Page 13 of Chosen: The Lenkov Journals

Theo

Groggy from his nap, Theo tried to move his legs, but they were pinned down by a heavy weight. Actually, his entire body was being weighed down. Theo blinked his eyes open and was greeted by a sleek chest where his cheek lay. Theo lifted his head to find that he has passed out on Aleksander’s chest with Wylder practically covering his entire body.

Aleksander smiled before he cupped Theo’s face. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he croaked back. Theo cleared his voice before he tried again. “Hey.”

“Did you have a good nap?” Aleksander asked.

Theo nodded. “Wylder’s heavy,” he complained.

Aleksander nodded as he extracted Theo from under Wylder’s broad frame. Theo ended up in Aleksander’s lap as the vampire plus leaned against the headboard. Wylder grunted before he snuffled, turned over, and began to snore again.

“Where’s Dario and Mitch?”

“Dario had some emergency that came up and is passing it off to Ferguson so he can still spend the weekend with us. Mitch is in the shower,” Aleksander told him.

“Oh.” Theo yawned. “How long was I asleep? Did you sleep too?”

“I napped,” Aleksander said. “You were down about an hour and a half.”

“Sorry.” Theo shrugged. “Guess I was tired.”

“It was a pretty busy morning,” Aleksander responded kindly.

Yeah, Theo had experienced two orgasms, received a mating mark, and all before lunch. “Did you call you fathers back?”

“Not yet. I decided that I deserved the time with my mates. I did have Dario turn off my phone so it wouldn’t wake you or Wylder.”

“Don’t blame us,” Theo teased. “You just don’t want to talk to them.”

Aleksander chuckled. “You’re not wrong.”

“Can you tell me more about them? Your fathers.”Theo had the journals where Tate spoke about his mates, but Theo would love Alek’s point of view of his fathers.

“I can!” Aleksander brightened. It was obvious that he loved his fathers.That helped calm some of the anxiety Theo had about having to meet them.

Theo settled back against Aleksander’s chest. They were still naked, but Aleksander was warm and made for a good chair.

“I take after my vampire father, Vadir, the most. I have his height and body structure although I have my angel father’s eyes and hair.”

Theo reached up to rub a few silky strands between his fingers. “Oh?”

“Although my love for reading came from my human father, Tate. He always had a book in his hand and he devoured the written word. Even before I started school, I could read way above my age.”

“What’s he like to read?”

“Anything. Everything,” Aleksander answered. “Although his guilty pleasure is definitely historic romance books. When gay romance became a thing in books in the last decade or so, he was in heaven.”

Theo grinned. He already had something in common with one of his future fathers-in-law.He wrote the journals like a story, pulling Theo into what was written.

“As the oldest, I was lucky that I had many years with my fathers alone. Evian is twenty years younger than me although he doesn’t look it. By the time I was old enough to want privacy and to be on my own, my fathers had Evian to give their attention to. Thomas is thirty years younger than me, ten years younger than Evian. The twins were more of a surprise and they were born after my one hundredth birthday.”

Hundredth what? Hellcats! “Your what now?” Theo stared at his mate. “How old are you?”

Aleksander seemed to think about it before he nodded. “One hundred fifty-eight.”

“One hundred fifty-eight,” Theo repeated. Aleksander was messing with him, Right? Right!

“I…yes…that’s right.”

Theo knew that his mouth had dropped open.

“Hey! Dario’s older than I am!” Aleksander’s voice rose.

“He…” No, nope, Theo was not going to go there. He wanted to poke Wylder awake so he would have a witness to this conversation.

“Baby, you do realize that…you’ll…live for a very long time.”

“How long?” Theo demanded.

“If you were just a shifter? Five to seven hundred years.”

Theo yelped.

“But now that we’re mated? You’re immortal.”

“Immortal?” He had not read that. Nope. There had been nothing about being immortal in any of the volumes that he’d read. Did he want to be immortal? Panic started to bubble in his chest. That was a really long time. It was forever. He had to live forever?

The bathroom door slammed open as Mitch rushed out of the bathroom with water still dripping and a towel haphazardly around his waist. “What’s wrong?” he demanded.

The bedroom door flew open as Dario ran in. “Theo?”

Wylder sat up abruptly before he reached for Theo.

Oh crap! Theo sucked in a breath.

“We can feel your panic,” Aleksander said gently. “Calm down, Theo. It’s all okay.”

“What happened?” Dario asked as he sat on the side of the bed.

Mitch crossed the room before he dropped down beside Wylder.

“Immortal!” Theo managed to get that one word out.

Dario and Mitch seemed to relax.

“Huh?” Wylder looked confused.

Of course, Aleksander, Mitch, and Dario wouldn’t panic about being immortal. They probably thought that was common knowledge. Theo turned his attention to his human mate.

“We’re immortal,” Theo told him.

“We are?” Wylder asked. “Cool!”

“Cool? Cool?” Theo repeated. “I don’t want to be immortal!”

“Why not?” Wylder asked bluntly.

Theo spluttered. “Why not? Because life is hard! It sucks! I can’t do this forever! I’ll go insane!” he yelled.

“Baby.” Dario clasped Theo’s hands. “You have us now. You have men that will do anything to make you happy. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Oh. That was right. The panic began to recede and Theo dropped his head. He was an idiot. He’d freaked out when every other man in the room was going through the same thing as him. And Wylder was human so he wasn’t even born with any magic. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Nothing to be sorry for.” Aleksander placed his fingers under Theo’s chin to lift his head. “I shouldn’t have told you like that. I thought you would be happy. I still have so much to learn. I don’t know how to talk to you.”

Theo was already shaking his head. “No, don’t say that. I was enjoying our talk, hearing about your fathers. I just… Sometimes it’s hard to remember that this isn’t all going to go away.”

Wylder lifted Theo’s right arm before running the fingers of his other hand over Theo’s skin. “Then all you need to do is look down at your arm and see the proof that we will never leave you.”

Theo smiled. That was right. He had a permanent reminder that he belonged to his mates and they belonged to him. “I’d like to hear more.”

Aleksander smiled before he kissed the tip of Theo’s nose. “What do you know about angels?”

Theo settled back in as his mates moved around him until they were all bundled together back in the bed as Aleksander returned to telling them about his fathers, their abilities, and growing up. Aleksander spoke respectfully about his parents but when he told stories about his brothers, he was more amused and grinned a lot.

It must have been fun growing up in such a busy house, with chaos, love, and adventure. Aleksander’s upbringing couldn’t have been more different from Theo’s. Theo wasn't even that jealous either. He was happy for Aleksander that the vampire plus knew he was loved. Even with the responsibility of knowing he could be one of the chosen mates, Aleksander was still able to grow up with people who loved him.

Theo listened to the stories happily as he thought about the new information that he’d learned. He was still nervous about meeting Aleksander’s family, okay he was terrified, but maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.

* * * * *

Wylder

Entering the living room, Wylder wasn’t surprised to find Theo curled up on the couch with one of the Lenkov journals. His little shifter mate was becoming quite obsessed with the journals.

“What are you reading about?” Wylder crouched next to Theo.

Theo looked up at him with big eyes. “Being immortal.”

“That’s in the journal?”

“Yes, Tate was human before he was mated. He’s explaining when he learned.”

Wylder grasped one of Theo’s hands. “Does it make you feel better?”

Lowering his eyes, Theo nodded.

“Good. I’m glad it helps.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s okay to be scared or unsure,” Wylder said. “This is all happening very fast.”

“Do you get scared?” Theo’s voice was quiet. Hesitant.

“Yes.” Wylder shrugged. “But honestly I’m excited.”

“Oh!”

Wylder needed to give his little shifter more. He dropped onto his ass before scooting closer to the couch. He never let go of Theo’s hand. He brought Theo’s palm to rest against the large scar on his face. “You’ve never asked me about this.”

“I figured you would tell me when you were ready.”

Wylder nodded. “Most of the time I forget about it if I’m not looking in the mirror.”

Theo caressed the scar.

“But my point is that when I received this scar, I thought that I was going to die. I should have. The government had turned on me. My entire life had been pointless and I was literally thrown to the wolves.”

Theo gasped.

“Yeah, turned out the government wasn’t just experimenting on humans to make super soldiers. They were also trying to make shifters docile and controllable.”

“Oh my god!”

“They’d starved one of the shifters in their secret program. They tortured him. Hurt him. Turned him into a mindless beast. At least as far as they knew.”

“That’s horrible!”

“It’s one of the reasons that I’m glad you are so careful. I couldn’t imagine what happened to them happening to you.”

Theo nodded.

“He wasn’t a monster.”

Theo rubbed against the scar again.

Wylder smiled. It no longer hurt although occasionally he’d have a twinge of pain. A reminder. “He saved me. When he didn’t attack, the guards started to shoot at us. He covered my body with his even though he’d been starved and beaten. The scar is a result of an accident and he felt horrible.”

“How’d you get out of there.”

“What they were doing wasn’t sanctioned. Someone of rank showed up. They put a stop to it. Not long after that I was paid off.”

“I…I can’t even imagine going through something like that.”

“Yeah. That was when I learned that humans were most often worse than the monsters I was supposed to fear.”

“And the shifter…what kind of shifter was he?”

“His name is Cotton. He was released with me. Last time I talked to him, he’d moved to Colorado. He still suffers from what was done to him.”

“I’m so sorry!” Tears filled Theo’s eyes. “I’d like to meet him someday. To tell him thank you for saving you.”

Wylder laughed. As horrible as it was to share that story, he loved Theo. Loved him with his whole heart. His little shifter was just so easy to love. “Maybe someday when he’s ready.”

“Okay.”

“I’m headed down to the gym to work out with Mitch. Do you want to come?” Wylder invited.

Theo scrunched his nose. “I don’t want to exercise. That’s not fun. This is supposed to be a relaxing weekend.”

Wylder rose. He stretched his arms over his chest, letting the hem of his shirt rise to show off his abs. “I was more thinking you could sit in the corner and watch two of your mates getting all sweaty. Shirts will probably come off.”

Theo immediately sat up.

“You could even read your journal while down there. Just with some eye candy.”

“I could do that.”

Wylder helped Theo off the couch. “Come on. We don’t want to miss anything.”

“Yeah.” Theo skipped beside him. “You’ll get Mitch to take his shirt off though?”

“I promise.” Even if Wylder had to rip it off their demon warrior. Whatever he needed to do to keep his little shifter happy.

* * * * *

Mitch

Wylder had skills.

Even though Mitch had known that Wylder had military training, he was still expecting Wylder to move like a human. The enhancements weren’t going to waste. Wylder used everything to his advantage.

“Nice move!” Theo cheered from the side.

“Thanks, baby!” Wylder danced under Mitch’s arm.

“Focus!” Mitch barked.

“Oh, I’m focused.” Wylder shook out his arms. “Are you ready to admit that I’m good?”

“You’re not bad,” Mitch conceded. He was also not using his entire strength as they sparred. Mitch didn’t want to hurt his human. He did spare Theo a look. He’d been surprised when Theo showed up at the gym. The little shifter hadn’t once commented on using the space. It made more sense when Theo settled on a mat in the corner with his journal. Wylder had strolled over and literally torn the shirt from Mitch’s body. Supposedly for Theo’s benefit.

Watching sweat drip down between Wylder’s pecs, Mitch could admit getting rid of the shirts wasn’t a bad idea. He enjoyed a little eye candy as well. How could he get less clothes on Theo?

His moment of distraction almost cost him as Wylder threw a right hook.

Mitch was barely able to duck away in time.

“I thought we were focusing,” Wylder taunted.

“I’ll show you focus,” Mitch replied. He went after the human again.

Wylder danced around the mat, but Mitch was bigger, faster, and had more experience. He took Wylder’s legs out from under him, causing the human to hit the mat hard on his back.

“Ow!” Theo called. “That was awesome. Good job, Mitch!”

“Hey!” Wylder complained from the mat.

“You were getting a little cocky,” Theo told him.

Mitch walked over to stand above his human. “You were.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Wylder grinned up at him. “It’s still fun.”

It was. Mitch offered Wylder a hand up.

There was movement from the corner as Mitch helped Wylder to his feet.

“All done watching?” Mitch asked.

Theo nodded. “Yes, you guys are making me tired and all I’m doing is watching. I’m going to get a drink and read more of the journal. You two are distracting.”

Mitch winked. “Are we?”

Theo grunted before he rushed over. Tilting his head back, he pursed his lips. “Kiss?”

“I’m all sweaty,” Mitch reminded him.

Theo blinked. “Kiss, please?”

Who was he to deny his mate? Mitch lowered his head to brush his lips over Theo’s. He kept the kiss light and soft. Theo turned to Wylder.

Wylder didn’t waste time and kissed Theo as well.

The little shifter appeared to really like their kisses.

“Okay, I’m going to go find Dario. Have fun!” Theo exited the gym, leaving Mitch and Wylder alone.

“Are you done?” Mitch asked.

Wylder ran his gaze down Mitch’s body. “Not unless you are.”

“Sure. As long as you’re not tired.”

Wylder snorted. “Can I have a sword?”

“No.”

“Come on! I’d be awesome with a sword.”

Mitch’s heart wouldn’t be able to handle the danger to Wylder. Even training was dangerous. “No.”

Wylder narrowed his eyes. “I’ll keep asking.”

“I’ll keep saying no.”

“Uh-huh.” Wylder stepped back before moving into his attack position. “You ready, demon?”

“Demon warrior.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot.”

Mitch was going to wipe that smirk off Wylder’s face. Or kiss it off. That was still up for debate.

* * * * *

Wylder

Wylder grinned as he spotted Theo lying on the couch with his head in Dario’s lap. Dario was running his fingers through Theo’s soft hair as Theo watched a documentary on the television. Dario was watching Theo more than the screen.

Golden eyes lifted to meet his and Dario smiled. “How was your workout?”

“So good,” Wylder told him. “Mitch is a beast, but he agreed to train me. I want a sword!”

Theo lifted his head from Dario’s lap, frowning. “You’ll cut your own hand off.”

Amused, Wylder skipped farther into the room and to the couch. He plopped on Theo’s butt, causing the little shifter to grunt. “Don’t be that way, Theo! I would totally rock a sword.”

Theo sighed before laying his head back down. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“And where is our demon warrior?” Dario asked.

“Shower,” Wylder supplied. He’d been sorely tempted to join Mitch in his shower, but he was already worked up. There was no way that he could join Mitch and not be all over the other man. Wylder wasn’t sure what the rules were when it came to them being together. Did they all need to be in the room? Was it okay if two or three of them were together? He needed to get clarification and soon.

Wylder hadn’t expected any orgasms over the weekend and had been pleasantly surprised, but even with the blowjobs and hand jobs they’d shared, they hadn’t really talked about what they’d done. Admittedly Wylder wanted to get fucked, but he also didn’t want to make Theo uncomfortable.

Theo shifted under him, and Wylder realized he must be getting heavy. He lowered himself down before squirming his way between Theo and the back of the couch, putting his head against Dario’s side.

This was nice. He liked cuddles. Snuggling against Theo’s back, Wylder slipped his arm around the little shifter and squeezed. That was when he noticed they were missing someone else. “Alek?”

Dario chuckled. “Returning calls from his family. He decided to finally bite the bullet.”

Wylder immediately thought about Aleksander saying he’d bite him. Wylder didn’t know why he was so fixated on that but the thought of Alek biting his neck made him hot.And he didn’t need that in addition to already being worked up. He’d barely gotten his cock to go down.And his erection would be noticeable since he was practically plastered to Theo’s back.

“What’re we watching?” Wylder mumbled, trying to push away any thoughts of teeth sinking into his soft skin.

“It’s about Dario,” Theo told him.

Dario groaned. “It’s stupid but Theo found it before I could talk him into watching something else.”

“But I want to know everything about you!” Theo exclaimed.

“Baby, half of what’s said on here isn’t even true. It’s just the business face that I put out. I can’t really tell them that I have hundreds of years of experience. That’s how I made my money. I’ve seen many things come and go and have a good idea what to invest in.”

“It’s still interesting,” Theo grumbled. “And we’re not talking about how old any of you guys are.”

Theo really was struggling with the immortal topic that had been brought up. Wylder had hoped that he’d helped and Theo had the journals. Eventually it was going to have to be discussed. Wylder brushed his fingers along Theo’s right arm as a silent reminder. The shifter was no longer alone. None of them were. Wylder had a family again. A better family. Wylder missed his mom even though they hadn’t really been that close.

His mother had been a military spouse and her priority had been making his officer father look good. Their family had to always appear perfect. Wylder often wondered how his parents had reacted to the news that he’d been killed. Had his father acted mournful just to turn around and use it for his benefit? Wylder suspected he had. He’d often thought about Googling his or his family’s name but refrained, knowing the news would likely upset him.

Settling in, he turned his attention back to the program on the television. Even though they were talking about Dario’s early days in starting his company, the man still looked very much the same.

“Wait,” Wylder said. “If that’s a picture of you over twenty years ago, how has no one asked why you haven’t aged?”

“I’m rich. I’m not expected to age. I have the money to stay young for longer than others. Eventually I will have to disappear and start over, but I still have a good decade or two.”

That seemed complicated. Wylder had just started over himself, but since he was dead and as long as he never went home, he hadn’t had to do much. He’d even kept his name. Dario was too big of a public figure to just pop up somewhere else without being recognized.

“Does that mean we’ll move?” Theo asked.

“I’m sure we will eventually, little one. You might not know much about shifters, so it might not have dawned on you that you would have had to eventually change your name and start over somewhere where no one knew you.”

“Me?” Theo asked.

“In another decade or so your aging process would have slowed down. When you’re fifty or sixty, you’ll still appear to be in your thirties.”

“Oh. What about now?” Theo questioned.

Wylder saw the wince on Dario’s face although Theo still faced the television so he missed it.

“When we mated, your body started to adapt to us and the bond. Your aging would be one of the things that was jump-started.”

Theo sighed long and loud. “I’m going to get carded for the next hundred years. I just know it.”

Wylder snorted. It would probably be longer than that. Theo just looked young and innocent. The poor shifter was going to hate it.

There were some myths that Wylder wished had been true. In one series that he’d watched when the humans mated and were turned, they were made more beautiful than they had been. All imperfections had disappeared.

Wylder rubbed his scarred cheek against Dario’s side. The scar was still there, still noticeable, and would be something that Wylder would be living with for the rest of his immortal life. That was a fucking long time. He hated the scar. The daily reminder of all the terrible things that had been done to him. Unlike the mating mark, Wylder’s scar represented pain and terror. The worst days of his life.

Being plucked out of boot camp for a special assignment had made Wylder excited. He’d thought he would perform a duty and serve his country without having to shoot anyone.

At first the tests that Wylder had gone through had simply been non-invasive medical ones and numerous questions. So many questions. Like pages and pages of questions. After about a month of normal medical testing and questionnaires was when everything changed. Half the men and women were sent back where they’d been plucked from, and it turned out they’d been the lucky ones.

Wylder had been ecstatic that he’d been chosen. Had thought he’d been special. Two weeks later and Wylder had been experiencing the worst pain of his life. By the end of the experiments, Wylder prayed daily that he’d finally die.

No one ever stated outright that they were trying to make super soldiers. None of the paperwork said that term, but the rumors, the conversations overheard, and the experiments…that was exactly what the US government had wanted. They hoped by injecting him and doing much worse, they would make Wylder the ultimate killing machine. What a joke. Wylder had been a young, naive kid. He hadn’t been the ideal candidate. He’d felt bad for the others that the government wanted to take advantage of. Had taken advantage of.

If Wylder had to go through all those years of torture again to be where he currently found himself, he would. Being with his mates was the first time in his entire life that Wylder felt like he was where he belonged. He fit with them and even though he had concerns and worries, Wylder was excited for what was to come.

Aleksander sulked into the room before he paused in front of them. The look on his face… Oh wow, he was not happy.

“What’s going on?” Wylder asked. Whatever it was, they’d face it together.

“We’ve been summoned for dinner. Tonight.”

“Dinner?” Theo repeated. “Where?”

Aleksander sighed. “With my parents.”

Wylder immediately tightened his arm around Theo’s waist to keep the shifter from running.

“And we can’t get out of it?” Wylder asked.

“No.” Aleksander shook his head. “They’ve been informed about the dark elves’ attack as well. They want to talk to all of us.”

Wylder sat up, bringing Theo with him. He pressed his chest to Theo’s back. “We can do this,” he whispered into Theo’s ear.

Theo was stiff but after a slight hesitation, he nodded. “What should I wear?”

There was his brave kitten! Wylder kissed Theo’s cheek. “I bet it’s a suit.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Dario said. “We should tell Mitch. What time?”

“Eight,” Aleksander stated.

Well, there went Wylder’s plans to sex up his men.