AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This is what it feels like to be mated.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
ZALE
“Ineed to go see Simon.”
I don’t even act surprised because none of us are. After her and Nathair’s epic lovemaking, which left us all hard and wanting, she came in and demolished the food we made.
“I won’t tell him about all of this.” She grins. “But I need to see him. He’s hurting, and I’m worried his life is going the wrong way. I need him to be happy, and I can’t be happy without him. I can live without him, knowing he’s got a good future, but not like this.”
“We would never expect you to,” I tell her as I lay my hand over hers. “We can make it happen. If he doesn’t come here, then it doesn’t break the rules, right?” I look around, and they all nod in agreement. Even if it did, I think they would be willing to do that for her just to see her happy. Watching her sob after seeing him was enough to rip our cold hearts to shreds, and when it comes to our queen, there isn’t much we aren’t willing to do to see her happy.
The inner steel I saw in her when she walked into that circle like she owned it awoke something in me, and when she died, it hurt, so I cannot imagine the way Simon feels.
“Is there a place you used to go?” Azul asks softly.
“No—wait, yes. There’s a human coffee shop we used to go to. There were never any other species in there because it reeked so badly of humans. It was our place, and we went there to get away from everything,” she replies sadly.
“I will send a message to my ghosts for him,” Azul says, and then he leaves for a moment before he returns. “I will let you know if he starts heading there.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs, looking around at us all. “Thank you so much. I know we need to work on sorting the courts, but—”
“Your happiness is important,” Lycus interrupts.
“We have our race and the courts to save, but we cannot do that if we are broken ourselves,” Osis reasons.
“Osis is right.” Reve nods as he demolishes a sandwich. “We’ll come with you and remain hidden, of course, so you’re not alone.”
“Thank you,” she says with bright eyes, looking so sincere and beautiful for a moment, I just stare before I realise I have sopping wet hands, and then I hurry to finish cleaning up.
“In the meantime, we could—”
Azul interrupts, “He’s on his way, quickly too.”
Althea jumps to her feet nervously. “Then I guess we better go.” She looks down at the silk robe she’s wearing, and with a nervous laugh, she hurries to her room.
She’s adorable when she’s nervous. I dry up, and we all wait for her to come back. Instead of her usual clothes that display her incredible body, she’s dressed modestly in some tight blue jeans, boots, and a hoodie. She looks cute as hell, but even baggy clothes cannot disguise her beauty.
“Okay, let’s do this.”
* * *
ALTHEA
We materialise just outside of the shop, and they follow me in. Luckily, Simon isn’t here yet, so I pick a booth in the back room where it’s quiet and there are shadows this late at night. Conall uses them to hide the others, and just knowing I’m not alone is enough. I order our favourite drinks and wait.
I don’t know why I’m nervous, it’s just Simon, but I am. As time passes, I focus completely on the clock, so when the chair in front of me scrapes back, I almost jump.
“Bit jumpy, eh, Thea?” he teases, and it almost makes me cry.
I nod, licking at my lips. “I got your favourite matcha latte.”
“Is yours straight black?”
I nod, like a robot.
“I guess some things don’t change.” He grins, and then we just stare at each other.
