Bonds of the Forsaken: A Reverse Harem Romantasy (Her Forsaken Mates Book 1)

49. Kaiya

Climbing the stairs, I pressed my hand into the stone wall like I”d seen Faera do.

The loud grinding noise made me wince, but sure enough, the wall opened to the roar of the festival.

I stepped out into the chaos, and my jaw dropped as all memories of the fiasco downstairs were silenced.

Beautiful fabrics now draped from the ceiling, dozens of children swarmed games set up against the far wall, and hundreds of people laughed and bumped glasses of ale together as a band played a lively tune.

It was chaos — yet somehow more breathtaking than any of the events back in the Capital.

Letting out a breath, I stepped toward the crowd … and the commotion suddenly stopped.

Literally. Everything went silent and still within seconds.

What in the seven hells?Could they somehow know what had happened?

Eyes wide, and cheeks burning, I lifted a hand and waved it awkwardly. ”Uh — hello.”

Silence.

Oh, gods! They weren”t even looking at me, were they?

Embarrassment warred with concern as I turned to see a very tall, slim man wearing a large, wild fur cape. He had long brown hair and a day-old-looking gash down the left side of his face. More fresh claw marks covered his arms, as well as dozens of white scars.

He turned toward me, bright yellow eyes cold as they met mine.

”Japhire,” someone from the group nearest me said. ”It”s great to see your pack attending the festival. Every year we miss having …”

The voice trailed off as something dark twisted in those yellow eyes. I forced my face to stay blank. Every instinct I had said Japhire was bad news.

”And this must be our new … visitor,” he said without taking his eyes off me, voice low and melodic — each word drawn out for emphasis as he slowly stepped closer to me.

I kept my face serene and dipped my head into the perfect ”not a threat” pose.

There were times to fight and times to pretend to be weaker than one was. If this man”s presence could bring hundreds of people to a standstill, I had a feeling the situation might be the latter.

”Mage Korym said you had a pleasant chat today,” Japhire continued, gesturing toward the black cloaked man behind him.

I looked at the other man briefly, trying to suppress that sick feeling I got whenever near him.

I would not have called our meeting ”pleasant.”

Relaxing my hands, I forced my smile to widen. ”Absolutely. He was perfectly welcoming.”

Japhire”s brows rose, but he nodded.

A sliding chair screeched across the stone floor behind me. ”Welcome back, son.” Alpha Blackwood stepped up beside me, his voice tight and full of false warmth. ”Have you decided to join us this evening?”

Japhire didn”t take his eyes from me as two dozen men moved in behind him. ”Not quite. While we”ve missed far too many of these warm occasions, we will not be partaking this year. I”m just here to speak with you and get my son. I thought he could celebrate the solstice with us for once.”

Finally, he released my gaze, turning to search around the room. ”Where is he?”

A familiar little boy with bright yellow eyes popped out from behind Faera. ”Hello, Father.”

Japhire”s features softened as he dropped to a knee and gestured for Finn to come over. ”I”d love it if you”d come celebrate with my pack tonight. Do you think ol” Gramps and Great-Grammy would allow that?”

The little boy looked toward Alpha Blackwood, his eyes wide.

The older man held Japhire”s gaze briefly, then nodded, offering the boy a smile. ”Of course, Finn. Go. Have fun with your father.”

Finn grinned and dashed into his father”s arms. ”Before we go,” he said, voice full of excitement. ”Let me show you where the best food is. And maybe we can even go for the pack run together! Shaide lets me ride him now, you know!”

Mage Korym cleared his throat, and Japhire”s eyes tightened.

Reaching out, he ruffled the little boy”s hair. ”Sorry, son. I need to talk with your gramps for a bit first. But then we”ll be together. I”ll see you here in an hour or so. I promise.”

Finn”s face fell, but he nodded.

Standing, Japhire turned to face his father. ”Shall we talk?”

Alpha Blackwood gestured toward a door at the back, and the two made their way through the crowd, whispers following behind them.

The two dozen shifters from Japhire”s pack scowled at everyone else and dispersed into the large room, while Finn walked over to me, shoulders slumped.

”He”ll be back,” I said, grabbing his hand and wrapping it tightly in my own.

He looked up at me, yellow eyes shining with unshed tears. ”You don”t get it. He always says that, but every time they get in a fight and father storms out, forgetting about me. Tonight won”t be any different.”

My heart twisted. Why were some people such selfish pricks? Did Japhire not see how much this kid cared about him?

Forsaken hells!

A loud grinding noise made me look up as Jaiel and Tye walked out of the guest wing. Jaiel met my gaze briefly, then turned away, expression pained.

Tye saw me and took a long swig from that wineskin. Were his cheeks slightly flushed?

What exactly was in that potion?

The large man looked back at me and nodded — without glaring.

Whatever it was, was potent! Hopefully, it would last awhile.

The room buzzed with activity again, and Jaiel pushed Tye toward me, whispering something in his ear. Tye”s eyes flashed briefly, but he shrugged and took another swig as they approached.

”Everything all right?” Jaiel asked when they reached us.

The little boy gripped my hand more tightly and shot a quick pleading look up at me before shaking his head. ”Nothing important,” he mumbled.

I bit my tongue. If he didn”t want them to know, it wasn”t my place to share.

”Well then,” Tye said, smiling and holding out a hand. ”How about you show us around this solstice festival of yours?”

My jaw dropped.

Since when did Tye smile? And why did it make my belly feel as though an entire swarm of flutterwings had been let loose inside me?

The little boy”s eyes widened. ”Really? You”d like that?”

Tye nodded. ”Absolutely!”

Who was this man, and what has he done with my growly Hunter?

Finn grinned up at him. ”I know the tables with the BEST cake and graiel meat. Follow me.” He took off, winding his way through the crowd, running at full speed.

Tye looked back at Jaiel and me and shrugged. His cheeks were definitely a little flushed.

”Well, we better go after him,” he said. ”It”s not like this festival is going to enjoy itself.”

Then he smiled and took off at a run.

I stared after him in shock. ”Well, it seems like the potion works, at least.”

Jaiel chuckled softly. ”I don”t know if I”d say that,” he said, watching Tye dart through the crowd. ”Downstairs, he said a few sips should do the trick, but as soon as he saw you up here, he nearly downed the whole thing. I stopped him at three swigs and he still ended up like that.” He gestured to the oddly happy man. ”I”m sure it”ll be fine, though …”

”Of course,” I said. Inside, I knew better, though. The bond was getting stronger and more insistent the more time that passed.

We needed a proper solution quickly.

”So,” Jaiel whispered. ”What happened while we were gone? Everyone seemed so — tense …” He reached out to grab my elbow, but then stopped and awkwardly dropped his hand to his side and looked away.

I swallowed against the sudden tightness in my chest. He was giving me distance, and that was exactly what I”d demanded. So why did it feel so wrong?

”It”s just pack politics,” I said, voice full of fake brightness. ”What matters now is that poor Finn over there has a shithead for a father.”

”I know how that goes,” he said with a grimace. ”Anything we can do for him?”

”Unless your charisma can make a bad parent into a good one, I don”t think so.”

”Well, then,” he said with a nod. ”Let”s make sure Finn has an amazing night tonight. It”s never too early to learn that sometimes the best family is the one you choose.”

My chest tightened again.

”Saints. What is he doing?” Jaiel asked, interrupting my thoughts as he pointed toward the food area.

I looked over and froze.

Tye, Finn, and a gaggle of children surrounded what looked like the dessert stand.

The children were taking turns holding out their plates, and Tye was overloading them with more sweets than one human could even eat.

But every time a sensible adult tried to stop him, he”d growl until they backed off.

It was the sweetest and most ridiculous thing I”d ever seen …