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“It would be my pleasure to escort you outdoors,” he answered smoothly with a cheshire grin. Raven took his extended arm and I watched my friend walk away with my mate.
What the fuck just happened?
I made to follow and Kree tugged on my sleeve.
“You might want to consider giving her a minute.”
“My mate is upset.” I tamped down the mild panic skittering through my innards.
“Then give her space to let off some of that steam.”
“I need to talk to her.”
Kree crossed her arms, something she’d only started doing after Lyric came into our lives. “It’s not about what you need, Cas.”
“But—”
“Would you prefer to talk to her before or after she starts blowing things up? You might want to think long and hard about what target is set in front of her before she’s cooled off.”
“Fuck.” My body dropped into the closest chair.
Kree sat beside me and patted my knee. “It will be an adjustment, but I think you’ll both find your way.”
“She’s half Dianic witch. You know how much they buck at the idea that Fate has any sway over them.”
“You want her to let Fate decide for her, then? To accept you as her mate simply because of a predetermined connection?”
“Yes,” I spoke without thinking.
My soul knew hers in a way it didn’t know anyone else’s. When the spirits of destined mates touched, they learned the very essence of who the other person was. Not the details of likes and dislikes or quirks, but the true ethos of their deepest self. Yes, one could sense general evil or goodness in another, but a veritableknowinghappened instantly between mates.
The rest would come, I had total and complete faith. I already knew I liked her personality. She was feisty and funny, even if she insisted she was usually reticent. I admired her toughness and strength. She’d never let me steamroll her. I didn’t think I could ever be with someone who would simply go along with whatever I wanted.
“Oh, Cas,” Kree breathed out. “It doesn’t always work out like a fairytale. Just look how it turned out for me.”
I really was a complete idiot. The former Shadow Lord, Samael, was cruel to Kree, despite being her soulmate. It only proved that Fate didn’t work in everyone’s best interest. If anyone deserved a male who would be kind and true, it was Kree.
“I’m sorry. I should know better than to talk like that.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. You were dealt a shit hand.”
“True, but I didn’t know it was a … shit hand until it was too late.”
I grinned at her use of profanity. Kree had been changing slowly since Lyric’s arrival at Embour. After Lyric’s birth, their father had kept them apart, something both of the females lamented. But over the course of the past year and a half, Kree was starting to sound more and more like what her father described as “her old self.” Samael had damaged her mind and it had taken Lyric to jumpstart the healing process, both physically and emotionally.
“There’s something to be said for choices, or at least feeling like you have the freedom to make one. I never felt that,” she confessed.
A few silent moments passed between us. “Can I ask you a question?” I’d never pried, but something had always bothered me.
“Of course.”
“How did your soul accept that it belonged to a male like Samael?”
“It didn’t. Not really. He marked me, forging half of the soulbond. My soul never did the same. It wouldn’t. It refused to even reach for his after that first brush, even when he demanded it or I tried to force it. I was naive enough to think he would eventually be the male I needed him to be, that things would change. If I could just get my soul to bond with his, I thought I could fix him. He was my fated mate, after all.”
Kree gave a humorless laugh. “Fate did not choose well for me. So now, someday, I will choose for myself.”
