Page 6 of My Pucking Mates
I’m clearly not the only one affected as his eyes close and his head falls back. When he returns his head to the upright position, he clasps his brother on the shoulder with a look of adoration on his face.
I don’t know yet what these men have been through, but I know it’s a lot, and they love each other even more for it.
Dolos moves closer to us, and like everything else I’ve noticed about them, they are polar opposites—he smells like blooming trees and spring rain.
My body is full of so many feelings. The most overwhelming sensation is blinding happiness. I scold myself for being weak when a single tear escapes and rolls down my cheek, but it doesn’t fall because Dolos catches it with his finger and makes a show of putting it in the square breast pocket of his T-shirt.
I turn my head towards him, resting my ear on Eris’ chest, listening to the thrashing of his heart for as long as I can…in case this is the only time I’m ever allowed to hear it.
Dolos is watching me, and his eyes are a much lighter gray today. I’ve noticed from a distance that both of their eyes’ colors seem to change with the weather, what they’re wearing, and their moods.
Today his eyes are a brighter gray with an almost navy-looking ring around them.
Goddess, they’re so beautiful.
“Runa,” Eris says, and my heart rate spikes, my legs going weak. That’s the first time he’s ever said my name.
Please don’t be the last,I beg the Goddess and whatever deities will listen.
Dolos’ hand on my back tenses as we wait for his twin’s words.
“Thank you.”
Two words from him shouldn’t do what they do to me. I turn my eyes back to his and swear, “Always.”
I shouldn’t have said that, but I can’t take it back now…but it’s true, nonetheless. “Can we try to…talk?” I whisper.
He closes his eyes, but when he opens them, they look like the calm after the storm. “Can Dolos and I have a moment to finish the conversation we were having? It’s important for me to get this off my chest. Then…”
I hold my breath at his pause, equally terrified and excited about what he’ll say next.
“…it’s time we had a discussion.”
6
12 Years Old
Dolos launching the dish debris at me finally released the spell of shock my body was under. Doing my best to keep all my emotions from bursting out of me in front of him when he’s already frightened, I school my facial features and move towards them to check on Mama.
I check her pulse first to make sure she’s alive. Her heartbeat is thankfully strong but erratic. I let Dolos know before I begin scanning her body for other visible injuries.
The only thing we know is that she was holding her chest before she passed out. If something was wrong with her heart, I don’t think it would still be beating as strongly as it is.
Scanning through the knowledge we’ve accumulated from Mama and Pop over the years, with the additions of our occasional tutors, my only options are a broken bond or a broken heart.
If something happened to Pop and he died…that could cause a broken bond, but that doesn’t explain the yelling or smashed dishes.
I’ve never understood why fated mates were so important to people when this was the kind of partnership you could have. One where the man and father of the house is a total ass and doesn’t have a caring bone in his body.Is that what finding your mate does to men?
I need to find out what happened.
Either something happened to Pop and thus, hurt Mama, or he…
Would he really?
Yes, I think he would.
If he’s alive, he left her and rejected her, severing their bond.
