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Wait...what about Dakota? If we were all interested in him, did that mean he was our mate too? Or was he merely a distraction we'd been using, someone we could focus our feelings on instead of each other? I guessed we'd find out once he returned this evening.
"Uh..." Ryk spoke, and I glanced over at him. His eyes were focused on the floor before him, and his hands curled into fists in his lap. He looked as nervous as I'd ever seen, and I turned my body toward him to give him my full attention.
"I don't know how you guys feel about this...revelation, but I'm really happy about it. Okay, now I'm gonna go take that flight," Ryk said in a rush as he shot to his feet and sped toward the stairs, but Star was faster.
In a blink, he appeared in Ryk's path, stopping him in his tracks as I slowly got to my feet. Wait...was Ryk shaking? Shit, he was more anxious than I'd thought.
As I walked toward them, Ryk kept his eyes firmly on the ground, refusing to look up at Star.
"Hey, Ryk? I'm really happy about it too," Star said, his voice softer than usual. He'd probably sensed Ryk's anxiousness too, and this was a side of him that I'd only ever seen with Ryk.
Ryk glanced up at him, his blue eyes wide and questioning.
"You are?"
"Yep, of course I am," Star said with a smirk, then pulled Ryk in for a hug, his eyes meeting mine over Ryk's head, the look in them telling me to 'Hurry the fuck up.'
Smiling, I placed my hand on Ryk's back, making him turn his head so his cheek rested against Star's chest.
"I'm happy about it too," I said, and Ryk grinned before pulling back from the hug and wrapping his right arm around my waist and pulling me in as well.
Star wrapped his arms around both of us, and I sighed softly as the bond between us—that I'd just discovered the existence of—flared with warmth. How could I not have sensed its presence before? What kind of dark magic could've kept me from realizing that the men I'd considered my best friends were also my mates?
I knew Fate was capable of keeping people from recognizing their mates—they'd used that power on their own brother—but I didn't think this was their work because they didn't need to use black magic to accomplish it, and this was definitely black magic, or Kym's fire wouldn't have broken the spell.
I hoped Kym helped all the other demons. I was lucky in the sense that I already loved my mates, though I'd always told myself I loved them as my closest friends and nothing more, but I was finally free to be honest to myself.
It probably wouldn't be possible to go from being friends to lovers overnight, but after having spent so many centuries learning everything about each other, I didn't know if I wanted to wait. More than that, though, I didn't want to risk damaging our relationship before it began, so I was going to wait and see what Ryk and Star were thinking.
And of course, we couldn't forget about Dakota.
Eleven
Star
They were my mates. My best friends, the only people in my life I'd ever cared about, were my mates.
I guessed I should've realized that even if I hadn't been able to sense our bond. Nico, Ryk, and I had known each other for centuries, and no matter how many times we'd fought or lost patience with each other, we'd always, always made up. We hadn't allowed anything to break us apart, and once we became friends, we'd hated it any time we were separated for any reason.
Nico and Ryk were my mates. I shook my head, running my fingers through Moon's silky black fur. The discovery was such a mix of obvious and unexpected that I didn't know how to react. I had been surprised by Ryk's reaction. It'd seemed like he'd thought we would be disappointed. I couldn't figure out why he would think that, but I needed to find out. I hoped I'd put his worries to rest, but if not, I'd make sure to tell him as many times as he needed to hear.
It was almost time for Dakota to get home, and Nico had busied himself with making dinner while Ryk had retreated to his room to work on his painting. I thought we'd all just needed some time to ourselves to gather our thoughts.
"Meow," Moon said as he looked up at me, and I smiled, giving him a scratch beneath his chin. Candy was watching us from the corner of the room, like she was worried about Moon's safety. We needed to figure out a way to win her over. If only I had the ability to talk to animals, I'd tell her that we meant no harm to her master, and she had nothing to worry about.
Since I couldn't do that, I hoped she'd come to the conclusion on her own if she watched us long enough.
I heard the front door unlock a moment after Candy took off toward the front door, and it stung a little that my senses were duller than the dog's. Then again, I had been a tad distracted.
"Hey, Star," Dakota greeted as he walked into the living room, and I took a deep breath before looking up at him.
"Hey, Dakota!" I said, my greeting a little more enthusiastic than usual. Any other day I would've rolled my eyes at myself at such a reaction, but right then I didn't care because my wish—or rather, my hope—had been granted.
There it was, weaker than the others at this point, but still there. Our mate bond. Dakota was ours.
He blinked at me, apparently surprised by my enthusiasm, then smiled. "You look like you're in a good mood. Did something good happen today?"
"You could say that," I answered with a smirk, and he raised a brow curiously.
