Chapter Twelve

The second I opened the door to the land rover my mother began to sniff the air.
I knew she could smell it.
Her eyes darted to mine, first with panic, then with pity.
"Oh my goddess, Aria. Who-" I saw her eyes fall on the door to the event center, where Bastion was watching me closely, both hands shoved into his pockets in a defeated posture.
"Please, let's drive." I begged quietly.
She nodded, her eyes still wide as she waved to Bastion and he nodded kindly in return.
"Holy shit in a biscuit!"
"Mom!"
"I'm sorry, Aria. I just... well damn it, what are you going to do?"
I groaned into my palms. "I don't know, mom. What would you do?"
"Nu-uh, don't ask me. I thought your dads and I's relationship was messed up. This is... I mean, wow, Aria. Both a mate and a royal? What were the gods thinking?"
"Those two bastards are probably loving the show." I grumbled, earning a swat from my mom.
"Don't be sour."
"What else is there to be when I'm hopelessly and spiritually connected with two different men of different species, mom? This is so fucked up. I wanted *one*, not both. How am I supposed to choose between the two?"
She pulled her lip between her teeth, concentrating hard.
"Maybe you don't need to choose."
I gasped at her suggestion. "I'm not forming some cross-species reverse harem, mom. I can't be with both of them. How would *they* feel about that?"
I groaned when I remembered my talk with Rory the previous night. "Oh mom. I promised Rory that I wouldn't get a mate at the Eclipse Ceremony!"
My moms eyes widened. "Aria! Why would you do that?"
"I don't know, I guess I didn't expect James to actually be right about Bas and I!" I growled, immediately softening after seeing my mothers wounded expression. "I'm sorry, mom. I just... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to see Rory in like five minutes and I have no idea how to act with him now."
My mom placed a maternal hand on my thigh.
"Honey, I think you need to be honest. With both of them. It's not fair for you to keep them in the dark about where your love lies. Who knows? They might even give you some more time to make the decision."
My heart clenched at her words. I knew she was right, but I really wasn't looking forward to the look on either of their faces when I broke the news.
I sighed anyway, slouching my shoulders and peering out the window at the passing Nevada landscape. If I ever saw those gods again...
My pity was shortlived when we approached the gas station located directly on territory lines. I could hear the rush of Rory's blood as we came into view. He looked relieved, probably because we were so late.
As soon as my greedy eyes took in his navy pants and partially unbuttoned signature white dress shirt, I had completely forgotten the bad news I had to deliver. I jumped from the passenger seat of my mom's car, bounding into his warm and waiting embrace.
As soon as he took a deep breath of my hair, however, he let out a low hiss, gently pushing me an arms length away.
"Mutt." He choked out through gritted teeth, glancing behind me for a brief second before using his lightning fast reflexes to relocate himself in between my mom's car and me. I turned around to ask him what was going on when it hit me.
The overwhelming smell of spearmint and Hugo.
"Aria? Who the hell is that?" Bastion's growl flooded my sensitive ears.
I peeked around Rory tentatively, taking in the sight of my mom with her jaw on the floor standing beside a very angry Bastion.
*Great help, mom.*
I swallowed hard, placing one hand on Rory's shoulder and stepping past him. He eyed me with hurt and confusion, and for a moment I contemplated what would happen if I lost both of my loves at the exact same time.
Both men waited for me to clear my throat and speak, their eyes centered on their only loves. I started by looking at Rory.
"Rory, meet Bastion. He's my mate." His eyes immediately flashed red, his fangs bared at the wolf in front of him.
"Bastion... meet Rory. He's my royal." Bastions eyes went from loving to burning hatred for Rory in a blink, and before I knew it, both men were in a standoff that would make the council seek refuge.
Could this possibly be any worse?
I could see Bastion's wolf fighting for control and panic overtook me. There were humans at this station. If they saw Bastion transform, we would all be indicted and punished.
Rory's back was to them, so they couldn't see his glowing eyes and fangs, but Bastion was facing them, and a small crowd of whispering onlookers was starting to form. Maybe I should've brought them into the desert to tell them where they could at least be free to express themselves. But it was too late for that. I needed to calm Bastion down immediately.
"Rory, trust me, love." I whispered, so quietly that only he and other vampires could hear. He answered with a hiss, but I knew it wasn't directed at me.
"Bastion, baby. I need you to calm down, okay?" I approached him like a tamer would approach a wild lion, my arms held in front of me in hopes that he would heed my warnings.
Instead of responding, he took three long steps towards me, crushing me to his body as tightly as he could without breaking me while continuing to growl at Rory. His tongue darted out to lick up the side of my neck and Rory took a menacing step forward.
"Don't you touch her neck you filthy dog!" He spat, slowly losing his composure.
I tried desperately to force Bastion to make eye contact with me, gripping the side of his face firmly, but he wouldn't stray from eyeing his threat.
"Stay back, leech! Mine! She's mine!" He snarled in return, shaking my grip and hugging me tighter against his body.
"Like hell she is!" Rory finally shouted.
*Stop! Stop fighting! *
Suddenly overwhelmed with the hostile energy flowing between my two loves, I pushed back, breaking Bastion's steel grip with ease using my vampire strength and curling myself into a ball on the concrete with my hands over my ears.
I could hear myself whimpering, the pathetic sound drowning out the chaos around me effectively.
It was peaceful like this. Controlled.
There were no men, no decisions.
Just. Me.
I wasn't sure how long I stayed locked away like that, but eventually I heard Bastion speak into my mind.
"Baby, it's okay. You can come out now."
I had never been mind linked by anyone besides my mom, and the use of it startled me. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times in utter confusion.
We were no longer at the gas station, but we were in a vast expanse of land just outside of the city. Perhaps even more surprising than that, though, was the fact that I was in my wolf form.
"Sella? What happened?" I asked, a little frightened.
"Not sure. All I remember is being suddenly handed control." I glanced around us, furrowing my brow when I took in the sight of my mother standing about thirty feet away from me with Rory and Bastion on either side of her, eyeing me with looks of concern and shame.
I felt like a injured kitten with how they were staring at me, and I didn't care for it.
I quickly transformed back into my human form, forgetting my nudity until I saw a set of black and red eyes staring back at me.
Thankfully, my mom moved swiftly, draping me in a spare solid black fleece blanket from the car. I flinched at their heated gazes, making them soften immediately.
Rory glanced at Bastion before making the first move towards my cowaring form.
"Love, I'm so sorry that we frightened you. We were just caught off guard with the news. Please forgive us."
*Us? We? Is he speaking for both of them?*
Bastion also took a few careful steps towards me.
"Your mom explained the, uh, situation to us. I'm sorry about this, baby. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have followed you. If I had just waited for you to tell me, you wouldn't have been so freaked out. I just... I missed you as soon as you left. And I didn't understand why you would want to leave. Damn it, I'm rambling..."
I let out a small giggle at Bastion's adorable display, making both their eyes widen.
"Love?" "Baby?" They both said simultaneously, obviously trying to hide their annoyance with the person beside them.
I didn't care, though, because at least they were trying to get along. I stood slowly, my eyes dancing between the two glorious men before me. Both so different, but both completely mine.
"Kings."