C Squared
2150 Words
Chrissy POV
When we got back to the motel, each of the guys asked if it would be OK if they hugged me before we left. I was a little hesitant, but agreed to allow each of them a quick hug. They both kept the hugs friendly and respectful, and were careful not to squeeze too tight. Daya shook hands with both of them, then we climbed into her Trans Am to head home.
Once we were out of the parking lot, I turned towards her. “Well?” I asked her. We had known each other for so long that I knew she would know exactly what I was asking.
She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road. “They both seem pretty nice, and they seem to be on the up and up. I didn’t pick up any bad vibes from them, and neither did Laniah.”
Laniah was Daya’s wolf. I had seen her many times. She was a beautiful gray wolf, with streaks of white on her face and white paws. She had almost impeccable instincts when it came to judging a person’s character. She had warned me about a couple of ex-boyfriends and I wish I’d listened to her, because she’d been right every time.
“Well, if you two say they’re OK, I trust you,” I told her. “But I’m still not sure about climbing into a vehicle with two virtual strangers and taking off across the country, which is essentially what I would have to do if I accept this whole mate bond thing.”
Daya looked thoughtful for a minute, then said, “Maybe I could ride with you guys. I mean, if the twins are OK with it. That gives me a chance to have a change of scenery, maybe even find my mate, and you won’t be alone on a cross country trip with two guys you just met. How does that sound?”
I felt a surge of gratitude course through me. No wonder she was my very best friend. “Would you really?” I asked her excitedly. “You would drop everything and take off across the country with me? Would Shadow be OK with that?”
She nodded. “I have some vacation time coming to me. Besides, he knows how important finding my mate is to me.” She sighed. “H**l, my human best friend even found not just one mate, but two mates before I found mine,” she lamented.
I laughed. “You’ll find yours when the Moon Goddess means for you too, as Shadow always says.”
She snorted. “Says the guy who found his mate the day he turned 18! I’ve been looking for over two years!”
I reached over and patted her shoulder. “Well, hopefully you’ll find him on this trip and we can all live happily ever after.”
By that time, we were pulling into my driveway. Normally it was about a fifteen minute drive, but thanks to Daya’s lead foot, we’d made it in less than ten. How she didn’t get daily speeding tickets mystified me.
“Thanks for the ride,” I told her, gathering my things and shoving the heavy car door open. I reached over and gave her a quick one armed hug.
“No prob, sis,” she replied. “Tell the rest of C Squared I said hey.”
I laughed. “I will.” C Squared was her nickname for my brothers and me, since all four of our names started with C. I knew that she had not-so-secretly hoped to be mated to one of my brothers, but that wasn’t in the cards, apparently.
I walked into the living room, where all three of my brothers were lounging around, watching some football game on TV. It struck me again how, despite the age differences, they could almost pass for triplets. They were all blonde haired and blue eyed, like me, but at 6’0/6’1, they were all two or three inches taller than me. Charlie, the oldest, was slightly taller than the other two. They were all into sports and regularly worked out at the gym, so they were all muscular. But Cash, the middle one of the three, had a little more muscle mass than Charlie or the youngest of the three, Carter.
Cash was the first one to tear his eyes away from the television when I walked in and greeted them. “Hey, sis,” he greeted me. “I thought you were going to call when you needed a ride?”
My work schedule wasn’t always predictable, and I worked over a lot, so I usually just called when I was done instead of asking someone to be there at a set time.
“Didn’t you get my text?” I asked him. “Daya was there and gave me a lift.”
He pulled his phone out and looked at the screen. “Oh. I don’t know how I didn’t hear that.”
I laughed. “Probably because you’re sitting next to these two loudmouths.”
“Hey, we’re not any louder than he is,” Carter protested, and Charlie nodded his agreement.
“See, I’m her favorite brother,” Cash told them with a smirk.
“No way!” Charlie protested. “I’m the one she called when her car broke down!”
“But I was the one that kept the jerks away from her at school,” Carter reminded them.
Within seconds, they were arguing about which one of them was my favorite. I had to yell to make myself heard over them. “HEY!!”
They all immediately went silent and looked at me guiltily. “Sorry, sis,” they said in unison.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re all idiots. None of you are my favorites,” I informed them. “I hate you all equally,” I added teasingly.
Carter, who was sitting closest to the door, was on his feet in a split second, putting me in a head lock and rubbing his knuckles over my head. “What was that you said?”
“I said I hate you all equally,” I replied, shoving at his hands, trying to pull my head free.
The next thing I knew, all three of my brothers had me by my arms and legs, carrying me towards the back door, where the in-ground swimming pool was just a few feet from the door. Dad hadn’t gotten around to closing it for the winter yet, but I knew the water would be ice cold.
“You Neanderthals better not even think of throwing me in that water,” I snarled, trying to kick my feet and pull my hands free.
“What do you think, guys?” Charlie asked. “Deep end?”
“Yep,” Carter replied.
I screamed for Mom, but they laughed and Cash informed me that Mom and Dad had gone out to dinner.
“Ok, ok, I give up!” I told them. “Uncle! Uncle!”
They all grinned at me. “Too late!”
They were already swinging me by the pool, counting down from three. At the last second, I got a firm grip on Cash and Charlie, who were holding my arms, and managed to lock my legs around Carter’s waist. All four of us toppled over the edge, hitting the icy water together.
Thirty minutes later, after a shower and having put on my cozy PJs, I found myself in the kitchen with the three goons, making a late dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Despite my earlier claim of hating them all equally, I really did love those three weirdos, and they knew it. I also knew that they loved me and, despite throwing me into the icy pool earlier, they were fiercely protective of me. I was having a serious internal debate about telling them about the twins, knowing that they would want to meet them and grill them about their intentions towards their baby sister. I sighed, knowing that no matter how old I was, they would always view me as their baby sister.
“Why the long face, sis?” Carter asked, coming up beside me and leaning against the counter.
“Just thinking,” I replied vaguely.
“About what?” he asked.
I should’ve known a vague response wouldn’t put him off. Of the three of them, he was the closest to me in age, and we’d always been close.
I sighed again. “If I tell you guys something, you have to promise not to go ape s**t and run over to the motel, OK?”
Cash, at the other end of the counter stirring the pitcher of Kool-Aid he’d just made, narrowed his eyes at me. “Did somebody hurt you?” he demanded.
I shook my head. “No. The opposite, actually. There’s, ah, a couple of Lycans staying there. You guys know what Lycans are, right?”
They nodded slowly.
“Supposedly, they’re stronger and faster than werewolves,” Charlie replied. “At least, that’s what Kyle and Kevin tell me.”
Kyle and Kevin were Daya’s older twin brothers.
“I thought they were just a myth,” Carter added.
“I did too, until I met these two,” I told him. “Anyway, these two are part of the Lycan royal family, and they say that I’m their mate and I’ll eventually turn into a Lycan too.” I mumbled that last part and said it fast enough that I wasn’t sure if they’d understand.
But they did understand it and all three stared at me for a few seconds, their eyes the size of dinner plates.
“They said what?” Charlie demanded. “You’re going to WHAT?!”
I sighed and repeated it. “I’m apparently their mate, and if I accept the bond, I’ll turn into a Lycan as well.” I braced myself for the next part. “And if I accept it, I have to move with them to their kingdom in Maine.”
“What?” Cash exploded. He’d always had the more volatile temper of the three. “They want to turn you into some supernatural thing then drag you across the f**king country? What the h**l, Chris?!”
Carter, the calmest of the three, was studying my face. “What do you think of all that?” he asked me. “And since I’m assuming Daya met them, what did she say?”
“Daya says that neither she nor Laniah picked up on any bad vibes from them, and she says that her instincts say that they’re on the up and up,” I told them as I poured the spaghetti noodles into the strainer to drain the water. I told them about going to the field with them, and about how they’d outrun even Daya. My brothers had seen Daya in action plenty of times and knew how fast she was. I also told them about the boulder that they’d flung around like it was a feather.
By the time I finished, they all looked worried.
“Chris, if all of that is true, those two could seriously hurt you if they wanted,” Charlie told me. As the oldest, he’d always been the most protective of the three, and that was saying a lot. “I don’t like the idea of you going on some crazy cross-country trip alone with two guys you just met.”
“I won’t be going alone with them,” I told him. “Daya has decided to go with us. I’ll ask the twins about it tomorrow, but I’m sure they won’t mind her coming along.”
They all looked a little relieved at that, but I could tell that they were still worried.
“I want to meet them,” Cash spoke up. “If those two think they’re just going to drag my little sister across the d**n country without a s**t ton of questions being answered, they have another thing coming.”
I sighed again, then nodded. I hadn’t expected anything less. “I’ll text them later and get it set up for some time tomorrow.”
Cash glanced at the other two, then nodded. “That’s fine. We’re all off tomorrow anyway.” The three of them all worked together for a local construction company.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I grinned at them. “You guys do realize, your days of throwing me in the pool are numbered, right?”
They eyed me suspiciously.
“What are you talking about?” Carter asked me skeptically.
I grinned even wider. “When I’m a Lycan, I’ll be throwing you guys in instead!”
The horrified look on their faces was priceless.
- Writer
