Frozen Atonement - The Beginnings

Shopping Spree

Atticus looked like an angry bear brooding in the corner as he watched Kailin and the other women as they were enjoying their shopping spree. Kailin was thoroughly enjoying the fact that there were tons of options in The Village that she had thought would be small and limited, as they seemed pretty isolated. He was practically bird dogging her as he kept watch on everything that she did.

Dax could see his sister squirm a bit under the gaze of Atticus, and he sighed a bit, glancing at Alex and the others as everyone just stood around playing guard. If nothing else, perhaps he could try and distract them a bit and give the women some breathing room. “So, Atticus, what is the story here? With Princess Keavy and the fox heir?” Dax wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, but he couldn’t remember everyone’s name just yet.

Atticus gave a grunt, not really wanting to partake in the conversation, it seemed, as he glanced towards Dax a moment and grumbled. “Ask them.”

Drax and Jace both rolled their eyes, Jace shaking his head as he made a motion towards Atticus. “Att is just a sore loser. When we had the tournament last year to find out the best of the best, the wolves came in last.”

Atticus gave a growl, very much seeming apart of the conversation now as he stepped over, his eyes finally being torn away from Kailin. “Only because half of you cheated.”

Drax laughed a bit as he shook his head and glanced towards Tane with a grin and then towards Vance before looking back at the others. “I think you mean, Nix cheated.”

They all seemed to nod their heads in agreement at that as Vance gave a shrug of his shoulders. “I cannot control her anymore than the rest of you can.”

“What is the deal with Nix? How does she have several goddess given mates?” Alex was curious and had been for a while and now seemed the best time to ask about it.

Atticus glanced away from the conversation and let out a heavy sigh. “We failed her.”

The mood seemed to turn gloomy for a moment among them all before Tane was the one that spoke as the others had settled into an eerie uncomfortable silence. “It was during one of the rescue operations. We had been given information that there was a small pack that needed our assistance and was in dire straights and losing members. Since the pack was supposedly mostly kin, Keturah wanted to get there as soon as possible, so there wasn’t much recon available at the time. It was an ambush. We lost a few good warriors and there were no kin to be saved. Anyways, Nix was captured, and they used a portal to take her away. It took us weeks to find her and by the time we did, she was pretty badly beaten up. She was pregnant at the time but hadn’t told anyone because we likely would never have let her leave the castle grounds. She lost her baby and when she came back her mate left her for it.”

Vance gave a growl, his eyes turning a shade darker. “Best thing he could have done. He didn’t deserve her, and I still maintain he knew something and never told us. He was far too shocked when Nix came back and angry. Not relieved, not supportive. Something has never settled right with me about him, and I still don’t think he is like he says he is.”

Tane shook his head with a sigh as he looked back towards Dax and Alex. “Either way, Nix threw herself into work, far more than usual. She became overly protective of all children, maddeningly so. Losing her baby did something to her. Mind yourself around kids, because if she even thinks you are being harsh, she will lose her s**t on you. She has no tolerance when it comes to children and people mistreating them or using them as pawns. We still don’t know what all happened to her when she was gone, but she came back a different person.”

Jace glanced towards the pair now, adding in his own opinion. “We think Selene felt bad for Nix and tried to make up for it. At least that is the theory we all go with to make it make sense. Nix has eleven mates, and they aren’t even all felines.”

Alex and Dax both looked shocked as Alex spoke first. “What? Eleven mates?! And of different races?”

Jace gave a nod of his head with a laugh. “Yeah… you should have seen the look on the face of the Fae King when he realized he was mated to a crazy cat lady.”

That made them all laugh aloud, finding amusement in the surprises of the past, it seems.

Dax tilted his head, brow arching a bit. “I thought Malia was the heir to the Fae Kingdom?”

Jace nodded his head again as he looked towards Dax. “She is, but she is the second heir. First in line to the throne is Zane and he is mates with Nix.” He took a moment, letting that sink in before he leaned back against a counter, his gaze watching the women as they swapped clothes around and vanished in and out of the dressing rooms. “Nix has male and female mates, and they aren’t all kin. She is actually mated to one of every race and kingdom with a few extras. The weird part is that the females still have other mates too, at least we are assuming they all will, since two of them have already found their other mates.”

“Wait, what?” Dax just stared at Jace for a moment, looking highly confused.

“We can’t quite figure out the master plan or what Nix has to do with it, but we are assuming something.” Tane gave a shrug as he too glanced towards the women a moment. “She is a force to be reckoned with, I will tell you that. Don’t ever step in the ring with Nix, she’ll knock you on your ass and that’s all, if you are lucky.”

Atticus huffed a bit. “And she cheats.”

They all laughed at that as Vance smiled a bit. “Three.”

Drax and Jace both glanced over towards Vance for a moment, realization seeming to come to their features. “Three? You found your mate?”

Vance gave a nod of his head with a little bit of a laugh. “Yes. And she is mated to Nix.”

Dax scrunched his eyebrows a moment, seeming to think about this as he looked at Vance. “How does that work exactly? You have a big orgy? You get your mate pregnant, and you share custody? I don’t understand.”

Vance gave a single shrug of the shoulders as he looked towards Dax. “I thought if I was ever in that position I would be incredibly pissed and jealous, but I’m just not. Nix is very attentive to her mates and their needs, and her family comes above all else. She and the Fae King have a beautiful daughter together, Nila. But her other mate, Raina, a fox kin, is expecting her first child with her mate, Jaxton. Jax is thrilled and he works for the scouts, so he is often away. Nix sends him regular pictures and reports and checks in with him daily. She also makes sure that Raina wants for nothing. I’m telling you… Nix is every woman’s dream.” He couldn’t help but laugh at that as they all did. “She is the man and the woman in the relationship and there is no jealousy inside her family. Now, you go look at one of her mates and she is liable to pop your eyeballs out and eat them as a snack. But if you are one of her mates? She’ll defend you until her last breath.”

“She also has a habit of hoarding children.” Tane smirked as he made that statement. “We have come across a few orphans now and again, and although they have a space in the nursery for all orphan children, Nix takes them home. She claims them as her own and that is what they are. The army of her and her mates take them on as if they were blood and no one can tell her any different.”

Alex gave a slow nod of his head, wondering if that was the deal with his best friend’s twins and the reason why Keturah had warned him against trying to go in and take them. He was sure there would or could be a conversation about it, after the raw wound had healed a bit over Nix finding the children hurt. After hearing a bit about her, he suspected that she needed time to settle her own mind. “That explains a fair amount.

Finn had been oddly quiet, listening to all the information about Nix for a moment and then finally he made a motion towards the quiet little Sorcha that seemed to be just in the background of the others for the time being. “So, what is her story?”

All the men seemed to be quiet again, several of them looking around a moment before Vance scowled. “That is Nix and Keturah’s ward. She is underage, she cannot take the throne currently and is the last known full-blooded heir to the Fox Kingdom. There was word that got to us about a mass black market selling shifters and magical beings. By the time we were able to locate the place, there were just a handful of kin and dead shifters yet to be moved. We didn’t gain a whole lot of intel and it is something Alpha Keturah and Queen Niamh are still actively pursuing. Sorcha has not been doing too well about opening up and migrating into normal life. That is the whole reason we are here tonight, they all wanted to take her out and try to make her more comfortable with life.”

Jace looked like a mix between angry and sad. “She was not in good shape when we found her. The bruises may be gone, but the lasting emotional damage is still strong. Taz and Faith try their best, but she seems to gravitate more towards Princess Keavy, which isn't particularly helpful.

Tane gave a nod of his head at that. “Princess Keavy has always been the shy and quiet type. She rarely ever leaves the castle, but I think at this point Faith and Taz are just too much for Sorcha.”

Dax gave a nod of his head, frowning a bit. It seemed that they had all come together from different backgrounds and he frowned even more as he watched and listened to Jace about Sorcha. “She seemed like a sweet girl. Maybe Kailin could hang around with her and help a bit. She always seems to have the ability to comfort others no matter what the situation is.”

Atticus growled again, looking towards Dax for a moment as he scowled. “I do not want my mate working.”

Dax looked about ready to say something when Alex gave a hearty laugh. “Assuming she even accepts you.”

“Is that a challenge?” Atticus balled his fists up as he stepped up towards Alex, not even seeming to give a damn that the man was King at that moment.

Alex turned from where he had been leaning on a countertop and squared off as if he was indeed ready to fight Atticus right then and there. “Yeah, it is. My sister is not your possession, and she will do as she damn well pleases.”

Atticus stepped forward looking every bit ready to explode as Drax grabbed ahold of him in a bear hug from behind as Atticus went to swing on Alex. “Hey man, come on! What has gotten into you lately?!” He was thankfully stronger than Alex, refusing to let him go as he began to walk him towards the door as Jace had opened it, letting Drax finagle him out before he closed the door behind them.

Drax gave Atticus a hard shove, flinging him into the snowbank on the outside of the walkway and pointed at him. “Stay down there and cool the f**k down. I don’t care if he is f*****g your mother and your sister. That is his mate, and he is the King. Figure your s**t out, Atticus!”

Atticus snarled as he rolled to the side, half sitting up against the snow as those eyes flashed between their deep blue to the darkness of black. He watched Drax go back into the shop as his balled-up fists slammed into the ground beside him and a snarl ripped forth. “f**k! f**k!”

Finn had been entertaining the women, trying to keep them in their happy place of their shopping spree, when he watched Atticus being hauled out of the store and Drax coming back in. After a couple of minutes, he walked out, hand extending towards Atticus as he offered to help him up, that rarely ever seen serious look upon his features. “Want to talk about it?”

Atticus looked up at Finn and the offered hand. For a moment he thought about swatting it away and getting up to pummel the s**t out of the little fuckface. He has been all over the place lately and he damn well knew it. He couldn’t help but growl again before he took his arm and let Finn pull him to his feet. He was so angry it damn near pulsated off him and he noticed others moving away from them to the other side of the street or turning to go back the way they were coming. He fully realized he was scaring humans and kin alike, which seemed to deflate his anger some. With a sigh, there was a nod of his head as she made a motion towards the bakery next door and led Finn through the door and inside.

It was a cute little bakery housing lots of glass cases and an adorable kin behind the counter that never even looked up. She just smiled as she called out, “Mianna! Your man is here!”

Finn arched a brow as he looked at the kin and then looked at Atticus. Was that his problem? Did he have more than one mate? His mouth opened, just about to say something when he noticed a little old lady shuffling out of the back smiling.

Mianna looked quite old, probably in her late seventies if anyone had to guess, yet she moved like she had a youthfulness to her that didn’t match her appearance. “There’s my boy! I haven’t seen you in a week! Shame on you!” Making her way over' she grabbed ahold of Atticus' cheeks, pulling him to her level as she kissed both sides before she made a motion towards the empty table. “Sit, sit!” Looking back towards the kin at the counter she smiled. “Nan, double the usual order.”

Atticus sighed as he seemed to relax a bit more as the woman hugged and kissed him before they all three took a seat at the table and he hadn't said anything yet.

Finn was very confused at this point as he looked towards the woman and towards Atticus. He had heard of cougars… but damn, that was an all-new level! This was like “grandma cougar…” f**k did he say that aloud?

Atticus shot Finn a glare as Mianna glanced towards Finn with a brow arched and a look like she might beat his ass right then and there. “Grandma Mianna, not Grandma Cougar.”

Whoops! Finn tried to look stoic as ever as he gave a nod of his head and then glanced towards Nan as she came out with a plate of large cinnamon rolls. One half was topped with icing as thick as can be while the other looked to be covered in an icing he had never seen before but smelled like honey. “Coffee will be a moment.” Nan retorted before she walked by to lock the door on her way back to the back.

Finn looked at Atticus, poor schmuck, he looked ready to lose his s**t, but if he did… did that mean Finn got all the baked goods for himself? He reached up to scoop a finger into the unknown icing, taking a taste of it before he was smacked by Mianna.

Mianna had reached out and given Finn a good wap. The boy looked like he needed a firm hand. “Mind your manners before I mind them for you.” She then glanced towards Atticus; her brow arched. “Tell me dear boy, what has you all out of sorts?”

Atticus just looked between the two for a moment, before he finally reached to take a cinnamon roll and put it on a small plate before giving it to Mianna first. Serving the kin seemed to be what Mianna meant and Att knew it, Finn was learning it. “I found my mate.”

Finn couldn’t understand how that was an issue, other than Atticus was in the same position he was in currently, and that was the fact that his mate was right there, but he couldn’t touch or claim them yet and that was a bit maddening.

Mianna just nodded, taking a fork from the table as she began to cut the cinnamon roll into bite-sized pieces and only when she finally had her first bite did Atticus take his own and Finn followed suite, carefully snitching one and looking around like another smack might befall him.

“We're in the middle of a war. Alpha Keturah has just uncovered enough information to send us and King Alex on a mission regarding the black-market trade which could keep us away for weeks to months. Not only would I be disappointing my sister by taking her mate away, what happens if I fail to bring him back in one piece? What happens if I don’t come back? If I claim my mate and then leave her a widow, or I don’t claim her at all and I don…”

Nan was just starting towards them with coffee in hand when suddenly the adjoining wall between them and the shop where the women were all in, exploded. A deafening sound as debris slammed into them, sending Finn, Mianna, Nan and Atticus across the bakery as glass shattered everyone, blowing them in all different directions and causing Atticus to slam into the side wall and through the front glass back out onto the street.

Atticus lay there, stunned for the moment, his mind trying to catch up with the realization of what had just happened as the sound of car alarms, screams, and shuffling was slowly filtering into his head. What the f**k had happened? He was just trying to pull himself up, the warmth of something spreading across his body when he looked down and realized that lying upon his lap was half the body of his own grandmother. Atticus felt his blood run cold as he lifted the right side of the dead body against him, and his gaze turned upwards to look at the shop. There was a massive hole in the side of the building. He could see clothes all over the place, racks upturned, the entire storefront blown out, people running into the store, others running away, the screams of women… Kailin. That was Kailin… Atticus went to leap to his feet before he found himself on his face. Wait, why weren’t his legs working? Why couldn’t he feel anything other than a burning sensation?