Page 11 of Roman
“Are you all right? You’ve gone quiet on us.”
I looked over at Ramsey. “I’m fine. Thinking about some things.”
Ramsey raised an eyebrow at me as he shifted Hazel from his left side to his right. “Thinking about? Maybe that little fae that was behind the counter?”
I sent him a look. I wasn’t sure he had heard me when I asked Konrad about Beau. I glanced around and realized that we had fallen behind the rest of our family. I took a step closer to Ramsey, and after looking around again to make sure nobody else was nearby, I whispered to him because I knew for a fact he had excellent hearing.
“I’m almost positive he’s my mate.”
Ramsey’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “I know it’s not Konrad or Elias. That left Beau. My tiger was definitely scenting our mate, and I walked around the front of the display cabinets to see if it was someone else, but when he reached across the counter to hand Otis his cookie, I picked up on his scent then. Beau is my mate.”
Ramsey smiled. “Well, congratulations. What are you going to do about it though? The council just got someone to reopen the bakery. If he’s your mate, that means he’ll end up quitting, and then the council will be without a bakery again.”
I shook my head. “I would never ask that he stop working at the bakery. I don’t even know if he wants a mate, let alone would want me for a mate.”
Ramsey gave me a look. “Why wouldn’t he? I don’t know about everyone, but most paranormals want their mates, Roman. Why would you think he wouldn’t?”
I shrugged. “I know nothing about him, actually.”
“I can’t help you, sorry. Today was the first day I’d ever seen him. I would think he lives somewhere close, but since he’s fae, he has magic and can get up on the mountain easy enough.”
I nodded. “I asked Konrad about him since I didn’t know who he was. He called out to him, and he mentioned that he and someone named Evan were going to be at the cookout.”
Ramsey smiled. “Well, that gives me a whole lot of information that I can help with.”
I had no idea how, but I wasn’t going to not take any and all help I could get. “How so?”
“Evan is one of the newer fae enforcers. He’s on Frederick’s team. I couldn’t tell you exactly which house is his, but I know that he has a younger brother that came with him.” Ramsey’s scent suddenly changed. “You will have to ask them, but I know that Evan raised his brother for part of his life.”
That surprised me, and I stopped. It took a moment, but Ramsey realized, and he, too, stopped. When he turned, he offered a concerned look.
“Are you sure?”
Ramsey nodded. “Evan has talked about his younger brother a few times, but for the most part, the fae enforcers all stick together, and I don’t know too much about their personal situation. They’re all on different teams, but when it comes to being in other places like the dining hall or the training room, they tend to stick together.”
I nodded at Ramsey. “Thanks for letting me know. If I get the opportunity, I’ll be sure to ask him about it.”
Ramsey shook his head. “When, not if. I don’t believe that your mate would be sent here and then you weren’t given the opportunity to have a life with him. That’s not how things work, and we both know it.”
I shrugged.
“Are you two coming?”
We both looked at Philip, who was standing next to Knox. Otis was still eating his cookie, and Madelyn had stopped fussing once she had been given her own treat. Phineas was gone, and I assumed he was with Raiden and Alexander.
“Where’s Phineas?” I asked Ramsey.
“He and Alexander wandered off to talk about something. Raiden was right behind them, so I’m not worried.”
I nodded. Not only were we on Treasure Ridge, which was completely safe, but we all knew that Raiden would never let anything happen to Phineas, just as Ramsey wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Alexander.
We started walking again, and Ramsey quickly whispered to me, “Are we keeping this to ourselves for now?”
Should I? I didn’t know what was the best thing to do. I raised a shoulder. “Maybe for a few more hours. I hope to at least talk to him at the cookout if at all possible. If he tells me to kick rocks, I’ll let my brothers know that I met my mate, but things aren’t going to progress quickly.”
Ramsey nodded. “All right. Just so you know, your brothers are going to completely flip when they learn that their older brother finally has his own mate.” Ramsey chuckled. “And I’d venture to say that yours is right around the same age as they are.”
