Page 6 of A Drink of Destiny
“Me? I’m the frustrating one?”
“Too late now, mate,” Ormund said. “He’s missing his chance. His mate’s already on his way to catch his plane.”
“What?” I stood up, nearly knocking the table over and Ormund spun on his heels, hands up ready to lunge at me if I made a move he didn’t like.
“It happens like this sometimes,” Dern said. “Sometimes you can outsmart fate and speed things up. Sometimes you can’t. I tried, kid. I really did,” Dern sighed.
“You have to be wrong. He’d have smelled me!” I growled. “If my mate was there, he’d have smelled me!”
“Not if he walked in and right back out,” Ormund said. “That’s what he did when he saw two omegas about to get into a fight at the bar. It’s not worth it for most alphas to get involved in something like that. There’s no winning.”
“Do I look like an omega?” I demanded, my blood boiling.
“Yeah, to me,” Ormund nodded.
“I want to go home!” I snapped and the world went black again. “I can’t take anymore of this right now!”
My heart ached for the man I’d yet to meet even in the abyss between worlds. Why had Dern done that to me? If he told me the real reason behind it all, I wouldn’t have fucked up.
Chapter Seven
Alvis
Pierce’s Family Estate
The estate hadn’t changed much since my last visit, but I didn’t take the time to have a good look around. I moved to unbuckle my seatbelt, but Raiel opened my door before my hand ever reached it. I hadn’t even seen him get out of the car. As a vampire I was no stranger to speed, but he moved quicker than I expected any shifter to, alpha or not. I let him unbuckle the seatbelt because it was nice to be considered. Apparently, gentlemen alphas weren’t extinct. They merely lived on another world and had saber teeth.
Raiel held out his hand to me and I let him help me out of the car. While the atmosphere of The Raven’s Perch left something to be desired, Raiel made up for that. His hand was big and warm and phantom fur tickled my palm as we walked up the path to the door. The same brightly colored flowers lined the walk as the last time I was here. Some things really never change.
Pierce opened the door holding a tiny yellow blanket to his chest. His scent was big and protective, a blend of both of his parents and whatever extra boost the alpha gene gave to him. If I hadn’t known he had a daughter, I wouldn’t have smelled Baby Hex at all. Tell-tale ‘new daddy bags’ hung heavy under Pierce’s eyes. If not for the primal cat at my side, I might’ve offered to take a night shift with the baby before I started my job trying to discern whether the dragoness was enchanted or merely conked out.
“You look lovely as always, Alvis,” Pierce managed a cordial smile.
He smelled tired, irritated, and vaguely amused. Then again, true-mate meetings are often entertaining and I was sure Moonscale London would be talking about mine for years to come.
“You look tired, friend,” I said. “I take it the little one is nocturnal?”
“She’s something but we just haven’t figured out what yet,” Pierce chuckled and motioned us inside.
“What did you do?” a tall elf asked from his perch on the couch. He sat back but his muscles were all tight and ready to fight. He smelled one more tiny inconvenience from losing his shit. I opened my mouth to answer but Raiel beat me to it. The question was aimed at him after all.
“I went to work. Late because Baby Antonio decided to decorate me and Alvis was there. Well, he was leaving,” he said and squeezed my hand.
“And everyone sort of freaked out because I slapped the beer wolf and bit my mate. Is London going through another anti-vampire phase?” I cut into the conversation, unable to help myself.
“No,” everyone said at once.
“Mori has friends and most people like him even if he’s weird,” Crilus said. “He’s my cousin. So, I’ll be the first to admit that he’s not normal but are any of us really normal? Derk is losing his shit because he has to wait for Crissy to get dressed and that takes forever but it’s the best I can do. Hex has decided she never needs to sleep again and I couldn’t make the drive if I had to and---”
Raiel opened his mouth and shut it again. Was he really about to offer to go back and work his shift? I bit the inside of mycheek to keep from saying anything. If thatbarwas at the top of his priorities, so be it.
“Don’t apologize,” Crilus sighed and rubbed the heel of his hand into his forehead. “Not for leaving tonight. Hell, not even for the bite. I checked the cameras and it seems the place is packed now. No sign of Mori and Preston’s getting a bit worried that he hasn’t come home yet.”
“And I’m going to drive out if he’s not back in half an hour,” Pierce yawned.
“Isn’t there anyone else who can do it?” I asked.
“I’m sure a lot of people would but Mori’s Mori,” Crilus shrugged. “He’s probably passed out somewhere on a spirit trip. We just gotta find him and bring him home.”
