Chapter Twelve

An hour later, despite the energy-sucking evening, sleep failed to take me. I'd

I needed air. Fresh air. The walls closed in on me. The ceiling inched down by the second.

Balconies jutted out from the ends of the hallway with seats and tables. I'd seen some students there studying and eating, but I'd never been there myself.

I threw on a hoodie and leggings and closed the door behind me quietly. Padding down the hallway, I opened the door and sucked in the cool outside air through my nose and instantly felt better. Not good. Not completely devoid of the ramifications of the night but better.

Almost as soon as the calm hit me, footsteps tapped down the hallway in this direction. At first, I thought I might be in trouble but couldn't remember a rule about going to a balcony at night.

Then the scents hit me.

Apricots. Cinnamon. Oak. More than I could describe, but they all equated the best season of all, and there were three men I knew who were the embodiment of autumn.

"Are you following me?" I asked.

"Not following you, sweetheart. We heard someone in the hallway and when I opened the door, I saw it was you. If you need some alone time…" Neo was the only person in existence who had ever called me sweetheart. The affectionate word shot straight to my heart.

I whirled around to find all three of them were in pajama pants and hoodies much like me. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No. Of course not," Artemis said. Out of the three, he was the one I hadn't had any one-on-one interaction with. My wolf and I desperately craved a connection with them all.

In the time between my talk with Dahlia and the onslaught of insomnia, I had some time to think about what was happening with these guys. Even if they weren't my mates, and my wolf would disagree with that notion wholeheartedly, I would accept the care and concern they clearly had for me.

"I needed some fresh air. Tonight was tough."

"Am I the cause of that?" Neo stepped forward and pulled my hair from my hoodie where it was stuck. He took great care in running his fingers through my platinum-blonde strands. The beast inside me purred at the contact.

"No."

He cocked his head to the side. "Don't lie to me, Kiki."

This was the hard part. I didn't want to lie to them, but I also didn't want to let them see all my mess before I'd even decided if I wanted mates or deserved mates as good as these men were. "Tonight stirred up things I wasn't ready to face yet. But they belong to me, Neo. You did nothing wrong. I appreciated your comfort tonight."

"We're not made of glass, Kiki. We want to be a part of your joy and your sadness if you would let us." Artemis had a way of speaking that commanded my attention. The depth of his tone. The bass of his voice. "Let's sit down."

They joined me on the balcony. Ian sat next to me on a small outdoor love seat, while Neo and Artemis sat across from me.

I explained everything. Laid it all out on the line.

Because if these three were my mates, then they would have to accept all of me, as Artemis had said before.

We talked through the night, almost until two in the morning. I found out that they had known each other since their first day at the Werewolf Academy two years ago, which put them two years ahead of me. They would graduate before me.

I had bared my soul twice that night. Once to Dahlia and then again to these two.

"We didn't realize, Kiki," Ian explained after a moment of quiet.

"There was no way you could've. You were being nice to me."

"I was trying to show you how much I care for you," Ian argued a bit.

"I should've restrained myself as well." Neo put an arm around my shoulders, and I melted into his hold. It was equally painful and comforting to be embraced by someone. It conjured up ghosts and memories of being rejected, but at the same time, I was so damned hungry for the affection that I couldn't help but soak it in.

"No. Please don't," I asked, hating how desperate my tone was.

But that's what I was. Hungry and needy and desperate for physical touch. Me and my wolf. It was like not knowing you were starving until the first bite of food touched your tongue.

Then the tsunami of cravings washed in.

"Well, I, for one, am not going to restrain myself one bit. Sorry, Neo, I'm stealing our girl." I didn't miss the "our girl" part, but I was instantly distracted when Artemis, tall and built like a stadium, stood and picked me up, settled me on his lap, and hugged me to his chest.

Our girl.

"Why did you come out here in the first place…other than hearing me?"

"Because there are monsters in this world, and we didn't want them to get you."

I sat up a bit. Artemis' hand roamed to my lower back and rubbed circles. If he could do this every night before I went to bed, I would never have trouble sleeping again.

"Are you being serious? There are monsters in the city?"

Ian shrugged. "Can't be too careful. We don't want anything happening to you."

"I think I'm ready to go to bed now. My brain needs to process all of this."

"Sounds good, but there might be monsters in the hallway again. Mind if we walk you to your room?" Neo asked.

"Not at all. Thank you." I still thought this bubble would pop any second, but until then, I would try to enjoy it.

They walked me to my room, but before I could reach for the knob, I turned to say goodnight.

Artemis closed the distance between us and bent down a little because he was the Empire State Building. "Would it be okay if I kissed you, Kiki?"

I looked at the others. "I don't… I kissed Neo earlier," I blurted.

"We know. He came in gloating. We told him to shut it, but he had this stupid grin."

I gasped and Neo shrugged. "What? Best night of my life if you ask me. That was before I realized it sent you on a spiral. I'm still sorry about that."

Reaching out to take his hand, I said, "Neo, stop. It was a great kiss. I don't regret it one bit. I just have some things to work through." I turned to Artemis, letting go of Neo's hand. A streak of boldness ignited inside me. "And yes, you can kiss me."

He cupped the back of my head and touched his lips to mine. A small moan came from my mouth as his full lips took control. It was a chaste kiss, but there was nothing chaste about the thoughts it caused to run through my head.

"Now I'm feeling left out," Ian said as I cleared my head. "Should've kissed you when we were dancing."

Another wave of boldness enveloped me. "Come on, Ian. Don't be shy. That's outlawed tonight."

Ian walked over and kissed me, and I was as taken with him as the others. This was all too weird for me, being liked by three guys and not having to choose between them, but I was letting go of expectations of all kinds since coming here. He ended the kiss by nipping gently at my bottom lip. "I knew you would taste sweet," he whispered.

My face hotter than fire, I forced myself to put my hand on the knob. "I'm going to bed before…"

"Before what?" Artemis asked. His blue eyes widened a bit while his eyebrows rose.

"Good night, all of you. Before I make a fool of myself."

I dashed into the bathroom and shut the door quietly and then slid down the length of it until my butt hit the cold tile floor.

"What in the world is happening?" I said to myself and kicked my legs a bit.

Surely, I was going to wake up from this dream but no damned way I ever wanted to.