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Years after that night, Charles jokingly refers to as their first wedding, they take a request from a ghost, to save a possessed human girl named Crystal. They rescue her and allow her to sleep on the couch, but searching for the toilet Crystal stumbles upon the second bedroom with their mattress, their nest.
“What the hell?! There is a bed here! Why do I have to sleep on the lumpy old couch?! I just went through hell, getting possessed can´t remember shit and…,” before she could continue her rant, Charles who had been about to lead her out of the room before she had started her rant, interrupted her.
“Been through hell...she says,” he almost scoffed. “You have no right to be anywhere near this room, this n…,” Charles quickly bit back the word nest, no need to give her any ammunition against them, “…this mattress!” Inhaling forcefully he tried to keep his rage under control. All his instincts were urging him to rip apart the insolent intruder who had dared to invade their sanctuary. His temper really hadn’t cooled down over the years.
All his alpha instincts screaming, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room, securely shutting the door.
“Hey! What the heck! Let me go!”
“Stay out of that room, or you will be sleeping on the streets!”
Edwin, who had been searching for a book in the small closet, quickly emerged as he felt his mate’s agitation. Swiftly grasping the situation Edwin turned to Crystal, mouth in a thin line.
Crystal only scoffed, rubbing her arm. “We are allowing you into our home, letting you invade our privacy to be of assistance to you, and you thank us by…” He motioned over to the room. “…demanding to take our bed?”
“Ghosts don´t need sleep! I don´t see why I shouldn´t take the perfectly ready bed, when you won´t need it anyway.” Then finally her actions seemed to sink in, because suddenly she couldn’t hold eye contact anymore, shuffling on her feet, voice growing smaller.
“What the heck! Manners must really have gone completely down the drain. It is our bed, Edwin and mine. You sleep on the couch, or not at all!,” Charles bit out, narrowing his eyes. He was half a mind to just set her free on the streets. Edwin always said nothing good came out of dealing with the living, and more and more often that seems to be very much true. And adding, he hated having his alone time with Edwin interrupted, Charles was less and less inclined to help this rude girl further.
Keeping an eye on her, he pulled Edwin close, tapping his mate’s cheek with his nose, he inhaled subtly. He needed his mate’s scent to calm him down, or he would do something he would most likely regret.
Crystal slumped a ruddy blush on her cheeks, nodding, before she tentatively cleared her throat and spoke up, for once meek: “Yes…I…am…I apologize, that was shitty of me. I…thanks for helping me.” Eyes darting away again, she swiftly laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, as if that would make the whole situation go away, as if she could simply turn the page and start a new chapter.
The two ghosts shared a look, before both decided to take the discussion somewhere else. They retreated into their bedroom. Perfectly honest neither was really sure how much time and energy they wanted to invest in helping her. She was a human, very much free of the possession and therefore no longer their jurisdiction. Even with the vision in the picture …could they really trust her?
Hugging closer, Edwin murmured: “We need to be careful, if we intend to go help that girl she saw in her vision…my heat isn´t that far off.”
Charles gently stroked his back, kissing Edwin´s temple. “True. I don´t want you anywhere near danger at least a week before your heat.” He gripped him tighter at the mere thought. Protectiveness making his voice a dark rumble.
Edwin´s heat was four times a year, and normally they would schedule leave, Charles called it the heat holiday, one week before it starts. Leaving for a small cottage, they had found and warded for themselves. There they would relax until the heat took over and then recover after, before getting back to the agency and their cases.
“We have a week, before we plan to go.” Edwin calculated, leaving Charles to brood, very much still pissed at Crystal for invading their space and demanding to sleep in THEIR nest. He growled, aggressively scenting Edwin, before he got gently punched on the chest. “Who was it who wanted to help her? She apologized. We will see to it to help the small child, make sure Crystal is on her feet again and then leave. Mirror travel allows us to be quick. Crystal can meet us on sight. Afterall I see no need to accompany her on a plane ride.”
Charles nodded, it was really strange to see their roles reversed, Edwin wanting to keep contact with a human while Charles blocked. But it happened. When someone invaded their territory Charles was merciless, all alpha protecting his mate. And once someone had pissed him off, especially if they had somehow managed to hurt Edwin, even if the slight was done unconsciously, Charles had a really hard time seeing them as anything other than a nuisance, as someone to get rid of and crush as needed.
Well, they would see what the week would hold. Afterall, a week was all Crystal would get.