Vix

“So.” Dash sat down in the armchair and scooted it to face the bed. He leaned forward on his knees and ran his hands over his face. “There’s some stuff we should probably tell you about.”

“About the ‘mate’ thing? Yeah, I’d like you to explain that.” Faith dropped the bag of breakfast on the bed and folded her arms across her chest. “I mean, I’m down for a little fun on vacation, but that’s all. I just fucking got divorced, and mate seems to be a bit of a long-term thing.”

“While that would usually be true for us as well, this is a little different.” I gingerly sat on the corner of the bed and wiped my suddenly very sweaty palms on my jeans. “Our kind, once they find their perfect match, mates for life. The three of us were becoming concerned that we had not met our match as of yet. But it seems that we just weren’t looking in the right places.”

“Go back.” Faith shook her head and pushed away from Cupid, sitting up on her knees on the bed and glaring at all of us in turn. “Your kind? Is this some creepy religious thing, cause I am not interested if that’s the case. I don’t need some guys coming in and trying to indoctrinate me into a cult while I’m still vulnerable.” Her eyes bore into me like I had personally offended her. “If you think you can sucker me into something, you are so very wrong. And you can leave.” She pointed to the door, going as far as to push on Cupid, who didn’t budge. “I said get out.”

“Please.” I stood and helped Cupid off the bed. The look of hurt that marred my good friend's face tugged harder on my heart than usual. “Give us just five minutes to explain, then if you want us to leave, we will.”

Faith just looked at me. She didn’t need words. Her face told me everything. We had five minutes and then we might lose our mate forever. I looked over to Dash and then at Cupid. They both shrugged their shoulders, and Dash hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his swim trunks and began rolling them down his hips.

“What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing?” Faith screeched so loudly that I was sure it was making her already aching head explode with pain. She covered her face with her hands. “Put your fucking clothes back on.”

“This is a show and tell kinda thing, darling.” Dash dropped his shorts on the floor and kicked out of them. “It’s gonna defeat the purpose if you don’t look.”

“Put your pants back on and I’ll look.” She growled as she squeezed her eyes shut and held her head. “Please.”

“You promised five minutes.”

“I didn’t think you would wave your dick at me during that time,” she countered.

“Fair point.” Dash consented and looked at me. I had nothing. In my entire life, I had never met a tactical situation that I couldn’t think my way out of. There was always an answer. But faced with trying to explain what we were to our mate in a way she would believe without visuals? I was at a loss.

“Faith, if you would indulge us for just a moment. I promise that Dash is not trying to persuade you through sex.” I carefully crawled onto the bed and touched her cheeks, pulling her hands away from her head until she looked at me. “If I were to simply tell you that Cupid, Dash, and I weren’t human, would you believe me?”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Then please allow us to demonstrate.” I nodded to Dash. My friend hunched down and let his body shatter before it reformed into his other skin. The hooves of his animal clacked on the floor, and he had to duck his head just a bit to keep his antlers from catching in the chandelier. “We are reindeer shifters and our kind, once we meet our mate, mates for life.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Faith’s mouth hung open as she openly stared at Dash. Our form was larger than the average reindeer, and he took up nearly all the extra space in the cabin’s bedroom. He carefully bent his front legs and lay down on the floor, so he could hold his head up all the way. “That was just Tylenol, right?”

“Yes, of course.” I nodded, rubbing my hand up and down her back. She slumped back into me, allowing me to hold her in my arms. Something deep and bright settled inside of me as she lay her head against my shoulder, still staring at Dash in wonder. “We aren’t a large community, but there are several different species of shifter.”

“And the books I read?”

“Probably written by shifters.” Cupid sat back down on the bed. “At least the one you’ve been reading. Cause it gets a bunch of stuff right.”

“So. . .” Faith couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of Dash, who looked back at us before changing back into his two-legged form. “When we bumped into each other yesterday?” She finally pulled her eyes from Dash as he pulled his trunks back on. “You knew.”

“The second you touched me, I knew you were mine.” Cupid confirmed. “I wanted to introduce you to my friends, I wanted to show off my mate.”

“But you didn’t know. . .”

“That you were their mate, too? Nope.” Cupid took her hand, and she let him pull her across the bed to him. He curled his arms around her and rubbed his face against hers. Leaving traces of his scent on her skin. “I mean, it happens, but not often.”

“What does this all mean for me?” Faith sagged against Cupid like her strings had been cut. I imagine that it was a lot to take in while suffering from a hangover, and without coffee.

“For now, it means you get to know us.” Dash dropped back down in the armchair he had been sitting in. “You’ll probably feel more drawn to us than you would a normal guy, but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want. Just give us a chance.”

“Okay.” She nodded and tucked herself back under the covers, pulling Cupid with her. “Can we go back to bed and start this day over in an hour or so?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” Cupid dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “You want us to stay or go?”

“Stay?” She looked over at me and held out her hand. “I want some sober snuggles that I will actually remember. Then we’re gonna start this day over properly. With coffee. And scones. Little ones that have gooey icing.”

“Sounds heavenly.” I tuck myself against her front as Cupid spoons into her back. Dash just sighs and punches his pillow before settling in behind me.

“Next time I get the cuddles.”

“You practically got a lap dance in the shower.” Faith mumbled against my chest. “Shut up and go to sleep.”

“Yes, ma’am.”