It was silent after everything had been revealed. I felt sick to my stomach with dread, but no one looked mad. I didn't dare try to sense their emotions. I was scared of what I would find.

"Andros," rumbled Ambrose, so my uncle deposited me into his arms.

I blinked, then I felt his fingers push into my hair and gently tug my head to his left. Ambrose sniffed my neck where the scars from his fangs were located, then he inhaled deeply as he opened his mouth. I knew what was coming, but I had forgotten how painful the initial bite was from my ancient vampire.

I tensed after his fangs drove deep into my neck and I shuddered as the weird sensation of being sucked like a straw happened again. His tongue was pressing against my shoulder as his hot breath cascaded over my slightly cool, clammy skin. Ambrose's pale form began to look less sickly as he continued to drink from me, so I couldn't help myself and carefully lifted my right arm to brush my fingers against his face. Ambrose hummed, which felt strange, then he sighed aloud as my hand found purchase in his long, thick hair. I need to braid it.

"Am—!" Daddy stopped himself from saying anything further as Ambrose slowly removed his fangs from my neck and then slowly licked my wounds to scar them over again.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the pain faded. I didn't feel any pleasure from that feeding, mainly because most of my body was still overrun with so many negative emotions that I could barely breathe. But it felt so nice to be cradled by Ambrose again.

"Little wolf," whispered Ambrose, so I slowly tilted my head back to look into his eyes. They were crimson now, so Daviel's gravelly, rough voice continued, "You have done nothing wrong, our dear little Anwyll. Why must you torture yourself for no reason? Your loving heart accepted the tortured soul of your creator, who wanted to be loved so desperately that he was willing to do anything. All of the death and destruction were his choices alone. You are not guilty by association. You are Anwyll Arcane-DeLuca—lover to fifteen and family to us and more. You have saved us and many others. You are not a killer by trade—you are our guardian and a protector of those you love."

Tears slipped down my cheeks as I swallowed thickly. "B-but—!"

Angel turned me around in Daviel and Ambrose's lap, then cupped my tearstained cheeks with my bottom lip and jaw trembling uncontrollably. His beautiful blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears, which I could barely see through my own violet ones.

"Sweetheart, you are also a victim as a creation of Azazel. You are no more guilty than we are—!"

"But I am the final product!" I interrupted, then tried to pull his hands off my face but they remained firm. "How could I even dare to let you love me when I am the reason every single hybrid in here has suffered!"

Angel held my face, then my ancient vampire handed my silently weeping form over to the Emerged unicorn. Angel cuddled me on his lap, cradling my head and back while Russet moved his head to my lap. He blew out a breath.

"I suffered because of a crazy witch and her stupid grandkids, not because I'm a hybrid." he stated bluntly, rubbing his face on my left thigh. "I'm really blessed that you are in my life, Annie. You also allowed me to meet the other equal love of my life, Walter Jr. McMann, who I am engaged to right now."

"Congratulations," I whispered, sniffling and rubbing my eyes.

Russet lifted his upper body and reached to grasp my fingers. He kissed my knuckles and sighed softly. "I love you. Our creation was not your fault, but it was your fault that we all fell hard and fast for this cute little wolf-dragon hybrid."

I blushed and giggled after he pushed forward to kiss my cheeks. Russet's tail wiggled when he heard my soft laughter, then he smiled happily after I gently petted one lop ear. Angel petted my head again after Russet moved off me.

"While some outsiders may not agree, we both know I was a victim as well as a perpetrator. I have caused suffering to others because of my existence—I both lost and killed a friend, my parents abandoned me, and I had no clue on how to control my body because of my extremely sensitive horn. But because of you and your existence, Alexandre came into my life and gave me a new one, then you helped me heal and allowed me to love someone again." he whispered, then kissed my forehead. "You know our stories, Anwyll, and you know that you played a huge role in our recoveries. Your existence was not a curse but a blessing."

"Agreed," added Damon, smiling happily as he snuggled closer to Blaine. "And I'm the angel!"

We all chuckled a bit, which made Damon smirk as he received a kiss on the cheek from our Emerged incubus. Kyler rolled forward, his face reaching mine in an instant. Angel chuckled and passed my form over to Kyler, who quietly thanked him.

"The only story you don't know is mine, pup."

I blushed from hearing that nickname, then I peeked at Uncle Andros. He was faintly smirking, which was a surprise. I think he rarely smirks, but that smug expression looks damn good on him.

Kyler's lips landed on the tips of my wolf ears and I flushed beet-red as he gently licked inside my right one. I began to tremble, then quietly gasped as Briar's fingers caught my tail.

"K-Ky..." I whispered, then he dropped his head down a bit more to nuzzle my silvery purplish heather waves. "Are we going to talk about that later?"

Kyler inhaled deeply and slowly let his breath out. "No," he murmured, petting my head. "We will talk about it now. The others don't know me very well as the new addition to the family, and I know they harbored some distrust because of my former connection to the Evil Spider—now known as Azazel."

Daddy was quick to reassure him. "Oh, you do not have to feel pressured to speak to us now, Kyler."

Kyler shook his head. "I suppose I will learn about you all over time, but I feel like I need to speak my story. After all, it directly relates to the second soul within my little pup."

I could sense Azazel's minute agreement within me, which was a weird thing to experience. I wonder if I could actually create a real body for him and put his soul in there, that way I can spend some quality time with my lovers without feeling watched by my creator.

Dian and Ian gestured for Kyler to continue, which had Waltz agreeing with a nod. Kyler continued to pet my head, then took a few deep breaths to calm his pounding heartbeat. I used my palm to rub his chest, so Kyler grasped it and lifted my fingers to his lips.

"I was born over a hundred years ago in Scotland," he started, which made everyone's eyebrows hop up—even mine. "And life was much different back then. I lived in a forest with my pride of mountain lion werecats."

"Wait, but aren't mountain lions solitary?" asked Zaire, who was surprisingly comfortable around Kyler. He was usually the most shy (aside from Russet) around new people. I guess I missed a lot.

Kyler chuckled. "Normal ones are, but we are werecats. Although technically we lived apart on plots of forested land. I suppose I should have said that I lived within a werecat community to fully express that we were not on one plot of land living in a huge cottage."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense. Thank you for explaining."

"You're welcome, Zaire." Kyler smiled, rubbing one thumb across my right temple. He continued, "Life was peaceful in the community until bandits arrived and started raiding fields and shops, threatening and killing our people, and draining our wells without permission to water their horses, bathe themselves, and drink 'til naught but a drop remained. A group of stronger werecats—my father included—went out and killed some of the bandits, but the rest scattered. Those ones came back for revenge. My mother was raped and killed while I remained hidden in the cellar with my older sister. We could hear our mother's pleads for them to go away and never come back in the last gurgles of her voice."

Kyler's voice was completely monotone, as if he was reading records of ancient history. It made me horribly sad to hear his past.

"The bastards found the cellar door and my sister was dragged out, kicking and screaming at me to run. I was also grabbed and forced to watch my sister getting held down, brutally raped by multiple men, and then killed by a knife slicing through her throat. I had been frozen in absolute terror while crying, which annoyed the bandits. They started to swing me around like a rag-doll, likely hoping to get some amusement out of me. Luckily, one drunkard's hand slipped, so I hit the floor. My broken body managed to shift forms, so I limped away as fast as I could while the men laughed until I could no longer hear them."

"Oh fuck," breathed Blaine, pressing two fingers to the inner corners of his eyes. He breathed deeply while Damon rubbed his back.

Matteo was in a similar position, but he was rubbing his face while trying to calm himself down. I petted Kyler's hair with my left hand and then motioned for my bull to crawl over. He did so and laid down, resting his head on my thighs. Matteo breathed out, his face firmly pressed into my tummy. Although I was back to being practically skin and bones again from not eating enough.

I pushed my fingers through his dark brown curls, gently shaking out the loose locks as he calmed down. Kyler turned his head and kissed my forearm, his blue-gray eyes flashing gold for a second. I briefly pecked his lips, then tucked my head against his chest.

Kyler sighed aloud and rubbed his face. "I'll spare everyone the minute details. I managed to escape to another pride member's home and recovered there after the burial of my mother and sister. My father went insane from the loss of his mate and daughter, as well as my crippled arms. He disappeared about a month after the whole ordeal, then I tried to find work. It was nearly impossible with my arms in their useless state. All muscle shriveled away and I became unsightly to look at. My pride took pity at first, but eventually I was a 'useless eater' and no longer welcome in the community. I was given a knapsack with some food, then guided to the edge of the community's southeast border and shoved onto the path with the clothes on my back."

"That's awful," mumbled Dian, while petting Waltz's head. My Emerged faerie looked a little annoyed, but I could sense that the irritation was towards Kyler's former pride and not Dian.

"Agreed," chorused everyone but me.

I chose to remain quiet and just brush my left hand along his left forearm. Kyler seemed appreciative as he nuzzled my head.

"I was sixteen when I was abandoned by my people, but I was eleven when the traumatizing ordeal happened. For five years, I was unable to use my arms. Whenever I had to shift, I always backed away while dragging my limp forelegs. However, while on my journey with no destination, I came across who I believed was a peddler. He had a small cart with supplies, which he pushed by himself without the help of a pony. At first, he asked it I could help him, but then he noticed my muscle wasting and took back his request. Instead, he offered me a drink."

Ian snorted. "This sounds like something out of the book of fairytales from Brothers Grimm."

Kyler raised an eyebrow and lifted his left arm, then Ian's eyes darted down to the scales rising from the flesh. Ian shrank back a bit, so Waltz quickly slapped his dragon's abdomen to get him to apologize. Ian squeaked out an apology, which Kyler accepted.

"In any case, I had been without water for days, so I was parched. I readily agreed, not having learned that people with nice smiles and appearances didn't mean that they were nice on the inside as well. A minute or two after drinking the tasteless liquid, I felt myself getting dizzy and then I blacked out before I hit the ground. When I awakened, I found myself in a stone-gray room with metal bars. There were other people like me in that room. They either had physical or mental defects, although they were sectioned off by an invisible wall. The stench of that room assaulted my senses as it was a mix of urine, feces, blood, and vomit. I was terrified and I wondered why that man had taken me—taken all of these imperfect, defective people and gathered them together like rabbits in a hutch."

Briar rubbed Kyler's shoulders and hugged him, then kissed my crown as he moved closer to us. Russet looked more than a little sick to his stomach at the mention of rabbits, so he rested his cheek on Angel's chest with his eyes closed. Angel kept petting Russet's curls, just staring at my right hand on Matteo's head.

Daddy looked like he was regretting not having insisted Kyler to wait while he rested his head on Uncle Andros' right shoulder. Ambrose gripped his knees in a brooding silence. Blaine had Damon cuddled in his arms, so they were happy. Gavin looked uncomfortable next to Zaire, as if he was itching to shift.

"Gav," I murmured, "Does Ragnar want to come out?"

Gavin's dark blue eyes popped up to look at my face. "How did you know?"

"Appearance."

Gavin blew out a breath. "Sorry, he was worried about you, too."

"It's all right. Come over and join Mattie."

Gavin got up onto his hands and knees, crawling towards me before flopping down on his left side. His head was on my thighs now, so that made me happy. And all tension left him the moment my fingers pushed into his thick, light brown hair.

"That feels amazing," murmured Gavin, stretching his body out like a house-cat on the rug and then yawning. "I don't feel like shifting anymore."

"That's good, Gav. We can all play later."

"Mm," he mumbled.

Mattie nuzzled my torso again for more head pats, which I freely gave a few moments later. Kyler nuzzled my head and cupped it, purring as I rubbed my left cheek across what I could reach of his chest in his curled state. Kyler's arms tightened around my form, then he straightened and just looked down as he readied himself to continue.

"There were all sorts of nonhumans there. From common-type shifters like me to extremely rare—I would say legendary-type—shifters like kelpies, unicorns, and phoenixes, to mystical beings like dryads, faeries, sprites, even a few gnomes."

My ears perked. "Gnomes?"

Matteo eyed me. "Didn't Markus insult you about your hybrid status as being part wolf and part gnome?"

I nodded as all of my other lovers tensed. I looked up and around, tilting my head in curiosity. "What's wrong?"

"Who's Markus?" they growled.

I frowned, my tail thrashing in annoyance. "Mattie's younger brother! I never thought of him as anything more than that."

"Oh," they murmured. But Waltz piped up, "We can never be too careful! Annie's got those hot little buns that are just drizzled in sweetness. Practically everyone finds him attractive!"

I stared at Waltz, pursing my lips. "Hot buns? Sweetness?"

"You're a whole damn day's worth of food, Annie, and your personality, heart, and mind is the cherry on top." He winked at me, making my cheeks flush. "We are going to have some long days of fun with you once you're fattened up again."

"O-okay," I whispered.

My skin turned fire engine-red and multiple growls burst out, blending together. Kyler and Briar were included in that deep, loud, and very rumbly noise.

"Anyway," I began, coughing only to catch their attention. "I think Kyler should continue. I'm still very curious."

Kyler blew out a breath. "All right. Is that fine with everyone else?"

"Yes," the fourteen chorused with troubled expressions. Uncle Andros added, "Please continue when you are ready."

"Thank you, sir."