Miles

"Well, that was a bit unexpected," Aphelion states, taking a seat in one of the armchairs, not ready to turn in for the night.

"What?" I ask, pretending not to know what Aphelion is talking about.

"Really?" He asks, raising an eyebrow as his eyes wander to the room Luka and Samael just entered.

"Yeah, but I guess it makes sense," I reply, shrugging my shoulders as I recline in the chair opposite Aphelion, trying to ignore the sounds of Katrina's moans coming from the room opposite the one Samael escaped into.

"How does it make sense?" "Aphelion asks as he turns his full attention back to me.

"Well, Katrina's mated to us, and we're all tied together by blood. Luka's also mated to Katrina, but he has no connection to us. It makes sense that he'd also be mated to one of us, and Samael was aggressively protective over him when he returned from his weekend spent with Katrina and Luka."

Aphelion humphs, not really replying to my statement, but I don't care. All I can hear is Beckett pleasuring Katrina, and I force myself not to get jealous. This is their time together. It's important that they complete their mating bond, and they both deserve some one-on-one time, but still, I can't help but feel left out. Katrina is my girl, even if I have to share her with four other dudes.

Not being able to take the sounds of the grunting from Samael's room and moaning from Katrina's, I head downstairs toward the workout room, knowing that a quick workout is all I need to clear my head.

"Hey," Aphelion hollers, chasing after me as I descend downstairs. "Where are you going?"

"To work out," I grunt, not wanting to express my feelings.

"At this time of night?" He questions as I jump on the treadmill, kicking the speed up to a ten. "No wonder you're so ripped."

I ignore him and listen instead to the rhythmic thud of my feet hitting the rubber belt. I run until I can't feel my legs anymore. Aphelion is watching me the entire time as he pretends to lift weights, a knowing look in his eyes. My cousins and I know each other too well to hide our emotions from each other, but it doesn't mean I have to voice them out loud.

As I slow down to a jog, the fog in my head starts to clear, and I feel a rush of power flow through my body, a sign that the mating process has been completed. I smile to myself. Now that Katrina's fully mated, there won't be anything separating me from sleeping in her bed. If the other guys want alone time with her, they can kick rocks for all I care. I'm not budging unless Katrina specifically asks me to leave and let her be alone with the others.

Aphelion rolls his eyes as I walk to the bench press, getting up from the leg press and walking over to spot me. "You sure are a possessive asshole; maybe you need to lay off the testosterone."

I laugh loudly; it's always been an inside joke that I take supplements to help boost my size since I'm much larger than my cousins, but come on, my dad is the God of war; it's kind of in his job title to be the biggest baddest God of them all, and I can't help it if I take after my father and have to live up to his expectations.

Halfway through my third set of reps, my phone starts to ring. I sigh as I set the bar down; I hate being interrupted during a workout, but as the heir to the Earth Kingdom, I must be readily available for anything. Looking at the caller ID, I see it's Headmaster Simmins calling; I'm tempted to ignore the call, but on second thought, I answer

"Hey."

"Miles?" Simmins asks as if he doesn't know whose cellphone he's calling.

"The one and only."

"Everything's taken care of, but Hermes is asking questions about the whereabouts of the heirs and their mate. It's important that you guys return immediately before he gets more suspicious and reports back to the council."

I sigh heavily, not really wanting to give up the peacefulness of the bunker.

"Okay. We will be there in the morning."

"Before breakfast," Simmins replies before hanging up the phone.

I roll my eyes, irritated with the headmaster's request, but at the same time, it's for the best that we return. Katrina needs to learn how to control her gifts, and the only way she can do that is by returning to school. It'll also be interesting to see how people react to the Professor being mated to not one but two of his students.

"So?" Aphelion questions after I grab a towel off the rack and wipe the sweat off my face.
"Simmins wants us back. Your father's little messenger has been poking his head around."

"Of course he is." Aphelion snorts in irritation.

Looking down at my watch, I see there are only a few hours left before sunrise, "Might as well go and wake the others if they've fallen asleep. We'll have to leave soon if we're going to make it by breakfast."

"Since we're working on her magic anyways, we should have Katrina try to teleport us back," Aphelion suggests taking the stairs two at a time, eager to get back upstairs.

"Ehh..." Since we are on a time crunch, I'm hesitant to experiment with Katrina's powers, but to hell with it, there's no time like the present, and if something goes wrong, we still have a portal to get us back. "Sure, it can't hurt to try," I reply, running up the stairs to catch up with Aphelion as he barges into Katrina and Beckett's room.

"WAKE UP, YOU DIRTY FUCKS." He hollers, swinging the door wide open.

I can hear Katrina saying something, but I can't make it out, but I know it must've been mean because Aphelion is quickly backpedaling.

"No, Princess, I wasn't talking to you, mostly Beckett."

I chuckle as I knock softly on Samael's door. Surprisingly I was greeted by Luka, who was already dressed, in one of my suits, looking every bit at the role of a Professor.

"Simmins call you too?" I ask

"Yep." Luka responds, "He thought it was strange that I went missing around the same time as you guys, but I wasn't about to offer him any information."

"Yeah, I don't blame you on that. Nice suit, by the way." I reply as I look at a very familiar suit I kept here in case of a special event.

"Yeah. Not like I had much choice. I don't really have anything else to wear." He blushes.

Yup, I didn't need to picture what happened to your clothes, dude. "Phil mentioned having Katrina try teleporting us back to the school," I reply quickly, changing the subject.

"I don't see why not." He replies, "as long as she can picture where she's dropping us, it should be fine."

That was simpler than I'd expected; I wonder if teleportation is a skill I could also learn. It would be handy for the five of us to each be able to master a skill like that, along with some of the other techniques that could be used as defensive measures.

"Kit-Kat." Luka purrs, sighting Katrina walking up behind us.

"Luka," She smiles, slipping past me to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Did you have a goodnight?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"Sure did. I always have a fun night with you or Samael in my bed. Although if I had my way, I would have to choose." Luka replies teasingly.

I can see the glimmer of desire in Katrina's eyes before the words even come out of her mouth, "Well, we will have to arrange for that to happen again...soon."

I clear my throat, reminding them both that I am there.

"Don't worry, Miles, we wouldn't leave you out of the fun." Luka winks at me.

"As long as Katrina's the fun them, I'm down," I reply, my voice husky at the thought of being with my mate once more.

"Aphelion," Beckett's voice rumbles, "Why in the bloody hells am I awake right now?" He asks, storming down the halls.

"Yes, Miles? Why did we have to wake so early?" Katrina asks, turning her full attention to me, her arms crossed in teasing anger.

"Let's go to the living room, and I can explain everything there, Kitten," I reply, grabbing Katrina's hand and pulling her along.

Once we are in the living room and everyone is settled with a hot cup of coffee, I explain that Headmaster Simmins had called me, notifying me that our absence had been noticed and that we needed to return to the academy immediately. "Zeus's messenger God has been keeping track of Aphelion since he started attending Divine Academy; in turn, it meant that he was keeping track of all the heirs. Headmaster Simmins is running out of reasons for our absence. Hermes is starting to get suspicious, and if he finds out we aren't on campus, he'll inform the council. That is why it's impertinent that we leave immediately and return to the school before breakfast."

"Breakfast?" Beckett questions, looking down at his watch, "That's in thirty minutes from now. How are we supposed to make it there on time?"

"Katrina," I reply, my one-worded answer confusing Beckett and causing Katrina to cower in her seat.

"Miles," She whispers pleadingly, "I..I can't."

"You can, Kitten." I reassure her, "You've done it twice now; there's nothing to fear."

"Both those times, I wasn't trying. I didn't know I was doing it. They happened by chance." She replies, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"Don't worry." Luka interrupts, and for once, I'm grateful for it, "I'll be there every step of the way. If something goes wrong, I can help correct it. Don't stress about it. This right now is the perfect opportunity to start training your magic. It can't be missed." As he finishes his response, Luka's voice sounds more like a professor's.

"Okay." Katrina nods her head, not looking so worried.

Watching Katrina immerse from the ball she's shrunk herself into, looking more determined than scared, made me realize there's no way I could ever be her only mate. All five of us provide her with something. She needs us all. And with that thought, all the jealousy I've had pent up since Katrina met my cousins seems to release from my chest. She needs us all. Me included. 

**AUTHOR NOTE**
***I rewrote this chapter like five times because I hated the way Miles sounded. He's suppose to be the mans-man. His outward appearance is suppose to be Alpha male, but then I reminded myself that that's how he appears on the outside, but on the inside he's as gentle and sweet (remember his mating experience with Katrina, how when they made love it was soft and gentle). So as I wrote this chapter for the fifth time expressing Miles's jealousy and how he eventually overcame it, I finally recognized that this person, this is Miles. His true inner self.***