“No, I’m devastated because I’m sixteen and my mate will never want me because I’m so much younger and he’ll never claim me. What if I never find another?!” Keegan asked.
Cristie sat there, adjusting to Keegan’s point of view. “Oh. Well, no. I don’t think that’s a problem.”
“How can you not see that it’s a problem?” Keegan asked.
“Because I think Kaiser wants you, too,” she said, her eyes looking up at the ceiling as she tried to remember exactly what it was that Kaiser had said to her when she was having her own meltdown over Remi. “He lectured me a lot because I was avoiding Remi. He even said something insinuating that he could never have his mate, that he didn’t even know if she knew who he was, and I was ruining my chance with my own mate by being an ass. Now that I think of it, he was having a really hard time of it. I just didn’t realize it was over a mate.”
“Really?”
“Yep. And I can do some digging just to make sure, but have you noticed anything about him since he left?”
“Not really, I try not to.”
“He’s not dating. If he was, it would be all over social media. He’s stopped seeing anyone. My guess is that’s because he’s found his mate and doesn’t want anyone else.”
Keegan sat a little taller. “You think so?”
“Could be. Makes sense. But you’re sixteen.”
“I know. And I honestly don’t know how I feel about the whole thing except that I’m so lonely since he left. Which makes no sense because we didn’t even talk when he was here.”
“It’s the bond. It connected you, and now you’re apart.”
“And I’m supposed to start my senior year this year. I have so much I want to do, and I don’t want to get married and have babies and spend my life as someone’s mate. I want to get a degree in history. I want to travel and see the world and learn about other cultures. How do I do that if I accept a mating right out of high school?”
“You don’t accept a mating right out of high school. You go about your life, you follow all the paths you want that will take you to what you want to be and experience. Your mate, whether it’s Kaiser or anyone else will fit into that. If they don’t and they expect you to give up your dreams to be something they want you to be, they’re not really the mate meant for you. And there is more than just one mate meant for each person.”
“There are?”
“There are. My grandfather was mated once and it almost destroyed him. He left to build another life and found my grandmother and has been deliriously happy ever since.” Cristie leaned close to Keegan and whispered very quietly. “My father felt the bond with my biological mother, but she couldn’t handle the truth of what he was, what I was, and deserted us.”
Keegan’s eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“But it was the best thing to happen for all of us. Because then my dad met Maia, and she’s my rightful mother. She’s my dad’s mate, the one he’s supposed to be with, the mother I was meant to have.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t know. My parents are all about the one soul mate meant for you and all that.”
“And some have it that way. But it doesn’t mean it has to be. The mate bond popping into place doesn’t mean it has to be lived that way. My advice to you is that you go about making Keegan happy. You’re not ready for a bond now anyway. Kaiser left, knowing him, it wasn’t just for him, it was for you, too. Take it as a gift and go about your life. If he’s meant to be in it, he’ll come around when the time is right. And even then you can say no. If he never comes around, the right one will. On your terms. On your time frame.”
Keegan nodded and lurched forward hugging Cristie tightly. “Thank you, Cristie.”
“You’re welcome. And I’m always here no matter what you want to talk about.”
“Thank you.”
“Cristie! You okay?” Remi called out as he started down the hallway toward their bedroom.
“I’m fine. I just got cake all over me and Keegan! We’re changing shirts and will be out in a second.”
“Oh, good! I was worried when I couldn’t find you.”
“I’m just clumsy,” Cristie said.
“I’ll wait outside,” Remi said.
Cristie tore her shirt off over her head and held out her hand for Keegan’s shirt.
Keegan hesitantly took it off and gave it to her. Cristie smeared part of the frosting from her own shirt onto Keegan’s,then tossed them into the bathroom, and dug around in her dresser for two more tops for them. They quickly got dressed then made their way out of the house, both laughing as they went, though Keegan’s eyes were a little puffy from her tears.
