Kelvin #5: MM Fated Mates (Tangled Tentacles), page 19
Their mates came one by one into the pool with the babies and shifted, the energy levels rising as the krakens started to sing and dance around Markov who remained in his human form.
Markov’s eyes shut and the water around him started to glow, the sea creatures in the water offering up their own magical energy to the coming babies.
The singing filled the room and Marvin came closer to the edge of the pool. He sat moments later, his bare feet dangling in the water. Riley came closer and Kelvin reached out with a tentacle and offered it to the boy.
There was hesitation, his gaze on Markov, and Cassius who was right at his mate’s side. The second he took the tentacle, Kelvin’s kraken sent soothing noises to the hybrid lion cub as he lowered Riley into the water. The moment the water touched his skin his mouth opened, and Kelvin braced for the scream only to hear a giggle followed by another.
“Look at me, Marvin, I’m in the pool!” Riley called over the singing krakens.
“I can see. Do you think I can come in too?” It was Magnus who swam to Marvin and butted his leg.
Marvin didn’t need a second invitation. He placed his camera down and slid into the water, hanging on to the edge of the pool.
Kelvin’s kraken held on to Riley as they picked up speed swimming around Markov who was making noises that weren’t quite human.
A sensation so pure it brought tears to Kelvin’s eyes. There in the center of his kraken’s chest was the love of family, the love that had held them all together. It expanded and burst forth as the water erupted around Markov.
Markov’s face was a mask of pain for long moments, then Cassius’s hammerhead appeared and there on his head sat a kraken and a small hammerhead shark. The kraken unfurled and wound its tentacles around Markov’s neck. The hammerhead baby shark, wriggling and splashed into the water making a beeline for Kelvin, only it wasn’t Kelvin it wanted, it was Riley. It butted its head against Riley’s hand.
“Ohhh,” Riley reached out and the hammerhead shark once in his arms shifted, “I’ve got a sister!”
“And a brother,” Markov said in a tired voice as he looked down at the baby in his arms before smiling at Cassius. “We did good.” Only it was Markov’s kraken speaking. Markov shook his head, but he didn’t stop smiling.
~/~/~/~
The clatter and noise were at a level never experienced at a Thalassa Christmas. It was one that Kelvin was sure none of his brothers would forget. There’d been a little shocked surprise when Markov tried to leave the pool only to find that he wasn’t quite finished, and Marina appeared. Seemingly the little baby kraken hadn’t been ready to put in an appearance with her siblings.
Markov was now in a huff with his kraken who he blamed for being able to keep secrets from him.
The sound of Lucas and Alexi arguing over if the turkey was cooked or not filtered past the other noises and Kelvin got up with baby Samuel tucked in his arms. “Can’t you two agree on anything?” Kelvin picked up one of the many knives on the counter and speared the huge turkey. “There, the fluid has run clear, it’s cooked.”
He looked down at the watchful baby. “When you get bigger, remember not to let your siblings have the last word, you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Alexi’s deep laughter brought the attention of Marvin and Magnus who were sitting on the floor next to the Christmas tree putting presents into piles. They had a tradition of eating their meal first before opening gifts. As he eyed his mate and Marvin, Kelvin kept his grin to himself at the eagerness neither man hid while staring at the gifts.
“When do we get to open the presents?” Marvin asked, his gaze moving behind him to the counter with the food on it.
“After dinner,” Alexi answered before anyone else could.
Marvin sagged and Magnus nudged his shoulder. “You can open one now and the rest later.”
“What about me?” Riley who’d been cuddling his kraken sister, Selena questioned, his small brow furrowing. “I should be allowed too, right Dad?”
Cassius looked to Markov, who was sitting with his feet up on a foot stool, his body not quite fully recovered after the birthing, or so he said. It was either that, or he was milking it. Both were a possibility. “We normally wait… but I suppose one won’t hurt.”
“Does that mean we can all open one?” Azim asked from his position on Victor’s lap. They were using the big rocking chair that Ki had brought down when they’d run out of seats. Azim’s gaze was on the huge, decorated Christmas tree sitting in the corner of Todd’s living room.
The tree sparkled and glittered from Riley and Marvin’s decorations. Like all the others there was a childlike appearance to the haphazard decorations. It was perfect.
A sigh came from Victor. “You only want to see what’s in the box I put under the tree last.”
Azim gave Victor a wide, happy smile. “Of course I do, you hid it so well.”
Victor glanced around the room, not looking at anyone in particular. “It seems I’ve a mate who hates surprises.”
Azim’s giggle was pure delight. “I like surprises, I just don’t like waiting for them.”
“I’m with Azim,” Riley said matching Azim’s grin with a wide one of his own.
“I’ve never had a Christmas present,” Marvin said, creating a silence so profound, a pin could have been heard dropping to the floor.
Magnus was the first to react, he wrapped his arm around Marvin’s shoulder and tugged him into his body. Kelvin’s heart stuttered in his chest at the paternal expression Magnus wore and the picture the two dark haired men made.
Magnus stroked a hand up the sleeve of the Christmas sweater Marvin wore, his eyes dewy. “This Christmas will be different, as will all future Christmas’s, you’ve got family now.”
Marvin laid his head on Magnus’s shoulder wearing what appeared to be a wistful expression. “I’ve always had family, the lost boys they were mine.” He glanced around the room. “I’m lucky, I won’t go hungry, or be treated differently anymore. Presents are nice, but what I want for Christmas is for the lost boys not to be scared or hurt anymore.”
Magnus met Kelvin’s gaze, but it was Alexi that spoke for everyone, “We will keep searching and won’t rest until they are all found and given their freedom.” Alexi met each brother’s stare. “We swear.”
Epilogue
Ajani
The stench of death lingered in his nose as Ajani stared down at the man whose life he’d just taken. His heart was hardened to their pleas for life, for forgiveness. They deserved no mercy.
Ajani, like his brothers, had been trained for one purpose, and they’d been bred as tools to use against those who chose to thwart the shifter council’s laws. Ajani was never told what law those he killed had broken. He’d long since quit asking when met with disinterest.
He glanced about the plush home, the mansion reeked of death and not just that of the man he’d just killed. His nose led him down a hallway past several rooms, none of which were of any interest. Ajani wasn’t into human possessions, he had no need for them.
Just past the kitchen, he came to a door with several locks. He scratched his chin and shrugged. With one swipe of his clawed hand the metal padlocks fell to the floor in a clatter when they hit the wood. His acute hearing heard the whimper from behind the closed door.
Keeping his claws unsheathed on his left hand he reached with his right and slowly opened the door. The smell of decaying flesh was matched to the stench of human waste. His sensitive nose rebelling as he searched the darkness beneath him for the owner of the sound.
His vision like all his other senses was acute and he easily found the cowering… thing, chained in the corner. His pulse remained slow and steady as he reached and flicked on the light switch next to the door in the hallway.
The vision of the room brought with it a flicker of regret, one he quashed understanding nothing changed for those who’d been kept in this place. He walked down the stairs, his gaze never leaving the boy who wore a terrified expression. His fear tainted the air and gave it a bitter taste.
Never trained to offer sympathy, Ajani remained silent as he moved over the filthy floor. The boy plastered his emaciated body against the wall. Huge eyes begged for what Ajani was clueless to guess, when the boy clearly had been shown no mercy.
Reaching for the chains, effortlessly Ajani ripped them from the wall. They hit the ground with a thud. “Go,” he growled.
The boy remained motionless.
“Go,” he snapped, his eyes flashing a warning the boy had better heed.
On shaky legs the boy rose, the chains rattled as he limped his way to the bottom of the stairs. Ajani didn’t look at the boy as he passed, the stench of what the boy had endured brought with it memories he didn’t want or need.
The whispered, “Thank you,” came with the sound of chains, but Ajani heard it, nonetheless. His heart throbbed in his chest for reasons he didn’t understand. The boy had nothing to thank him for, he was just doing his job.
~/~/~/~
The trip back to the cabin he shared with several of his brothers-in-arms was quick. He’d shifted and travelled the three hundred miles in the form of his favorite animal, a silverback ape. It was easier sticking to the trees when coming back to the cabin, keeping his scent high where most would never smell him.
Dirty and hungry he shifted and entered the cabin, naked. He didn’t need to check the place, he’d already scented who was inside. His nakedness not something he gave any thought to, he shut the door quietly. They had all been taught stealth and disregard for other’s sensibilities, the habits were too ingrained to change.
The TV was on low with Conrad and Duron sitting watching it from the massive couch they’d struggled to get in the place and in the end had to take out the windows to get the thing in. None of the men were small and the place they’d built was geared to that fact.
Neither man glanced in his direction. They would have known at least thirty minutes earlier of his approach.
“You stink,” Conrad muttered, not moving his eyes from the TV. He was addicted to the thing, would sit for hours when he wasn’t working watching mindless programs, something Ajani refused to do.
“Thanks,” he muttered and went straight through the living room into the large open plan kitchen. Grabbing a glass, he went to the huge refrigerator and took out his favored Dr Pepper. Glass filled to the brim, he drank deep letting the sweet liquid cleanse his palate and quench his thirst.
Glass in the sink and the empty bottle in the recycling, Ajani went back through the living room going towards the stairs that led up to the mezzanine area.
Duron sat forward so fast the large couch moved back an inch, his massive shoulders in one rigid line. “Fuck, is that Marvin?”
Ajani’s heart leapt solidly against his ribs as he slowly twisted to look at the seventy-four inch TV screen. The face staring out at him was not one he’d ever seen before, but eyes didn’t lie. Those in the face of the stunning man were ones that Ajani was never likely to forget. They’d been the one thing that kept him sane through the tests, treatments, and torture he’d endured to become what he was.
Involuntarily he stepped closer to the screen, his hand reaching out to touch before it dropped to his side.
“It’s him, right?” Conrad asked, who’d also sat forward. “The hair’s gone, but those…”
“Eyes,” Ajani finished off around a tongue that was trying to glue itself to the roof of his mouth. The stirring of desire that unfurled in the pit of his stomach came as no surprise. As a child Ajani had intrinsically known that Marvin was his mate. The changes to his body, to his sense of self through the experiments had made him doubt the reality of the warmth that came with a tinge of brightness. One that he’d convinced himself of wasn’t real.
Duron groaned, his gaze dropping to Ajani now fully aroused cock. “What the fuck man?”
It took all of two seconds for Duron to frown and glance back at the TV, then back at Ajani. Ajani saw the moment it registered what the issue was. “Oh, fuck!”
Conrad glanced between the two of them. “What am I missing?”
Ajani raised his hand to stop Duron running his mouth. “Nothing.” He aimed a killer stare at Duron until he nodded and slumped on the couch. Ajani walked up the stairs, ignoring the conversation as Conrad started questioning Duron.
In his bedroom, Ajani closed the door and pressed his back against the cool wood, staring unseeingly into the darkness, his mind on a pair of eyes that had always tugged on his soul.
He breathed deeply, the scent of his own arousal there teasing him. He shut his eyes and memories assailed him, one after another of Marvin. The feel of his hairy face rubbing against Ajani’s as they’d hidden in the garden when he’d come to visit.
“Why now?” Ajani whispered to the darkness, his chest constricted by the emotions of the past, “Why when I have nothing to offer but death?”
Other Books By Lisa/Lee Oliver
Please note, I have now marked the books that contain mpreg and MMM for those of you who don’t like to read those type of stories. Hope that helps ☺
Cloverleah Pack
Book 1 – The Reluctant Wolf – Kane and Shawn
Book 2 – The Runaway Cat – Griff and Diablo
Book 3 – When No Doesn’t Cut It – Damien and Scott
Book 3.5 – Never Go Back – Scott and Damien’s Trip and a free story about Malacai and Elijah
Book 4 – Calming the Enforcer – Troy and Anton
Book 5 – Getting Close to the Omega – Dean and Matthew
Book 6 – Fae for All – Jax, Aelfric and Fafnir (M/M/M)
Book 7 – Watching Out for Fangs –Josh and Vadim
Book 8 – Tangling with Bears – Tobias, Luke and Kurt (M/M/M)
Book 9 – Angel in Black Leather – Adair and Vassago
Book 9.5 – Scenes from Cloverleah – four short stories featuring the men we’ve come to love
Book 10 – On the Brink – Teilo, Raff and Nereus (M/M/M)
Book 11 – Don’t Tempt Fate – Marius and Cathair
Book 12 – My Treasure to Keep – Thomas and Ivan
Book 13 – Home is Where the Heart is – Wesley and Castor
The Gods Made Me Do It (Cloverleah spin off series)
Book One - Get Over It – Madison and Sebastian’s story
Book Two - You’ve Got to be Kidding – Poseidon and Claude (mpreg)
Book Three – Don’t Fight It – Lasse and Jason
Book Four – Riding the Storm – Thor and Orin (mpreg elements [Jason from previous book gives birth in this one])
Book Five – I Can See You – Artemas and Silvanus (mpreg elements – Thor gives birth in this one)
Book Six – Someone to Hold Me – Hades and Ali (mpreg elements but no birth)
Book Seven – You’ll Know in Your Heart – Baby and Owen (mpreg)
Book Eight – Worth It – Zeus and Paulie (mpreg)
Book Nine – When Three Points Collide – Ra, Kirill and Arvyn (M/M/M) (mpreg elements, no birth)
Book Ten – Special Enough – Odin and Evan
Book Eleven – Reconciliation: Seth’s Story – Seth and Luka (mpreg is a small part of this story)
Book Twelve – Being Loki - Loki and Anubis
Book Thirteen – (untitled for now) – Helios and Bruno – (will be out before the end of 2022 and will include Loki’s pregnancy).
The Necromancer’s Smile (This is a trilogy series under the name The Necromancer’s Smile where the main couple, Dakar and Sy are the focus of all three books – these cannot be read as standalone).
Book One – Dakar and Sy – The Meeting
Book Two – Dakar and Sy – Family affairs
Book Three – Dakar and Sy – Taking Care of Business
Bound and Bonded Series
Book One – Don’t Touch – Levi and Steel
Book Two – Topping the Dom – Pearson and Dante
Book Three – Total Submission – Kyle and Teric
Book Four – Fighting Fangs – Ace and Devin
Book Five – No Mate of Mine – Roger and Cam
Book Six – Undesirable Mate – Phillip and Kellen
Stockton Wolves Series
Book One – Get off My Case – Shane and Dimitri
Book Two – Copping a Lot of Sin – Ben, Sin and Gabriel (M/M/M)
Book Three – Mace’s Awakening – Mace and Roan
Book Four – Don’t Bite – Trent and Alexi
Book Five – Tell Me the Truth – Captain Reynolds and Nico (mpreg)
Alpha and Omega Series
Book One – The Biker’s Omega – Marly and Trent
Book Two – Dance Around the Cop – Zander and Terry
Book Three – Change of Plans - Q and Sully
Book Four – The Artist and His Alpha – Caden and Sean
Book Five – Harder in Heels – Ronan and Asaph
Book Six – A Touch of Spring – Bronson and Harley
Book Seven – If You Can’t Stand the Heat – Wyatt and Stone (Previously published in an anthology)
Book Eight – Fagin’s Folly – Fagin and Cooper
Book Nine – The Cub and His Alphas – Daniel, Zeke and Ty (MMM)
Book Ten – The One Thing Money Can’t Buy – Cari and Quaid
Book Eleven – Precious Perfection – Devyn and Rex
Book Twelve – More Than a Handful - Karl and Tanner
Spin off from The Biker’s Omega – BBQ, Bikes, and Bears – Clive and Roy
Balance – Angels and Demons
The Viper’s Heart – Raziel and Botis
Passion Punched King – Anael and Zagan
Soul Deep – Uriel and Haures
Found – Raphael and Seir
Demon Masks and Angel Wings – Michael and Orobas
Love Before Time – Lucifer and Gabriel
Arrowtown
A Tiger’s Tale – Ra and Seth (mpreg)
Snake Snack – Simon and Darwin (mpreg)
