“Do you want me to heal it?” I asked softly. I wasn’t a healer by any means, but I learned small tricks over the years that would take care of minor cuts and scrapes before our natural fast healing would kick in.
He shook his head. “No, I want to leave it as a reminder,” he smirked. I cocked my head to the side, questioning him. His hard cock pressed against my body, signaling how much he was enjoying all of this. “In case I ever think about crossing you in the future.”Fucking Fae. I rolled my eyes, smiling for some reason. I locked my arms around his head and kissed him deeply.
“Let me show you what else you’ll miss if you cross me,” I said, nipping his ear lobe and eliciting a groan from his lips before I lost myself in his arms.
* * *
We were gonebefore the sun came up, traveling to meet Kalen. I felt a twinge of sadness to leave behind our small sanctuary. I couldn’t forget everything that raged beyond the sea, but there wasn’t anyone breathing down our back here. We could be ourselves together, out in the open and without judgment.
We hadn’t spoken about last night, or what had happened after it. I convinced myself that it was just a moment of weakness, but that would remain to be seen.
As soon as we entered the clearing, I noticed we were heading to the small cottage that Matthew and I had stayed in when he helped me after the attack on Helia. Kalen came blundering out of the small door and I couldn’t help but laugh at how awkward his enormous body looked coming from such a small space. He ran over to me, picked me up, and twirled in a circle.
“Put me down you big oaf!” I cried, slapping his hard bicep. He hugged me, and a lump formed in my throat at the level of comfort he gave me. Matthew walked up behind me, slapping a hand down on Kalen’s shoulder.
“Yes, please put down mymate,” he growled. Kalen’s eyes bulged from his head at the word. I rolled my eyes at the alpha man attitude that was emerging.
“Holy shit!” Kalen exclaimed. “Yourmate?! Jeez, what else did I miss? Has the mating ceremony taken place yet? When are we doing it?” He bounced up and down like a child on their birthday, begging for one more piece of the pie.
I glanced nervously at Matthew, but his face was schooled into a tight mask as not to give anything away. “Uh, no. You haven’t missed anything, nor will you.” I blushed, looking down at my feet for just a moment.
We hadn’t spoken about the future, but I felt like we already knew what lay ahead in terms of our relationship.Nothing.
“You still didn’t tell me when we’re doing it,” he whined. “I need to make sure I look my best.”
I laughed, swatting his arm as I walked past him. “Oh, I don’t think you have any trouble looking your best, do you?”
He caught me from behind and swung me around again before turning to Matthew and putting his arm around his shoulder, guiding him away from me and into the woods. I heard him muttering as they walked away. “Fucking mates, man. I’m so godsdamn happy for you. She’s perfect.”
I waited on bated breath as I heard Matthew say, “Yeah, she is.”
* * *
The day passed by quickly.I busied myself in the small garden that was thankfully stocked with a variety of vegetables. I wondered who tended to it while no one was staying here but decided that I liked the idea of Kalen spending his days here in the sun better.
“Honey, we’re home!” Kalen sang out as he busted through the door. He and Matthew had been scouting the area since we arrived. Judging by the deer that was slung over his shoulder, I assumed they caught dinner as well. Matthew rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips as he came up and kissed me on the cheek.
“How are you?” he asked, leaning against the table and surveying the room. “You cleaned?”
My cheeks flushed. I really hadn’t done that much, but I thought the place needed a woman’s touch. So, I had gathered flowers to place on the small dining table and spent the rest of the time cleaning and tidying the place up. It had been obvious that Kalen was staying here as he had clothes strewn about and a pile of plates near the washbasin collecting dust.
“Just did a few things here and there, nothing big. You should’ve seen the state of it before I cleaned up.” I pointed over to where Kalen was getting ready to deconstruct the deer. “Please take him outside so that he doesn’t make a mess, though.”
Matthew was already making his way to his friend, grabbing ahold of his arm. “Hey! I heard that!” he called back to me as Matthew shoved him and the deer through the door.
It felt strange to be surrounded by such love and laughter after the past few months. It felt like I had been climbing a mountain and consistently falling back, but I finally had a foothold on solid ground. I felthappyfor the first time in months. I couldn’t help but wonder how long that would last.
As we ate dinner, Kalen updated us on the attacks that were happening across the realm. It seemed like the largest was coming from Angoria. They were taking hit after hit and their king was powerless to stop any of it. Although now that we had learned he was under The Horde’s influence, I wondered if that was how they wanted it.
“What do you think Trystan’s grand plan is?” Kalen asked, shoveling his dinner in his mouth as he spoke.
Matthew scoffed, “No doubt he hopes to swoop in and let the people know the attacks will stop if they recognize his supremacy. That’s the part that dear old dad forgot. He wanted to reign while still inciting terror.”
Kalen rolled his eyes at the mention of Lachlan. “Do you think that will seriously work? I mean, people can’t be that stupid, can they?”
“They can and they will,” I said. All eyes at the table turned to me. I cleared my throat. “If there is one thing I learned from The Great War, it’s that if Lachlan had offered the same treaty, many kingdoms would have taken it. They were tired of the bloodshed, all the senseless death. Lachlan was slaughtering just to show his might.” I shuddered at the thought, the reminder that my mother was one of the many that lost her life.
“Would Helia have bowed?” Matthew asked, quirking his eyebrow as he looked at me.
