Chapter Twenty-Two

Night passed too quickly, and we probably should have spent more time sleeping, but mating was everything I never knew it would be. All those TV shows and movies were human actors and human stories, and while Angie told me a mate was like nothing I could imagine, I had nothing to compare it with.

And all too soon, it was time to get up and get ready to face my father. We stole another few minutes of just being together while they kissed and hugged me and told me it would be all right. Better than all right, we'd be back here tonight, or maybe in one of their rooms because they all had bigger beds. And I shouldn't worry. Maybe we'd just be having a conversation with Father, showing him my mating marks and sending him on his way to try to get some other poor woman to give him an heir or whatever he did when he took his trips. I had no control over his personal life—he would never reform—and it was time he learned he had none over mine. Hopefully he was past being able to seduce anyone, although I doubted it. And I didn't really believe it could be as simple as him walking away just because I wanted another life. Because I had fallen in love and was getting an education. Because I had made my own choices.

My mates took turns going to their rooms to shower and dress while one always stayed with me. Somehow they didn't think my father was trustworthy not to show up earlier than he'd planned and sneak in to take me. Pax confided that even if I had refused their offer to mate, they'd have stayed to keep me company all night or outside the door if I didn't want them there.

How could I not want them there? I pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed Miles' discarded hoodie from the floor, snuggling into the comforting scent.

When we were all dressed and ready, we proceeded to the elevator. I pushed the call button wondering how this benign transportation had ever scared me. Compared to what we faced now? The doors slid open and I marched inside, followed by my mates. I so loved the sound of that word. Mates. We descended to the bottom floor and walked into the foyer.

It was deserted. And for one brief shining moment, I had a best-case scenario flash through my mind. What if Father did not show up? At all?

"Mate?" Miles lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "We'll have to buzz him in. The door is locked at this time on a Sunday."

I'd never even known there was a buzzing-in thing. How could I have, as new to the whole academy as I was.

"Unless you'd rather we leave him out there?" Jude suggested. "Will he go away?"

"No." I was confident of that. "And he will just get madder and madder. Where is the buzzer? I want to do it."

"You sure?" Pax circled his arm around my waist and kissed my hair.

"Yes." If I was going to live my own life, I wanted to close the door on the old one personally. Even if it had to start with opening one. "Where is it?"

Miles pointed, and I slipped free of Pax and took two steps to the touchpad on the wall. "No matter what happens—" My voice broke, and I cleared my throat before finishing. "I love all of you more than I knew it was possible to care for anyone."

They each kissed me and told me they loved me then stepped back. I lifted my hand. The elevator dinged behind us, and I hesitated, wanting whoever it was to move on before any trouble began.

"Sister, wait." Ava's voice cut through my daze. I turned to see all three sisters and their mates spilling from a very crowded elevator. The sign on the wall in there said the maximum number of occupants, and I was pretty sure it was fewer than twelve. Especially when nine of them were large males. "If Daddy Dearest has come to call, we should all greet him together."

My throat closed with emotion. "No, you've been lucky enough to avoid him your entire lives. He's dangerous, and I don't want you hurt."

"Oh hell." Minx came to stand beside me. "What can one egotistical male do against the four of us?"

"And our mates," Ava put in, waving toward the twelve males who crowded the lobby. "But I think we can handle Father on our own. I just like the backup in case of emergency."

"Ava…" one of her mates began. I couldn't remember his name, barely my own at this moment.

"No, Lex. This is a sisters' matter. Just stay there in case I lose my temper."

It was all too much, too overwhelming, and I wanted to run away or maybe just melt into the arms of all these people at once and forget anything negative. But a bang on the door reminded me that Father was not going to give up just because we wanted him to. Besides, my sisters were entitled to meet him. Not that I thought they'd enjoy it. I hit the buzzer and the door clicked open.

Father stalked in like a tiger rather than a wolf. It was his second favorite animal to turn into, after all. "Cleo, it's time to go home."

I braced myself, feet slightly apart, as the wave of power from him pushed at me. "How nice of you to come see us at school, Father, but it's not Parents' Day. Luckily, we are here to greet you anyway. The academy made an exception for your visit."

"The car is waiting outside."

"Then perhaps you should get in it, but not quite yet." My sisters closed in around me, and I glanced at them. "Wouldn't you like to meet your other daughters? The ones you abandoned?"

"These are no children of mine. Only you carry the gift. Only your mother was capable of bringing a child with my full genetics into life."

My jaw dropped at the implication. Had there been even more pregnancies of children like me? Ones the mothers had not survived? Ava's and Minx's mothers had not died in childbirth, and Kiki had been abandoned by hers, but I instinctively knew they did not have my gift.

"Yes, it killed the others," he said, picking up on my thoughts without me speaking them. "And the infants, including my son unfortunately died in utero. So, let's go while we are still all being cordial."

"You really are a jerk," Ava said. "I'm Ava, and I am so grateful to my mother and real father, the man who reared me, who never left my side in the hospital after I broke my leg falling off my bike when I was too young to shift and heal. Who hugged me and kissed me and told me I was smart and loved."

"And my parents were amazing as well," Minx cut in. "I'm Minx, and isn't it sad you don't know your children at all? Except of course the one you held hostage."

"And my mom," Kiki said. "I may never know her but she left me in a safe place when she couldn't take care of me. And now I have true family."

"You aren't going to tell me your name?" Father inquired.

"I don't think so. You don't care, so why?"

"If this charming meet and greet is over, Cleo and I will be on our way."

I stared him down, delighted when he looked away first. "If you think that, you are far more stupid than I ever gave you credit for. Why would I go back to my gilded cage when I have everything I never dared to dream of now?"

"You belong to me."

"I do not."

I felt all the mates join us, all animals close to the surface.

"Did she tell you she's a multi-shifter? Unique and dangerous? When she was young, she almost killed six of my guards when her lion burst out all on its own. Things like that were too frequent. She needs to be under lock and key where no one can be harmed."

"Her lioness is quite charming," Jude spoke up. "She rolled over on her back while we tickled her belly."

"I haven't had an animal out of my control since just after puberty." I had worried, briefly, that nerves could bring it on, but I remembered now that it only happened when my animals surged forth to defend me from Father's cruelty. My mates were safe since they weren't cruel, and my animals all adored them. "But thanks for your concern."

My sisters, bless them, said not a word through all of this part of the discussion, just glared at our bio dad with fierce hatred. Explanations would be required. Later.

"She's mine to deal with." He reached for my arm, and I learned just how close to out of my control my lioness could come. But she backed down at my command, and I managed even to quell her snarl and not give my father…give Rohan a chance to claim I was dangerous again. I took a step back, coming up against my mates.

"She is ours," Pax, the quieter one, spoke for all of them. "Mated and marked, and you will not touch her."

I pulled the hoodie collar aside to show the markings.

"What?" Rohan's hand dropped to his side. "You can't have. I would have known. We are connected…and there can be no more like you. I can't…I was injured. You must return and bear heirs with the male of my choosing. Sever this unauthorized mating."

"They are my true mates. I think Fate is in charge of these things. Not you." I felt deep within me and recognized something. Or lack thereof. "Maybe we were connected once. Like when I knew you were nearby searching for me, but I never even had a clue you were back in the area. I'm gonna say we are not joined in any way. Maybe once, when I still wanted you to love me, when I thought you maybe cared for me as more than a possession. But now?" I searched again. "Sorry, you killed it. Now get out of my school."

I let the lioness free, and my clothing shredded as she burst out. She'd always been my protector, whether I understood it or not. And now…she lashed out at my father who was too caught off guard to fight back. Or maybe he based his flight on the fact that it wasn't just me. Not just some little girl facing him and all his guards. I shifted back, and Pax shed his hoodie and put it over my head. It fell to my knees as the other had. "Sorry if you think it's not fair that I have all my family, real and chosen, backing me up, but this time, it's not just one little girl against a grown male who claims to be the sole original shifter and his squadron of guards. Go and never come near me again. You don't deserve children, and I am glad you can't have more. If and when I choose to have a family with my mates, keep away from them too, or a lion will be the least I unleash upon you."

My lion snarled, and I held her in, but the point was made.

"You'll regret this." Rohan backed toward the door and I hit the buzzer so it opened again.

"No, I won't. But I am sure you already do. Goodbye, Rohan. I hope you regret every day of your life that you rejected not only me but my magnificent sisters. We could have loved you and been your daughters, and now you will live alone. Probably a very very long time."

My eyes stung with tears but they were not of regret or sadness. I turned away, done with him, and into the embrace of everyone I loved and who loved me. I'd be a very ungrateful girl not to feel joy and gratitude at where Fate had brought me.