I wake up to the feeling of being warm, the kind of warm you don’t want to leave the bed for, and your eyes are still closed in hopes of going back to sleep. But it is Sunday, and my house is destroyed which means adulting and getting things done. I groan a bit before I whip the sheets off of me like tearing off a band-aide. But to my surprise I did not feel cold. I barely open an eyelid expecting to see Rhoan in the bed, but he isn’t there. It is a little disappointing. Why on earth are you disappointed! I shake my head wildly to get any morning fantasies out of my head.

I begin to slide off of the bed to get dressed and realize that in the craziness of last night I didn’t have a change of clothes, just the same green t-shirt with underwear. Something about being seen in your pajamas in the morning seems a bit more exposed…I briefly think of going through Rhoan’s drawers to find something, but there is no way that behemoth of a man has anything that will fit me. I groan some more at the idea of going downstairs to deal with the awkwardness, but just like the bed sheets I swing open the door to meet it head on. When I fling the door open, Rhoan is standing there with a hand ready to knock on the door while looking down at me. He has a small grin paired with his jeans and t-shirt.

“I figured you would want some clothes to wear so I brought a pair of jeans that were by the bed.” He sheepishly holds out my jeans that are folded in his other hand. Grabbing them gingerly I am a bit overwhelmed by seeing Rhoan as my mind flashes to last night. “But if you didn’t want to put them on, I wouldn’t complain either,” with a toothy grin he spins on his heel and begins making his way down the stairs leaving me there agape.

How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?! I can’t and just close the door instead. As I put on my jeans, I am trying to think of how to approach the situation with my house to Rhoan. He seemed adamant about me not going over there because it isn’t safe, but it should be fine since it is now morning. If he is so concerned then he can just accompany. I nod to myself at my resolution. Looking around the master bedroom I see a bathroom opening and it is just as gorgeous as the bedroom. Contrary to the bedroom color scheme, the bathroom has lighter colors of green and trims of black and brown. The claw-foot bathtub and enclosed glass waterfall shower are what set this bathroom apart from others. I have never seen such a set-up before and wished that I could take a long bath in this tub. Not without certain terms I bet. I sigh and forget the idea, then check myself in the mirror to see if I’m a complete mess. My hair looks like I rolled out of bed, so I try brushing it with my hands until it is somewhat decent before putting on my boots and head downstairs.

I only had a construed view of the entrance last night, and now that I am in the upright position it looks just as glamorous. I feel out of place coming down the stairs, but still marvel at the craftsmanship. He does work in construction, so of course his home looks nice. As I reach the last step Rhoan speaks from another room, “take a left.” Taking the left, I find myself in a rustic kitchen. Rhoan’s house is sectioned off in certain areas, which is different from the SoCal norm, everything back home is “open concept” now, but I like this distinction.

“How did you sleep?” Rhoan asks while he works at the counter on what I assume is his breakfast.

“Really well, surprisingly.” I walk closer to see what Rhoan is doing. “Where did you sleep?”

Sure enough he is making scrambled eggs, “I have a spare bedroom. Glad you enjoyed my bed.” He glances up from the pan and smiles.

“I could have slept in the spare room…” I say quietly.

“No, I needed to be down stairs for other reasons.” Rhoan turns off his stove and gets two plates out from above the sink in the cabinet, then puts scrambled eggs on both. “Do you want a cup of coffee?” He asks while handing me the plate of eggs.

“I’m ok.” I stand there looking at my plate of eggs. I never could make scrambled eggs, they were always so dry even when I added milk, but these looked so fluffy. Rhoan grabs his cup of coffee, two forks and his plate and walks from behind the counter to where I stood by a table. He places his items down and pulls out a chair.

“Have a seat. Let’s talk.”

Still holding my eggs, I sit down in the extended chair. Once I sit, Rhoan sits as well. “Talk about last night?”

“We know what happened last night. We need to talk about today.” Rhoan extends a fork out to me, “Arik had some friends of his clean up the glass thoroughly from the house. My men are there putting in the new glass.”

I grab the fork. “How much-”

“Nothing. You can pay me back another way.” Rhoan begins eating his eggs as if to give me time to think of an option.

“I don’t have anything you would want. Not unless you like books.”

“Eat your eggs before they get cold,” he says kindly after taking a sip of coffee. I take a fork full of eggs and chew on them slowly contemplating the situation. This is exactly why I didn’t like asking for help. It always seems to get complicated. “Don’t worry about it now.” He takes another sip of coffee, I can see he is watching my movements carefully. “Falon was able to find our 4th neighbor last night, and we will be having that little meeting you requested last night.”

“When?”

“Thad, Arik, and Falon are all here, when you finish eating we will have the meeting.” He takes one last big sip of coffee before grabbing his plate and excusing himself from the table.

“This morning!” I shovel the rest of my food into my mouth and don’t have a chance to savor it. I hurriedly get up from the table and get to the sink, then begin washing my dish.

Rhoan chuckles behind me, “What’s the rush?”

“I am not presentable at all. It is bad enough you have seen me like this, I can’t let the other neighbors see me like this!”

“I will consider myself lucky then.” I leave the clean dish and fork in the sink and rush towards the front door.

“Whoa whoa wait up there!” Rhoan rushes around the corner and meets me at the door.

“You are not going over there with me right now, are you?”

“I am.” Rhoan bluntly states.

“You can’t, I need to get ready.”

“Just because the glass is up doesn’t mean it is safe.”

“But…there isn’t any furniture and there aren't a lot of doors.”

“Doors?”

“Uhhh,” I moan exasperatedly, not wanting to explain this to him since there is apparently a meeting to get ready for now. “There is no door to the master bedroom, and no door to the bathroom.”

I can see Rhoan’s expression mull over the words before I see it click for him. “Ohhh. I will stay out in the living room and bring furniture over, nowhere near you.” He grins at me.

“Fine, fine. You stay away from the bedroom!” I say before I exit the house and run over to mine.

Coming up to the front of the house I can see that the bay window is fixed and even has curtains in place. Oh no, what else did they do. I get up the steps and open the door to see the glass that was there the night before has been cleaned up. The kitchen area has new glass and curtains as well. Making my way down the hall I see the guest room also has curtains. Going past the mirrored cubby hall I come to the master bedroom which also has no glass shards, a new door, and curtains. Not only did they fix everything they got curtains, I think they dusted too. Looking around the master bedroom, I also see the books have homes on shelves surrounding the bed.

“For pete’s sake, they unpacked my personal items…” there is no time to fret over the matter though. I quickly rummage through the drawers in the room to find a towel and some clothes to wear. This has to be a record I am setting for getting ready. I washed the vital areas, dried off, pulled on new underwear plus a bra, followed by jeans and a slightly loose fitted sweater with a v-neck. Grabbing the towel I capture my hair and wring it out so I can brush it. With a small touch of foundation, I finished looking presentable and I wasn’t disturbed by a certain bear. I pull on some socks and lace up my hightops before I make my way to the living room.

When I get to the living room, I see Rhoan putting the final touches of placing 2 armchairs and a large couch in the middle of the living room. “Did your men put these curtains up and unpack my stuff?” I ask in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Ha! No, those were my men,” I hear a voice come from the kitchen and it is Arik rummaging through the cupboards.

“What are you doing in there? Didn’t I have to invite you in?”

Rhoan plops down on the couch and observes my conversation with Arik. “I am checking to see if you went shopping and if there was anything I could eat since last night was exhausting. But you have nothing…” Arik states while closing a cabinet. “Owen invited me in a long time ago, so I don’t need your permission,” he said with a grin.

“Great… hey, I just went shopping! On another note, why did your men unpack everything?!”

Arik saunters around the counter to sit in one of the armchairs. “I meant nothing good to eat,” he pauses a moment, “my men unpacked your things because it wasn’t done.”

Rhoan chuckles to himself. “Better be careful Arik, she is a bit feisty.”

I walk into the kitchen ignoring the comments to get myself a glass of water, and pretend to try and find something while inspecting the cabinets. There is some good stuff to eat. I tell myself when I find a can of Spaghettios. I think Arik sees what I did because he begins to laugh to himself.

“Falon is retrieving Thad and they should be here in a moment.”

“Everly, could I trouble you for a glass.” Rhoan asks in a polite manner. Without a second thought, I get him some water and hand it to him while I hold my own glass.

“Arik I appreciate the help, but I am going to go into Loveland to pick up some curtains. I don’t want to trouble you anymore than I already have.” My passive way of telling him he is taking the curtains back.

“It is not a problem. Just keep the curtains since they are already up, besides, you won’t find any good curtains in town.”

“She doesn’t like accepting help.” Rhoan retorts in between drinking his water.

“It must be a California thing. Always expecting help to turn on them, or something like that.” Arik snides back as if I am not in the room.

“That makes sense, from the way she was talking last night, she-”

“Excuse me!” I interrupt the chit-chat. “It has nothing to do with being from California. I would just prefer to try and do things on my own first before getting help.”

“Even if she struggles,” Rhoan says under his breath just loud enough for Arik and myself to hear.

“Why do I feel as if I am being judged and in the process of execution?”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Arik turns his gaze to the bay window and draws back the curtains. “Here comes Falon and Thad.”

I didn’t get a chance to argue with Arik further. The next few minutes are like watching a movie of old friends meeting after years of being seperated. Falon comes in the front door grinning and runs to Rhoan patting him on the back. Arik nods to Falon. Thad, pats Rhoan on the back and nods to Arik as well. All of them smiling and having pleasantries amongst themselves as I sit observing their behaviors. They seem so close...I wonder if we will all be like that one day.

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Arik clears his throat to settle the men down and has them all sit, except for Thad. “If you could not tell, this is Thad, your fourth neighbor.”

Thad extended his hand in my direction, “You must be Everly, you sure have created a spark in this small town. Hasn’t been such a ruckus since your grandpa passed. My condolences.”

I take his hand to shake it, but he brings it up to his mouth to kiss the top of my hand and I get a full dose of his caramel eyes. “Oh umm thank you.”

A devilish grin stretches across his face before Arik continues. “Everyone here is caught up on recent events. The Supernatural community is concerned about what Everly’s arrival means.” Arik takes a deep breath, “there are many questions that need to be answered such as what the other half of Everly is, how to deal with the public and what actually happened to Owen.” The men look down. “We have done what we can to find out what really happened in those mountains, but no one seems to know. But Everly can be the key to figuring it out.”

“So first, we need to figure out what Everly really is.” Thad states then all eyes look at me.

“We know she is part druid for sure, but how do we deduce the other part of her blood, any suggestions?” Arik questions.

“There is one way to reduce the search, but…” Thad states with a cheshire cat-like smile.

The four of them share glances in their secret language as I sit there dumbfounded.

“Which would be what exactly?” I question.

Rhoan, Arik and Falon stand up making their way to the front door as Thad stays seated. I go to stand as well, but Arik stops in front of the door.”Everly, please stay here, we will be right outside.”

I sit back down and can see from my chair that the three men stood just out on the driveway looking into the house from the bay window. Thad slowly stands up.

Rhoan yells from outside. “Don’t get carried away!”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I keep glancing at the men outside and the one slowly approaching me, suddenly I feel a strong heat and a sweet smell overcomes my senses. Thad’s once silly grin is now a sultry smile that could easily make a girl swoon and her ovaries jump. That wasn’t happening to me though. I felt like someone had the fire going, the heater on a 90-degree day while I was wearing a parka and on top of that, I feel as if I’m stuck in a vat of ice baked goods as the sweet smell intensifies. It becomes difficult to breathe as it gets hotter and the air feels muggy. I can feel myself slip off of the armchair and it is just that, slipping. My body feels like liquid as my muscles refuse to work properly and all these sensations have me scared. Thad is now crouching in front of me watching my expression. He stretches out a hand and wipes a sweat covered strand of hair off my cheek. I don’t like this feeling at all. I feel like I’m going to be sick.

“Back off,” I bite through gritted teeth.

That took Thad by surprise as his grin slightly wavers. I glance at the men outside and see that their expressions were ever watchful of the situation. What is going on and what is the point of it? Thad moves his hand down towards my chin lifting it up and leans in closer as if he were going to try and kiss me. There is no way in hell a man was taking advantage of me, and this situation screamed wrong down to my bones.

As he comes closer, I say in almost a growl, “I am warning you.”

His lips are centimeters away from mine as he softly whispers, “just let go.”

So, I do.

I didn’t want to be too cruel to the man, so I don’t kick him in the groin as I had originally intended, instead, I kick his protruding knee, making him fall sideways as he yelps in pain. Immediately the heat is gone as well as the smell. I hear a howl of laughter outside and a glance out the window shows Arik shaking his head with a smirk, Rhoan is doubled over from laughing with Falon hanging off of him as he mimics the action.

Thad yells out, “Not funny, that fucking hurt!” His “sexy” composure is gone.

The three men traipse inside the house while still chuckling and Thad pulls himself onto the couch while rubbing the knee I knocked out.

“I told you to back off.” I’m still on the floor waiting for the lingering sensation of jelly limbs to go away.

“That was the quickest way to check!” Thad almost growls, then Rhoan and Falon start laughing again. “Shut it!” Thad says through seething teeth as he nurses his knee.

Arik comes to my side and gently grabs my arm to aid me in my chair before the rest of them sit down. He is also the only one able to keep his composure as he speaks to me, “it was the easiest way to check, Everly. But the extra theatrics were unnecessary Thad.” he shrugs as if to say ‘what?’ and Arik continues, “Thad is a succubus of some sorts and feeds off of sexual energy, but there are certain creatures that are immune to his charms.”

“I’m immune? That didn’t feel like I was immune…” I state.

Falon speaks up, “Oh you are immune. Any “normal” supernatural would have been all over him. There was this time that-”

Arik smacks his hand over Falon’s mouth and Rhoan must have been trying to do the same thing as he leaned over Thad to get to Falon. “We don’t need to speak of that.” Arik says curtly followed by an intense gaze. That is curious.

Rhoan sighs in what I assume is relief and sits up straight, “The point is, you are immune and that reduces the supernatural gene pool for you.”

“Why didn’t you just say what you were going to do then!”

“If you know it is going to happen, you would be more inclined to resist. Think of it as a sneak attack.” Thad answers as he continues to rub his knee.

Rhoan speaks up, “So we consult the book to see which one she could be mixed with and do a process of elimination then. What do we do when we finally find out what she is?” All of the men look at me as some odd attraction in response.

I shrug, “Does it really matter what I am? Can’t I just go about living life here peacefully?”

Thad rebuttes quick enough, “Did you just forget what happened to your house? Just because they won’t come on our turf again, doesn’t mean you’re safe.”

“Your blood is rare, the powers you could possess need to be controlled as soon as possible.” Arik chimes in.

Everyone sits in silence and it gives me a chance to mull everything over. “Will my family be safe?” I ask dryly as fear creeps over me. “If my blood is that rare, won’t others think of my family having it as well?”

The men all look stern and only Arik looks me in the eyes. “That is being dealt with now. I can’t say anymore than that at this time. Just know they will be safe.”

“But-”

“When it is dealt with we can talk more on the matter.” Arik earnestly speaks and I don’t dare to keep pushing the issue.

“I was wondering, why didn’t Owen’s son have the gene?” Rhoan asks as if to break the tension in the room.

Arik must have caught the hint, “I thought about that as well, and I think it might be similar to a were’s blood. Your abilities skip a generation, correct?”

“I didn’t think other supernaturals had that characteristic?” Rhoan is genuinely intrigued by the idea if his face were any indicator.

“We are dealing with a rare case, but it is possible for the gene to have skipped and gone to the first born female…I’m going to need to consult some sources, but there is a small handful of species that are specific to the continuation of their line.”

“I guess that explains it then…but, what am I supposed to do with the magic though?” I state looking down at my hands as if something would fly out of them.

Rhoan stood and crouched beside me with a caring look in his eye. “You use it… you don’t have to worry about using it here.” His eyes glanced at the other men in the room who nodded in agreement. “We will do our best to help you, I mean, we were friends with Owen for so long and have seen a thing or two that we could guide you.”

Rhoan gestured toward Arik to speak up, “After living for such a long time I have made connections and someone must know more about druid magic, I will make some calls.” A smile broke across his face.

“Everyone in this community knew of Owen and could share some insight of what the man did. He wasn’t a complete recluse.” Falon chimed in a nonchalant way.

Thad looked annoyed before he spoke, “Uhhh and I suppose… I could show you the ropes around here as well.”

Looking around my grandpa’s room, for the first time, I saw a group of people who were stepping up for me, a group that only knew me a few days, but had taken their time to understand. I didn’t want to look too much into it for fear of misreading their intentions, but I didn’t feel utterly alone. I can feel my eyes get a little blurry, so I lower my head down into my lap before I speak between my legs. “I really appreciate all of your help, all of you. Thank you.” I can feel a tear escape my eye and watch it fall to the floor.

“Shouldn’t you say something so sincere to our faces?” Falon popped off with a smart-ass tone. I hear a thud followed by an “ow” from Falon.

I chuckle and wipe my eyes before lifting my head and looking onto the group. “You’re right,” I gave them the biggest smile, “Thank you.”

“I think this is the first time I have seen you smile.” Rhoan said with a sincere voice. Seeing Rhoan smile at me and giving me a compliment is a combo hit, and before I know it, I can feel my face getting hot.

Again, the men are gawking at my ability to turn a pink color. “That’s a great reaction.” Thad says in a smooth voice, “this is going to be fun,” followed by what I now assume is his signature devilish grin. I can feel my ears get hot as the men continue to stare!

“Don’t even think about it…” Rhoan states while standing to his feet finally.

“Oh come on, with reactions like that she’s going to get teased.” Thad replies.

The two of them are now squared off with one another. Even though the two of them are the same height, Rhoan is a bit bulkier than Thad since he is more lean. Falon and Arik follow in pursuit as they get involved with the “discussion”.

“I know how succubi work, if you had any respect for Owen you wouldn't even think of her that way.” Rhoan sneered.

Thad is inches from Rhoan’s face, “don’t bring Owen into this. Everly is her own woman, so she can decide for herself and doesn’t need you playing guardian.”

It is like I’m not even there. “HEY!” I try to get their attention to no avail.

These supernaturals must be a lot stronger than I thought because a “slight” push from Thad is enough to make Rhoan bump into Falon who is right behind him. As I get up to catch Falon from hitting the floor, everything turns into slow motion. His body twists to brace for the fall, but I am in the way and I lip-lock with Falon as he lands on top of me. Falon and I both quickly grab our mouths since we basically crashed our mouths together. Falon rolls to the side and screams, “Fuck!” I want to do the same, but just growl from the pain.

The others turn around and see the aftermath to look at. Falon yells at the Rhoan and Thad, “You assholes! You made me smack-kiss Everly!”

I keep my hands over my mouth since the crash is more painful than exciting, my poor heart couldn’t take this much longer, every little embarrassing thing and my face would give me away. Thad, Arik and Rhoan look down at us before Thad starts cackling.

“She gets embarrassed by every little thing, it’s really adorable, it makes me want to tease her even more.” He sneers while elbowing Rhoan.

Could that even be considered a kiss, I sure hope not, a terrible first, I thought to myself. Arik yells, “WHAT?!” His outburst has everyone startled in the room.

“What is wrong with you?!” Thad yells back at Arik.

“It…” Arik clears his throat, “nothing. I just thought of something I need to do.” Without another word Arik bolts for the door and leaves.

“What the hell was that about?” Rhoan breaks the awkwardness.

“He is a prude, remember. You probably offended him, Thad…” Falon is in a sitting position on the floor now while still holding his mouth.

“You think that vamp is a prude? Oh Falon, if only you knew.” Thad’s devilish grin swept across his face.

“Uh please, I don’t want to hear about his exploits…” Falon picks himself off the floor, “If you don’t have anything for me to do, I’m going home to ice my mouth before work.” I stayed on the floor, glad the attention was off of me as I use a proding finger to feel for any breaks in my teeth or gums.

“We need to see if Arik can find any information in his books, so for now just keep your eyes and ears open.” Rhoan replies. I can feel a cut in my lip, but it doesn’t seem to be bleeding, I tap at it gingerly.

With a wave goodbye and a quick glare at me, Falon leaves and I could hear him mumble something on his way out.

How can the only 2 rational men leave me with these hot heads? Rhoan drops down at eye level and Thad mimics the action. “Are you bleeding Everly? Open your mouth.” Rhoan’s big hand catches the bottom of my chin to cradle it.

“I’m ok.” The act of speaking releases a bit of blood from my lip.

“Good thing Arik left.” Thad states as he gets up and goes to the kitchen.

Rhoan places his thumb in my mouth so I can’t close it. “True”. Now the two of them are playing nice?

“Aye ka ake air ah is.” I try saying while grabbing at Rhoan’s hand to move. He doesn’t budge until Thad comes back with a small towel and ice. Thad began dabbing my swollen lip and Rhoan followed up with ice then he grabs my hand to hold the ice pack on my lip. I do it without question since the cooling sensation feels good on my tingling lip.

“Someone should stay with her until we know it is safe.” Rhoan states bluntly more towards Thad than me.

Both men stand up and tower over me. Thad stretches out his arms as he says, “Ok, I’ll stay.”

I can hear a low rumble coming from Rhoan. “Why would you stay here with her Succu-slut.”

“Well you can join, but that might be a little excessive don’t you think?” Thad says with his devilish grin.These two resemble my older brothers and how they like to rile the other one up. They begin to bicker again, but I don’t pay any attention to them this time. Instead, I pick myself up from the floor and walk to the kitchen to grab two pots then walk back around, only to bang them together.

Both men nearly jumped out of their skin. “What are you doing?!” Thad screams while the two cover their ears. I stop banging the pans long enough for me to speak.

“Both of you need to leave.”

Rhoan looks a little hurt. “But you-”

I start banging the pots again and chase them out of the house. No sooner do I chase them out and they are back to bickering in front of my house. I close the new curtains to separate myself from the scene and draw in a large breath.

“I don’t know if my heart can handle this for very long…” I mutter to myself as I make my way back to the kitchen to return the pots.