Aiylee asked, “Are you going to talk to your hunky father in law?” She winked at me. I groaned, “Aiylee!” Beagan tapped her chin, “She’s not wrong. He’s not my type but he’s hunky.” Aaron rolled his eyes at them both.
I huffed at her. Aiylee laughed, “What? He’s a silver fox. I clearly go for older men. I’m very happy with Exsis so I won’t go for your father in law. I’m not blind though. The man is steaming hot.” I rolled my eyes, “I’ll go talk to him.” She clapped, “Yes, then drinks!” She and Beagan high fived.
I sighed and headed to talk to Aaron. His eyes were blazing and his arms were crossed. This was going to be a chat and a half. He asked, “What the hell happened?” I evaded, “What do you know?” He ground his teeth. He answered, “I saw you at the pond. I was coming to check on you because Cayden sent me all the need he had to do so in the bond.”
I pointed out, “You do that all the time when he’s gone.” He replied, “And he rarely sends me his emotions that he needs to know you’re ok. So, I repeat what happened?” I told him, “I handled it and plan to keep handling it.”
He groaned, “Aesir above, Cassie. I’ll kill for you. You know that, right?” I nodded, “I knew that before I was your daughter in law.” His eyes softened and his gaze narrowed on my itching my wrist. I felt something was off. It was that pesky emotion I couldn’t name maybe I needed to share my sorrow now. Maybe that would stop this.
He glanced past me, “This conversation is not over, but you should go see your cousins. We can talk later once your Fairy side has calmed down. I know their step is important to you feeling better. I’ll let Cayden know I’m on it. I won’t invade your privacy by listening to whatever conversation you women are going to have, but I WILL be around. We will talk later.” I nodded my agreement.
I popped back over to my cousins. Aiylee asked, “Are we riding Rain back to your house or popping? Because my ass, despite your Uncle Bjourn’s insistence, does not run for miles on end. It’s just not happening.” I laughed. Rain told me, “I would like to run again.” I shifted and they both popped onto Rain.
I ran us all back to my house, where Aiylee conjured an entire freaking bar. I looked at her with a confused face. There were a lot of bars we could go to. She grinned, “I know that look and have answers to your unspoken question. Yes, I know there are bars here. I’m all for shutting a whole bar down in this realm, but they are such tattletales here. The bartender would run to their King about whatever happened.”
Beagan agreed, “They would. Especially since you’re this mad. You’re the stealthy one so they’d just jump to action because they know you’re not going to tell them.” I groaned, “I hate when you have a point.” They both laughed.
Aiylee snaped me a drink. I grinned asking, “A Galaxy cocktail?” She blew me a kiss, “It’s your favorite.” It definitely had gotten up there after I lived in Faerie. Beagan squeezed my hand, “What happened, cousin?” I gulped down my drink, so Aiylee snapped me another.
I said, “This goes into our three amigos secret box.” They looked at each other worriedly. Aiylee said, “The only thing in there was what we researched when you lived in Faerie.” I nodded. Both looked at each other again then agreed. “Ok.”
I launched into it and explained everything that had happened. Aiylee shouted, “THAT BITCH!” I chuckled, “I love hearing you cuss. You do it more than any Fairy.” She waved, “Yeah, well I lived in the human realm for a time, and most didn’t. Well, except that group that lived in Ireland.” She didn’t like to talk about when she lived in the earthly realm, and I understood why.
She began to rant, “I could set her on fire, but that feels too nice.” Beagan bit her lip. Rain agreed, “It is too nice.” Beagan threw out, “We could go more subtle.” Aiylee clapped, “YES! Subtle. Dad makes things hard for people without making it obvious. I just like being obvious with a clear enemy.” She conjured us all new drinks but I still felt unsettled.
We were all giggling with our plots and plans we were putting in a document in Aiylee’s computer when a knock came on the door. I could smell who it was, and the bond told me who was close enough. I squealed, “DADDY!” He opened the door and came in.
I threw myself into his arms and inhaled his calming scent. He hugged me, “Hey, Princess.” It helped settle me, but something was still there lurking inside me. I felt ready to snap but I didn’t know why.
Aiylee and Beagan yelled, “Hi, Uncle Eric!” He nodded, “Hello two of my favorite nieces.” Beagan rolled her eyes, “You call us all your favorite nieces.” My dad winked, “And it’s true.” They both laughed. Rain was purring in my head. She was probably talking to Thor.
My dad said, “I won’t take Cass away for too long. I just want to walk to the pond with her.” They both nodded and kept typing on Aiylee’s computer. My dad chuckled, “Let me know if I need to prepare to protect you girls with whatever you’re doing.” They glanced at him as did I.
He raised an eyebrow explaining, “You all are always declaring psychological and charm warfare when you’re hovered over a laptop like that. There was the Werewolf that broke up with Bea that got it. Then there was the Demon, followed by the Angel. For Aiylee it was…”
Aiylee groaned, “Ugh, Fine Uncle Eric. We get it. I doubt you’ll want to do anything other than clap about our plans.” He replied, “I always want to clap. I also had my own fun after you girls were done. No one hurts my nieces and gets away with it without hearing from me.” They both beamed at him.
Beagan’s eyes teared up and she popped in front of him. She threw her arms around his neck speaking to him in rapid Fealish which he replied to. When she pulled back, she popped back to Aiylee and waved to us.
My dad guided me outside. He asked, “So, whose face needs rearranging? I’m not above torturing, maiming, or even killing whoever it is. Thor and I lean towards killing though. It’s the rational conclusion we came to earlier.” I laughed as we made our way to the Adirondack chairs outs here.
I told him, “I always know you’ll do that.” He sighed, “Yet no one ever asks me to do it.” I pointed out, “You do it anyway.” He grinned, “But sometimes, it’s nice to be asked.” Rain muttered, “Let’s keep that in mind.” I would.
I told him, “I already rearranged said face. Where’s mom?” He replied, “She’s at the castle, waiting for me to come back.” I asked, “Why did you come?” He answered, “Because my little girl felt furious, disrespected, hurt, and ready to kill. See, I’ve felt this from your mom. I don’t care for it coming from her and I find I dislike in a deeply strange way I am not used to coming from you. I know that there was a desperate need to defend your mate bond in there too.” I agreed, “There definitely was.”
We sat in silence. I asked, “Why isn’t mom here then?” He answered, “She said that you’re an adult who knows we are there for you. She also said something about if you wanted to call you know full well your mom would answer. Plus, she called you and left a message.”
I admitted, “I don’t have my phone on me.” He nodded, “I saw that. Your mom knew she wasn’t talking me out of coming. Not that she even tried. She just brought us here when we were free.” My heart warmed because my parents were the best.
I asked, “Does it get easier?” He volleyed back, “What?” I answered, “People trying to hurt you and the bond you share with mom? I didn’t catch it all as a pup but looking back I see when people struck at your two. Now, I see it a lot.” He looked out at the pond.
He answered, “I want to tell you it does, but it would a lie. It’s different the longer your bond is established, but betrayal always hurts. I always feel the need to intensely defend your mom and our bond. The itch under your skin and the need to prove you’re theirs and they are yours drives you.” He knew this feeling? Rain perked up wanting an answer.
He looked, “That feeling you feel, unsettled; even though you’ve shared your sorrow is the need to be with Cayden. You need to reaffirm he’s yours needs to quell that feeling deep inside you.” I winced, “He’s on a mission.” I couldn’t believe my dad was actually telling me to go have sex.
He snorted, “Yeah, neither can I.” I gasped, “I didn’t say that out loud.” He winked, “The bond told me your feelings and mine match them. You need to do it though. The Alpha in you cannot be denied and I wasn’t going to sit at home knowing that him being busy would be your thoughts on denying your instincts. You need to go to Cayden. Finish plotting the demise of a certain ex of his slowly through charms then go and calm your wolf side down.”
I blinked asking my dad, “You know about Cora?” He replied, “I know about every single threat to my pups. I may not live here, but I’m still with you in spirit. Always.” I winced, “I thought I’d dealt with everything quietly.”
