Page 55 of Rising Darkness

“I had no idea I was signing up for a shit ton of emails when I took this position on the Council,” he grumbled and sat back in his chair, giving me his full attention. “Maybe Carlisle has it right,” he said, mentioning my bio dad’s name.

After the battle with Elan had ended, we’d finally had a chance to meet while we both took care of Cardoc—who’d always be my father, despite what blood we shared. Carlisle told me how much I reminded him of my mother and explained that he’d had to go into hiding. Elan had known he was the one who’d sheltered my mother, and he gave me to his brother to raise as his own to keep Elan from ever finding out about me. It hurt to think of all the years we’d missed together because of a sadistic asshole, but I was grateful for the second chance to get to know him. And my father, if I was being honest. Without Avalon in the picture, our relationship was stronger than ever. At least, once he’d adjusted to hearing about how many mates I had. That had been an awkward conversation, but he’d quickly accepted them as my mates when he saw how devoted they all were.

“He warned me getting into politics would be challenging,” Dason admitted.

“Hey,” I soothed. “You were born to lead, Dason. You’ll settle in. Everything is still new. Give it time.”

“I know,” he sighed and then tilted his head, studying me. “You look happy.” He smiled softly and squeezed my thigh.

“I am,” I told him. Then squirmed on his desk. I hated to interrupt his work, but I was terrible at keeping secrets, and if I didn’t get all my mates together soon and spill the beans, I knew I’d slip up and ruin the entire surprise. “Can you take a break for lunch? The pack and I are going on a picnic, and I want you there.”

“You can have me wherever you want me,” he growled, his tone suggestive.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t contain my smile. This was exactly why I had a surprise to share, but could you blame me? My mates were sexy as hell and each one of them was a master in the bedroom. My toes curled just thinking about it. About them. About the things they did to me that made me scream in the best ways.

Now that I had Dason’s agreement, I reached for the others. Syler and Jolon were out on an assignment from Dase—something to do with a possible possession. We were still cleaning up the occasional shade that we found in our realm. No longer the alpha of our group, Jolon seamlessly fit into the role of enforcer—a perfect fit for my protective alpha.

If you’re not busy, can you come home?I reached out to Jolon.

We just finished up. False alarm.A portal opened as I strode into the living room, and Syler immediately pulled me into his arms.

I missed you.He buried his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply.There’s something about your scent lately.

I tensed and then forced myself to relax and giggle off his comment.Dammit.Why were they so attuned to me? I mean, I couldn’t hate it, because it was usually a good thing, but right now, I just wanted to keep one thing to myself until I could get everyone together to share the news.

Keeping secrets in this house was impossible.

“Lorn’s up to something,” Axel said, stealing a chip from Chayton’s spread of food as he packed the basket.

Chayton slapped his hand. “Patience.”

“Never been my middle name.” Axel grinned mischievously and stole another one, dancing out of the way before he got scolded once more.

Seeing my mates together like this, happy and carefree, did my heart good.

“Kota’s running one last lap around the perimeter and he’ll meet us at the picnic.” Axel sidled up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, leaning in to kiss my temple. “Ready? The suspense is killing me.”

I rolled my eyes and played it cool. “It’s just a picnic.”

Opening the back door, the guys funneled outside onto the large deck they’d all built onto the back of the house. Little by little, we’d made this house a home, personalizing it to our tastes and giving it personality. What had once been an unfinished work in progress had quickly become a cozy haven. I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the sunlight and followed my mates. The tattoo inked below my breasts tingled with magick, a gift from Tye. The vampires who’d taken Mara off our hands had been grateful for our testimony against the assholes who’d turned me into a vampire, and when Tye had requested the magickal ink, they’d been more than happy to provide it for their Veil Keeper. It took Tye an entire day to tattoo the beautiful creation onto my skin, a gorgeous design that flowed with my curves, covering the space under my breasts with intricate lines that looked like a dreamcatcher. Woven into the image were each of their animals, and it dripped with feathers that reached toward my navel.

I instantly loved it. And I loved getting to go back into the sunlight, too.

The heat warmed my skin as we made our way to a perfect spot. Chayton set out a blanket, and it reminded me of our first date… and the first time we’d mated.

Letting magick creep from my fingers, I conjured the blanket to span more of the grassy area, then added comfortable pillows, some string lights, and a few lanterns to make it glow.

“What’s all this?” Kota asked when he emerged from the trees, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants. I swallowed and drank in the sight of him.

“Lorn’s up to something.” Axel grinned and sprawled onto the blanket, leaning on his side and waggling his brows at me. He looked like a sex on a stick, but I didn’t react as we all gathered on the blanket and settled in.

Syler pulled me onto his lap, Jolon next to us, Dason across from him, and the others seated around the rest of the blanket to make a loose circle with the food in the center. Seven sets of eyes settled on me expectantly.

“Lorn, we fucking love you, but you’re the worst at keeping secrets, firecracker,” Jolon agreed with Axel.

“You’ve had the connections shut tight since this morning,” Dason growled, unhappy with that little fact.

---