Page 3 of Chosen: The Lenkov Journals

Wylder

Wylder couldn’t keep his attention on the game where it was supposed to be instead of the cute, quiet boy that he’d sort of met almost a week ago. Wylder was glad he’d peeked at Theo Bailey’s ID or wouldn’t even know his name.

They didn’t travel in the same circles, didn’t have any classes together, or hang out at the same spots. It would have been an absolute tragedy if he’d never laid eyes on the adorable guy.

Pure luck had put them in each other’s paths. Wylder should never have been anywhere near the area of Theo’s attack—he should have been on the other side of the campus. Even though he was a freshman at the university, Wylder was much older than the other students. His age was one reason why he’d picked the state school. They had no problem admitting older students, especially former military.

He’d entered the Army right after high school graduation. College had never been something he’d thought about. Wylder was meant to serve his country, just like the five generations of men in his family before him.

Entering university at twenty-seven was quite an experience. Since he wasn’t from the area, he’d accepted the free housing his grant provided in the dorms until he could find a place for himself. He’d lived in barracks with men before and had no problem sharing, but he was old enough that he wanted his own space. He’d lucked out getting a single room instead of having to share, but several of the students around him enjoyed loud music that blasted Wylder’s eardrums at all hours into the night. It was that loud music that had forced Wylder from his dorm for a long walk across campus.

Even before he’d reached the building, Wylder had heard the sounds of a scuffle and the horrid words spoken to the poor boy. Anger had filled him as Wylder had raced to the rescue. He wasn’t actually supposed to draw attention to his enhanced abilities, but he couldn’t let anyone get assaulted or worse when he could help.

The poor intended victim, Theo, had been so scared. His fear had saturated the area.

The three canine shifters appeared to have enjoyed the boy’s terror. The mixture of fear and desire had affected Wylder in a shocking way. He’d quickly taken care of attackers, but by the time he’d turned to assure Theo, the boy was gone. Wylder had warned the canines off, showing too much of his abilities, but he was certain they’d leave Theo alone.

He waited for the boy to return for his belongings for longer than he should have, but he hadn’t been disappointed when the ginger cat had shown up. Since he’d already peeked into Theo’s backpack and at his ID, he knew the boy had light red hair and shocking green eyes, but he hadn’t expected the same for the feline.

Damn, he’d wanted his hands all over the cat. To comfort and baby the poor thing. Even when the cat had hissed and pawed at him.

During Wylder’s black ops training, he’d learned all about shifters. Usually if he was working with a single or team of shifters, they’d been bigger. Wolves, tigers, bears, even a hyena once. Never a…he didn’t even know what to call Theo. A house cat maybe, although bigger than any house cat that Wylder had ever seen? Since he hadn’t gotten to see the cat’s human face, Wylder was glad he knew what Theo looked like from his ID. Anytime he’d been out and about on campus, Wylder had searched for the boy. Wylder caught glimpses of Theo, but the boy was always running away. Wyldereven tried to hang around the front of Theo’s dorm building but never lined up the timing quite right. And he didn’t want to come off as a creeper so he didn’t do that too often.

He just couldn’t pinpoint this need that filled him to get close. The dreams weren’t helping. Every night he dreamed about holding the boy, touching him, pleasuring him. Wylder had it bad.

The last place he expected to see Theo again was on the Jumbotron at the college hockey game.

Theo had seemed shocked when the sweatshirt had been aimed at and fired at him. It was the little sweet smile that appeared once he’d unwrapped his prize that had Wylder’s heart beating a quick tempo.

He was actually thankful when the game went into overtime, giving him even more of an opportunity to watch Theo. Oh, Theo was doing his best to seem as if he was ignoring Wylder, but their gazes kept meeting and Wylder would smile.

The final buzzer went off and his time was growing short. As his friends rose around him, Wylder tried to work out a way to catch Theo before he left the arena. Maybe they could go get a coffee at the shop on campus. They needed to talk. The attraction wasn’t one-sided. Of that, Wylder was certain.

Following his friends up the steps to the level that would lead to the tunnel and exit, Wylder kept an eye on his boy. He snorted. Okay, Theo was neither a boy nor his, but Wylder just couldn’t help his thinking. The boy screamed ‘Protect me’ and all Wylder’s instincts were engaged.

Theo seemed to be waiting for the crowd to thin. Good…if Wylder could time it just right…

Marco caught his attention, asking him a question as they stopped just before the tunnel.

By the time Wylder turned back to Theo, the boy was heading in his direction. Their eyes met and Wylder smiled.

Theo’s eyes widened before he glanced over his shoulder.

Wait, something was wrong. Wylder could smell Theo’s panic. He glowered over Theo’s shoulder, but his breath caught.

A tall man with straight white hair, not blond but snowflake white, was trying to catch up with Theo. Theo was frowning as he dodged around people in his way. The man lifted his head and Wylder’s breath suddenly returned in a gush as he caught the gaze of pale blue eyes. The man was attractive—fuck, he was gorgeous—giving Wyler a good look while stopping in the middle of the walkway.

Their gazes locked.

“You coming?” Marco nudged his side.

“I’ll catch up,” Wylder murmured, still enthralled by the pale eyes.

“Okay, man.”

Wylder didn’t call a goodbye to anyone else as the stranger seemed to snap back to attention. His strides were long and sure as they ate up the distance between Wylder and himself.

The stranger stopped a few feet away. The intense gaze didn’t falter. Wylder couldn’t force his gaze away either. His entire body drew up tight as a bow ready to shoot. This encounter was unlike anything that Wylder had ever experienced.

“Who are you?” the stranger asked quietly. His voice floated to Wylder and wrapped around him.

Wylder had been warm enough earlier inside the chilly arena but now a fresh coolness brushed over him, causing goosebumps to break out on his arms. The cause was obvious—coming from the attractive stranger.

The older man frowned at him. Oh yeah, he’d been asked a question. Wylder had to clear his throat that was suddenly dying with the need to drink. “Wylder. Wylder Carter.”

“Wylder.” The accent was different…Russian maybe? And Wylder craved to hear it as this man was buried deep inside him. Shit! Where had that thought come from? That…that wasn’t something that Wylder indulged in often. For the majority of his hookups, Wylder was a top. He’d enjoyed bottoming, but only with someone he knew well. And Wylder didn’t know this man or even what he was. What he was doing there.

The man glided, yes, glided forward. Okay, so it was confirmed this guy was another . Wylder couldn’t smell shifter—he was something else.

He held out his hand and Wylder was compelled to offer his in return.

An electric shock went through their palms, over his body, and down his spine as they touched.

“Aleksander Lenkov,” he said with a purr.

Wylder swallowed hard. He hadn’t felt out of his depth in years, but this man, this whatever he was, pushed Wylder out of his comfort zone. “Aleksander,” he repeated, just because he had to see how the name tasted on his tongue.

“Mmm.” Aleksander smiled.

They were closer. Had Aleksander moved or had Wylder?

“You smell human but not,” Aleksander said quietly. Usually when someone figured out he was different, Wylder was met with suspicion and distrust, not this intense look of hunger.

“Yeah…” His secret was his own. Wylder wasn’t about to share his story, but he strained against the urge to confess everything. Wylder fought the impulse, swallowing hard.

“Fascinating,” Aleksander rumbled. Approval passed over his face.

Wylder shouldn’t care that he’d pleased this man, this being. He…they were still holding palms. Wylder looked down at their adjoined hands when it hit him.

“Shit!” Wylder yanked his hand from Aleksander, frantically looking around. Theo was gone. Had this been a ploy to keep Wylder away from Theo? Was Aleksander working with someone else who’d gone after the boy? With a growl, Wylder stepped back.

This coming just as Wylder was approaching Theo was too convenient. Where was this odd feeling the stranger pulled from Wylder coming from? Was he a mage, maybe? Using a spell to distract Wylder?

Fuck it, he didn’t have time for this. He’d been hunting after his boy for almost a week. Every instinct inside him cried that Theo needed him, his protection, his care.

Without another word, Wylder turned on his heel and stalked away.

“Wait!” Aleksander called after him.

Wylder didn’t think so! He might have allowed himself to get distracted earlier but he knew better. He’d been taught that non-humans would use everything in their arsenal to get what they wanted. Not that humans were any better, but at least humans didn’t have the powers that came from being some kind of other .

The government had called them others although Wylder knew for a fact that shifters hated that label. The few shifters he’d been on friendly terms with had always been willing to answer Wylder’s questions about the world he found himself part of. At least they didn’t outright lie to hide things, like the government.

Luckily, Wylder was quicker than a normal human and used that to his advantage. He pushed his way past the few stragglers until he was outside the arena. There were too many scents for Wylder to pinpoint what direction Theo had headed in. Now would be the perfect time to have one of his old shifter teammates at his side.

Unfortunately, Wylder was all on his own for this new path set in front of him. He’d been deemed both a success and a failure from the experiments that had been performed. He was allowed, fucking allowed, to move on with his life as long as he never returned to his original life. His name had been changed and the experiments had transformed him physically, so even if he had found himself home, no one would recognize him. Still, he wouldn’t put it past the government to be watching his family, so Wylder stayed away for their safety.

He hadn’t even returned home to sneak a peek at the funeral held for him after his family had received word of his death.

It was better not to think about any of that.

There was a boy out there that Wylder was determined to watch over. He had no clue where the feeling of such protectiveness came from, but for the first time since he’d woken up naked, tied down, and changed, Wylder had a true purpose.

In his heart, in every fiber of his being, Wylder knew he was meant to look out for Theo. The connection between the two of them was too strong, too pure, to ever be ignored.

He spotted Theo’s dorm building ahead and hoped the boy had gone straight there. Wylder was going to have to come up with a different plan. Trying to casually run into Theo on campus wasn’t working. Theo was avoiding him and working hard at it.

Just as he reached the front of Theo’s residence building, a wave of dread hit him. Cold, dark, something evil in the air. Wylder looked around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Still, the feeling twisted his stomach and made his instincts rear up.Wylder peered toward the entrance of the closest building. Theo’s building. He didn’t like that something had been lurking so close to the boy. He shivered.

What was this? Did it have something to do with Aleksander? Had the distraction of the attractive stranger allowed something else to get close to Theo? Too many questions and not enough answers.

He cursed under his breath, strolling over to the tree to see if he could find anything to explain everything that had happened in the last half hour. Rubbing the back of his head, Wylder peered around. He was at a loss what to do. Whatever it was, it was gone, but Wylder didn’t feel any better about that. Not with that sick and evil presence so close to Theo. The boy was too cute, too small, too precious to go up against something so vile. And Wylder had no way of knowing if Theo was alright.

He slid down the trunk of the tree to sit at the base. Wylder would just keep watch over the building and hope Theo was safe inside as he thought out his next moves.

* * * * *

Aleksander

He growled as Wylder turned and raced from him. Aleksander had no idea what he’d done wrong or why in the space of days he’d managed to have two young men run from him. Two young men who were important to him.

His cell phone rang from his pocket, and Aleksander fished it out with shaking fingers. Of course, his brother would choose now to call him. This was all Evian’s fault anyway.

Swallowing down his frustration, Aleksander answered as calmly as he could manage.

“Hello?”

“Are you on campus? I swear I just passed your Mercedes as I exited the parking lot.”

“Yes,” Aleksander confirmed.

“Oh.” Evian’s voice dipped. “Did we have a meeting? I thought we had a dinner to attend?”

His brother’s confusion made sense. Aleksander hadn’t bothered to tell his brother he was returning to campus. Aleksander could count on one hand how many times he’d visited his brother at work. “I…lost something the other day.” That was an understatement. “I didn’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Did you find it?” Evian questioned.“It wasn’t the journals, was it? We can’t let those journals get into the wrong hands!”

“It wasn’t the journals. I’m returning them to you tonight.” The Lenkov Journals were part of their family prophecy. Both he and Evian took turns studying the pages.

“But you found it? Whatever you lost?” Evian really wanted to know what it was but Aleksander wasn’t going to give in. He knew Evian—the entire family would know before they even reached the house for dinner if Aleksander shared anything with his brother.

It was a him, not an it—well, now two hims—but Aleksander wasn’t ready to share that news. “Yes, yes, I did. Thank you.”

“We’re still on for dinner with the family tonight?” Evian asked, hope in his tone that Aleksander was about to burst his bubble.

“Of course. You know we can’t avoid it.”

“We could if you ever had anything exciting happening. And you needed my help.”

A bit of discomfort filled him with the secret that he was keeping. His brother—well, his entire family—would be thrilled with the latest development in his life. They were also the most meddling people that Aleksander knew and he did not need the added pressure. He grunted in response.

“Did…did you just grunt at me?”

“Of course not,” Aleksander barked. He had a reputation, and no matter what was going on, there was no reason to act out of character. “I am simply annoyed with the delay heading for dinner. You know I hate to be late.”

“That’s my big brother!” Evian teased.

Aleksander swallowed another grunt. As the oldest of his siblings, it was expected that Aleksander would only act in ways that would reflect positively on his family. He couldn’t have bad days, couldn’t let his worry show, or even turn to one of his brothers for help. Aleksander was the oldest, most responsible, and destined to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“Aleksander?”

“Sorry,” Aleksander responded as he missed whatever Evian had said. He turned to the exit and made his way outside.

“No problem,” Evian said and continued to babble on. Something about the twins and their mate, some sort of vacation planning.

Aleksander listened with only half his attention, continuing to peer around, hoping to catch sight of the human he’d barely met or the boy he’d been searching for. Their scents hadn’t lingered and although Aleksander was one of the strongest of his kind, even he couldn’t find any trace. Not that Evian needed Aleksander to respond with more than a hum or sound of acknowledgment. Ever since the twins had found their shared mate in an Alpha wolf shifter, Bryce, Evian was adamant that they would all find their mates soon. Evian didn’t know how right he was.

In less than a week, Aleksander had scented two beloved. Two, which was both amusing and troublesome. The family prophecy was very clear. While Aleksander had been trainingto fulfill his destiny his entire life, if he was the chosen son, he’d also thought that he had more time. It seemed Aleksander didn’t have as much time as he’d believed.

There was still an off chance that one of his brothers would be the chosen , but since Aleksander had scented two beloved, he wasn’t sure that would be the case any longer.Was it just two mates out there or was Aleksander’s future changing in a major way?

“Are you even listening to me?” Evian screeched into the phone.

“Of course I am,” Aleksander lied. It wasn’t like his brother could scent the lie over the phone. “I just don’t see why you should care if our brothers go on vacation with their mate.”

“Because! Now that they found Bryce, there could be other mates out there for them. You know how fast mates show up once the first is found. If they’re the chosen—”

Aleksander did not want to have this conversation. He was still too raw from his own experience. “What if they need to go on this trip to find another mate?” he tossed out.

“Oh!” Evian exclaimed. “Good point. There is a good possibility that their other mate isn’t American.”

“Or Bryce could be their only mate,” Aleksander pointed out. It wasn’t uncommon for their family to have a single mate or two even, except for the chosen, who were always part of a group of five. Scenting two beloved didn’t mean that Aleksander was guaranteed to be the next chosen. The twins could indeed be the ones of their generation. Even as he had the thought, Aleksander knew that wasn’t right. Not only had a seer predicted Aleksander would be given that responsibility, but he’d had his own premonitions.

“Why would the youngest get their mate before us?” Evian questioned. “We’re forty years older than them!”

“You’re barely over a hundred,” Aleksander pointed out. “You still have plenty of time.”

“Still,” Evian whined. “It’s—”

“Not fair,” Aleksander finished for him. Unlike Aleksander, Evian had always spoken about finding his mate. Evian had traveled for thirty years just for that purpose before finally returning home. He’d used his travels as experience for teaching, so it wasn’t wasted time for his brother, although for a couple of years Evian had been depressed that he hadn’t stumbled on to the one meant for him.

Being at the university seemed to fit Evian. He used their human father’s last name, Blake, so he didn’t draw attention for being of the Lenkov clan.

“Well, it isn’t.” Evian huffed.

“Just be happy for the twins,” Aleksander insisted. “Now that they have found their Alpha, it’s fewer messes we have to clean up.” Aleksander loved the twins, as he did all his siblings, but trouble tended to find them all too often.

“That’s true,” Evian admitted.

Reaching his car, Aleksander needed to wrap up the conversation. “I’m getting in my car now. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay. Sorry to talk your ear off.”

He smiled fondly. Evian and he were the closest in age and had always been like two peas in a pod. Evian might be dramatic and a little too smart for his own good, but he had a kind heart and cared about everyone he met. “No problem. I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, bye!” Evian hung up as Aleksander chuckled.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket before he peered around the faculty parking lot. It was common enough for Aleksander to pass the university and even though his brother had been working there for a decade, Aleksander wasn’t too familiar with it. Aleksander had no idea where to start looking for the two young men who smelt like his. It had been difficult enough trying to track down one. Now he needed to find two. Both at this one university. Which he found odd. Aleksander hadn’t expected his beloved to be so young, although Wylder did appear older than most of the students he’d spotted on his infrequent visits.

The alarm on his watch sounded.

It was time that he headed toward his parents’ place. He’d set the reminder in case he tracked the boy down. He’d been wandering around campus when he’d caught the scent of the redheaded boy he’d literally run into before. Aleksander still couldn’t believe he’d been so shocked that he’d let the little shifter get away.

Thankfully, there weren’t many shifter scents around the campus—no other feline that Aleksander picked up—or he might have missed the faint scent of the feline heading toward the arena.

Aleksander couldn’t spend days walking around scenting the air for his two young men. There had to be an easier way to track down the two he sought.

Climbing behind the wheel of his new Mercedes, Aleksander hated having to drive away. He’d much rather be collecting his two men and taking them somewhere where they could be alone. His family would understand if he missed the monthly dinner obligation for securing his mates. Not that he planned on telling them until he actually had a name for his shifter and knew where to find Wylder.

Why did the two run in the first place? He pondered that question as he pulled out of his parking space. Wylder was human, although there was a scent of something else inside him. Luckily, Aleksander had quickly realized that the human’s unusual scent was all him. Not that of another. It had only been a brief hesitation where Aleksander had thought Wylder smelt like someone other than him. He was glad that the human hadn’t smelt like another, but it still made him wonder what exactly Wylder was. Although as a human he wouldn’t have known or recognized the mate scent.

The shifter, however, should have known.

Instead of celebrating that they’d found each other, the feline shifter had run so fast from him that he was gone before Aleksander knew what was happening.

At a red light, he slammed his palm on the steering wheel.

He needed to relax. If he showed up to dinner with his family upset, they’d immediately narrow in on it. His brothers were bad enough, but his fathers…yeah, they wouldn’t let him brush off their concerns. Having five fathers made life quite difficult at times. He could never get away with anything. None of them could, even though the twins had tried. Instead, their fathers had always been one step ahead of them. They’d always had to bestern and careful due to the powers and abilities their children possessed.

In all honesty, Aleksander had only had one small decade of rebellion. He’d been around fifty when he’d taken a year off and decided to backpack across Europe. It was something he’d seen in a movie and Aleksander was certain that was what he needed to do.

Now that he was over one hundred and twenty, Aleksander could look back at that year and see that he’d been overwhelmed by responsibilities. His fathers were trying for more children. The twins came quickly after that. The seer had shared the vision of Aleksander being the next chosen. Instead of being angry, his fathers had encouraged the year-long break.

Aleksander had expected more pushback, especially from Vadir, the father that Aleksander took after the most, but they’d supported him. It had been a wasted year, although Aleksander did enjoy the numerous hookups that he’d found along the way.

The trip had taught Aleksander one thing though. He wasn’t meant to live life without a plan. He’d been born to perform a duty and that was what he needed to concentrate on. After returning home, Aleksander threw himself into training and studying what being one of the chosen meant. Since it was his family line that determined the chosen, he didn’t know how much knowledge his mates would have. Most paranormal knew about the Lenkov prophecy. Finding such young mates did worry him though.

It took the entire drive across town for his hands to stop shaking and Aleksander to have his calmness back. Confident that his secrets would remain his own, he pulled in front of his fathers’ elegant home up in the hills.

The house was gorgeous, one of Aleksander’s favorites, but it was a bit of a drive to get to. Aleksander preferred the convenience of his high-rise apartment in the middle of the city. His location allowed him to execute the duties for his family and keep an eye on his brothers.

A loud rumble drew his attention as he climbed out of his car.

The large black truck rolled to a stop beside him. The driver’s window was already down and Aleksander was greeted with a mischievous brother. Thomas, third-born son, bear shifter, grinned widely at him. Aleksander resisted rolling his eyes. It would be undignified.

“What did you do?” Aleksander demanded.

“Nothing!” Thomas lied through his teeth.

Aleksander ran a hand over his face. He was already tired, and he hadn’t even made it inside the house yet.