Page 102 of Taming the Alpha's Daughter

“Hey, don't get stroppy at me, do you know how boring it is being a house husband? I get excited over a new dish cloth, for Goddess’s sake! No offense, love,” Mateo winks at Kat.

“Yeah, the way to that man's heart is buying a new vacuum cleaner,” Ezra laughs when Eziah speaks up.

“You haven't gone back to work?” Eziah asks him. His father shrugs. But Ezra answers.

“Your father doesn't like attending the public stuff, too many stares,” Ezra tells him, and I feel Eziah's guilt when I see Mateo nudge Ezra like he wished Ezra didn't tell him that.

“So the gossip? I need some juicy tidbits for the next sip 'n' sis meeting!” Mateo states.

“Isn't that some desperate housewife thing?” Kaif asks while I stare at everyone confused. Mateo looks at him, offended.

“I'll have you know they make the best pot brownies I've ever tasted! The gossip's good too, the secrets these women keep, you'd be astounded!” he chuckles before turning in his seat to wink at Dominic. “Heard some interesting ones about you…. Daddy Dom….” Mateo chuckles.

“A man has needs,” Dominic answers, uncaring for whatever rumors are being spread.

“Oh, I've heard about yours, you get around. Quite the ladies man! Practically a red light at that club of yours,” Mateo snickers, and Eziah chuckles.

“I knew it!” Eziah laughs. I look at him wondering what everyone is talking about. “I'll explain later,” Eziah tells me.

“Just not while I am around. I do not need that image in my head!” Kaif growls at Eziah.

“So give me the goods for sip'n' sis,” Mateo demands.

“Well you'll be disappointed, Mateo. The truth of our brotherhood is more ethereal and ancient than mere blood ties.”

Katya listens intently and Eziah sits beside me.

“When Celeste was cursed for creating us and trapped between realms, she struggled to anchor herself to the earth realm. Every time she transitioned, the very essence of her being was at risk. Her human form and her being immensely powerful due to her Demi-Goddess nature, was at risk because at first when she left this world, her body would be left behind.” He pauses for a second letting us catch up to where he is going with this.

“So she had guardians watch over her. However, Celeste was also extremely paranoid. She knew that kind of loyalty and trust was impossible to keep, so she wanted to create guardians to watch over her body. However, that requires a tether and being a Demi-Goddess her power threatened to overpower and destroy any Lycan she tethered to.” Kaif looks around at Mateo, who raises his eyebrows like he wasn't expecting a magic lesson.

“To counteract this, she needed anchors—beings of immense strength and loyalty. Both Bain and I were chosen for this purpose. But to ensure her own preservation and maintain her tether to the earth realm, she used a spell, one that would bind both Bain and me to her very essence.”

Kaif's eyes shimmer like his mind has transported him to another time and place. “The spell she cast divided her divine life force into two, mirroring each half, and imbued each of us with it. This didn't just tether us to her, but also to one another. We became reflections of the same divine force, two halves of a greater whole. In the eyes of the world, and for all practical purposes, we became 'brothers,' but not in the human sense of the word.”

“In being granted this mirrored force, we became Celeste's guardians and, at first, took turns watching over her. Since she could not take Luna, we would also watch over her daughter when she would be forced to the Moon Goddess realm. Our bond is not one of shared parentage but shared purpose and intertwined destinies, we share identical power, Celeste's power, it's also how she was able to make me a Demi-God when we created the daggers. Only a God could yield them. Celeste didn't just bind us to her, she gave us a part of her power, so when Bain left to go back to Seline, she saw it as a betrayal to the coven, his leaving meant she wouldn't have access to her full power,” Kaif explains.

Kaif concludes, “So while it may seem from the outside that our connection would make Kora my niece, the reality is far more complex. Our bond is celestial, not familial,” Kaif explains. “So feel free to share that at sip 'n' sis!” Kaif snaps at Mateo, who looks disappointed it wasn't the hot gossip he was hoping for.

ChapterSeventy-Four

Temperance

As the car speeds along, I notice Eziah's fingers drumming anxiously on the steering wheel.

“Are you alright? You seem lost,” I remark.

His brows furrow, deep in thought. “Is it because of what your father Ezra said about your father not liking to leave home?” I ask him, and he glances at me.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Yes. Every time I see him all I can think about is what I did to him,” Eziah tells me.

“Your father loves you,” I remind him. That much I do know. I know a father's love. Mine was short-lived, so it hurts to see his father trying to connect with him and him too ashamed of himself to try to mend their relationship.

“I know he does, I just struggle knowing I caused it,” Eziah tells me.

“When I was first placed in that cage in the basement, I watched my father decompose, yet I still screamed for him, believing he would come for me. He always comes for me, I used to dream of him saving me until the stench of his decomposing body would wake me, and I’d realize no one was. I tell him before turning my attention and looking out the window.

“You don't realize how lucky you are to still have your father, and a good one,” I whisper. He doesn't say anything, but I can feel his guilt through our freshly established bond, making me feel worse for upsetting him more.

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