Page 26 of Nita's Redemption

Abe came in carrying a tray with some snacks and drinks on it, one brow raised. “I thought it was lying around eating bonbons and shit?”

Nita laughed, bouncing onto the bed as Tank tossed her into the middle. “Bonbons are all well and good, but I’m a shifter. I need meat and hello, who doesn’t love cheese fries?”

Link launched himself next to Nita, pulling her into his side. “I told you our female was the smartest in the entire universe. That includes Olympus and beyond. I like me some chocolate and ice cream too, but I much prefer getting my cream straight from the tap.”

Tank shook his head, knowing he was going to have his hands full with not only their gorgeous female, but the two fools he called brothers. Before Abe could scoot in next to Nita, he moved to her side, leaving the place at the foot where he’d been before. Sure, the bed was wide enough for all of them to lay side-by-side, but he had no wish to cuddle up to Link or Abe. Now if the twins wanted to spoon one another since they’d been in the same womb, they could go for it. Abe’s little snarl made him grin. He ignored the other male’s raised middle finger as Abe climbed into the bed, shifting, and shuffling around like he couldn’t find a comfortable position. Again, Tank knew damn good and well there was plenty of room for him to lay flat and no part of his body would be off the bed from head to toe since he had been there only a couple hours previously. There was also plenty of space between their feet and him, giving Abe room to stretch out without the worry of being kicked in the head. Well, that is unless he kept fucking around and then Tank just might accidentally or more like on purpose give him a nudge in whatever part of his body that was closest to his size fifteen foot.

“Abe, if you want to come up here and lay next to one of the guys you can,” Nita offered.

Abe huffed. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll be the lookout I guess.”

The way he said lookout was meant to be a dig at Tank since his role in the foursome was as the protector. Hell, he should know that even if Tank was up cuddling, fucking, or talking with their female, he’d always have his senses open for danger.

They settled down, their heartbeats in sync like they should be. Tank lay with his head resting on one arm curved behind his head, staring at the ceiling until the other three began breathing in slow even breaths. Again, all were breathing in sync, the sound soothing to his soul, yet sleep was elusive to him.

He figured if he wasn’t going to get any sleep then he’d do something constructive, which wasn’t lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Tank slid off the side of the bed, ensuring he didn’t make any disturbance that would wake the others, grabbing his jeans from the chair before walking out the door. He looked backward one last time to see that the three were sound asleep, exhaling a slow breath as he shut the door. The heartbeats and breaths were still slow and steady, making him wish and wonder why he wasn’t able to join them in obvious contentment.

“Maybe I need to run for a bit and show my wolf all is good,” he murmured quietly.

Thanks to Zeus, their home was quite large, making it a perfect place for four people to live comfortably without feeling claustrophobic. His senses checked the interior, feeling for any breaches to the security they’d set up. All was well, allowing his wolf to focus on the exterior. Again, not a blade of grass or leaf had been tainted. So why was he so uneasy?

“One way to find out,” he growled, letting his wolf move to the surface, shifting as soon as he exited the back door. The quiet slam echoed around him, but the auto-locking pierced through the air. That too was a security measure they’d installed since the three of them wanted to make sure their home was always safe for their mate or mates. Thinking about mate in the plural felt like he’d cheated on their Fated. His wolf growled, pushing him to the back of their shared mind. Tank had to exert more power to stay in the front, which had never been an issue.

‘Our mate is perfect. Do not disrespect her,’ his wolf snarled.

He stopped in his tracks. “What the fuck?”

‘Hello, human Tank. I am your wolf.’

‘How do I know you’re my wolf and not some evil entity?’ Tank went quiet, focusing his breathing while he tried to find the source of the intruder.

There was a snort and a grunt in his mind. Tank found no other presence other than the wolf and himself. The beast was the same as he’d had since his first shift. ‘How are you speaking to me?’

‘I am not sure, actually. I can speak to you and the other wolves of the pack. Although I do not like speaking to some of the others as they are idiots.’ Tank’s wolf snarled, flashing images of wolves he recognized into his mind’s eye.

He exhaled, wondering if wolves always had talking beasts or if they’d done something when the Ravens had joined them.

‘I believe the Ravens might’ve unlocked the ability, but it should’ve always been this way. We are one, but we are also separate.’ His wolf nearly snarled the last bit like he’d hated being unable to talk to him.

‘Do you have a name? Have you been able to speak to the Ravens?’ Fuck, he couldn’t believe he was having an inner talk with his own wolf and truth... he was sure he hadn’t lost his fucking mind.

The wolf gave a barking like laugh and then went quiet. ‘We all have names the Moon Goddess blessed us with. Mine is Titan, which means defender and bound for greatness. Abe’s is Aztec, which means the God of War. The wolf housed inside of Link is Ludwig, which means famous in battle. And no, we have not spoken with the Ravens.’ His wolf’s tone was deep and gruff, rumbling in his mind.

Tank stared up at the sky, worrying about everyone having a talking entity within them and how they’d react. Hell, would they all think they were going crazy? He sucked in a breath, thoughts swirling in a mass of chaos. ‘What about the females? Do they have... female wolves and can they talk to them as well?’

If a wolf could purr, Titan did just that, flashing an image of Nita’s shiny black wolf to the front of his mind. ‘Our female is glorious. Her name is Alana, which means awakening.’

Tank could picture his wolf preening as if he’d had something to do with their female being the bad ass warrior that she was. ‘What is Jaklyn and her mates wolves names? Is that a secret?’

His wolf was quiet for a few minutes, giving Tank time to send his senses out to ensure they were safe.

‘We are safe, human.’ Titan huffed, his tone a slight snarl like he’d been offended.

‘Calm down, wolf. This is new to the both of us. I guess we’re on a learning curve.’ Tank took in an audible breath and let it out slowly. Fuck, he wasn’t sure how to navigate this new reality. He had links to his pack and best friends, and of course his female, but damn, and entity or wolf that was a part of him was totally different.

Titan flashed images of the two of them working together with the wolf easing his way through different times, showing Tank that they had in fact always been a part of one another’s lives. ‘The only difference was I was silenced. I was always there in the back wishing to speak, knowing when we shifted I was closer to myself than any other time. The times you gave yourself to the wolf, you allowed me to have some control.’

‘So the times I felt like I was more a passenger was when you were in control, or when I was injured, and my wolf pushed for me to allow him to take over was actually you as the wolf taking on the suffering? Was that because as a wolf you could heal us quicker?’ Tank looked up at the moon, wondering if the Goddess was up there watching him and his wolf converse.

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