Grave Sight | A Reverse Harem Romance

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕚𝕩

My mom touched my face, worry creasing the skin between her eyebrows as she felt my skin. She had hugged me, realized how cold I was, and immediately went on alert like we weren't just having a conversation with Kieran, Lucian, and Kyler.

"Have you been drinking enough blood," she whispered like the three other people in the room couldn't hear her. "Are you starving yourself again?"

Kieran's eyes burned into me. He of all people should know I hadn't been depriving myself of blood.

"No," I said, allowing her to continue to touch me. "I've been drinking plenty."

"Why are you so cold then?" Her eyes met mine and she looked stern. "Why do you-"

She paused when her hand came to my neck. Unfortunately, I knew what she was feeling. Or rather, what she wasn't feeling. Her eyes lowered to where her hand rested, then she pressed two fingers into the side of my throat. My heartbeat was faint at times, when I had one. It was much slower than a normal person's too. There had been many days my mom would press her fingers into the side of my neck to feel for a heartbeat.

Her eyes shot up to mine. "What happened?"

Her voice was a whisper, but it wasn't because she was trying to keep anyone else from hearing. It seemed like if she spoke any louder, her voice would break.

She had always been protective. Though most of the time she held it in well enough. When I was hurt though, all bets were off.

She looked at Kieran, then at Lucian, then at Kyler.

"They're staying here mostly for my protection," I said. Among other things, that wasn't important. "They had nothing to do with it."

"Who," she asked, her eyes meeting mine again. There were the beginnings of tears forming.

I knew her reaction had nothing to do with my lack of a heartbeat. She'd love me whether I had one or not. The only reason why she used to check was so that she could force me to drink more blood to survive if need be. She was never afraid or ashamed of me. Only afraid for me.

Her reaction was all for the fact that I needed people to protect me. Something had happened to her daughter and she wanted answers.

"A vampire that had no right to be here," I answered. No names. No hints.

"What did they do?" She still had her hand pressed against my neck.

"I'm not sure if he tried to kill me to see if I'd come back, or if he wanted to change me." I smiled sadly.

I saw Kyler shift in his seat, probably feeling antsy at the sudden weight of emotions in the air. Empaths deserved a break sometimes. Especially Kyler, and especially from me.

"You're not a vampire." She shook her head and finally let her hand fall. "But your heart..."

Well, that answered that.

"How do you know she's not a vampire," Kieran asked. "You knew Lucian was a werewolf when you came in, too."

She turned to him, momentarily distracted from me and my problems.

"I lost all of my abilities as a necromancer when I gave birth to Nova." She never sounded angry about that fact. If anything, she seemed relieved. "But somehow I gained the ability to know what everyone is just by looking at them."

He pursed his lips and nodded, looking impressed. That power could be beneficial for a lot of reasons, though I wouldn't allow him to use her if he was planning to. I made sure he knew that too once our eyes met.

"I know a mage who can figure out how to get it restarted." She turned back to me. "And also tell us how it is that you're not either dead, or a full vampire, if you want? He'd have to drive a bit, but he could probably be here by dinner if I make it seem urgent enough. No pressure at all, hon. If you're content where you are, I'm content where you are."

I nodded and watched as she grabbed her phone and excused herself to a different room to make the call.

If I wasn't a full vampire, I wasn't sure why my heart wasn't beating. I should have been dead, if that were the case. Yet there I sat, living like any other person walking the earth - though a bit colder and probably paler than most.

I turned to Kieran. "She's off limits."

He tilted his head. "I don't want your mother, Nova."

It took me a second, but when it registered, I narrowed my eyes. "I wasn't talking sexually."

He smirked. "And here I thought you were getting jealous. I assume jealousy is held for the three of us then?"

I puffed out a laugh. "Like any of you have been seriously jealous."

Lucian's eyes raised and met mine. "I've been jealous plenty."

Kyler nodded so slightly that I barely caught it.

Kieran nodded as well. "As have I. It pains me to admit it, but I'd much rather have you to myself. Yet I've been sharing you."

"I wouldn't say she's yours to share," Kyler chimed in.

Kieran turned his smile to the man across from him, and that was when I fully saw it.

I knew they didn't like each other. Hell, anyone with two eyes and a brain could see that. But I hadn't realized it was because they were jealous. There was that one time with Lucian that I called him out on acting that way, but I never really thought any of them were truly jealous of one another. They never brought it up, and after that instance, I never saw it again.

I felt like an asshole. They all knew what was going on, and yet they allowed themselves to feel jealousy for another person because of me.

I'd felt jealousy before. It wore me down after a while, having to feel that prickling feeling of heat every single time a negative thought came up. The crying I did. The pain. Who was I to put them through that?

Suddenly, it all came crashing down. The realization of what I'd been doing to them, what they had been putting themselves through regarding me, and how I should have never been so selfish. They didn't deserve that.

Kyler's eyes flicked to me, probably noticing something only he could notice.

I smiled gently. "We need to stop this."

The remaining two men looked at me.

What kind of person was I, allowing myself to have three men? They should have never been mine to begin with. Lucian needed a Luna. Kyler would mate with someone eventually. And Kieran would find a vampire he could live his forever with.

I was not a werewolf. I could not be a Luna. I could not mate with a werewolf and be seen as an equal. If anything, I'd be ridiculed. And I wasn't a vampire. I wouldn't live forever. I'd age and die and Kieran would be left looking the same age he did the moment we met.

"Stop what," Kieran asked carefully.

I nodded, attempting to psych myself up to tell them exactly what needed to be stopped. Though it pained me, I had absolutely no right to feel the way I did about the three of them. I shouldn't want to be with three men at once.

I shouldn't love three men at once.

My eyes burned, but I kept my face straight. "Everything."

All three of them opened their mouths to respond, but my mom walked back into the room. She either couldn't sense the mood, or she was too happy about the mage, but she came in with a giant smile on her face.

"Good news!" She ruffled my hair like she used to when I was a kid, and I forced a smile for her. "He'll be here in two hours."

I plastered on the happiest look I could manage, which seemed to work. I stood and hugged her, thanking her even as my eyes threatened to fill with tears.