Page 145 of Heart of the High King
“Chander’s going to give you a mate, he’s going to be soulbound to Sander like you are to me.”
“Yay. Now?”
Rafe chuckled. “Mortis wants to know if we can do it now.”
“We need to discuss how it’s going to impact you first, Aleksander. As you know sentinels were once tied to necromancers. During that two-thousand-year period, babies were born and within an hour of birth, each went into a three-day coma. It was the adjustment of their soul to being aligned with another life-force. Rafe was out for two or three months, but he had a great deal more going on, so we have no clue how long he actually needed to adjust to Mortis. Even Grymmie was out for a day when we tethered Hekate to him so he could summon her. They’re not bound the way you’ll be, and he’s resurrected himself, so your best-case scenario is a minimum of three days, but it could potentially stretch longer,” Chander replied. “I doubt it makes any difference, but you should also know the wolf will likely be male since you are.”
“A pair of gay wolves isn’t going to bother anyone. Those are newborns you’re talking about, and I have a powerful dragon. I doubt I’d be out that long,” Aleksander commented.
“We believe shifters lack magic. I think that impacts things. And there’s a real possibility that because we don’t have a specific spirit, your dragon might greatly impact how the spell works. You could wind up with a wolf considerably stronger than what we might expect.”
“I still believe you’re giving me worst case, not best,” Aleksander responded, his voice filled with confidence. Rafe was trying hard not to be pessimistic, but Chander was the necromancer. If he believed Aleksander would be out for at least three days, then he likely would be.
“So, how does the coma work? Would he have to go to a hospital?” Rafe asked, wandering closer to his mate. Offering no fight when he was pulled onto his lap, Rafe went willingly while the chair squeaked in protest.
“Not at all. This is a magically induced coma. Essentially, it’s the soul resting, not the body, so he might even be able to hear you if you wanted to talk to him. Or he might be in a total dream state. We left Grymmie in his room to sleep it off,” Chander said. “There’s nothing that can go wrong here, and he won’t have any physical impairments other than just lying there like a slug.”
“I guess Rafe here gets to run the show for three days while big brother does his best impression of a log,” Worth teased.
“Okay, well, I still think it won’t be three days,” Aleksander responded. “My dragon helped Rafe pull through all that healing in a matter of hours, but I want to prepare for the worst, so what if we did this on a Friday evening? I’d be awake by Monday night, right? So I can still make our family meeting.”
“Theoretically, yes.”
Considering what a tumultuous time Rafe had since the moment he met Aleksander, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would indeed be that easy, but he wanted Mortis to have his other half. It was kind of Aleksander to want the same, and he appreciated that his mate was willing to do whatever it took to help make it happen. Shifting so he could see Aleksander’s face, he lifted a hand to his cheek. “Mortis, do you mind if Sander and I have our matebond ceremony first?”
Mortis let out a woof. “Rafe get ring, then Mortis get mate.”
Aleksander’s mouth touched Rafe’s forehead. “Is he okay with it?” he whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Thank Fate.”
“I guess you’re on board, too.”
“Rafe, I would love to officially make you my mate in front of our whole family,” Aleksander said. When their eyes met, Rafe tilted his head as their lips met in a kiss that Aleksander deepened a heartbeat later, and his arms tightened around him.
“I guess no one is going to argue about spending another weekend here,” Brogan mused. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that this Saturday will work?”
When Rafe’s mouth was finally free, he kept his gaze locked on Aleksander as he stroked his stubbled skin. “What do you think?”
“That I wish it was Saturday already, but we’ve got plans to make.”
“Thank Chander and Aleksander.”
Rafe laughed. “It just hit me that their names rhyme. Chander and Sander, Mortis says thank you.”
“My pleasure, and I got the scoop on the High King’s matebond ceremony,” the Arch Lich said, getting to his feet. Mortis ran over and Chander petted him enthusiastically. “I’m also staying for dinner.”
There was a smile on his face as Rafe was once again kissed, and he couldn’t wait for Saturday either.
