Mated

Twelve

Ahsha

I grabbed the railing of the balcony and looked out at the distance of the bright city lights. I had no idea how I ended up here or where here even was, but I remembered the familiar view. I looked down at my body to see I in nothing but a black robe. "You look beautiful." An unfamiliar deep voice said. I turned around to see Ares or Dominic I wasn't sure. "Am I talking to Dominic or Ares?" I asked. "Ares." He said.

"You don't look like Ares, or sound like him," I said truthfully. His eyes looked completely different and I had never heard this voice before. "This is my full form." He said as he walked towards me. "Habibata." He whispered brushing his knuckles across my cheek. Goosebumps covered my entire body when he touched me. "What does that mean?" I asked. "My love." He said softly pressing himself into me. A shaky breath slipped passed my lips. "Stop," I whispered. I was burning up and yet I had the chills. "I don't want you to constantly be in pain when I can help," Ares asked. "I can't— I mean—" I froze looking away from him for a moment to catch my breath.

His eyes widened before the redness in his glowed a brighter shade. "I'm tired of fighting this pull I feel towards you, but my legs don't just magically open for every man that I cross paths with," I said. "I'm not just any man." He grumbled lowly. "You are to me. I just met you. I also just found out about this hidden culture that my family and I are heavily connected too. I just want to go back to when things were easier." I said walking inside with him following me. I walked in and saw a glass of what looked like water. "It's water," Ares said. I grabbed it taking a huge gulp.

I turned to see Ares standing behind me. He pulled me into his arms sitting down forcing me to straddle him so I had to hold his gaze. "You may regret coming here but I don't. Before you got here, things were so dark." He said his hands caressing my thighs. "Hurting people so I could feel something other than empty." He continued looking up at me meeting my eyes. "I want you in every way. You've already taken my heart and I would do anything to see a smile on your face." He said. "I don't want to rush you but the need to mate will continue to grow and neither of us will be able to fit it soon." He said. "I want you to think long and hard about this. Do you want this?" He said gesturing between us. "Not just me but the lifestyle, the people, and all the things that come with it. Do you want that? If not, then we need to cut all ties." Ares said.

"Cut ties?" I asked confused. I felt this sharp pain in my chest at the thought of that. "No contact." He said. "And this a couple of months the bond we share will be almost nonexistent." He said. I pulled him into my arms wrapping them around his neck not being able to resist the need to be close to him. Ares sighed at the contact holding me closer. "Take some time and think about it. I understand that this is all new for you, but I know what I want and I'll do whatever you want to do." He said before picking me standing. He sat me on my feet kissing my forehead before leaving me to my thoughts.

Ares

'Are you sure that was smart?' Malik asked. "She's not going anywhere," I growled. 'You can't be sure of that.' He added. I looked at myself in the mirror taking a breath. "She's. Not. Going. Anywhere." I repeated. 'Then you have to tell her what happens after we mark her.' Malik said. I chuckled. "We're not telling her anything until she's ours," I said. Dom pushed Malik to the back of our mind before Dom growled lowly in approval. If Dominic and I agreed on anything it was having our mate.

I was sitting in my den petting Onyx and Abraham when they both stood and turned to look behind me. I could smell Ahsha's scent from where I sat. I stood turning to look at her. She glanced over at me before looking at Onyx and Abraham as they walked towards her. I watched curiously as she kneeled before them reaching her hand out to them sniff.

Both of my dogs sniffed her before walking closer to her licking her. "What's their names?" She asked looking up at me. "He's Abraham and that's Onyx," I said. Both dogs rested their heads on either of her thighs trapping her. "Looks like you have the same effect on them as you do on us." She looked up at me before looking back at my dogs. She kissed both their heads before standing. "I don't know If I can handle everything that comes with you and your lifestyle." She said softly pausing as she played with her hands. "But I don't like the idea of not having you around." She mumbled. I fought the smile that threatened to form on my face. I walked towards her pulling her to me. "We can take things slow," I said snaking my arms around her waist. "Can I kiss you?" I asked her. She looked at me for a moment. "Yes." She said softly nodding her head. I pressed her closer to me before our lips met.

Malik

"A mark?" Ahsha asked. "Yes, it's a symbol that shows other supernatural that you're mated to me. Your mark will have the royal symbol intertwined with my initial it to show that we are one." She nodded her head processing everything. After our talk earlier Ahsha and I decided to sit down and talk about some of the things that will happen as we move forward. "Do you get one for me?" She asked looking. "Yes, the initial of your first name will appear in the same spot as yours," I explained. "How do you mark someone?" She asked. I looked at her feeling Dominic stir. "It generally happens during the first s****l encounter. Sometimes sooner." I said as I smirked seeing her blush. "When we both reach our climax Dominic and Ares will take over my body and mark you," I said. She turned to look at me. "Does it hurt?" she asked. "Yes. It'll start off painful before pleasure takes over. Then you will pass out as the mating process take place." She nodded her head.  

"Not that I don't enjoy talking about my world, but I want to know more about you," I said smiling. "Okay, well I'm a twin obviously that being Issac. I have a little sister whose seven and my mom is pregnant with my little brother." She paused. "I love Ali and I consider him to be my second dad." She said as her voice dropped slightly. "Second? He's not your dad?" I asked. "No my real dad died when I was around six, car accident." She said. "I'm sorry," I said wanting to take the pain in her eyes away as she spoke about her dad. "It's fine though not really but what can I do." She said softly. "Umm what else?" she asked.

"I'm a social loner. I can be social but I'm comfortable by myself. Oh, and I'm black." She said making me laugh. "Well, that's obvious," I said. "I'm just saying I'm black and I love my blackness. I just want to make it known. Other guys I've dated were-" She paused. "I'm not other guys. I already love and appreciate everything you are." I said. She nodded her head looking away from me nervousness written on her face.

"What about you?" She asked. I chuckled. "I am the oldest of three. It's me, Jericho, then Cairo. In the past, I held a lot of anger." She tilted her looking up at me. "You or was its Ares? Or even Dominic?" She asked. "All of us. Wahasha—" "Dominic said that was his name." She said. "Many people think that Wahasha is just Dominic or Ares but it's me as well. Many years ago, I went through this phase where all I wanted to do was kill and cause as much pain as I could." I paused shrugging. "Don't be mad but every time any of your family talks about you they tell me how you gave up on having a mate. Is that why you started killing?" She asked looking at me. "Partially," I said. "I waited for my ma— well I waited for you to come into my life. After several decades I gave up hope that I would ever find you. So, to deal with that I hurt people." I said. "I was killing, drinking-" I scratched the back of my head. "Having s*x a lot just to feel anything," I explained. 

"And now?" She asked. "I feel-" I paused looking over her face. "I feel at peace," I said. "Because of me?" She questioned. "Yes. Truthfully I thought because of the f****d up things I did I would never get a mate, so to have you sitting here in front of me-" I paused. "I feel peace. Knowing I have a beautiful, smart, opinionated mate makes me proud and appreciative of you." I explained. "I think I can see why all the women at the ball were fawning all over you." She joked making me laugh.

Ahsha

Malik pulled up in front of my house and you could see a couple of people walking around the neighborhood. They stopped doing whatever they were doing when they saw Malik's car. "You certainly have everyone's attention," I said looking at the people. He chuckled. "It's a nice car." He said smiling. "I wanted to give you something." He said as he reached into the glove box. He pulled out this small box and opened it to reveal a beautiful green necklace that matched his eyes.

"It's gorgeous," I said gently touching it. "Because technically your still in heat and unmarked. Wearing this will help with both,  and it will give me peace of mind." He said looking at me. "Plus, it would mask..." he paused inhaling deeply. "Your smell." He said as his eyes darkened. "I smell?" I asked. "Yes, but it's a delicious scent that draws you in." He said looking at me. "It's honestly to protect you and it'll keep me from having to hurt anyone." He said giving me a cute boyish smile.

I chuckled before turning around letting him put the necklace on me. I turned back to face him as I looked at it. "It looks beautiful on you." He said looking at me. "Thank you," I said as we stared at each other. I snapped out of my daze and cleared my throat. "I should head inside," I said softly. I went to open the car door, but he stopped me. He got out of the car and walked around to my side opening my door. I stepped out and it was like all eyes zeroed in on me or rather us. "Everyone's staring," I mumbled. "Most people have never seen me with a woman in public. It's very rare." He said kissing my hand before leaning down to my level. "Plus, they've never seen someone as beautiful as you before." He whispered to me before looking into my eyes. I shivered before he laced his fingers with mine and led me to my front door. "So, what does this mean for us now," I asked looking at him. "We'll continue to get to know each other and eventually when you're ready we can take the next step." He said. I was honestly taken away by how understanding he was when it came to me. He pulled me in close before pecking my lips. "I'll see you later, okay?" he asked. "Yeah," I said nodding my head.