Page 52 of Make Me

Shouts rang out behind them, and Bethany spun around. They ran towards the commotion. Holly’s mother apparently had known about her husband’s plans all along and had just tried to kill Claire with a death blade, but Holly had saved her.

When the shock finally wore off, Malcolm forbade Claire from helping with the cleanup anymore, and Bethany’s and Holly’s own mates were far too happy to make them sit on a rock with Claire while everyone else finished cleaning up.

“Well, that was fun,” Bethany said, looking out at the clean-up that was happening on the battlefield and trying not to feel frustrated that she wasn’t out there helping. “Let’s not do that again.”

Claire and Holly echoed their agreements as their dragon mates huffed behind them in their dragon forms. Bethany was sure if any of the girls attempted to leave the rock, they would be dealing with a grumpy dragon.

“So, what happens now?” Claire asked, swinging her legs in front of her and looking just too darn cute. Bethany knew what she wanted to happen, but she wasn’t sure if Claire wanted to commit to being Queen of the Realm just yet.

“Everyone’s calling you queen,” Bethany said. “Are you going to take the crown?”

“I’m already a queen,” Claire said evasively, referencing her reign of the Elves and Fae.

“They’re calling you Queen of the Realm,” Holly said gently.

“Why would people want a blind queen?” Claire asked, sounding uncharacteristically insecure. “What if I’m not very good at it? I’ve barely been Queen of the Elves and Fae for a few weeks, and I’ve already led them into two battles.”

“But you won the war,” Bethany said plainly. “And I think the Realm could use a queen like you.”

A queen who was fair and willing to change the laws of the Realm and had powerful allies to back her up. A queen Bethany would gladly serve under if she wanted the role.

She listened as Holly reassured Claire. Their friendship worked like that. Bethany didn’t have the soft words, but Holly did. Claire had a big, kind heart, and Bethany could call them all out on their shit. And her mates could call Bethany out on hers, she thought wryly.

“But we can do it.” Claire sounded surer of herself. “We’ll make sure every voice is heard. No more ‘us against them.’ Just the Unitam Realm.”

“Sounds perfect.” Bethany said. “Let’s do it!”

They would build a Realm where everyone’s voice was heard, and people didn’t have to jump through hoops to be with their fated mates.

“Let’s do it,” Claire echoed Bethany’s words. “I guess I’ll be queen.”

“Long live the Queen,” Holly said softly.

“Long live the Realm,” Claire corrected.

It was almost a perfect ending to a long day. There was just one more hurdle Bethany had to clear before they could live happily ever after, and it was waiting for her at home. Hopefully, her mom would take the news of Bethany’s mating as well as she would take the news of Claire’s impending coronation. But Bethany wasn’t holding her breath.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

BETHANY

“Let me get this straight.” Sadara laid down her pen and steepled her fingers in front of her. “You disobeyed a direct order from your Alpha to not mate with Cody Clawmoon, and not only did you mate with him, you also mated with a hybrid and a wizard without my blessing.”

Bethany held in her wince. Yeah, her mom was not happy. Sadara’s voice was steely, and disapproval radiated from every line of her body.

They had spent the night on the Fae lands. Partly in case there was another attack, and partly because Bethany wanted a good night’s sleep before she faced her mom. They had piled onto a large bed in a guest room at Kallan and Kieran’s manor house and had fallen into an exhausted sleep in a tangle of limbs. It was the soundest Bethany had slept in a long time.

When they had hit the shifter territory, though, pack and pride Deltas were waiting to escort them to their alphas. Cody had pressed a quick kiss on her lips, much to the displeasure of the pride’s Deltas. He had tried to insist Mylo and Zack go with Bethany, but Bethany had cut him off. Using the bondlink, she’d told him that she was worried about what the cats would do to them. But when they went to follow Cody, the pack’s Deltas told them they were to wait in the guest house on neutral land. Neither she nor Cody wanted to leave them, but Zack and Mylo insisted in the bondlink they would be fine.

Bethany had been escorted through the pride’s village and past the pride members, straight to her mom’s office, where a less-than-thrilled Sadara waited for her. She had just finished filling her mom in on the events of the last week and watched as cold rage filled Sadara with every word from Bethany’s mouth.

She forced herself to not fidget in her chair as she replied. “Look,” she said evenly. “I didn’t intentionally mean to go against your order.” Well, that was a lie, but she could say it to appease her mom. “But Cody, Zack, and Mylo are my fated mates. I understand that you are not thrilled by that, but that doesn’t change the reality. They are my fated mates, and I am theirs.”

“Not thrilled…” Sadara parroted back to her, her golden eyes gleaming with anger. “Is that what you think I am?”

Bethany was getting tired of her mom’s bullshit. She leaned forward. “Fine. You’re pissed about it. But frankly, I don’t care. They’re my mates, and nothing is going to change that.”

“Did you forget that you need my blessing for intermixed matings?” Sadara said icily. Her nostrils flared. “That’s the law.”

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