Page 8 of Keeping His Mate

I’m left speechless, standing in the mud as I process everything that just occurred. I resist the urge to chase after him and tell him the truth about my situation because he still seems wary of me.

Is it his wariness that draws me to him? Like a moth to a strong, silent, emotionally ambivalent flame? It would certainly explain...well, all my past relationships.

No,I tell myself. I can unpack that later.

Pushing through the tree line, I make it back onto the main path a few minutes behind Bruvix. I’m about to grab a bite at the meal hall when a whirling mass of fiery red hair steps in front of me, blocking my path.

“You must be Eleanor!” she hollers, her green eyes wide with delight. “I’m Kate.”

She’s shorter than me by a few inches, but with curves everywhere. Freckles cover her nose and cheeks, her skin is so light, it’s almost translucent, and her red hair is long and curly, reaching her chest. Kate’s the first member of the clan I’ve seen that isn’t wearing a gray tunic and black leggings. She’s wearing a black velvet dress with subtle white pinstripes that hits just below her knees.

“Yes, hi,” I reply with a smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“May I call you Ellie?” she asks.

“Um, Eleanor is good,” I tell her. Kate’s smile falls briefly before she widens it again with a nod. She wasn’t expecting that from me. And maybe giving someone a nickname is a way for her to bond with them. “It’s just...There was this girl in my high school named Ellie and she was a colossal twatwaffle when I came out as bi. So now that name just makes me cringe.”

“You’re bi?”

“I had a poster of Dana Scully on my wall and wore my corduroy overalls so many times that my parents paid me $20 to stop, so yeah,” I reply. I spare her the details of growing up queer with conservative Korean and Filipino parents, and the complex history of the LGBTQ+ movements in my parents’ native countries, because that’ll just bring the mood down.

She laughs, then says, “That’s cool. Well, yeah, fuck that Ellie chick. I hope she develops a salted caramel allergy.” Then she grips my forearm, her expression turning serious. “Wait. That’s too mean. Jo said I’m not supposed to hex anyone this early in my training.” She lifts her gaze to the sky. “I take it back!” she yells, tracing a hexagonal shape over her heart.

I have so many questions. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, I’m a witch. And I’m thirsty for vengeance, but Jo, my teacher––you’ll love her––is trying to help me channel that into something ‘more productive,’” she adds finger quotes to the last part as if it annoys her.

I tilt my head to the side. “You’re a fascinating one, Kate.”

Then she clasps her hands together with an excited look in her eye. “True story. And get excited, because I’ve got a big day planned for us, Eleanor.”

“Do you now?”

“Oh yes,” she replies with a wicked smirk. “Chlo is on bed rest for the day. Doctor’s orders. And my mate, Niro––who is a dragon, but not scary at all, by the way, you’ll meet him later––anyway, he’s busy at our caves setting up a camera in the nursery. But I thought it’d be fun to have a girls’ day at Chloe’s. Just us humans.”

I let her lead me back to Chloe and Varrek’s house as she chatters on about how Ava and I can get drunk since we’re not pregnant. How she’s extremely jealous because she and Niro have been busy decorating their house here in the village, and it’s stressing her out and she would love nothing more than to throw back some of Bruvix’s “terrible ale.”

By the time we reach Chloe’s house, she’s filled me in on how she felt totally out of place amongst the clan until Niro kidnapped her. She explained her strange dream link with Niro, and how she broke the link when he got too possessive at her birthday party.

“So, wait. He was worried you were going to cheat on him with Bruvix?” I ask when she’s done telling me about how she ended up forgiving him.

“Yeah, Bruv and I have an… interesting friendship. He once offered up the use of his dick when I couldn’t sleep,” she says with a laugh.

Huh. “How thoughtful of him” is all I can say because now I’m picturing Bruvix and Kate together and it’s making me feel weird in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

“Seriously,” she adds as we climb the steps to Chloe and Varrek’s bedroom. “It was probably the least sexy pickup line I’ve ever been on the receiving end of.”

Once we make it to the top floor of the house, we find Ava sitting at the foot of Chloe’s bed as Varrek sets up a table with countless bowls of food, alongside two jugs of a frothy orange liquid and three jugs filled with a creamy white liquid.

“Well, hello, ladies,” Kate says to Ava and Chloe. “You doing okay, Chlo?”

“Oh yeah,” Chloe says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Totally fine.”

Varrek clears his throat as he stands. “She is not fine. She has had some bleeding and will need to stay in bed until tomorrow.”

“Varrek, I’ve got this,” Ava vows. “I’m not gonna let Chlo get nuts tonight. Don’t you worry.”

He purses his lips, but then sighs, realizing nothing will stop this girls’ night from happening. Then he leans down and gently kisses Chloe’s forehead, whispering, “I shall be close by at Ava and Ahlvo’s. If you need me, yell for me, and I will run across our branch. I will be here in a heartbeat.”

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