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Lyrica had enjoyed spending the day with the Titan family, but after Gabriel’s warning, she’d been slightly uneasy about speaking to his youngest brother. However, once introductions were made and they sat down at the table, she quickly realized there was nothing to worry about.
While Gabriel and Poppy had inherited their father’s temperament, Vaughn was more of a free spirit like their mother. He was a cheerful, curious teenager, and he had a pure heart like the rest of his family. Vaughn had arrived with his best friend, Ivan, who attended the Academy with him. Ivan was a big male who remained quiet during most of the meal, while Vaughn hadn’t stopped asking questions.
Instead of being annoyed, Lyrica was pleased by his interest in her and the Xenon. Perhaps she felt a fondness for the youngling because of her own inquisitive nature and thirst for knowledge, or she could have been influenced by the deep love Gabriel had for his family. Either way, she was pleased that she had gotten to spend time getting to know all of them. His family was obviously important to her mate, which made them important to her.
She and Alden took turns answering questions about their home world and their journey to Earth while they enjoyed the fabulous meal that had been prepared by Dorian and Dima. Alden was a little less enthusiastic about the task, but he’d spent years being bombarded by her questions, so he was used to it. Gabriel and Harris also answered a few, though it was difficult for them to talk much since they both spent most of the meal shoving food in their mouths.
“Is it true you went streaking naked through the courtyard?” Vaughn asked.
“No,” Gabriel answered curtly.
“Sort of,” Harris corrected with a wide grin. “He had Lyrica’s cloak wrapped around his waist since he had busted out of his own clothes.”
Vaughn snickered. “Stars, I wish I got that on vid.”
“I’m sure someone did,” Harris said slyly, trying to look innocent. Then, he mouthed, “I’ll send it to you.”
“Gabriel used to love running around the garden naked.” Hazel’s dark eyes sparkled with amusement. “Every time we turned on the sprinkler he would just jump right in and—”
“I was a toddler, mom.”
“Change the subject before she gets started on the more embarrassing stories. It won’t end well for you,” Poppy promised with a laugh. “Remember what she did to me that first night I brought Dorian and Dima over for dinner? I’m surprised they didn’t run for the hills.”
“We’d never run from you, mate,” Dorian swore, stroking her hair.
Dima nodded. “And we love hearing stories about your childhood.”
Lyrica blinked her eyes up at Gabriel, and she sent him a sweet smile. “I’d like to hear more about you naked in the garden.”
“There is nothing more romantic than dancing naked in the garden with your mate,” Hazel said, blowing a kiss at Koric, who smiled back at her.
“That does sound romantic,” Lyrica murmured.
“Don’t encourage them, or they’ll never stop,” Gabriel ordered, making everyone at the table laugh.
Vaughn shoved some food into his mouth, then quickly chewed as if he couldn’t wait to start his next line of inquiry. “Are you going to be claiming her name, or is she becoming a Titan?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Don’t know. We haven’t discussed that subject yet.”
“We are fluid about name claims in this family.” Koric shared a smile with Hazel and took hold of her hand before saying, “I claimed my keeper’s last name since I never really had family connections of my own.”
“I was really close to my parents, and I also had the business legacy to uphold, so it made sense for us to keep the Titan name,” Hazel explained.
“Same for us. Dorian and Dima agreed to become Titans so we can carry on the family business until the next generation is ready to take over.” Poppy placed her hands on her baby bump, and her mates reached out to place their hands over hers.
“It was no hardship. We don’t know who our father is,” Dima stated. “And our mother was a crazy bitch who tried to kill us.”
“Several times,” Dorian added. “It happens a lot on Helix.”
Lyrica didn’t know how to respond to that horrible reality.
“I’m taking my mate’s last name,” Harris announced from across the table. “I am officially Harris Cloudspear now. Wow, that sounds pretty damn cool.”
“You honor me,” Alden murmured, sharing a look of love with his mate as they linked hands. He cleared his throat, then said, “As rulers of the Southern Isle, the Snowden name has a long history that must be preserved.”
She squeezed Gabriel’s hand and reached for him through their bond. “Don’t listen to him. We don’t have to decide this right now if—”
He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers. “As much as I hate admitting I agree with Alden about anything, he’s right. This is important to you, so I’m happy to claim your name as my own. I’ll still be a Titan, but I will also be a Snowden.”
“Titan Snowden. I like it.”
“So do I.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Does that make us royalty now, too?” Vaughn asked hopefully.
Koric laughed. “Keep dreaming, son.”
Vaughn grinned at his father, then focused back on his brother. “Have you done any tests yet?”
Gabriel frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Dude, you’ve suddenly sprouted wings, and you’re as big as a cargo freighter. How fast can you fly? Can you lift a space cruiser with your bare hands? Are you afraid you might crush Lyrica if you rolled onto her while you’re—”
“Vaughn,” Poppy chided, reaching around her mate to smack her younger brother on the back of his head.
“What?” The youngest Titan did his best to look innocent as he rubbed the sore spot. “I was going to say while they were sleeping.”
“Sure, you were,” his sister said dryly.
Vaughn rolled his eyes. “You know you were wondering the same thing.”
Dima chuckled. “Yeah, but we didn’t say it out loud.”
“Gabriel does worry, so we—”
“That’s enough of that,” he growled, placing his hand over Lyrica’s mouth. “We don’t need to share info about our sex life with them.”
“I was just trying to assure them you are always thinking of my safety, even when we are making love...or sleeping.”
“You were just trying to drive me crazy.”
“That, too.” He jerked in surprise when she licked his palm. “Is it working?”
“Do that again, and I will put that tongue to a different use.”
“Promises, promises.”
He growled and removed his hand, kissing her hard. The rest of the table ignored them as the conversation continued.
Harris stroked his chin. “We haven’t tested our abilities, but doing some tests isn’t a bad idea.”
“True,” Alden agreed. “We haven’t gotten a chance to fight or train in these new forms yet. And since we now have increased speed and strength, it would be useful to evaluate our abilities.”
“We could help with that.” Dima rubbed his hands together. “We’ve never seen what a Xenon can do, and I bet you’ve never fought a Helios in shifted form before.”
“I’d like to join in, but all of you would definitely kick my ass. Ivan can help, though.” Vaughn gestured toward his friend. “He’s a half human, half Krytos hybrid who can shift into battle form.”
“I like sparring,” Ivan said, speaking the first words since he had arrived. The young male’s voice was so deep, the rumble of sound seemed to shake all of the glasses on the table.
Alden smiled, and his face lit up with anticipation. “I’ve never trained with a Krytos or a Helios before. This sounds like great fun.”
“No fighting near my flowers,” Hazel warned, wagging a finger at them.
“Of course, not.” Alden bowed his head to her. “We would never bring harm to your lovely garden.”
Hazel beamed at him, then winked over at Harris. “I really like your mate.”
“So do I.”
“We could use the south field out back since we haven’t replanted it yet,” Dima suggested.
“Good idea. We won’t have to worry about destroying anything out there.” Dorian glanced over at Gabriel. “What has the reaction been like from your officers? If you intimidated them before, they must be absolutely terrified of you now.”
“I haven’t been in the office the last few days, so I don’t know how everyone will react.”
For days, Gabriel and Lyrica had spent most of their time locked away in the bedroom together. They ventured out into the common areas to order meals through the food console or to retrieve the other items they’d had delivered. But other than Harris and Alden, they hadn’t really seen anyone else. Their visit to his parents’ house was the first time they had stepped foot out of their suite.
“You’re a good influence on him, Lyrica,” Hazel commended. “I can’t remember the last time Gabriel took any time away from work.”
“According to Nina, the rumors are spreading,” Harris told them. “Our officers heard about what happened to Gabe in the docking bay and are prepared to flee in fear when he returns.”
“No one has seen you since you’ve transformed either, mate,” Alden pointed out as he lifted his wine glass.
“You’re right.” Harris snickered. “That should make things interesting when we go back to work.”
“Are you going back to work?” Poppy asked. “I mean, if Lyrica is ruler of an island back on Xenthian, shouldn’t you both be there? Or are you going to split your time between both worlds?”
“That should go over real well with the regents,” Dima said sarcastically. “A few of those assholes already had a problem with you being a hybrid when you took over command of the Capital. I can only imagine what they will say now.”
“They might ask you to step down,” Koric said softly.
Gabriel shrugged. “Then, I’ll step down. Harris can take over without me.”
“Not going to happen, brother. Alden is my priority now. I go where he goes. They can select a new pair of elites to take over for us.”
Alarmed, Lyrica said, “Gabriel, your position here is important to you.”
He stopped eating and turned in his chair, giving her his full attention. “And your position back on Xenthian is important to you. You said you wanted to go back.”
“We must be on Xenthian for the magic to work for our bonding ceremony. I didn’t mean we had to live there permanently.”
Poppy’s eyes went wide as she looked at Gabriel and Harris. “I forgot all about the Xenon having magic. Does that mean you guys have magic now, too?”
Harris let out a wistful sigh. “I wish.”
“Of course, not,” Gabriel scoffed.
Lyrica delicately cleared her throat. “Well...that’s not exactly true.”
“What?” Gabriel and Harris both shouted at the same time.
“You don’t have magic yet, but you will once we complete our bonding ceremony,” she explained.
Vaughn all but bounced in his seat. “That is totally frosty!”
Harris’ jaw dropped open. “Hold up. Seriously? I’m going to have magic after we do the bonding ceremony?”
“Actually, you will be able to share my magic once the ceremony is complete.” Alden smiled at him sheepishly. “Did I forget to mention that to you?”
“Umm, yeah.” Harris beamed at him. “This is fucking awesome!”
“Fucking hell,” Gabriel muttered in complete opposition to his partner’s reaction. “This is just one more thing I’m going to have to learn.”
Lyrica patted his hand. “Don’t worry, mate. I will teach you everything you need to know.”
As the conversation about magic continued, Gabriel desperately wanted to be alone with Lyrica. Not just because he wanted to make love to her. That was a given. He wanted her with every breath he took, but they also had things to discuss in private. He had sensed how distressed she’d been hearing that their mating might cause problems with the regents, and he realized he should have mentioned his concerns to her before his family had brought it up.
Since they were both done eating, Gabriel pushed back from the table and stood up. “I’m going to take Lyrica on a walk around the grounds.”
Hazel smiled with understanding. “We have pie for dessert, so make sure you come back later.”
“Perhaps you should show her the D’Aire dome,” Koric suggested. “There is a full moon tonight.”
“Great idea. Thanks, dad.”
“Thank you for the amazing meal,” Lyrica said as she took Gabriel’s offered hand. “Everything was wonderful.”
Alden started to stand, but Harris put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place. “Remember, the security system monitors the entire property, and there are guards on duty watching over the domes all night. They’ll be fine.”
Gabriel frowned. “I can keep my mate safe.”
Alden’s brow rose in challenge. “That still remains to be seen.”
When Gabriel growled and took a step toward him, Lyrica wrapped her arms around his waist. “Remember, you cannot kill him.”
“Can I just maim him a little?”
“No.”
“Damn it.”
“Stop baiting him,” she ordered Alden. Then, she grabbed hold of her mate’s hand. “Let’s go.” Even though she’d done her best to sound stern, she couldn’t help but chuckle as she dragged Gabriel toward the exit.
