Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

“I’m human, remember? I don’t have the same views on PDA as Maji.”

Kol furrowed his brows. “PDA?”

“Public displays of affection,” I explained. “I like our kissing and touching to happen in private.”

Kol’s eyes burned with passion, but he nodded once before he lifted his head and refocused on his brothers.

“I missed you,” he said.

I practically melted into a puddle at his sudden declaration.

“And us you,” the brother farthest right said with a smile. “I am shocked you have mated, brother, but I am overjoyed for you.”

“I thank you.” Kol smiled.

“The male who just spoke is Arli,” he then said to me. “In the middle is Arvi, and next to him is Killi. These are three of my many older brothers, the ones from the same pregnancy.”

“Triplets,” I murmured. “They’re triplets.”

“Tripe-lets?” Arvi blinked. “What does that mean?”

“Triplet,” Kol corrected. “It is a word they use for three infants born in the same pregnancy. They use the term ‘twins’ for two infant pregnancies.”

“Huh,” Arli said with a tilt of his head. “We should adapt these terms. It is much shorter than saying three offspring from the same pregnancy.”

“Why have we not thought of a word like that before?” Arvi asked Arli. “I like the human words; they are clever.”

That made me giggle, and I knew Kol was smiling without having to look up at him.

You can speak directly with them, he said to me. I am calm.

I swallowed down my nerves and exhaled a deep breath.

“Hello.” I smiled. “I am Nova, and I am very happy to meet you.”

I froze when the three princes placed their hands over their chests and bowed their heads to me.

They are giving you the most formal and most rare greeting a royal can give to another. This does not happen very often, Shiva. Apart from Surkah, no royal has ever bowed to me.

I gulped.

“Sister-in-mate,” Killi said as he rose back to his full height. “Welcome to Ealra, and to our family.”

“Yes, Princess,” Arvi chimed it. “You’re a most welcome addition to our homestead.”

Alri cleared his throat, and after a long moment of silence, he said, “Hello.”

Killi and Avri snapped their attention to him and growled. Alri didn’t seem bothered by the scary noises. He simply shrugged his shoulders.

“You both took the good greetings so hello was all I could think of.”

Nero snorted, and that made Kol chuckle. I smiled, too.

“It is a fine greeting, Prince Arli,” I said.

He beamed at me after giving his brothers a told-you-so grin.

“Just Arli, Princess. Royals never use our titles with one another, only when addressing our sister… when she is behaving.”

Surkah scoffed, and to Kol, she said, “Killi made me cry.”

A growl tore free of Kol’s throat, as he focused on his older brother who rolled his eyes. “I was addressing her stowing away aboard the Ebony. It was her guilt that forced her tears, not my words.”

Kol relaxed and looked at his sister with a brow raised in question.

She shrugged. “I wasn’t crying until he made me feel bad.”

Kol grunted. “What you did was wrong, so if you feel bad because of your actions, then it is rightly deserved.”

Surkah tucked her chin against her neck, and she looked down at the ground.

“Kol!” I scowled. “She has been punished for stowing away and has apologised. Do not upset her by making her feel guilty.”

“She has to be—”

“Kol,” I cut him off, glaring up at him. “Leave her alone.”

Kol held eye contact with me before he sighed and let the argument go with a brief shake of his head.

“Thank you,” I said before looking at Surkah and winking.

She smiled, though she tried to hide it.

“I cannot believe my eyes,” Arli murmured. “He was just bested by a female.”

“I was not!” Kol all but snarled; the vibrations started in his chest then continued to rattle outwards.

“You were,” Arvi agreed, wide-eyed. “I saw and heard it. You backed down from a female because she ordered you to do so. Wait till I tell Ezah!”

Kol snarled again.

“When he attacks you, do not blame anyone but yourselves,” Killi commented, looking bored with the situation unravelling before him. “You know males pick their battles with their females. Father has submitted to Mother for less. He says that sometimes, it’s just not worth a female’s wrath… They can say no to sex just to punish their mate.”

Arli had considered this before he laughed. “I would never submit, no matter what, because we can seduce females easily enough. Kol was bested by a female, and that is that.”

Killi facepalmed himself while I barely registered the moment Kol let go of me and lunged for Arli. I wasn’t certain, but it looked like Arli grinned a second before Kol punched him in the face, and that led me to believe something was seriously wrong with him.

He enjoyed the fighting. The sick freak.

Arli, though he had moments ago been laughing, was now in offensive mode and was growling and snarling. Both he and Kol punched, kicked, and headbutted the crap out of one another.

“Kol!” I screamed. “Stop!”

I moved without thinking and gasped when I was suddenly grabbed from behind and hoisted up into the air.

“No, Princess,” Nero’s voice said firmly. “You will get hurt.”

Please, I reached out to Kol. Please, stop. I’m begging you.

“Enough!” Kol snarled. “This is upsetting my mate!”

He punched Arli one more time before he stood, turned to me, and then snarled at Nero, revealing his sharp gold-capped fangs. Nero quickly released me and stood back away from me like I was on fire. A glance over my shoulder told me he had his hands in the air in front of his chest in surrender.

“She was going to intervene in the brawl,” he explained cautiously. “I didn’t want her to get hurt.”

Kol quit snarling and jerked his head in a nod. He closed the space between us and had the audacity to looked surprised when I slapped his hands away when he reached for me.

“Don’t touch me!” I snapped, sniffling. “You know the fighting scares me.”

Kol frowned. “Sometimes, it cannot be helped, shiva. I’d never fight my brothers in anything other than jest or annoyance. Alri annoyed me, and my instinct was to hit him… We do this a lot when he gets bored.”

“It’s true, Princess,” Arli added. “I goad him into fights to entertain myself. I apologise for causing you fear. I did not realise humans were scared of brawls.”

“More like terrified,” I corrected.

“I’m sorry,” Arli repeated.

I nodded to him in acknowledgment of his apology then focused on Kol.

“Are you okay?” I murmured as I noted his right eye was swelling a little.

Kol winked. “In an hour, any marks will be healed.”

I frowned. “I don’t know if I can get used to the fighting thing. The thought of you being hurt makes me sick.”

Kol embraced me, pulling my body flush against his. “I will… work on it. Okay?”

“Okay.” I nodded and put my arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“My shiva,” he murmured.

I smiled against his chest. “Can we go and see my new home now? I’m ready to be off the Ebony.”

“Can I lead her, Kol?” Surkah asked excitedly. “Oh, please? Can I, brother?”

Kol chuckled at Surkah but nodded his head to her request. Surkah squealed, bounced over to my side, grabbed my hand, and tugged me down the huge ramp of the Ebony alongside her.

“I am so excited to see your face when you see Ealra for the first time. I have been thinking about it since I awoke.”