Page 36 of Moonlit Alexandrite

“When we first met, I misjudged you so badly. I couldn’t get past what I thought a full-blooded succubus would be like, but it’s obvious here that you are happier in the quiet than you were in the club. I guess I’m just trying to apologize again.” He shrugged his shoulders as though resettling an uncomfortable shirt... except that I was still in possession of that particular article of clothing.

“What’s done is done. While it wasn’t a good start, and I’m not going to lie and say you didn’t hurt me because you did, I’m in a different place now. I’ve found my mates, and I’m learning to accept myself instead of having a half-wild, completely sheltered succubus who doesn’t know herself. Although, she seems to be too proud of her pick-up lines for them to stop anytime soon. Please, just humor her.”

Dion let out this odd combination of a chuckle and a groan and laced his fingers through mine.

“She realizes she doesn’t need to pick us up anymore, right? I mean, I think we’ve all been clear now that we are very much yours already.”

I shrugged and squeezed his hand as the flamingo finally made her way out of the water. Her majestic head swung toward us immediately, and I had an extremely inappropriate memory of a cartoon from my childhood where a game of croquet was played with a hedgehog as a ball and...

My train of thought cut off as, mid-stride, she shifted into a beautiful, tall woman with pink hair that perfectly offset her coffee-colored complexion. The ballet tights and sweater wrapped tightly around her shoulders clued me into who this person could be, even if her stature hadn’t already. She shuffled her fingers through her short locks, sharp eyes taking in everything about us as she approached.

“So you sorted your shit out. Well done, boy, you’re becoming an adult.”

My mouth fell open, but Dion rose and hugged the woman. I noticed the tips of his ears were almost as pink as her hair.

“Yes, I think we worked things out. Madam Folayan, please let me introduce you to Alexandrite.”

He swept his hand toward me as I jumped to my feet.

“Lex,” I corrected, a half second before I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

“You call me Mama Fo, child. We don’t stand on ceremony here, especially when you’re mated to my boy.”

We spoke with Mama Fo for an hour or two. She showed me all Dion’s old dancing trophies, which sat in a glass case in the academy’s foyer, and told embarrassing stories of Dion in his younger years. By the time we were saying our goodbyes, I had decided making him blush was my new favorite thing.

“You come back soon and bring the other two, you hear? We’ll do dinner next time,” Mama Fo called as we mounted Dion’s bike for the homeward journey. Dion waved agreement and kicked the bike to life. With a couple of grumbling revs, we headed back to Moonlit Falls.

* * *

“Oh, thank God.”

Within a second of me reaching my apartment, the door was thrown open, and I found myself wrapped in thick arms, long black hair swinging around my shoulders.

“What’s... Ren, I’m fine. Can you... I can walk.” I surfaced from the sea of braids just as my big bad mate pulled back with a frown creasing his forehead.

“Where were you?”

Dion coughed lightly, drawing Ren’s attention.

“What does it mean, that you’re here now?” Ren asked, finally letting me go only to place himself between Dion and me, as though Dion could be a threat.

“I spoke with Lex, and we sorted some things out. I’m all in, and she knows it now. Do we have a problem?”

I held my breath as Ren let the silence stretch. I hadn’t considered that the guys would be as upset by Dion’s actions, or inaction, as I was.

“You can’t run when it gets hard,” Ren warned, his voice a deep rumble I could feel in my chest.

“I won’t. I’m going to do better at communicating what I’m feeling. I won’t break us. I need it too much.”

I hoped Ren could hear the same sincerity in Dion’s voice that I could. His dance had been explanation and apology all in one and, while I had forgiven him already, it was still good to hear him speaking plainly about his commitment.

Feeling uncomfortable having this discussion in the hall, I wandered inside and flopped onto the sofa. As though they were kites on my string, Ren and Dion drifted along after me. Ren moved to take the seat beside me, only to be muscled out of the way by Rusty, who had been chewing on a shoe beneath the coffee table. With an irritated huff, Ren took his decimated footwear and crossed the room to sit beside Dion.

“At least your perma-boner is gone,” he muttered. Dion huffed the ghost of a laugh.

Then, nothing.

“So...” I said when the silence became uncomfortable. The front door flew open, rebounding off the wall with an almighty bang as Newt ran into the room.

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