Page 5 of Protected By the Elf Prince

“Yeah,” Monkey replied quietly before releasing a long sigh. “Pops, I’m sorry this has happened.” He sat next to me, reaching out to clasp my shoulder. “No offense, but you look like shit. Did you get any sleep?”

Snorting, I shook my head. “Not even a lick.”

He groaned and sat back, rubbing at the back of his neck. “If only⁠—”

I waved a hand about. “Let’s not go there. There’s nothing we can change, so there’s no point in dwelling on the what-ifs.” Even though I had thought about them a lot through the night. But I’d come to the conclusion that I didn’t want my son to feel guilty about me being there last night. It was my own fault for not having my phone in the first place.

We couldn’t go back in time.

We couldn’t change anything.

It was real. It had happened.

Somehow, I was the fated mate of an elf.

“Just remember that you don’t have to finalize anythin’. You can pick to not accept it and go back to knowin’ nothin’ about their world.”

“But—”

He shook his head. “If you say anythin’ about me or Coms being allowed to keep in the know if you accept this, then I’ll tell that elf he can get lost now. Don’t make your choice because of us. This is about you and you alone.”

I nodded.

I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do.

He was a man. An elf man who wanted to be with me romantically.

My face burned at the thought. How’d it work?

Shaking my head, I wanted to thump myself in the face. I knew how it worked. I wasn’t naïve. I’d watched porn and seen some guy-on-guy action. But it’d never interested me.

Monkey chuckled. “Where’s your head gone, Pops?”

“Nowhere,” I yelled, not at all suspiciously.

My son snorted and then smirked. “You know, if you want me to get my prez and Riker here, you can ask them about being with⁠—”

My eyes bulged, and I kicked him under the table. “Shut it, kid.”

He laughed but sobered quickly. “Don’t stress over this. No one’s rushin’ you. No one expects things from you, and if you do go down the route of being with him, no one will judge you. Hell, he’s a good-lookin’ guy-elf.”

Groaning, I touched my forehead to the table.

A knock sounded through the too-quiet house. Monkey and I straightened instantly, my adrenaline spiking.

It couldn’t be, right?

Would he?

Then again, who else would it be?

Monkey and I stared at each other, and he quirked a brow. “Want me to get it?”

He thought it was the elf too.

Shaking my head, I pushed back from the table, chair scraping against the floor as I stood and drew in a long breath.

Every step toward the door felt heavier than it should’ve. My heart also wanted to beat out of my chest while my stomach fluttered like I was heading on a first date.