Page 29 of Frederick
Drew giggled. “Not a fan of snow?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly. I’ve been around snow before, but for whatever reason, I’m struggling with the snow here. Or perhaps it’s the bitterly cold wind.”
“Oh, yeah. I could do without the wind as well. Just wait until you’re stuck in the house one night and there is a blizzard raging outside. I swear the wind is creepy then.”
I shivered just thinking about it. “No thank you. Maybe Frederick and I will have to run off to Spain or Italy if that is ever the case.”
Drew sighed. “Sebastian has taken me several places. But now that his parents and his brothers are all here, we don’t have family in in Madrid to visit.”
I looked over at Drew in question. “Do you have to have family to visit? Maybe it’s because I don’t have any family left, or I was never all that close to them when I was younger anyway. I wouldn’t let not having family to visit stop me from going somewhere. Did Sebastian live in a family home?”
Drew shook his head. “No, he had a condo in the same building as his brother Caspian. We had discussed keeping hiscondo as a vacation home for us, but that was when his family was still there.”
“Do you only go to visit family? Or are you wanting to get away?”
“A little bit of both. Now that Benedict and Arturo are here, if we want a little bit of time away, we Whitney to figure something out for Flora. I’m not quite ready to leave her here just yet.”
I could certainly understand that. She was only a few months old, and I couldn’t imagine leaving my child behind at such a young age. I knew that there were many who did, but like Drew, that wasn’t something that I saw myself doing.
I looked around at the scenery and had to admit that it was quite beautiful here. If only it weren’t for the cold and wind.
“What are you thinking about?”
I smiled down at Drew before I pointed at the trees all around us. “It is very pretty here and I can see why people would wish to live here. Especially the dragons.” Drew smiled up at me and nodded. “Frederick told me about the dragons that flew across the ocean centuries ago in order to claim this mountain.”
I shook my head. I could not imagine flying such a distance during those times, only to discover the place that you were drawn to was completely uninhabited. There were only three of them. When there one and only son was pulled back to where they came from in Germany, he found not only his mate, but a few of his mate’s friends that were willing to fly off to the unknown with them. They didn’t have anything left to stay there for as their village had been completely wiped out. Such sad times.
I remember living during those years, and it was a very dark time in Italy then. Plague was rampant, and people were just dead in the streets.
“I bet you’ve lived to see a lot of things.” I looked down at Drew and smiled. His eyes widened and he frantically started shaking his head. “That was rude. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I chuckled now. “It’s all right, and yes, I have lived to see a lot of things. Some good, some bad. I’m almost three hundred. I’ve lived a very long time.”
Drew’s face and aura suddenly showed sadness. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine living that long without a mate. That seems so very unfair.”
I reached out and touched Drew’s shoulder. “It’s all right. Just because I didn’t have my One, doesn’t mean I spent all of that time alone. I’ve had a few long-term relationships along the way. So has Frederick. It’s expected when you’ve lived as long as we have.”
Drew sighed but nodded. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. I’m twenty-six so I didn’t have to spend a whole lot of time without Sebastian.”
“Yes. That is very fortunate for you. There is a lot of ugliness out there in the world Drew. You are quite fortunate that you have your mate at such a young age. Not only will he provide you with companionship and love, but Sebastian will be able to protect and shelter you from some of the negativity. Unfortunately, it will always be there because there will always be bad apples.”
Drew nodded his head. He pointed in front of us, drawing my attention to whatever it was that he was seeing. In the distance there was a rather large building coming into view. “I assume that is the council building?”
“Yeah. Sebastian and Frederick are in there somewhere right now.” Drew looked up at me. “Did Frederick get you set up with your visitor’s badge?”
I shook my head. He had mentioned it, but I did not see much of a need for me to go hanging out inside the councilbuilding. If Frederick decided he wanted me to visit him there, we could look into it then. Until then I had no desire to go see my One while he was at work.
Drew gestured to the right. Over there is the store, and beside it is the bakery. Back behind the council building is the omega clinic. That’s where you will have your appointments with Dr. King. Oh, and behind the bakery and council store is the new childcare center. Some of the omegas and carriers work in the council building or at the store, and childcare is needed.”
That was interesting. It was good to know that they were taking care of not only the enforcers, but the enforcer’s mates. “are you going to put Flora into the childcare center?”
Drew looked up at me as if I had three eyes. “Even if I decided, I wanted to get a job somewhere, there is no way that Arturo is going to let me put Flora into a childcare center.” Drew grinned.
I could see that about the Iberian lynx shifter. He’d been all about spending time with Flora during the family dinner. He also very much had a soft spot for Drew. I could tell that the two had a very close relationship, which was good to see.
“Did you want to go to the council to see Sebastian?” I asked.
“No. He’s busy in meetings most of the day today. I was only asking because I don’t really know what to say to you most of the time. It was just a conversation starter?”
