Page 77 of Cam's Treasure

"We're going to Silent Creek Park. It's big, beautiful, and it's home to two of our clanmates." Glancing at Cam, I asked, "Do you think Alden and Elian will be there? Should we have called instead of just showing up?"

"Nah. They have their private area in the park. If they don't feel like socializing, they won't see us."

"That's true."

Turning back to Kai and Ember, I explained, "Elian is a forest spirit, and the whole park is his land. Alden's his mate, and a unicorn."

Blue and dark brown eyes widened simultaneously, and I bit back a grin. It was always fun to tell people about Alden. They always reacted like this.

"A unicorn? I thought they were extinct!" I didn't think I'd ever heard Ember sound so animated, and the grin I'd been trying to hold back broke through as I shook my head.

"Alden believes he's the last of his kind. He's never met or sensed another unicorn."

"Wow," Kai mumbled, then asked, "What other kinds of supes live in Mistvale?"

Cam and I shared a glance, and I pursed my lips as I tried to count them all in my head.

"Well, I only know for sure about our clan members. But in the clan we have mages, vampires, shifters, and dragons, plus a werewolf, incubus, griffin, gargoyle, warlock, elves, djinn, shapeshifter, basilisks, and now a phoenix and a selkie," I finished, wondering if I'd missed any. "And a unicorn and a forest spirit, of course."

"You forgot Celeste, Hector, and Iris," Cam reminded me, and I winced.

"I knew I was forgetting someone. Celeste is a fae, Hector's an alchemist, and Iris is a witch," I explained to our two stunned mates. I'd told Ember quite a bit about the Mistvale clan by now, but I'd never listed out all the residents like that.

"I've never come across a clan quite as diverse as this one before," Ember said, and Cam snorted.

"We might be diverse in terms of supes, but our clan is ridiculously queer. We're like 95 percent queer."

I chuckled as I realized he was right. The only person we knew who was, without a doubt, straight was Penny, Jai and Raphael'sdaughter. And that was only because she'd made it a point to 'come out' as straight since so many of us weren't.

"Maybe Raiden's magic just attracts queer people," I mused, and Cam chuckled.

"I'll have to ask him."

"I guess we don't have to worry about fitting in," Kai said after a moment, and I smiled at him.

"Not at all. The Mistvale clan welcomes everyone."

"Noel's been wanting to throw you two a welcome party since you arrived, Ember," Cam said, glancing at them in the rearview mirror. "We've been holding him off until we can get Kai's coat back, but everyone is really excited to meet you two."

Ember smiled warmly, while Kai looked a little nervous, so I quickly changed the topic, not wanting him to worry.

"Noel's an elf, and he homeschools supe kids at the packland, where he lives with his mate, Caleb. He also makes the softest sweaters I've ever worn."

"He sounds like a wonderful person," Ember said with a smile, and I nodded.

"We're here!" Cam declared as he parked the car. The park wasn't that far from our place, but since we also had the picnic basket and blankets to carry, we'd opted to drive instead.

"Wow," Kai said as he glanced at the exterior of the park. An open gate invited us into a world of greenery, while bushes and trees pushed out of the fence surrounding the park, the whole place bursting with flora.

"Come on!" Cam said, taking Kai's hand and pulling him into the park as Ember took my hand, the basket and blankets in his other hand. Of course, he refused to let me carry any of it.

"This place is beautiful," Ember said, gazing around as we followed the small trail deeper into the park. There was no rhyme or reason to the trees and bushes that grew here. No perfectly lined rows of trees or paved paths for joggers. No, thispark was all nature, allElian, and it was cozy and homey, and almost otherworldly in its beauty.

"Right?"

Cam had stopped in the clearing Alden had shown us once. It was where he'd first met Elian, and it was the perfect spot for a picnic.

A dead tree worked as the sole sitting area in the small clearing, and trees surrounded the spot, their branches bending over to provide shade from the sun and protection in case it rained.

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