Page 67 of How to Keep a Fae

My nest is a mess. They have rutted me well. I demanded it. Commanded them like I really was their queen.

Connection.

I craved it. Something more than the incidental moments. I wanted it even before I met them. And then, after I did, I knew that they were the ones. My heart aches that it has taken so long to get here.

But nothing is claimed without consequence.

What will my mother say?

What about the king, and the chosen who tested my blood?

I fret a little between them—the worry for what might come to pass intruding on the contentment.

They rouse instantly, reminding me they can feel my emotions just as I feel theirs.

“You’re worrying,” August says, his fingers tipping my chin so he can see my face. His eyes search mine. He has always been the cooler, level-headed one of the two. His overlying thoughts are of contentment.

He is not concerned beyond his concerns for me.

“No bastard is going to come between us,” Jayga says, his voice bristling with aggression triggered by my distress. He is so very different from August. They are a balance to each other. They are perfect together; they are perfect for me.

Only what if…

Jayga nips at my throat, almost like a warning to put the nonsense aside.

If only it were that simple.

“I can’t help but worry,” I say. “They might separate us… or cast us out.”

“Cast us out?” Jayga’s confusion is genuine. “Never heard of an omega suffering punishment of any kind for mating, never mind being cast out. Have you, August?”

“Never,” August agrees. “We’re mated now. It would harm you if they separated us. They won’t do that.”

“You think this is the first time this has happened?” Jayga huffs out a chuckle. “It’s not.”

August

“You belong to us now, Adaline,” I say.

A sob escapes her lips, and I hate that my words cause herhurt. Not because she doesn’t want to be ours but because she believes some terrible consequence is about to unfold.

We move instinctively, as we often do, pinning her between us more securely, letting her feel trapped. Right here is where she was ever meant to be.

“Y-you, c-can’t say things like that,” she whisper-yells.

Her feisty side makes me smile, even as I hate that she is upset. “You’ve always been ours. We have all known it for some time.”

She sniffles. Jayga cups her cheek and nibbles kisses on her lips to distract her. I take her tiny hand in mine and bring it to my lips. Her heat is over, and as one set of emotions eases its hold, a fresh one rushes in to take its place.

“You said you wanted us?” Jayga says between kisses. “Did we read all this wrong? Have we acted in error?”

“No. No, of course not. You know I love you. But while you were gone, I was taken to the king.”

I share a look with Jayga, trying to smother my emotions. I am new to bonding, and I worry they might leak through the bond to her. He knows about me, about my father, and what he is. Adaline does not.

“And what happened?” Jayga asks. He cups her chin.

“A chosen was there. He tested me. He said I had foresight, and now I’m having training. There was an imperial in the room, too. Aurelius. He looked just like August.”

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