“I know you missed classes today but maybe this weekend we can go to my fathers’ house and see what they might know about your parents,” Alek offered.
‘Mer.’
“It’s okay to be curious about them.” There was movement from high above him. At least Alek knew that Theo was listening to him. “And I really do want you to work with Seb. My Pa is the best at using magic. At least on protection spells. We have three other mates to look out for.”
‘Mer. Mer mer mer. Meow.’
“I know you want to protect them. Wylder received his sword but you have magic. There is no reason to ignore that. Not when it will benefit you and your mates.”
Alek grunted as a massive weight landed on his lap. He hadn’t been expecting it.
Lifting Theo, Alek held the cat up to face him. “Hello, pretty.”
‘Mer.’ Theo batted a paw at him.
Should Alek consider himself lucky that there were no sharp claws directed at him? Probably.
Bringing Theo to his shoulder, Alek patted his furry back. “I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you before bringing up the magic. I’m just worried.”
‘Mer. Meow. Meow.’
Alek thought he’d be forgiven. He dug his fingers into Theo’s back, rubbing hard and making his cat purr.
A sound that Alek quite enjoyed. He just needed to ignore all the hair that was coating his suit. That was probably something that he needed to get used to.
Chapter Eight
Theo
Resting the journal he was reading against his knees, Theo leaned his back against the tree that had been magically replaced. Theo wasn’t certain if it was his tree or not but it was in the right place. He was between classes and taking a few minutes to read through the fae journals again. He’d gotten through the journals once but Theo knew that he hadn’t retained it all.
The biggest problem was the number of creatures that hailed from the fae realm. And a lot of creatures fell both under the seelie and unseelie umbrella, meaning Theo actually needed to learn the names of clans to know where they truly fell.
It was all confusing and was just giving him a headache.
“I don’t know,” Theo said to his companions. “Can’t I just look at everyone fae as the bad guy?”
“No, my friend, I am not a bad guy,” Bo told him.
“Me either!” Aurelia said.
Garrett, back in his stone form, swiveled his ears as if he agreed with the other two.
“Fine,” Theo whined. He didn’t really feel that way. Aurelia and Bo were great. And Theo was really looking forward to seeing who else would be added to their family eventually. Family was everything to someone like Theo, who’d never had anyone to count on. He hoped for the biggest family ever. “But it’s too much to remember.”
“You should eat!” Aurelia suggested. She scurried to Theo’s backpack and the bag that Dario had packed for a snack. She grabbed the bag and returned to sit on Theo’s lap.
He set the journal to the side before pulling out what he had. Theo grinned seeing the huge sandwich with ham and cheese, lettuce and tomato, and fresh bread. There was also a Ziplock bag full of chips, one with apple slices, and the final contained chocolate chip cookies.
That wasn’t a snack. Dario had packed him a full lunch. Which suited Theo as he didn’t want to spend his time in the dining hall. It was noisy and packed with other students.
Theo might still have issues about food and spending money and this was a much better solution. Maybe Dario would pack Theo’s lunch every day. That would be awesome.
Whatever this nesting thing was that dragons did, it was an amazing benefit Theo. Nesting. That was something else that Theo had wanted to research. But which book would that be in? Since his backpack was already full of books for school, Theo had only grabbed two journals. Fae and hell.
He’d grabbed the journal about hell since Theo also wanted to learn more about Mitch. The ceremony with Mitch presenting the sword to Wylder had been cool. Theo felt bad for ruining the special moment for Wylder. It had been childish and unfair.
He’d tried to apologize but Wylder had waved him off, telling Theo that nothing had been ruined. Theo disagreed. There had to be some way for Theo to make it up to Wylder. And Mitch too. Theo wanted to encourage Mitch to be in his natural form around him, which was the biggest reason he’d agreed to moveinto the house by campus. With the high ceilings, Mitch would be more comfortable in the house than the apartment.
