Amelia hesitated. She didn't know.
"She's staying here. She's Darian's mate," Meryn answered for her.
Amelia turned to the small woman and pulled her into a hug.
"She's doing it again," Meryn protested.
"And you're still alive," Elizabeth teased.
Amelia gave a final squeeze and stepped back. "Thank you for believing me." She felt better knowing that at least someone else believed her story.
"Of course, we believe you. Why would you lie about being his mate?" Meryn asked, reaching into a bag and popping a small piece of beef jerky into her mouth.
"Why would he?" Amelia asked softly.
Elizabeth pushed her toward the stairs and Ryuu stepped in beside her. Elizabeth winked. "Why don't you find out?"
"Remember, if he gets growly, hit him with the back of his toilet." Meryn called after them.
Amelia waved at her and kept walking up the stairs beside Ryuu. "Does that work?" she asked the squire softly.
"Evidently bear shifters are susceptible to toilet decks," Ryuu explained.
"Ahh." Amelia had a feeling there was more to the story, but was too nervous about confronting her mate to learn about bear shifters.
Ryuu stopped in front of large door. Amelia turned to him. "Could you take this?" she handed him her large tote bag and coat.
Smiling, he gently took them from her. "If it is permissible, I could arrange for someone to get your vehicle."
"That would be great. I left it parked on the side of the road leading up to the estate. The keys are in my coat pocket."
"Remember, we're just downstairs if you need us." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before he turned and walked back to the stairs.
Amelia took a deep breath. She didn't bother knocking and turned the handle. Finding it unlocked, she walked right in and stopped. Darian stood in the middle of the room, a towel wrapped low around his waist. He hadn't noticed she had opened the door yet, since he was using a smaller towel to dry his long hair. She felt electricity race through her body.
Bad hormones!
It was only after she tore her eyes away from her mate's mesmerizing form did she notice his room. She had to cut herself some slack. The only reason she hadn't seen the jungle in front of her was because her mate was practically naked.
Everywhere she turned, live plants bloomed and seemed to sway with their own magic. She felt like she had stepped into a dense forest instead of a bedroom. Vines climbed the walls and cradled a large four-poster bed. The furniture was made from the plants themselves, and she could have sworn she heard live birds. When she looked up, she was shocked to see a canopy of treetops and open sky beyond that. She couldn't even fathom the amount of magic it had taken to create this paradise.
She shook her head to break free of the magic that sustained his oasis and steeled herself to face her mate. She shut the door behind her. His head whipped in her direction, and he immediately scowled. "Get out."
"No. I want to know why you are denying that I am your mate." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Because you're not." He shook out his hair.
"I am your mate. I dreamt of you."
He shook his head. "That's just a byproduct of the council spell gone wrong," he argued.
"I dreamt of you before they cast that spell. I first dreamt of you when I was six years old," she whispered softly.
He turned, and for a moment, he had gentle look on his face, exactly like her prince from her dream. Quickly, his features changed into a mocking expression, his lips turned up in a sneer. "I think I would remember dreaming of my own mate."
"Evidently not," she rebutted.
He turned his back to her. "Just go. Even if you are my mate, it's too late for me now." He walked over to the bed and picked up the pair of grey slacks that had been laid out. He glowered at her. "Do you mind?"
"No, I don't mind," she grinned at him. He shrugged and dropped both towels.
"Oh. My. Goddess," she gasped. She had grown up with three brothers and had spent more time at the training field at Storm Keep than was probably healthy for a small child. She had seen the unit warriors in various states of undress, but those brief stolen glimpses were nothing compared to the side view of her mate's sculpted back and firm ass. It felt like her heart would beat out of her chest as his manhood seemed to be playing a torturous version of peekaboo with her as he turned and lifted his legs getting dressed. His golden skin was flawless and was just begging to be touched. Just when she was about to throw dignity out the window and jump the man, she heard a masculine chuckle.
"What?" she demanded, her voice cracking.
"You amuse me; that's a rare thing nowadays. We could have some fun before you leave the city." He pulled on a royal blue sweater and turned to face her.
She stuck her nose in the air. "As if I'd cheapen our mating with a booty call."
His eyes hardened. "It wouldn't be a booty call. It would be a pity fuck."
She felt tears spring to her eyes. Clearing her mind, she stared at his chest. Slowly, she envisioned the mental trunk that housed her gift opening.
Her power caught her off guard and flared out of control. She quickly reined in her abilities and focused on her mate.
He frowned. "What are you doing?" He rubbed his hands up and down his arms.
She had always been able to feel other's emotions. She was the only one in her family who was an empath. Growing up, she had hated it, but now she was counting on it to show her what her mate was really feeling.
She was bombarded by the swirling depths of anger, but they weren't directed at her. He was filled with self-loathing. He hated himself for his words, for deliberately hurting her. But deeper down, past the anger, was an overwhelming, urgent sense of fear. He was drowning in an ocean of dread. He honestly felt that he was beyond redemption and would do anything to keep her away from him, even break her heart.
"You're afraid," she whispered, looking up at him.
His eyes widened in shock. "You're an empath?"
She nodded. "You're afraid of hurting me. You're afraid that our mating will destroy me." She took a step closer, and he took a step back.
"Stay away. I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me. The fact that you have a mate means that you're not lost."
"Men with mates have turned feral before."
"You're my prince, and you won't hurt me. I can prove it."
Darian froze. "What did you say?"
"I said, I can prove you won't hurt me." She walked up to him.
"No about being a prince..."
She didn't get to hear the rest of his question; she was already in motion. She brought her leg up and kneed him solidly in the groin. She smiled down at her mate as he hunched over taking gasping breaths.
"See, if you were really lost, you'd have hit me."
Darian tried to talk but words didn't come out. He shook his head. He tried again. "Do you know why I haven't hit you?" He choked the words out still bent over.
"Because I'm your mate," she said smugly.
He turned his face up and she stepped back. Maybe kneeing her seven-foot plus mate in the groin hadn't been such a good idea.
"No, because I can't move. When I can..." His eyes darkened.
"Shit." She took a step backward.
"Run," he growled.
She turned and bolted for the door. As she raced down the stairs, she screeched at the top of her lungs. "Ryuu! Aiden! Help!" She hit the foyer as Ryuu came racing from the back of the house as Aiden and the others came out of the front room. Behind her, she heard the heavy footsteps of her mate as he chased her.
Aiden stepped in front of her, a concerned expression on his face. "What happened?"
She scrambled up his back and held on for dear life.
Darian stalked toward them. "Give her to me."
Aiden stepped back and held up his hands, keeping Darian at bay.
"Maybe you should calm down
first," Sascha suggested from the front room doorway.
"Calm down? She kneed me in the balls. I can still barely feel my legs, it's a miracle I'm standing!" he roared.
Aiden turned his head to her. "Why'd you do that?"
Amelia grimaced. "I was trying to convince him that he wouldn't hurt me."
Aiden's eyes widened. "So you kneed him?"
"Well, I figured if he didn't hurt me after I hit him in the balls, he'd know I'd be safe around him." She paused. "Not a good idea?" she asked.
Aiden shook his head. "No."
The three of them turned at the sound of laughter beside them. Sascha was leaning against the doorway, his arms wrapped around his stomach. He was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Why is it that the Alpha females are crazy?"
Meryn shrugged. "She made sense to me."
Colton turned to Meryn. "You also set Aiden's car on fire when he ignored you."
Amelia looked at Meryn. "Sounds reasonable."
Meryn grinned. "I know, right?"
Her comment sent Sascha into more convulsed laughter. He straightened and wiped his eyes. "So Darian ended up with a witch version of Meryn."
Darian looked at her. "Witch?"
Amelia thought about it for a second. "Sort of."
Darian sighed and walked around Aiden to pluck her from his back. "How can you 'sort of' be a witch?" He set her down between them.
Amelia beamed up at him. "See, I knew you wouldn't hurt me."
He glared down at her, his expression unchanged.
She stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her eyes. He blinked in surprise. Smiling she answered. "I'm half a witch, my mother is human."
Aiden turned to her. "But Caiden, Kyran, and Tristan are full blooded witches."
Amelia nodded. "Our father evidently didn't want to wait to meet his mate before having children. He wanted to secure his bloodline, so he and another powerful witch got together and had my brothers. It worked out for the both of them to produce three strong male witches. Then about thirty-seven years ago, my father met my mother, they mated, and I was born."
Ryuu cleared his throat. "Since we're past the imminent attempted murder, maybe we should adjourn to the dining room for dinner?"
"Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!" Meryn high-fived a smaller blond man and another young man in a wheelchair.
Ryuu looked at Meryn with a hint of a smile. "I don't know why you're acting so surprised; you all but threatened my life this morning if I didn't make them."
Meryn rolled her eyes. "I didn't want tacos. Meryn two-point-oh wanted tacos."
Ryuu nodded, his expression serious. "Of course, that's a completely different story then."
Sascha pushed away from the wall. "I'll head out. Gamma is off duty tonight so Beta will be patrolling around the estate."
Aiden clapped a hand on Sascha's back and walked him to the door. "Thanks."
Sascha sniffed the air. "Tacos," he pouted, mournfully.
Aiden opened the door. "You'll live."
Sascha sighed dramatically and walked through the door. Aiden closed it behind him. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Toddlers, every single one of them, toddlers."
Elizabeth stepped forward. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm starving. Come on, Amelia, you're in for a treat. Ryuu doesn't know how to make a bad meal." She turned and had only taken a few steps toward the dining room when she suddenly tripped and fell face first on the unforgiving marble.
"Beth!" The dark-haired man yelled and was at her side before Amelia could blink. Rheia moved away from her blond mate and helped the frantic man get Elizabeth upright.
"Sugar! I hate this damn floor!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
Rheia knelt in front of Elizabeth. Wincing, she sat back on her heels. "It's broken." Rheia reached up and placed her thumbs on either side of the bridge of Elizabeth's nose. "On three. One... two..." With a quick jerk, she snapped Elizabeth's nose back in place. A darling little girl next to Rheia winced in sympathy.
Gavriel handed her a handkerchief to stem the bleeding. Elizabeth held it to her nose. "I thought you said three!" Her voice was muffled and sounded nasal.
Rheia shrugged as her mate helped her to stand. "You should be used to this by now, Beth. I've had to snap your nose back in place three times since moving in. Thank God you're a shifter; otherwise, you'd be falling apart by now." She took the little girl's hand.
The dark-haired man scooped Elizabeth up, his face a mask of worry. She patted at his chest. "I'm fine now."
He shook his head. "I'm taking you upstairs to lie down."
"Like hell! It's taco night. Dining room, please." Elizabeth pointed down the hall.
Amelia looked up at Darian. "So, this happens often?"
Darian grimaced. "Unfortunately. Beth has a tendency to almost die every week. She keeps us on our toes." He looked down, laughing for a moment. Then it was as if he remembered he had to keep his distance. He stepped away from her and walked toward the dining room.
Amelia watched him as he walked away. Knowing what he felt didn't change anything. How could she convince him that they were meant to be together?
An arm looped around her elbow. She looked to her left, Meryn stood beside her. "Come on, Bubbles, no matter what is wrong with the world, it's nothing taco night can't fix."
Amelia couldn't help but smile. Meryn might be prickly and skittish, but she had a good heart. Even though she wasn't comfortable being around new people, Meryn did what she could to make her feel better.
"Thanks Meryn, I think I needed that," Amelia admitted as they started walking.
"Any time, Bubbles," Meryn replied before turning to her. "So, what do you know about explosives?"
"Meryn!" Aiden growled behind them.
Amelia couldn't help it; she began to giggle. Meryn was too cute!
CHAPTER THREE
As luck would have it, Ryuu had left an empty seat for her next to Darian. Keelan sat on her other side and gave her winks of encouragement.
Rheia turned to her. "Amelia, this is my mate, Colton Albright, and this is my daughter, Penny Carmichael." The tiny child waved at her, a bright smile on her face. She waved back. Rheia continued. "Elizabeth's mate is Gavriel Ambrosios, and the auburn-haired man to your right is Keelan Ashwood. Across from you are Jaxon Darrow and Noah Caraway; they are studying computer science with Meryn to better support the different units."
"Who's the sprite?" Amelia asked pointing to Meryn's shoulder.
Rheia turned to her. "You can see him?"
Everyone turned to Meryn. The tiny sprite on her shoulder waved to her and turned the pendant on his necklace.
"Hey, Felix," Colton said.
Amelia turned to Colton. "You can see him now?"
"Yes. We gave him that pendant so he could make himself visible to us, although most of the time, he likes to stay invisible. He's really bonded with Meryn, so much so, he left his colony at the fae elder's estate," he explained.
Felix waved at everyone and turned to her. "My name is Felix Skysong. Pleased to meet you." When he went to reach for the pendant again, Elizabeth held up a hand.
"Felix, actually, could you answer a question for me?"
Felix nodded shyly.
Beth smiled. "When Penny and the Carmichaels were attacked, you were able to create a shield to protect them, but when Meryn told me about her attack, she said you left to go get help. Why didn't you create a shield then?"
Felix pointed to his wrist.
"Time?" Elizabeth asked.
He nodded.
"What about time?" She asked looking confused.
Felix kept edging into Meryn's hair. He didn't look like he wanted to be the center of attention.
Amelia spoke up. "I think I get it. At home, the sprites can do their versions of spells, but since they are so small, there is a limit to what they can do. In Penny's attack, was help nearby or on the way?"
"Yes, the Gamma Unit was assigned to the house. They arrived in u
nder a minute," Aiden explained.
"In Meryn's case, was anyone nearby that could help?" Amelia looked around the table. Everyone was shaking their heads. "There's your answer; he could have shielded Meryn for a couple minutes, but then what? He would have ended up exhausted, and the attacker would have still been there. Leaving to go get assistance was the only way he could help."
Beth smiled gently at Felix. "Thank you for answering, I was just curious since I don't know much about your people. I know you did everything you could to help. You're an amazing member of this family."
Felix turned ten shades of red before he activated his pendant and hid in Meryn's hair.
"Have you always been able to see sprites?" Rheia asked.
Amelia nodded. "When I realized my mate was over seven feet tall and blond, I put two and two together and figured out he was fae. I would visit the fae council member at Storm Keep regularly. He said my ability to see sprites made sense considering I was going to be mated to a fae." Amelia stared at the side of Darian's head. He still ignored her. She stuck out her tongue at him and Keelan laughed.
Elizabeth continued the introductions. "I am creating a census program for the council so we can better track our citizens. Rheia is a doctor and works with Aiden's brother, Adam, in what started off as the warrior clinic but has grown to support all of Lycaonia. Meryn is working on integrating updated technology throughout the city, not only to help the citizens but also to provide surveillance to help keep the city secure."
Amelia was about to reply when Ryuu walked out of the kitchen rolling a mobile taco station. Her mouth began to water as the smell of tacos and refried beans hit her nose. "Gods! That smells incredible!"
Rheia kissed Penny on the forehead. "Okay pumpkin, bedtime."
Penny hugged and kissed everyone at the table. When she got to Amelia, she mimicked what Rheia had done to her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Thank you, Penny." Amelia said giving the child a hug.
Penny gave her a thumbs up and walked out of the dining room.
Amelia turned to Rheia. "She puts herself to bed?"
Rheia nodded with pride in her eyes. "She said she had to hurry up and be a big girl so she can help me when her baby brother or sister is born. She's taking her role as big sister very seriously. Besides, she knows we give her a kiss every night when we go to bed, so she's happy."