Page 47 of Lera of Lunos
“If you go in fists swinging, we’ll have three rumbling colts instead of two.” Reaching up, the female pats Coal’s cheek, pitching her voice above the fray. “Tyelor. You get over here right now or I’m coming after you.” Without waiting to see whether the order is obeyed, the female turns back to Coal, her brow furrowed. “What do you meantheirmate?”
A flash of light hits Tye’s tiger in midair and the male lands in his fae form, his throat bobbing. He watches the older female desperately, as if afraid she might disappear if his gaze wanders for too long. “Mother?”
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Lera
“Mother,” Tye repeats, almost in wonder. The hope in his voice squeezes my heart, tugging on that cord inside me. Behind Tye, Shade is back in his fae form, stepping away. Tye swallows, taking in the female’s smiling face, dark brown cloak, and sturdy shoes. “You are here.”
“Of course I’m here. I live here, kitten.” The female smiles, holding out her hands. “You are the one who’s been racing around Lunos with your quint for three centuries.”
“Kitten?” Coal echoes.
Tye shoots him a death-promising glare before closing the distance, his large arms engulfing the woman with a warmth I know so well. Firelight dances in Tye’s moist eyes, his muscles trembling slightly.
The back of my throat pinches, the joy of Tye’s reunion mixing with a sliver of envy. I once had a mother. Ihadto have had. Maybe, if we were ever reunited, she would hug me the same way. Except, of course, mine left me, not the other way around.
“My quint mates,” Tye says, waving his hand at Coal and Shade before holding it out to me, his voice hitching. “And this... Mother, this is Leralynn, my mate. Lera, this is my mother, Aliaanadora.”
Mate.The word Tye has spoken so many times before sounds different now. My eyes widen, those tethers and tugs I’ve felt ever since waking to this new, different body suddenly taking on a name. Connections not of compatible magics but of joined souls. A mating bond. That’s what I feel.Fourmating bonds.
Aliaanadora’s gaze softens knowingly, as if she read my mind. A very disconcerting quality that I’ve heard mothers possess, even if this one isn’t mine. She clears her throat, the slight crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes dancing with welcome and caution. “A pleasure, Leralynn,” she says, squeezing my offered hand. “However, that feisty cub there seems to feel there’s some question as to whose mate you are.”
“It’s a little complicated—” Tye starts.
Aliaanadora holds up a hand, her other still squeezing mine. “I think I gathered that.” She examines me closely, her green eyes uncannily familiar. “I want to hear it from the lass herself. After all, if what Tyelor says is true, Leralynn, you are now my daughter.”
Daughter. My eyes sting. “I...” For a moment I want to lie, to spin a tale that conforms to what the world would want, just to hold on to the offer. But I know I can’t. “Tye is my mate,” I whisper. “But so are three others.”
Aliaanadora blinks. “Threeothers?”
My face heats. “I think so. I’ve only realized what I feel just now, and I don’t know whether...” I look over at Coal, the bob of his throat all the confirmation I need to know that he feels the tug too. Inhaling, I turn back to Aliaanadora. “Yes. Tye. And Shade—”
“That’s the wee lupine coward hiding in the back,” Tye supplies helpfully.
I throw a glare at him. “Coal, you’ve met. And River—”
“Is right here.” Dressed in a wine-red coat over a snowy, open-collared shirt, River towers over even the other males as he approaches and gives Tye’s mother a wholly royal bow. He looks breathtakingly handsome, as fresh as if yesterday never happened. For a moment, I remember his pale skin, the deep bags under his eyes, and have to swallow back tears. River straightens. “It is an honor to meet you, mistress.”
“River.” Releasing my hand, Aliaanadora repeats the name as if tasting it. “So you are the final one of Tye’s friends mixed up in this newly woven mating bond? I’ve never heard of such a thing myself, but given that you five are a quint as well, I imagine it is less awkward to have Leralynn mated to all of you rather than just one. Males get so very territorial with their mates.”
“Indeed.” River clears his throat, the tips of his ears coloring slightly as he tugs down an already perfectly straight jacket.
“Mother.” A flash of panic lights Saritta’s eyes, her fingers straying toward a scar at her temple. Grabbing the older female’s arm, she pulls her closer, her voice dropping. “That isKingRiver. The ruler of Slait. You can’t talk to him that way.”
Aliaanadora flinches, memories flitting over her face so vividly that I know exactly what haunts her. What’s haunted Tye for centuries—the cruel damage of some royals’ power. My heart breaks as I watch the female who called me her daughter shrink back.
“Forgive me,” she says quickly, stepping away from River. Her hand rises, filling the space between them as if her thin, aging arm might ward off the large warrior. A slight shift of weight has Aliaanadora positioning herself between River and his path to Tye and Saritta. “I meant no disrespect, Your Highness. I was only speaking as... I’d forgotten who I was addressing.”
River is in motion before anyone can speak, closing the distance to cup Aliaanadora’s elbow with a gentleness I’ve only rarely seen. “Wait. Please.” His voice softens, his gaze oddly shy as he studies the female’s face. Not a royal addressing a commoner, but a younger male inquiring of a matron. “Might you tell me what you were going to say? You were speaking as... who?”
Aliaanadora swallows. “As a mother.” She sighs, shaking her head ruefully. “After losing a son for centuries, I’m eager to fill my supper table with more children. My new daughter’s mates. Too eager to consider what I was saying.”
River stares, his gray eyes glistening in the firelight for long heartbeats. “I’m the commander of Tye’s quint,” he says quietly, his throat bobbing. “I’m the reason he’s been away for three hundred years. If you can see past that to invite me to your supper table, you can call me whatever the stars you want. And send me to chop firewood.”
A corner of Aliaanadora’s mouth twitches, and the palm she’s been holding back from River now extends to rest on his cheek.
My own throat tightening, I step forward and wrap my arms around them both. Autumn adds her own arms a moment later, then Tye and Shade, hugging first with a tentative shyness then with full strength. Finally, only Saritta and Coal stand outside the group.
