Page 30 of How to Keep a Fae

That’s where matters turned tumultuous. A room full of nosey children is not the setting for open discourse on what went down between the three of us—I would not discuss it with my mother even were she alone. Instead, I pick a lighter story in which we vanquished the raiders, leaving a village safe.

The children, some of whom are more shy than others, listen avidly. Then they take turns to show me their finished projects and schoolwork. We fall into easy conversation. I talk of all manner of things to my mother, about myself, and about the children, always skirting away from the feeder fae that is on my mind.

“Have you seen my father?” I find myself asking.

I don’t know why I enquire. We rarely speak, and when we do, he insists on using my full name, Augustine, which has always grated on my nerves.

“No,” my mother says. “Not for a few months. Last I heard,he was traveling to speak with the king of Imperium. But I believe he should be back soon.”

“And your mate?” My stepfather is, at best, cordial with me but more approachable than my birth father.

“Likewise traveling, but it is a short trip and he should be home tomorrow.”

If he were here, I might have been tempted to seek his counsel on the delicate matter weighing me down. Perhaps it is for the best that he is away because something holds me in reserve, and makes me wonder if my birth father would be the better choice.

I’ve been told more than once that I have my father’s ways as well as looks. A high-ranking diplomat, Aurelius is better known for his cool calculation than warmth. Except for those few unguarded moments where I have seen him with my mother, looking at her when she is unaware, then his golden eyes burn.

I have never asked either of them. It would be rude, and possibly painful, if what I suspect is true. She is mated now. What is done is done. And besides, I have seen her with my stepfather often enough to know they share a deep and committed love.

I want this, I realize. A family. A mate. Unorthodox though it is, I would do what my father couldn’t do, and would share my woman, willingly. Jayga is human, and a pushy bastard who talks too much. At times I want to punch him. But I also like him a lot. Life would never be boring with him around.

He loves Adaline.

I do, too.

In this, we are united.

But he is also human and will not live the same lifespan Adaline and I do. Adaline is no imperial. Her blood cannotoffer Jayga longevity of life. Would it be cruel to seek more knowing what will come?

Just like my mother’s blood cannot for my stepfather. She chose to mate him, to be with him regardless.

I surmise that the world is cruel and happiness fleeting.

I don’t have answers, only more questions.

Chapter Eleven

Adaline

Iam happier than I can ever remember being. I feel like I float upon clouds most days. I don’t know how it came to be, but Jayga and August are the only warriors I see. When I sleep alone in my nest, with their shirts snuggled next to me and their scent in my nose, I dream about them. When I wake up, it is with a sense of anticipation and joy.

There is a little niggle at the back of my mind, a longing for something more, for the true bonding of mates. There are also glaring holes in this fantasy, but I brush over them and focus on what I have.

My happy bubble pops when the cramping pains start.

Like many omegas, my heats are irregular. I can’t remember my last one. It has been many months, maybe close to a year. I have forgotten the terrible, debilitating cramps in my lower belly and the inferno of heat that sweeps through my blood.

Worse than any pain is knowing the warriors are due to return any day now.

Only I won’t be there. Denna will lock me away. Denna with her sad eyes.

Denna with her secrets and pain.

I try to hide what’s happening, suffering under the delusion that nobody will notice. All the while, praying that Jayga and August will return and tend me through my heat.

This is their chance to claim me. My only chance.

I am deep into my heat fever when Dede finds me shaking uncontrollably, my body bathed in sweat and made insensible with pain.

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