Page 13 of The Prince's Mate

I rolled my eyes. “I know that. But I've never been to one before,” I said.

“Reece never took you with him on one of his trips?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“He said he'd just be a minute, and he usually was. He never asked me if I wanted to go, and I figured that meant it wasn't an option,” I said with a shrug. “Plus, I wasn't the biggest fan of the human realm in the beginning, and by the time I got curious about it, I felt like I was too old to ask Da to let me tag along.”

Caelan watched me for a moment before shrugging. “Okay, then. I guess we're going to the grocery store.”

I probably shouldn't be as excited as I was at the prospect of going to a fucking grocery store, but I couldn't help it. I'd missed out on so many of the normal human things that now they all felt special.

“I'm going to stay here,” Ro'Shassz said, and I raised a brow at him.

“You are?”

“You'll already look like a weirdo when you get excited over stupid things at the store,” he said, and I let out an outraged sound, which he ignored. “And having a snake hanging around your neck won't do you any favors. Hell, you might not even be allowed inside with me.”

I glanced over at Caelan, and he bobbed his head. "Okay. Stay. Watch some cartoons."

“Ha ha ha,” Ro'Shassz said the actual words without a speck of laughter. Then, he turned serious and added, “I'll be there if you need me. Don't worry.”

Smiling, I nodded at him before turning to Caelan, hesitantly reaching my hand out so we could teleport to the store. “So, shall we?”

Caelan

I stared at Walker's extended hand with a furrowed brow, and his smile flickered before dying away as he dropped his hand, using it to scratch the back of his neck instead. "Sorry."

"No, it's just—" I started, then shook my head. With a bit of my magic, I switched to my human form, and Walker blinked rapidly, as if his brain couldn't quite compute what he was saying. "I thought we could walk," I finished my thought, and his lips parted.

"Oh!" he finally said, nodding rapidly. "Yeah, we can do that. Does that mean you know where the store is?"

"I know where it was twenty years ago. Hopefully, it's still there.”

He slid his hands into his pockets before glancing over at Ro'Shassz, who swished his tail at us in goodbye.

"Come on, you must be hungry," I said, and Walker followed me to the front door. This place had wards around it that kept people with bad intentions out, something Damien had put up when he'd first found his mates, and then Reece had strengthened when Walker and I did a brief stint here when there was trouble with the queen of Underworld. We'd barelystayed for a day though, and I hadn't even left the apartment then. It was the last good memory I had of Walker and me, because everything had gone to shit after that.

I still remembered how he'd cried as he'd told me that he never wanted to see me again. At first, I'd just thought they were the words of an angry kid, but he'd kept his promise even after I'd come home for good. It had taken Walker a while to show his face to me, and the first time I'd seen him, grown from a six-year-old to an adult, I'd been rendered speechless. He'd grown into a stunning man, and I'd honestly freaked out a little when I'd realized I was attracted to him because I'd spent so long thinking I wasn't allowed to, even if that had only applied when Walker was a kid.

I'd never,everbeen attracted to him in any way when he was a kid. I knew everyone knew that, that no one thought I was, but I still felt this inexplicable urge to declare that I hadn't ever wanted Walker before I saw him that day. Maybe because for a long while before, when I'd still felt like a broken toy, I'd thought that there was something rotten about me.

Damien had changed that. He'd made me see things differently. He'd made me realize that none of what had happened to me had been my fault. But when I'd left Otherworld, I left him behind too, and slowly, his words, his kind voice in my head, had been buried under the louder voices, my own self-hating voice the loudest, and his not too far behind.

"Caelan, are we going?"

I blinked, shaking my head to clear it, and realized I was standing there with a hand on the doorknob like a dumbass. How long had I been doing that?

"Sorry," I mumbled as I opened the door and led him outside. The grocery store was only a few blocks away, and we walked in companionable silence. It still felt a little heavy, and it was probably my fault. I knew Walker could sense I hadn'tcompletely forgiven him for the other day, and while I wanted to, I didn't know how to.

When we walked into the store, his eyes lit up like it was Christmas. I grabbed a cart and then followed him around, chuckling at his enthusiasm and answering his million questions.

"Do you like chocolate?" Walker asked, and I raised a brow at him.

"I don't eat. Remember?" I asked, and he frowned.

"What about before, when you were human?" he asked, and I glanced away. I didn't like thinking about my time in the human world any more than he did, but unlike me, he had no idea he'd hit a sore spot, so I answered as honestly as I could.

"We didn't have chocolate back then. At least not like this," I said, tapping the chocolate bar he held.

He glanced from me to the chocolate. "So you've never tasted chocolate?" he asked in a horrified whisper, and I chuckled.

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