Page 19 of Courting the King of Cliffs

I started to step toward him—to say we should think about it, at least. We could try to control our magic.

But then he vanished, transporting away from me.

And I let him go.

Shock carried me to my bed.

I sat down on the edge, staring at nothing while my mind spun.

I had a mate.

Granite was my mate.

Tears were still falling down my face, and I realized my body was trembling.

With pain, or shock, or something else?

I didn’t know.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Dove?” Harper called out. “I felt the air change when you got back. Are you okay? Can I come in?”

Though I wanted to say no, I didn’t want to hurt her.

“Sure,” I managed to say.

She stepped inside, and her eyes flooded with worry when she saw me. She crossed the room quickly, and wrapped her arms around me. I leaned against her, squeezing my eyes closed.

“He’s my mate,” I whispered.

“I know,” she murmured back, holding me closer.

“Of course you do.” My throat was thick with emotion. “Who else?”

She was silent for a moment.

My emotions swelled thicker.

Everyone, then.

“All of the kings and queens,” she admitted. “Granite was so young when he realized, that it couldn’t stay a secret. Not if we wanted to keep the two of you safe. Can you imagine finding out your seven-year-old daughter is mated to a boy six years older than her? One with magic that could potentially hurt her?”

“Someone should’ve told me, years ago,” I said, my tears fading away. Anger started to swell slowly, in place of the sadness. “I should’ve known as soon as I was old enough to decide for myself. His magic hasn’t hurt me since I’ve been around him, and his smell makes my mind calmer than anything else ever has. What if he fixes me?”

“You are not broken.” Her response was sharp, and defensive. She and Storm had always fought for me, and I loved them tremendously for it.

But in this case, they had overstepped.

All of them had.

“We made the best choice we could with the information we had at the time,” she said quietly. “It may not have been the right call, but you were seven, Dove. And when you were older, you were doing so well. No one wanted to risk that.”

“Not even my mate,” I said angrily, wiping at a few of my tears harshly.

“A male fae’s highest priority is protecting his mate. He hurt you, twice, and wasn’t willing to risk doing so again.”

“It wasn’t his choice to make.” I stood up and Harper let go of me, remaining where she was. “He didn’t ask me if I wanted to try, or give me a chance to decide. None of you did.”

“I’m sorry,” Harper said softly.

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