Chapter 1

One

DidI really just fly halfway around the world to get away from my family?

Was I really doing this?

"Looks like we're really doing this." Tanyl took the words right out of my mouth from the seat in front of me. He was one of my three employees who'd flown here with me. Simply because I'd asked.

Okay, well, the three of them were also my best friends, and I paid them all really well, but still. They'd left their homes behind to come here with me for the next few months.

"Looks like," Isalendra, my other friend, said right as the wheels of the plane touched down.

I glanced out the plane's window as we descended and took in the sight of a large city sitting smack in the middle of an icy desert. It looked so odd with basically nothing surrounding it, but I couldn't deny that it was also beautiful, if not familiar.

Brinnswick got cold, and it snowed in some parts of it, but it never turned into the all-consuming iciness I could see before me.

I couldn't even see any of the towns that supposedly surrounded the city, but maybe they were farther away from the capitol than I thought.

"Why did you pick the coldest territory in Gauhala again, Remi?" Isa asked, also staring out the window.

"The king here was the only one willing to let me open a branch in his territory."

She wrinkled her nose. "They're probably hurting for business if it's as cold down there as it looks."

I turned away from the window to face her from across the aisle. "You know this is only the start of the cold season, right? It's not even cold out yet, according to the locals."

She grimaced. "You always bring us to the best places, Rem."

Tan said, "The sarcasm is strong with this one."

I snorted at them when Isa punched his arm, and they started bickering.

I took a breath, and Savelle, who sat beside me, sent me a smile, squeezed my hand, and said, "We're going to do great."

I nodded. "Yeah. We got this."

"We really do."

As soon as we landed, and the pilot said it was safe to unbuckle, I quickly undid my seatbelt and stood so I could grab my carry-on from the overhead compartment. Once it was in hand, I followed the line of people out of the plane. It wasn't difficult to follow my friends in the crowd since Tan's Bonded cat was riding on top of his head. Literally, there was an orange tabby cat just chilling on top of his head like a hat—the claws had to hurt. It looked ridiculous. That cat was a goofball and so perfect for my witchy friend.

I turned my phone's airplane mode off and wasn't even surprised when it rang immediately.

With a sigh, I answered. In lieu of a hello, I said, "Yes, Dad, the plane landed, and I made it here fine. I literally just stepped off two seconds ago."

My dad, Ailin, said, "I'm glad you made it there safe."

Savelle's eyebrows rose, and they mouthed, "How did he know we landed already?"

Holding the phone away from my ear, I spoke to my friend even though I knew my dad could hear every word. "I can only assume he magicked a tracker onto me or into one of my bags or something before I left." That was totally something he'd do, although I was surprised my other dad hadn't stopped him.

"That's exactly what I did."

I rolled my eyes at him.

Here I was, a forty-three-year-old wolf shifter, being watched over like I was a freshman in college or something. I was the baby of the family, so my dads were even worse with me than they were with my older siblings. Dad was the most ridiculous. Pops wasn't quite as bad.

Okay, honestly, both of my fathers were bad, but they loved me and our family more than anything, and I wouldn't have them any other way.

Savelle's eyes widened at me before they huffed out a small laugh and continued walking. They were used to my crazy family's antics.

"Was the flight okay?" my other father, Sebastian, aka Pops, asked. "Did you find your bags?"

I held in another eye roll as my three best friends and I made our way through the airport. "I'm not even near baggage claim yet, but yeah, the flight was fine."

"We could've flown you ourselves," Dad said for probably the hundredth time since I'd told them about this trip. He'd been arguing with me about coming here at all for weeks before he realized I was going with or without his approval. And then he argued about taking me here himself.

I mean, really, the man just liked to argue. Just ask my other dad.

"I know, but I was flying out several employees, so I wanted to fly with them, and you guys are too busy right now, anyway."

"We're never too busy for you," Pops insisted. It made me smile. Such a Pops thing to say—and I knew he meant it.

"I know you're not, but I had a way of getting here without disrupting anyone else's schedule, so that's what I did. It's no big deal."

In truth, I'd wanted to avoid their way of travel—riding a dragon or a manticore across the entire ocean with my fathers and then having them stay here with me and try to take over my entire project. At home, my dads and siblings were all a big deal. But I'd come here to prove to myself that I could do my job, and do it well, even without the Ellwood name holding so much clout.

"You're sure you're okay, Remi?" Pops' voice was full of so much love, I could practically feel it bursting through the phone.

"I'm sure."

"Okay, bud. Please call us if you need anything at all. Yes, we're busy, but you know we'll be there in a heartbeat if you want or need us there."

"I know."

"Even if all you need is a hug."

Mother of All, he was a sap, but I couldn't deny that warmed my heart a little. "I know."

"We love you, kiddo," Dad added.

"I love you guys too."

"Please be careful."

"I will."

After a few more I love yous and promises to stay safe, I was finally able to hang up and try to find my luggage. Yes, my dads drove me crazy sometimes, but I honestly couldn't have been adopted by better parents. A day hadn't passed without me knowing how loved I was in our household.

Not to mention, they'd brought me into a family with about a thousand other kids, so I'd had plenty of siblings, cousins, and now, nieces, nephews, and niblings running around. It was a good life—a great one, even.

But even with all of that, with all of my family members, with all the familial love I felt on a daily basis, I still felt like I was missing something.

That small ache in my heart made itself known at the thought. Damn.

"You okay?" Savelle asked, picking up on my brief moment of discomfort immediately.

"I'm fine. I don't like all the smells in this place." It wasn't a lie, even if it wasn't the whole truth. Overcrowded public places were filled with way too many scents for my oversensitive shifter nose.

I could tell they knew I wasn't telling the whole truth, but they let me get away with it for once.

I held in a sigh. Why had I been so eager to leave home again?

Maybe it was because all of my siblings had already found their viramores—their soulmates—and I hadn't found even a hint of one. I had all of the familial love I could ever hope for, but I'd never had a true partner before.

I'd dated many different people, but I'd never found anyone special. I'd never had any real, long-lasting relationships before because as soon as I'd realized the person I was dating wasn't theone, I'd broken it off. I'd seen how special a viramore relationship was—hell, I grew up with my dads, so it was impossible not to—so I'd never wanted to settle for anything less than that.

Unfortunately, that meant I tended to be pretty lonely most days.

That was probably part of the reason why I'd created this project on the other side of the world in the first place.

I wanted to get away from all the happy couples at home and be free of that for a little while. I loved my family tremendously, but I needed a break from everyone trying to set me up with every single person they'd ever met. I knew my dads and siblings were trying to help me, but Mother of All, it could be sooooo damn annoying when they were constantly inviting me over for dinner, only for me to find out it was some kind of blind date.

My family was up in my business so hard.

I mean, I was just as bad as they were, but geez, did I need a few months of peace and quiet.

So here I was, in Gauhala, about as far away from my home country of Brinnswick as I could get, getting ready to open a new security firm here, specifically in the Sedoba Territory.

Gauhala was split into eight different territories, and each one was run by a different leader.

I'd be meeting with the king of Sedoba in two weeks' time.

They never used to have royalty here, but when people started taking over and leading a few decades ago, the people began calling them kings, queens, and royals.

The Sedoba Territory was led by King Garrick Von Stein. I hadn't heard a lot of nice things said about the guy, but I'd at least heard that he wasn't ruthless and definitely wasn't as bad as the dude who ran the Cantamad Territory.

Of all eight territories, Sedoba was supposedly the friendliest to outsiders—and definitely the coldest. I guess we'd see exactly what that meant for us, but that was the main reason I'd picked it for my new venture.

A venture I was excited and nervous about.

"You okay, Remi?" Savelle asked again as they pulled their bags off the belt. They were my number two in my business and one of the best people I knew.

They also happened to be a kelpie, which explained all the looks they were getting. Kelpies were very rare in our world, and that alone would turn enough heads, but I'd bet it was the fact that Savelle was one of the most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen that was drawing all the attention. And they were only in their bipedal form. People would likely keel over from the sheer beauty if they shifted into their kelpie form.

I sent them a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. You know how my dads are."

They chuckled because they really did know.

They sent me a wink. "They love you."

With a sigh, I admitted, "Yeah, I know." I nodded at my three best friends and gestured to the airport doors that led to the cold outside. "You ready?"

Isa and Savelle nodded, and Tan punched the air, saying, "Let's do this!"

It made all of us laugh, and Savelle nudged me to lead the way out into the unknown.

Savelle, Tan, and Isa would be invaluable in setting up the office here. All three had been with me since the beginning and had helped me set up all our offices in Brinnswick. Other than my family, there was no one I trusted more.

We were ready to make this new project the best one yet.

The secondI stepped off the elevator at my new apartment building, I sighed, dropped my suitcase, and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Savelle asked, "Is that?—?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"Is that what—oh." Isa's eyes went wide, and Tan shook his head with amusement.

Shrugging at all three of them, I pulled out my phone and dialed. The second I heard someone pick up, I said, "You guys came and put up wards?"

My dad simply said, "Yes."

"Dad! You do know that I run a security firm, right? Like, this is what I do for a living?"

He sighed. "Did you really think Pops and I would let you go to the other side of the world without us warding your home? You and I both know that our coven land is the most well-protected land in the entire world, and guess who warded it? Me."

My nostrils flared. "Yeah, but you also had Pops and everyone else in the family add their magic to it. That's why it's so powerful. That's why when I set wards for people for a job, I use at least two—usually three—different essences to enhance it. Did you think I was going to leave my home here unprotected? And that of my best friends?"

He was quiet for a few beats before he sighed, loud and heavy. "No, I didn't, but I figured you could add to the ward we already placed there. Remi, I?—"

He cut himself off, so I asked, "What?"

He didn't respond for a few seconds before he breathed out heavily. "You won't let us help you, and Pops and I are worried."

"Was Pops really okay with this?"

"Yes."

Before I could ask him if he was being truthful—which was dumb because my dad didn't lie—Pops came on the line, saying, "Yes, Remi, I was okay with it. I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we knew you wouldn't let us, and we… we just want to keep you safe, bud. That's all we want."

This time, it was me who sighed heavily. "I know." I paused. "How did you even get here and home without any of us noticing?"

"You do remember that your brothers can use the fae realm to travel large distances, right?"

Oh. Yeah, I guess that made sense. Three of my witch brothers had some really badass magic that allowed them free travel through the realms. They would've had to travel into the fae realm—called Faela—first before popping up here, but it wouldn't have taken them more than a handful of minutes.

I probably could've asked them to get my friends and me here without all of the plane hassle. But… I didn't like asking for favors for things I could take care of myself.

"Which brother?" I finally asked.

"We've been sworn to secrecy," Dad said, sounding faintly amused.

"Ugh. You guys are the worst."

Pops chuckled. "We love you, Remi. Please be safe."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you later."

"Love you," Dad said.

"Love you guys too. Bye." They said their goodbyes and hung up, and I turned to my three friends and offered an apologetic smile. "Looks like my crazy family warded the entire floor. You guys okay with that?"

Tan looked at me like I was crazy. "Am I okay with Ailin and Sebastian Ellwood putting protections on my home? Why, no, Remi, of course not. Why would I ever want the strongest witch in the world and the last enchanter to do something like that?" He'd never sounded so sarcastic in his life.

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile curved my lips. "Yeah, yeah. Just… make sure to add your own magics when you get the chance. With all four of us adding to it and keeping it boosted, no one we don't want will get into our apartments."

Tan laughed and slapped my shoulder. "Come on. Let's check our new places out."

Savelle sent me a smile, and Isa grinned and shoulder-bumped me as the two of them walked past.

Well, at least none of them were angry at my parents' invasion. I guessed I'd have to deal.

Each of us got our own apartment, so after figuring out which door was whose, we went our separate ways—we'd come back together in thirty minutes to tour each other's places.

The second the three of them were inside their apartments, I pulled up a video chat on my phone and called three of my older brothers. I had more older siblings than just the three of them, but it was only one of these three who could've brought our dads here.

Jorah, who was the closest in age to me but still eighteen years older, answered first, smiling on my screen with a, "Hey, little bro."

Even though I was annoyed with him, or at least one of my brothers, I still couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Jor."

Before he could respond, Thayer answered, saying, "Remi! Hey. How's Gauhala?"

"Thay. It's?—"

Basil came on last, interrupting me. "Hey, Remi. Good to see you, little wolf."

I rolled my eyes at the old nickname. I didn't hate it, but I definitely wasn't little anymore. In fact, I was bigger than all three of them.

"Good to see you guys." Before they could distract me from my task, I asked, "Which one of you brought dads here?"

None of them answered, and even though it was ridiculous because they were on a screen and not next to each other, they started exchanging looks. Which told me that all three of them knew exactly what I was talking about. They were connected magically, so they didn't have many secrets from each other.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?" I asked.

All three of them said, "We've been sworn to secrecy," at the same time, which was honestly freaky as hell.

"Never do that again."

They laughed, and Basil said, "Our magic won't let us tell you. Sorry, man."

"Real believable, asshat." I'd been around them and their magic my entire life. I knew it couldn't do that. There was more snickering, so I stared at them for a few seconds, then asked, "Jorah?"

"Wasn't me," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him, examining him, then turned to the next ass of a brother. "Thayer?"

"Wasn't me either."

I examined him, then moved on. "Bas?"

"I didn't do it."

My eyes narrowed again, and I sighed. Should've known. "Bas, how could you?"

Basil grimaced and groaned. "How do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know when I'm lying."

I snorted. "I'm good at sniffing out bullshit."

Thay and Jor were snickering like they were little kids watching their brother get into trouble with their parents.

"You can't even use your sniffer on me from there."

I couldn't help but laugh at him, but then I sobered with a frown. "You should've told me."

"I'm sorry, Remi. I wanted to, but Dad and Pops were being all weird about it, and I felt guilty."

"You should."

He nodded.

Jorah asked him, "How did you even get roped into it anyway?"

Bas rolled his eyes. "Dad kept bugging me for like three hours straight, trying to force me to do it and being a complete jerkface. And when I wouldn't do it, he got Pops involved. Pops was all, like, teary and upset, saying stuff about his baby leaving and being unprotected, and I… couldn't say no."

The three of us laughed. That sounded exactly like something the two of them would do to get their way. None of us liked seeing either of them upset, and Pops was a gentle soul, so when he was sad, they could usually make any of us cave and do their bidding. Jerkfaces was right.

"Sounds about right." I sighed. "Well, next time, just give me a heads up, okay?"

"I will. I'm sorry, little wolf."

I waved him off. "It's okay. Talk to you guys later."

Before I could hang up, Bas said, "Remi?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

That made warmth gather in my chest. "I know. Love you too."

The other two got in on the I love yous before we all hung up, and I took a breath before unlocking the door to my new apartment and the new venture of my life.