After I was finished in the bath I threw on one of the spare bathrobes Koi had hanging 0n the door and walked out, he was lying on his back in the middle of the bed, naked.
"Can you put some clothes on please." I said, throwing a pair of boxers at his face, he rolled his eyes and threw them on, plopping back down on the bed.
I walked over to his closet and grabbed one of his shirts and another pair of boxers, I looked at him and pulled the door further out so it was covering me. I heard him sigh and mumble something incoherent under his breath so I stuck my hand out and gave him the finger to which he threw a pillow in response.
I walked back out and stretched, my body was still so sore but I could walk a lot better now, my monster had also been controlled and has decided to give me a breather, at least she's considerate.
I flopped down on the bed, pushing my fatass of a partner out of the way. He grumbled in response and pressed his cold toes on my leg so I elbowed him.
"You suck Koi."
"No I don't." He grumbled back, pulling me into his chest, I snuggled in anyway, he was so warm. We slept like that, occasionally waking up to pester each other about something dumb, he tried to dutch oven me once on the middle of the night so I pushed him off the bed and threw a few pillows at him.
"You're a bully Charlotte." He whined, pushing himself off the floor and poking me in the stomach.
"You had it coming!"
**********
I woke up to the sound of voices coming from downstairs, I turned over to see Koi still sleeping, he looked so peaceful considering how much of a shithead he was.
I quietly reached over him and grabbed his phone. I was originally going to check what time it was, but I saw he had games and I wasn't really bothered to get out of bed so I sat there and played on his phone for about thirty minutes.
I looked up and saw that he still wasn't awake so I decided to get out and go downstairs, I gave him a peck on the nose and followed the voices, it sounded like Christian and Jordan were having a conversation. As I went to go down the stairs, I heard a creak on a floorboard behind me, I turned around and to my utter shock, Miriam was standing behind me, she had the most unbelievable smile on her face when she saw my face.
"Charlotte? Oh my Goddess, I've missed you so much!" She exclaimed, she was acting as if I hadn't been missing at all.
"What are you doing here Miriam? Are you ok? Am I dreaming?"
I reached out and touched her face, she giggled and held onto my hand, squeezing it. I pulled it back and she took a deep breath.
"Well, someone kinda came to my Dad's house requesting me, he then proceeded to tell us that Alpha Koi of Obsidian Claw wanted us at his house to discuss something really important, at the mention of Alpha Koi, they lit up, they have been looking everywhere for you so they are thinking of asking him for his help, he's got the largest and most powerful pack, there's no doubt that he has friends in low places that could expand the search, but, hey! There's no need now, you're right here." Once she finished, a deep frown appeared on her face, her eyes widened and she gasped.
"Carlos? You said something about Carlos being a monster, where is he? And why are YOU here? Why didn't you tell your parents? they are here as well, I'm so confused." She fired question after question and I had to put my hand over her mouth to stop her from talking, I could trust Miriam right?
"Ok, look Miriam, I have a lot to tell you, but it will have to wait, first I need you to follow me."
I led her to the smaller dining room where I found Christian and Jordan laughing and talking about Goddess knows what, when they heard us walk in, they both turned to look at us quizzically.
"Oh hey Charlotte, is everything ok?" Jordan asked politely.
"Uhm, yeah everything is fine, can you guys just leave for a bit please?"
They nodded and walked out, Christian ruffled my hair as he brushed past me and Jordan gave me an unexpected hug. I smiled at the both of them and turned to Miriam who was looking at me like I was a completely different person.
"How do these people know you?" She asked, getting worried. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
"I need you to stay here, I'm going to go and get someone and explain everything to you, just please trust me and wait here ok?"
She sighed and took a seat at the dining table, she placed her hand in her lap and looked at me, she managed a soft smile. I walked out and hurriedly rushed back upstairs and into Koi's bedroom, or our bedroom, who cares. I saw that he was on his phone, fully awake, he turned to me and smiled until he saw me stalking over to him.
"Hey? What's wrong?" He asked, sitting himself upright and propping his chin in his hands, he looked adorable. Shut up Charlie!
"Get up now you have some explaining to do, I'll see you in the small dining room, this isn't up for debate, 10 minutes tops." I demanded and stormed out of the bedroom, giving him no room to talk back. When I reached the dining room Miriam was still sitting there fiddling with her hands.
"Hey, sorry, we just have to wait a bit for someone and then I can explain everything."
Miriam looked at me as I sat down, she was chewing on her lip and shifting nervously, I sighed and reached over, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry for everything, I know you're really confused and probably stressed but I will try my best to explain everything." If Koi isn't here in the next 2 minutes I swear to-
"How dare you pull me out of bed and command me like that, do you need a refresher of what happened last night?" A male voice calls from the doorway, I turn and see Koi drop the glass he was holding, he looked between Miriam and me a few times before clocking my expression, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously while looking at everything but me.
"Sooo…" He muttered so quietly I almost didn't hear it.
"So? Sit."
He sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, his face was so red. I would've laughed had it not been for the current situation. I turned back to Miriam and smiled, I took a deep breath and explained my whole situation, detail for detail. I didn't tell her Koi's plan yet, in case she wasn't on board with it.
"So… Koi is your mate, and you are both some kind of beast-demon-thing, and Carlos is a monster because you.." She pointed at Koi, "Turned him into one so you could fuck around with Charlotte's head, and now you have half resolved it, but Carlos is still a monster." When she put it like that it sounded so much worse.
"Yes, but, I'm trying to fix him, if worse comes to worse and we still can't do anything, there is still an option for you to mate, he won't hurt you under any circumstance, you, Koi and I are the only people he won't hurt even when commanded, but still, nothing is going to stop me from getting him back to you, the real Carlos."
She looked down and started silently crying.
"Oh, Miriam…" I pushed out of my chair and walked around to her, she stood up and for a second I thought she was going to slap me but instead, she collapsed into my arms and cried. I looked over at Koi and he was looking down, ashamed of himself, I rubbed Miriam's back as she cried. She hasn't quite lost her mate, but she's lost him nonetheless. She looked up at me and sniffled.
"Can I see him? Is he here?" She asked in between sobs. I looked over at Koi and he nodded, standing up from his chair.
"I'll show you where he is, follow me."
Miriam and I followed Koi through multiple hallways, he came across a very quiet part of the mansion, Koi looked over his shoulder and at us, he smiled softly.
"He's been put in this part of the mansion to protect the pack, he may not hurt us but he won't take kindly to maids and members of my staff, and there was no way I was going to throw him into the dungeons." He explained. Miriam smiled at that, at least Koi wasn't totally brutal.
We got to a certain door and Koi pulled out a pretty looking key. There were engravings in the metal that stopped when it reached the area that was actually used for opening doors, otherwise it wouldn't work properly. He put it in and unlocked the door, he went first and motioned for us to wait outside. I could hear him saying something to Carlos, and then popped his head around the door.
"Come in." He said softly. Miriam and I walked in, Carlos was stretching and once he saw Miriam he froze. His eyes scanned over her, I heard her gasp as she took in his appearance.
"Carlos?" She asked quietly while taking small steps towards him. Once she was at the edge of the bed he reached out and snatched her body, pulling her into his chest while growling possessively, Miriam smiled and started to cry again, I had to look away to stop myself from crying as well, this was such a sad but wholesome moment, Miriam had Carlos back, It's only driving me to help them more.
"I-I'm sorry, this is my fault." Koi whispered to me, I sighed and looked up at him, he was looking down at his feet with his eyes closed, if he cried, I would've thought I was dreaming. I side-stepped towards him and held his hand, resting my head against his arm.
"It's ok, it was still very wrong of you, but you've had the realisation, we have to fix this Koi, look at them."
Koi looked up and immediately brought his eyes back to the floor, I squeezed his hand and he looked at me, guilt clear in his eyes.
"It's ok Koi, everything will be ok, we have to be strong for them, this will be hard for all of us, please promise me you will be strong."
His gaze roamed over my face, he willed himself to look at Carlos and Miriam.
"I promise." He whispered, I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, he smiled. Miriam turned away from Carlos who was wagging his tail vigorously and looking at her like she was the most interesting and amazing thing in the world. Miriam smiled at me and Koi, her face softened and the words that came out of her shook me.
"Make me the same monster Charlie, even if you can't fix us, I'd rather go mad with him and be happy."