Being a vampire had its benefits. I didn't need to breathe, so I could swallow his cock deeper than most. My throat contracted around him, tearing more sounds from him.

Griffin, getting impatient, slicked his cock and thrust fully inside of me in one forceful movement. He set a brutal pace, gripping my hips and shoving deeper each time.

I rocked with him, loving the fullness and being surrounded by both my mates.

"Wait!" Bow pulled me off him and turned on the bed so he was under me. "I want to suck you."

Holding my body weight off Bow was easy, with my strength. He suckled the tip of my dick as I resumed blowing his mind. I was almost too focused on my task to notice that Bow had stopped what he was doing. He made the best sounds.

Our wolf cursed. "Holy shit!"

Bow giggled.

"Oh, fuck, yeah." Griffin slowed, his cock hitting my prostate. I was close to blowing when our witch sucked my tip and rolled my balls.

"Going to come!" I yelled before my release barreled through me, and I came on Bow's tongue.

Just a minute later, Bow's come flooded my mouth. I sat up, Griffin's cock still inside me, to share the taste of our witch with him.

He kissed me deeply, sharing the come back and forth before swallowing some. Bow rolled out from under me with a sleepy smile.

"Wow, you look great together."

"Better because we're tasting you," Griffin said. He nipped my shoulder and picked up the pace of his thrusts.

This time, he came inside me with a rumbling growl. "Fuck!"

We collapsed onto the bed, sharing sated smiles and all touching in some way. It was my turn to clean us up, which I did quickly before joining my men under the covers.

"Are you sure you want both of us living here? Is it not too fast?" Bow asked. He was always so anxious. Griffin wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't want it.

Our wolf was all in with us now that we'd gone through the trial of his forced shifts and near escape together. It had brought us closer.

"The thing with fated mates is that we get to choose how fast or slow we go. The way I see it, this is a way of making sure I get to see you both with the shop opening up. I want you both where I can see you, touch you." Griffin traced patterns over our skin.

"It's time for me to be selfish and go after what I want. And that's both of you, in my bed, every night."

I was completely on board with that plan.