2. Mira

two

Mira

"It wouldn't kill us to ask for directions."

Two sets of eyes, one feline, one swirling with blue Chroma, glare back at me. Throwing my hands up in mock surrender, I shake my head. "I'm just saying, if we're lost…"

"We are not lost," Sunder snaps at me. Bobble Cat merely flicks an ear at me in response, choosing instead to back up the First Shard of their shared soul. I cock my head at him in disbelief.

"Really, Bobs? We've been wandering around aimlessly for… I lost count after ten days. But it feels like forever." I cross my arms with an annoyed huff. Instead of having a sure-fire ally in Bobble, he sometimes sides with Sunder now.

Ever since my mate bond snapped into place with Bobble, the two of them have gotten… friendlier. Not in a back slapping buddy way. It's more a quiet acceptance, at least from Sunder. Odd when compared to the open hostility he used to hold for my orange tabby cat.

Currently, however, my feelings on their relationship are neither here nor there. Just like us, apparently. We've been marching through this forest, away from Yurghen's tower, for what feels like a year now, searching for some lost apprentice of Yurghen's who may have some answers on how to merge the souls of my shattered mate.

"We cannot be lost," Sunder grumbles. "I have roamed every inch of this realm. I have scoured every tree, rock, and lake. I have marked it as my own and know this territory better than anyone alive or dead."

There's a flickering of Chroma, and then instead of a fluffy orange tabby cat, Bobble stands before me as a very naked man. Well, a fae really. The tips of his ears stand just slightly above his unruly auburn hair. He tilts his head like he's listening for something, then shakes it. "I also have mapped this," he says lightly, "and I know us to be on the right track."

"Okay. But like… how long ago?" I say, trying to focus my eyes somewhere that's not the hard planks of his body. He is undeniably attractive and distracting, but I need to keep my mind on task.

While I would love nothing more than a little roll in the hay right now, even I can tone down my raging libido for long enough to have a civilized discussion. I'm just not used to two hot men wanting me. Usually at the same time.

Bobble's pecs flex in the sunlight, and my heart flutters. Okay. I'm pretty sure I can tone it down at least. I clamp my thighs together, lifting my gaze to the sky as if I might glean something interesting about our predicament up there. The Frenzy from our bonding, it seems, is a little more intense than I had accounted for.

I tightly fold my arms, using every ounce of self-restraint to keep from launching myself onto Bobble like a crazed animal. The tension between us crackles in the air, like an electric charge ready to ignite at any moment. My heart pounds in my chest, matching the frantic beat of drums in my head. All I want to do is reach out and touch him. Instead, I grip my arms tighter and try to steady my breathing as I battle the urge to pounce.

My gaze drifts to the subtle bob in his throat as we hold each other's gaze.

Later, Mira.

"Have you figured out how to change forms and keep your clothes on yet?"

"A sane query indeed," Sunder rumbles from somewhere up ahead.

"No," he frowns, looking down. "Why would I need them?"

With a soft sigh, I try to explain, "Yurghen was literally about to turn you into a sex toy with no issues, and pants would have at least given him some trouble."

I'm treating it lightly, but my heart still tightens in fear as I think of how terribly things went in that tower. The mention of Yurghen makes my skin crawl, a creeping sense of nausea quickly extinguishing all earlier thoughts of fun and games. Sometimes I can still smell the burning hair and flesh as I burned him alive in retribution. He was supposed to be the one who would help us Merge, uniting all the fragments of the soul that have been forced into Shards.

One, apparently, who doesn't believe in pants at all.

"You really need to figure out how to at least keep pants on when you shift," I say to the fae shifter formerly cursed with permanent cat form. Breaking that curse is the only good thing to come out of the experience.

"I don't think pants would have kept him from doing anything," Bobble frowns, genuinely confused by the request. "Besides, this way, I am more accessible when you need me."

A single wink from him and we both break out into grins like foolish children.

"Okay, I suppose that is a bonus," I concede. "But still. We can't just like… at it whenever you turn into a human."

"Fae," Sunder growls out a correction under his breath, but I pointedly ignore him. I know what they are. I just like to push his buttons too much to correct myself. The way his eyebrows pinch ever so slightly over the bridge of his nose when he's vexed by my human ways delights a part of me I never knew existed until I met him.

"Well, we could." Bobble is so matter of fact that I almost start laughing.

Barely keeping the smile from my face, I say, "Because then we'll be even more lost than we already are."

"We are not lost," they say together. Bobble shifts slightly from one foot to the other, the movement making his muscular thighs flex.

"Why do you think we aren't? As far as I can tell, we're going in circles. I swear I've seen that rock before." I actually have no idea if I've seen that rock before, but it sounds good when I say it. Sunder makes a noise of protest, but I wave my hand to ward him off. "I know why you think we aren't lost, and I trust that bullshit approximately zero percent. You, I trust," I point at Bobble. "So. Spill. Why aren't we lost?"

"I have made a mental map," Bobble proclaims proudly. "According to it, we are going in the right direction."

I roll my eyes. Bobble and I watched a documentary on cats ages ago back on Earth, before all of this. One of the things they said was that cats create mental maps of their territory that are remarkably accurate. They mentioned all kinds of cats, including a Scottish one that essentially had a schedule for visiting different elderly ladies during the day as he roamed the streets of Edinburgh. According to them, he never missed a visit. Bobble has apparently internalized this very deeply and likes to often point out that his need for sleeping seventeen hours a day in sunlight is in order to rest his prolific navigational capabilities.

"Fine. You have a map. But to where? I can't get a straight answer from either of you about where, exactly, we're going or why you think this apprentice will be there."

"I think, my Mira, that you should trust us," Sunder says, his gaze drifts to the horizon as if there's something waiting for him there. Something unreadable flickers in his eyes. I'm still not good at reading him, despite our time together. His defenses can be so thick sometimes, and our bond only gives me a vague impression of his emotions.

Of the two of them, Sunder is the one that has pride and arrogance in spades, but I've seen the rare vulnerability beneath it. When their initial soul, Dan'thiel, was split up, each aspect got a little bit of his personality.

He must have been a hell of a guy. Arrogant and princely, sweet and caring. I'm so curious about what the other two Shards of his soul are like. Wherever they are.

So curious, in fact, that I'd like to find one of them instead of wandering through this creepy landscape seemingly aimlessly. I'd also like a bath before I meet the next one. It's bad form to meet one's fated mate while smelling like mud and trees, or so I'd wager.

Bobble looks at me, hurt clear in his eyes. "Do you really not trust us, Mira?"

Now they're ganging up on me for a guilt trip. Damn it.

It's working.

"I trust you," I say hurriedly, hopeful that Bobble won't turn back into a cat and sulk for a week. "I just… I'm tired. And cold. My feet hurt. I really want a bath. And I just want to know what's next."

My voice nearly breaks with frustration on the last word.

"First, is there not a town nearby where we can find somewhere for Mira to bathe?" Bobble wraps around me, comforting and soft, and I sniffle and inhale his clean yet somehow musky scent.

I hear Sunder rumble from somewhere behind his shoulder. "I suppose. But it will delay us from finding the others."

"The others? I thought we were looking for the apprentice." My voice is muffled in Bobble's shoulder. I peek over the smooth curve of his muscles to look at Sunder, who has a very un-Sunder-like expression on his face. Narrowing my eyes, I pull back from the cat-man's embrace. "Sunder? Do you have something you want to share with the class?"

He frowns. "What is the class?"

"It's an expression." I wave my hands at him dismissively. "You look guilty as fuck, so I want you to say what's on your mind. Instantly. Right now," I add, so that he can't somehow weasel a way out of my command.

Looking alarmingly bashful, Sunder glances at a spot in the distance over my shoulder. His lips move, but he mumbles before looking back at me. My hands go to my hips. "Use words I can hear."

He huffs out a breath. "Fine. Well. Ever since our… all three of us bonded." He trails off, eyes glued to the leaf-covered ground like he can't quite mention the amazing threesome that began our bonded life. "I can… I feel…"

He looks away, but I step forward, concerned at the sudden gravity in his tone. My shoulders tighten in anticipation. "You can feel what?"

Rubbing his chest, he looks away again. "I don't know exactly. That's why I haven't mentioned it. It's… unfamiliar. But…I think I can feel the other Shards," Sunder spits out the last few words until they run together in a jumble. I take a moment to unravel the sentence.

Both Bobble and I blink, a pause hanging between us as we digest these words. Bobble is taken aback, genuinely offended by this failing of communication. "You did not think to tell me this?"

I, however, am pissed. In my exasperation, my hands flail wildly in the air. "That's why we're aimlessly walking for weeks on end? You're following some kind of strange internal compass you didn't care to tell Bobble and I about? No wonder we're lost!"

"We aren't lost!" Bobble and Sunder shout together.

Their voices bounce off the surrounding trees, creating an echo that seems to reverberate through the entire forest. I stare at each of them, hoping my angry gaze conveys exactly what I think about this.

"Sunder, how can you be sure that what you're experiencing is the other Shards?" I ask, my voice barely trembling. "It could be a trick of Yurghen's sorcery…or even worse, what if it's-" I pause, unable to bring myself to say her name.

Malicryn.

The sorceress, or enchantress, or fairy princess, whatever she is, who split Dan'thiel's soul into four separate parts. I can only imagine that she's still somewhere out there, and based on what I've gathered, she doesn't seem like the type to let go of a grudge.

I can't help but wonder what her thoughts would be on our mission to reunite the Shards and bring back my true mate, Dan'thiel. A pulse of heartache rips across my chest at the thought, but I don't pay it any heed. That is what they want.

Sunder shakes his head. "It isn't her. It's… I feel like…" his cheeks turn a color that isn't quite my shade of Chroma red, but a lighter pink instead. His long inky hair frames his sharp features as it ripples in the light breeze.

Sunder is… blushing?

"I feel them in the same way I feel the Third," he finally murmurs. "It's like an echo in my head of the bond with you, Mira. I-I crave them as well."

A stunned silence washes over me, but Bobble moves to place an arm over his shoulders with a knowing nod. "I feel it too. The echo of you in my mind. The crave."

Their gazes lock, and in that fleeting instant, something passes between them. It's a delicate tenderness. A bud fighting for its life against a late spring frost. Lately, there has been a growing connection between the two of them - something that feels a little more than just two guys enjoying their soulmate together. A warmth spreads through my chest, the corner of my lips curl into a knowing smirk.

Bobble looks down as he pulls his arm awkwardly away. The moment passes. Placing a hand on the granite that is Sunder's chest, I say with a soft smile, "Thank you for telling us. I agree. If it feels like you… feel for Bobble, you're probably right."

He looks away with a grunt, clearly uneasy about being comforted like this. "I just can't always tell where they are. Exactly."

Until now, I thought we were following up on a clue from Yurghen's old logbook we found before we left his tower. An apprentice who wanted to learn soul magic was dismissed and sent to study with some other wizard guy.

"Well, I agree this takes precedence over finding the apprentice. The Shards are more important. I have a feeling a bath and a hot meal will go a long way for all of us then." I take his hand and kiss it. "How about you find us that first, then we can explore how you feel about the other Shards?"

Sunder glances back at Bobble. "Third. Does your mental map include an inn?"

Bobble puffs his chest up before a poof of yellow magic clouds around him. A tiny orange tabby cat emerges, tail upright and flicking. He strides purposefully into the growing dusk.

Sunder leans down, picking me up. "I can walk," I protest weakly.

Laughing, Sunder presses a kiss against my temple. "You have walked enough, my Mira," he murmurs into my hair. I wrap my arm around his neck as he cradles me, and we stride forward with big steps after Bobble. "Rest, and when we get your bath, we will tend to you further."

I relax in his arms with eyes closed, breathing in his scent, and letting my mind wonder if my other mates could ever be as wonderful as these two.