Thorrin dipped his chin at me in silent understanding. The wolf shifter was lucky he still breathed.
Raven opened her mouth and then closed it, speechless for once. She glared at Kenji and then turned her attention back to us.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “If I’d had fair warning, I might have written a cute little speech…”
“Speak from the heart,” Glynda advised, blowing her a kiss.
“Glynda’s right. Like always.” Raven rolled her shoulders back and smiled. “I never expected to find one mate, let alone five, and every dayI wake up and thank the goddess for her blessing. You are all perfect in different ways, and I love you all so freaking much!”
Then the love of my life burst into tears while our guests all cheered and whooped.
59
Raven
The conversation hummed around me, but I barely registered it. I was still in shock from my surprise bonding ceremony. Glynda pressed a glass of something pink and fruity into my hand.
“Drink,” she ordered. “You need to keep your strength up.”
“I do?” Oh my goddess, was I expected to give another speech?!
“Yes, for the bondmoon.”
“Bondmoon?” I repeated. The drink tasted pleasant. Of berries with a sharp aftertaste that made my tongue sizzle.
“Yes, the bit where you…” My bestie leaned in and whispered in my ear, “…bang all your mates at the same time.”
I choked on my drink, coughing up a storm while Glynda slapped my back. Maverick turned to check on me, presumably to make sure I wasn’t dying on his watch.
“I’m fine!” I croaked, waving to reassure him. His shoulders relaxed, and he carried on with his conversation with Uncle Patrick. “I can’t have sex with all of them at the same time!”
“Why not?” Glynda seemed genuinely confused. Did she know something I didn’t?
“Because I don’t have enough…” I gestured downward and grimaced. “Orifices?”
Now it was Glynda’s turn to choke and wheeze, thus attracting even more unwanted attention from Maverick. And also Zane, who’d grown bored with advising my father on how best to juggle emotional females with extreme jealousy issues. It transpired demonesses were not shy about expressing their dissatisfaction with male partners.
Zane had been all agog until Dad mentioned how female demons exacted revenge on partners deemed unsatisfactory. It was a miracle my father had, um, fathered me.
“Raven’s worried about the bondmoon.” Glynda snickered at Zane while I swallowed more pink drink to hide my embarrassment about being so uneducated.
“Why? It’s all about your pleasure, pet.” Zane plucked me off the bench and placed me on his lap.
“Yes, but…all five of you?” I gulped. “At the same time?!”
“Hopefully all of us, but fish boy might opt out.”
“Kai won’t be with us?” That made me sad. I hated that he often stayed apart from the others. He was my mate too, and equally important.
For once in his life, Zane didn’t make light of my concerns.
“He will be there, pet. I’ll make sure of it. Even if I have to tie the fucker to the bed.” From his grin, the idea appealed, although I was fairly certain Kai would not appreciate being tied up.
Glynda swallowed the last of her drink and stood. “It’s time for me to go, so have a wonderful bondmoon.”
“Wait…what? You’re going back to school now?”
She pulled a potion bottle from her clutch bag. “Yeah. Miss Windborne gave me a portal potion so I could come to the ceremony, but she said I had to be back for lessons tomorrow.”
