Page 14 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
“That is a long time not getting laid,” Darroch mumbled. “I can see why he was so pleasant.”
I glowered and shushed him, looking at my mom for reinforcement, but she didn’t even look in his direction. Instead, she was focused on us, her eyes shifting to Vareck and back to me. Her gaze had narrowed as she thought silently. “Are you really mates?” she asked finally, changing the subject entirely and catching me off guard. “We don’t need to see the bond mark. It’s just not like you to jump into things.”
“I-I ... we’re um, it’s…” My attempt to speak came out in spluttering nonsense. I could feel the heaviness of Vareck’s stare once again, waiting for how I would respond. Poorly, was apparently the answer.
“Complicated?” my mother finished for me.
“You know we love you, Meera, but you barely know each other,” my dad added, sounding just like every father in the history of fae kind when their daughter was dating. Mating? It felt weird to refer to it that way, even if that’s what it was. Call it my Earth upbringing, but mating is what animals did. While I could appreciate an animal in bed, I wanted a grown man for a life partner.
I cleared my throat, resisting the urge to look at Vareck. My skin felt heated, and a flush crawled up my neck. “Um, yes. It’s complicated.” The inside of my cheek throbbed from how much I had chewed on one spot. “It’s not like we’ve accepted the mate bond?—”
“Wait,” my dad said quickly, holding up a hand. He looked back and forth between Vareck and me. “What do you mean ‘accept’ it? I thought you meant you chose each other as mates. That’s what the cat said, didn’t he?” When his question was met with an awkward silence, I finally shook my head. “You’retruemates? Fated mates?”
My mother inhaled harshly. “That’s not possible.”
“Apparently it is,” Vareck and I said in unison. The way our voices melded together made me smile, but it soon faded when my parents spoke again.
“How can you tell?” my dad pressed, coming toward us.
“I ... I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
My parents exchanged a deep look of concern before speaking again. “No one has found a true mate since the curse.”
I didn’t know what to tell them. I didn’t have an explanation either.
“Can I speak with you for a moment?” Vareck asked, though he didn’t wait for me to answer. He pressed his palm into my back, guiding me away from my family and near a table by the window. Glancing over my shoulder, my parents watched with a strange look of concern mixed with awe, and maybe a touch of disapproval.
“Slow down,” I hissed at him, pulling away slightly. He towered in front of me, causing my neck to bend back more than I cared for when we spoke. Vareck was huge. As a tall, plus-size woman, it wasn’t often that someone made me feel little. Usually, I liked it with him, but not in this case.
“You’re avoiding calling me your mate,” he said in a dark tone. “Is there a reason?”
“You want to talk about thisnow?” I crossed my arms, feeling goosebumps rise on my skin.
He lowered his voice in an attempt to keep our conversation quiet, though we both knew we had an audience. “You’re the one trying to pretend it didn’t happen, as if there could be some sort of mistake when we both know what we feel.”
“No. I am notpretendinganything,” I whispered harshly, “I haven’t had time to process what happened last night and newsflash, Vareck, it’s kind of a big deal.”
“Then talk about it. Stop avoiding the subject.” The way he said it was so matter-of-fact, like we were talking about what to have for dinner.
“Now isn’t the right time.”
“Really? When is a good time? Maybe you can pencil me into your busy schedule. Somewhere in between working for the leprechaun and trying to run off when I’m not looking?”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is ignoring this. You said you were ‘seeing me,’ and that we were ‘complicated.’ I’d like to think if I said that about you, you’d be pissed off too.”
“This—” I gestured between the two of us—”justhappened. Iamseeing you, but thisiscomplicated, and Idon’twant to talk about it with myfamilyin the room, Vareck.”
“Then we’ll be addressing this later?”
I sighed; the annoyance I felt was difficult to hide. “Yes. Happy?”
“Can you focus on your love life later?” Atlas said, interrupting us. I don’t know if my brother intended to save me from the painful awkwardness of the conversation, but I was thankful for the reprieve, regardless. “Lou’s portal was temporary, and we don’t know how long we have.”
I thought Vareck would snap at him. Or me. His body language screamed that he was ready for a fight. Rigid shoulders. Flared nostrils. Anger flashing in his eyes. Tense moments passed, then his features softened, and he nodded.
“Atlas is right,” Vareck said on a tight exhale, walking away from me in a hurry. He reached for his coin purse and set it down on the table for Farris. The innkeeper stood behind his bar top, arms crossed, impatiently waiting for us to leave. He acknowledged the payment with a single dip of his chin. “Unless we want to extend our travel time, we should move quickly.”
