69. VANYA: PROMISED TO THE ALPHAS

“Do you want me to help you clean up?”
Devrim shook his head. “No, we’ll clean it later.”
I bit my lip as I silently watched him pile the dirty dishes into the sink. He seemed nervous which worried me. Maybe it was pride related or maybe he was trying to figure out how to give me some bad news. What if he decided that he wasn’t happy with me anymore? I know that they knew about the cameras, but maybe Devrim didn’t trust me anymore. Maybe I was just being stupid and worrying about nothing.
When he was done, he turned and faced me.
“We need to talk, Vanya.”
A shudder raced down my spine. Things never ended well with those words.
I nodded and waited.
My eyes shot over to Ezra when he grabbed my hand. He was smiling but his eyes were filled with sadness. Without saying a word, Ezra led me into the living room where he took a seat and pulled me onto his lap.
A few seconds later my other two men joined us, each taking a seat opposite us.
Devrim leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and fingers entwined. He sucked in a breath and slowly blew it out before he raised his head and looked at me.
“You asked about your mother,” he said softly. “I think that we need to talk about this before we talk about the future. I fear that if we don’t tell you the truth now that you might hate us later on when you find out about it.”
I swallowed. “It sounds s-serious.”
He nodded. “It is, Vanya. You have no idea how the guilt is eating at me.”
“What’s there to feel guilty about?” I asked him.
Devrim looked at Obsidian. For a few seconds they silently stared at each other. I caught the slight nod Obsidian gave him before he looked away. Devrim didn’t answer my question nor did he speak immediately. He licked his lips and stared down at the floor for a few minutes and then he looked at me.
“You see Vanya, we’ve known you long before we met in the hospital,” he told me. “Obsidian tried to kill himself and you found him in the forest and called for help.”
My eyes shot over to Obsidian in shock. “W-why would you d-do that?”
Obsidian averted his gaze. “I have a lot of darkness inside me, Vanya—a lot of bad memories. I wanted to end things.”
“And he nearly managed,” Ezra hissed.
“But this little girl showed up and instead of running away, she approached the panther and started screaming for help.” Devrim chuckled. “When we arrived you had your tiny hands pressed to some of his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. Obsidian was growling at you, but you were scolding him for being a bad kitty.”
The smile faded. I frowned as I tried to recollect the memory he was talking about but my mind came up blank. When I told them that, Devrim only shrugged and continued.
“You snuck out a lot to come visit him while he was healing. Obsidian said he hated it but we knew he secretly enjoyed your visits.”
“I don’t remember that either.”
“You were very young,” Obsidian rasped.
I frowned. “Where does my mother come into all of this?” I questioned. “I saw the pictures in the album.”
Devrim straightened his legs and sighed. “Your father found out about your daily visits to Obsidian.”
Some of the confusion cleared. It explained how Obsidian and my father knew each other.
“He forbid you from visiting but somehow your mother found out about it. She ended up bringing you for visits.”
“Is that where she met the shifter she. . .dated?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Yes, it was on one of those trips that she met Darial.”
The men shared a glance. It was like they were silently communication without uttering a word. Obsidian shook his head slight and looked at me before dropping his gaze.
“She cheated on my father.”
Devrim shook his head. “They were friends—very good friends—at first. The more you visited and they talked, the stronger their feelings got. Melanie—your mother was hesitant to start a relationship with Darial because she was married.”
I swallowed and frowned at him. “But everyone said that she had a relationship with him. I feel like you’re not telling me everything.”
Ezra’s arm around my waist tightened slightly as he shifted around and loosened when he leaned back. His lips brushed my ear a second before he spoke.
“You’re father’s true colours have been revealed, sugarplum. We’ve always know that he wasn’t a good man, but we never knew what went on inside his house between him and your mother.”
“She stopped coming for a week and then suddenly showed up bruised and a crying mess.” Obsidian said. “We tried to find out what had happened, but she only wanted to talk to Darial. You stayed with some of the woman while your mother was with him.”
“We believe that during that time, she formed a deeper relationship with him. I know that the last thing your mother wanted to do was return home with you, but she said that she had too.”
I swallowed the sudden lump that filled my throat. “B-but she died before she came b-back.”
Devrim nodded.
“What happened to Darial? Does he still live here?”
Obsidian stood, stumbled slightly but managed to regain his balance. Without looking at us and a muttered excuse about taking a leak, he disappeared down the hall.
“He died a few weeks after your mother,” Ezra answered my question.
Why couldn’t I remember any of it? Surely it wasn’t something I would’ve forgotten even though I was so young when it happened. How could a little girl ever forget meeting a panther up close and personal?
Devrim stood, drawing my attention to him. He surprised me when he knelt on the floor in front of us. Reaching out, Devrim took hold of my hand and gave me a small smile.
“I’m a bit worried about the next part,” he whispered.
“Why?”
He turned his head and nodded in the direction Obsidian had disappeared in. Not even five seconds later, Obsidian entered the living room again, carrying a small wooden box. After hesitating for a moment, he dropped to his knees next to Devrim and held the box out to me.
“Your father gave you to us as. . .payment, but what he doesn’t know is the fact that you’ve belonged to us way before I signed that contact with him,” Devrim muttered.
“Open it,” Ezra whispered in my ear.
The box was covered in a few layers of dust and some spider webs. There were designs carved into the wood but I was planning on studying that in detail later. Swiping some dust from the top, I bit my lip as I slowly opened it.
Inside, folded neatly was a piece of paper a few inches smaller than the box.
I lowered the box to my lap and carefully pulled the paper out. My hand shook as I carefully unfolded it. It was thin with ripped edges and the writing has faded in some spot which made it hard to read.
“I can’t read it.”
Obsidian carefully took the letter from me, refolded it and placed it back in the box. He placed his hands over Devrim’s and squeezed. His lips curled into a small smile as he stared at our hands.
“You see, a certain girl told her mother that one day she was going to marry three handsome Alphas.” His smile slipped as he raised his eyes to look at me. “A lot has changed since then. Only one of us remains Alpha, one of us has turned into a sick bastard with an unhealthy obsession with knives and all things dark, and the other one have yet to grow up.”
“Hey!” Ezra exclaimed, making me laugh.
“But our feelings haven’t changed,” Obsidian continued.
“Actually, our feeling have changed,” Ezra said. “It has grown stronger.”
“That’s not the point he’s trying to make here, Ezra,” Devrim growled.
Obsidian sighed. “What matters is the fact that your mother promised you to us.”
“Now that’s a little far-fetched,” I mused, but I was smiling.
“Vanya.”
My smile faded when I caught the look in Devrim’s eyes. I looked at Obsidian and asked him a question that made colour flood his cheeks.
“Did you really mean what you said to me after you. . .got us out from the container?”
Obsidian swallowed. “I didn’t think you heard me.”
“I heard everything.” I smiled at him. “Including all the promises you made.”
“I meant it.”
I pulled my hands out from under theirs and reach for Ezra’s hand resting on my hip. Placing his hand on my thigh, I reached for Devrim’s and Obsidian’s and placed their hand on top of Ezra’s before I placed mine on top.
“Although I don’t remember any of the things you’ve just told me about, and I certainly don’t understand why my mother would promise me to you, I do know that my home is where the three of you are.” Tears suddenly burned my eyes, making me swallow rapidly before I continued. “The weeks I spend in my apartment alone were hell. I can’t imagine living without you anymore, but I know that things between the three of us aren’t always going to be easy.”
“We’ll make sure that you’re happy,” Devrim promised.
I smiled at him. “I know you will, but my happiness isn’t the only happiness to put into consideration.”
“I don’t understand, sugarplum.”
I sighed and turned slightly to look at him over my shoulder. “What I’m trying to say is that we aren’t. . .the same. There might be something that I don’t understand about you and vice versa. I don’t want our differences to ruin the relationship we have.”
Devrim chuckled. “Not a chance of that, rosebud.” He leaned closer and pressed his lips to mine in a short kiss. “When we mate, it’s forever.”
“Good,” I whispered. “Not other wom—females, right?”
“No.”
I nodded but before I could utter another word, Ezra spoke up.
“So everything’s settled now?” he questioned.
“Yes,” Devrim answered.
I sucked my lip into my mouth and glanced around the room before I told them something that has been bothering me since I learned about my father being locked up and Joy wanting to take over things.
“Everything’s settled for now, but I have a feeling that Joy’s going to raise hell soon.”
A gasp fell from my lips when Ezra suddenly stood and swung me up into his arms. “Well then,” he said, as he headed for the stairs. “We best enjoy the peace while we can.”