Page 27 of Heir

“But there are many shifter species,” the bear added. “Bears, cats, wolves, foxes, eagles, and dragons.”

“Dragons?” Gemma blurted out, sitting in the green velvet armchair, eating her Pad Kee Mao like this was a soap opera and she was very invested in the characters and plot twists. Only this wasn’t a television show. This was my damned life. “There are real life dragons? Or are you talking like those Komodo dragons? Because that’s cool too. But if we’re talking Game of Thrones dragons, then I have to see this.”

“Those are technically wyverns,” the mage said. “Though, I agree, they look cool.”

“We do not have wyvern shifters,” the vampire added, again with absolutely no inflection in his voice.

“We do have actual fire-breathing dragon shifters though.” The mage’s eyes widened with excitement. “Their fire is hotter than anything I can conjure. It’s why all Realm weaponry is forged by dragon’s fire. Only dragons are bladesmiths.”

“I know a few,” the bear said with a casual lift to his bulky shoulder. He glanced over at the vampire who stood stoically beside him. He sneered and took a full step away, putting more distance between them.

There was no hiding the bear’s complete disdain for the vampire. It radiated off of him in near tangible waves.

Both the vampire and bear hadn’t been happy when the mage arrived, but they seemed to have settled whatever initial aversion they had toward him, not that the mage seemed to care.

But the bear wanted to tear out the vampire’s jugular, and the vampire was well aware of it and keeping his distance.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What does this Fated Mates thing mean? Do we have to get married?” I opened my eyes and fixed my gaze on all of them standing there. “You all tell me that you followed my scent—” I paused and sniffed my pits for a second. I wasn’t rank. “Then rocked up on my doorstep looking like fucking Pooh Bear, Nosferatu in a GQ spread, and . . . I don’t even know what to make of you,” I said, waving my hand in front of the fire mage. “An open Hawaiian print shirt, flip-flops. And, are those genie pants? What the fuck?”

The fire mage shrugged. “What? They’re comfortable. Lots of room for my giant balls.” He snickered and glanced sideways at the other two, but they both shook their heads and scoffed.

“They’re hideous,” Gemma pointed out.

“I am human. I am not mating any of you. I choose who I want to sleep with. And it’s certainly not three weirdos who smelled their way to me. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“You did say you felt a pull and that you could trust us though. That deep down you’re feeling the Bond too,” the bear shifter pointed out.

Ugh. Why did he have to be right? Because he was. I did feel an odd pull to all of them. It wasn’t just an attraction. It was so much deeper than that. It was physical. It was emotional. Hell, it was in my freaking soul. I felt it everywhere. In my chest, in my belly, and . . . goddamn it, between my legs too.

“Tell them what you told me. What you heard when you woke up after you were struck by lightning,” the bear said. I knew their names, but for some reason, referring to them by name just felt like I was accepting the ridiculousness of all of this. By referring to them as what they were, I was keeping a boundary. A level of separation.

“All hail Omaera Playfair, Queen of the Realm,” I said, trying to sound bored.

The vampire’s mouth dropped open and for just a second, I became mesmerized by his long, white fangs.

“Of the Realm?” the mage asked. “As in, King Donovar is dead?”

“Who the fuck is King Donovar?” I asked.

But the mage and vampire had already pulled out their phones and wandered away to make some calls.

“May I borrow your phone, please?” the bear asked. “I need to call my dad.”

“Where’s your phone?” Gemma asked.

“I don’t have one. I just kept losing them when I shifted and forgot my clothes.”

His sweet and simple honesty, as well as manners, threw me off even more. But for some reason, I found myself standing up from the couch and handing him my phone. Now all three of them were on calls while Gemma and I just sat there like confused idiots.

The vampire was the first to return, his face paler than it already was. He stowed his phone in the inside pocket of his black coat. Then he dropped to one knee in front of me.

The mage returned next, equally somber, and did the same.

Finally, the bear, who grunted as he dropped his enormous frame to one knee.

“My Queen,” the vampire began. “I pledge my allegiance to you.”

“And I,” the mage repeated.

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