The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

She grabbed his arms and moved him into a chair. Her hands shook a little from the conversation she had with his father, but she wasn’t going to allow it to affect the rest of her day. She walked back to the stove and finished making them both breakfast.

“I didn’t think he’d be back home until later,” Draven said. “I didn’t want your first meeting to be unprepared and not without me.”

“You’ve had to put up with him your entire life.”

“Yes.”

“How do you do that? How do you put up with that?”

“It’s easy if you know what to do,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“He wants a strong, powerful, capable son to take over his line. To be ready for anything.”

“And you’re ready for anything?” she asked.

“Not everything, but I’m ready for most things,” he said.

She looked back at him after flipping the bacon to crisp on the other side. “What are you not prepared for?”

“You. I wasn’t prepared for you.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not a bad thing, Harper. You blow my mind.”

“You didn’t think I was boring before? I was the original good girl. The kind of girl to have her hand up for the teacher, never get into a fight. Never, ever to train to fight. My life has completely changed in the last few months.”

“What I want to know is if you’re happier?” he asked.

She had to think about it.

“Is it really that bad?” he asked.

“It’s not bad, I guess. Compared to where I was when I first moved in with Ian, I’m a lot happier.”

“But not compared to when you lived with your mom.”

She removed the bacon, and finished stirring the eggs to scramble them up. “I’m not explaining this well. Mom was like … full of happiness. She was a beacon for it, and every time I was near her, I felt the world was a good place, a great one. Without her, it has been darker. Sometimes more than I could handle and it does still scare me. I’m never going to have her be there at any wedding or any event. I don’t even know if I’ll ever have a wedding. If I’ll ever want babies of my own. I mean, we’re eighteen, and in the future, this may not be what you guys want. It’s so much to take in.”

“If you wanted a wedding, you’d get a wedding.”

“Draven, you can’t marry four guys.”

“It’s simple. You’d marry me.”

“I don’t know if any of this makes any sense to me. How can I just marry one?”

“I’m the one that made the selection. I’m the one that is guiding you, waiting for you to be ready. It’ll be me who’ll marry you.”

“And kids?” she asked, chuckling.

“We can have as many as you like. I’d happily give you them. Just say the word and we can start now.” She stared at him a little shocked. He’d not mentioned the other three.

“You know this is all crazy right? You get that?”

He laughed. “Live like we have for eighteen years, it’ll age you faster than life itself, Harper. We all know what we want, and what we want is you.”

She put his plate in front of him and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around him, kissing his cheek.

“Thank you.”

“Never forget, Harper, you’ll always have us. Every single one of us.”

Whenever she got nervous about what was to come, what they expected of her, she thought about this, about their connection and how she was now bound to them. Her nerves disappeared, and she found she could finally breathe again.

They were enjoying their breakfast when Axel suddenly appeared.

Before she knew what was happening, he’d moved to her side, cupped her face and was kissing her.

His lips were hard against hers at first, giving her no choice but to open her mouth and to yield to him.

Seconds passed, and finally that hardness disappeared to make way for his gentleness, taking her by surprise with the force of it.

“You okay, man?” Draven asked.

Axel pulled away, and she saw the pain in his gaze. He nodded.

She watched as the two shared a look. They were clearly talking without the use of words. Whatever had happened to Axel, it had clearly messed with his head, and she hated seeing him so confused, almost broken.

“I’m going to go and get changed,” she said.

“I’ll show you up. I don’t want my dad stealing any more of your time.”

“You met his dad?” Axel asked.

“Yep. He’s pretty intense.” It was the best word she could think of that was polite enough not to offend Draven.

“He’s been called many things, never intense. That’s an upgrade to him,” Axel said.

“Come on, Axel,” Draven said. “I’m not leaving you behind either.”

“Where’s Jett and Buck?” she asked.

She was used to seeing them all together, especially in the morning. It was strange not having all of them around her.