Fae's Fate: Fated Mates of the Fae Royals (Summer Court Book 7)

27. Malachi

The trek through the forest reminded me of being back home. Branches brushed against our arms and legs as though embracing us into their fold. The sweet scent of the silvery green leaves wafted around us. It marked the place as different from the Summer Court.

“What are these trees?” I asked.

“Eucalyptus,” Arrow said. “Native only to Australia.”

“They’re refreshing.” I brushed a hand along a branch and a leaf fell into my palm.

Lifting the leaf, I dangled it in front of Ciara’s face letting the aroma fill her senses. She smiled her sweet thank you smile. The one she’d given me many times over the years. I hungered to taste her lips and make her thank me for a different reason. Her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink as though she’d read my mind before she stared at the surrounding forest.

A pair of birds squawked and flew high into the sky as though we were disturbing their afternoon nap.

“They’re so pretty,” Ciara said.

“Eastern Rosellas,” Arrow said. “They’re like us and mate for life.”

“Their colors are so vibrant like a rainbow. Are all your birds so pretty?” Ciara asked.

“The native birds are.”

“Native?” I asked.

“Not all the birds in Australia originated here. A bit like us others traveled here.”

“You don’t believe wolf shifters originated in Australia?” I asked.

Arrow frowned. From what Ciara and I had read in the library back home, before the Trappers, the other supernatural creatures had traveled the world unhindered. Had the wolf shifters lost the knowledge? Had we all lost a lot of our knowledge after the Trappers? Perhaps we weren’t the only ones who were at a disadvantage with the lack of knowledge at our disposal.

“I hadn’t believed so until now…” Arrow stared at Sledge who shrugged.

The path through the forest led us to a quaint town. Houses in varying shades of bricks lined the quiet streets. A few cars chugged along the roads, but most people walked the town square lined with trees bringing the forest into the heart of the town.

“You’ve made a pleasant home here,” I said.

“We have,” Sledge said.

“Briana is happy here, isn’t she?” Ciara asked.

Sledge smiled. “As happy as she can be considering what’s happening in the Summer Court. She’s there with your father.”

“You didn’t go with her?” I asked.

I couldn’t imagine leaving my mate for a second and I didn’t even have a mate. But Ciara jumped into my mind as the one I’d be leaving and there was no way I wouldn’t be by her side.

“Not this time,” Sledge said.

“Do you not…?” I shook my head.

“What?”

“I don’t know… miss her?” I asked instead of saying, do you not feel like someone has ripped your heart out of your chest whenever she’s not with you?

“Of course, I do. What sort of inane question is that?”

Everyone laughed, and I felt like an idiot as heat climbed up my neck.

“I miss her like crazy, but I get she’s capable, and she doesn’t need me but when she wants me, I’ll be there,” Sledge said.

Sir Axis chirped up from behind us. “What if she never wants you?”

Sledge glared. “Dude, you have no clue what it means to have a fated mate. To be connected to them in the most intimate of ways. To hold their heart in the safety of yours and for them to do the same.”

I almost cheered Sledge for putting the arrogant Water Sprite Master in his place. Instead, I slipped closer to Ciara and squeezed her hand. How would I convey to her I felt that way about her?

Did she feel the same way about me?

Her fingers squeezed mine back.

“We’re here,” Sledge said opening a glass door and waving us inside. “Be nice to my mother.”

We filed into the clothing store and hesitated at the entrance. I, for one, understood nothing about human clothing apart from the ones the Fellowship gave us to wear around their village.

A striking woman stepped from around the counter and looked us up and down.

“Now what strays have you fetched me?” she asked Sledge.

“Ma, this is Briana’s sister, Ciara, and her friend Malachi. Her guards Emer and Ivo. Sir Axis and the young girl is Vanya.”

His mother’s eyes landed on the girl.

“We don’t have time for this conversation about who and what they’re here for,” Sledge said.

His mother’s eyes narrowed even further until they were tiny slits staring at us.

“Ma,” he pleaded.

“Fine, you’ll tell me later,” she huffed. “What do you need?”

“They need clothes.”

“Yes, I can see. They can’t very well go wandering around wearing those lustrous outfits.”

“I’ll have you know, I have the best garments sewn for my people,” Sir Axis said folding his arms over his chest. At least he was wearing a shirt even if he’d left it unbuttoned to his waist.

“Who are your people?”

Sir Axis stepped forward and held out his hand. Sledge’s mother placed her hand in his. He raised the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Sir Axis Foxlace Master of the Water Sprites.”

Sledge yanked his mother away. “Keep your slimy hands to yourself.”

His mother laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve met slimier. Besides, I’m happily mated to your father, remember?”

“I’m always happy to share.” Sir Axis winked at her.

He’d said the same thing to Ciara and me. Did that mean he said it to everyone, and he hadn’t treated us any differently? Were we to be another notch in his long line of bedroom partners? My fingers curled into fists as I struggled to keep my power inside. Sir Axis noticed my struggle and threw Ciara a wink too. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and walked to the closest clothes rack.

I followed her, placing a protective hand on her back. She softened against my touch as though by instinct she realized it was me touching her.

“I can’t stand him,” she whispered. “If I have to mark him then can I kill him afterward?”

I laughed since I had the same thought myself.

“I’ll help.”

She lifted her face and studied mine. The slow smile she rewarded me with was worth the way he’d antagonized her. Almost. I never wanted to see her unhappy.

“I wonder how you kill a Water Sprite?” she whispered.

“We’ll figure it out. You and I can do anything together.”

“True,” she said lifting an item of clothing from the rack. “What do you think of this?”

The knitted sweater she held up was striped in a rainbow of colors but compared to the dress she wore, it was hideous.

“Um.” I couldn’t very well lie to Ciara and tell her it was good. “It’s not for you.”

“What is for me?” she asked, sliding it back onto the rack and tugging out a deep yellow knitted sweater.

“I like the color it reminds me of you.”

“It does?”

“Aye, you’re always full of sunshiny optimism.”

She laughed and clutched the sweater against her body. “I guess this will do then. Do I get pants or a skirt?”

“Whatever you wear, you’ll look stunning.”

“Except for the rainbow sweater.” She laughed again.

I nodded. “Please, anything but that sweater.”

“It might be fun to wear pants.” She picked up a pair and held them against her body.

I at once imagined how difficult it would be to have sex with her if she wore pants. Not that she’d said she wanted to have sex with me again. Maybe it was her heat that had made her want me, but I hadn’t thought that was the only reason at the time otherwise I never would have caved. I never would have let it be about her heat.

It wasn’t like we’d had any time to talk after her heat ended.

“Why are you frowning? Don’t you like pants?” she asked.

Snapping out of my wayward thoughts, I said, “It’s not that.”

“What then?”

I leaned closer and whispered, “I was thinking how much harder it would be to have sex with you if you wore pants.”

Her pretty blue and indigo eyes turned to molten heat.

“I’ll get a skirt.” She shoved the pants back onto the rack and selected a long skirt.

I guess that was the answer to the question I’d been asking myself. Without saying the words, Ciara had told me she wanted to have sex with me again.

“Are you picking something?”

“Sure,” I said and strode over to the men’s clothing section.

Ignoring Sir Axis, I picked a pair of pants and a shirt then rushed back to Ciara.

“Excuse me…?” Ciara turned to Sledge’s mother.

“Marianne,” she said.

“Where can we change our clothes?”

“In the back of the shop, there are changing rooms.” She pointed to a small, curtained area.

“Thank you,” Ciara said.

“My pleasure, sweetheart, we’re family now.”

Ciara smiled and then walked toward the changing rooms. I chased after her and followed her into the small alcove. There were two rooms on either side of the tiny entry way. Ciara ducked inside one and twitched the curtain closed. I scanned the interior of the shop, noticed no one was paying any attention to us, and then slipped through the curtain Ciara had disappeared behind.

She gasped, her power flared to her palms, but then she raked her gaze over me and dropped them right away. We both took a step toward each other and then we were kissing. There was nothing sweet about it. We ravished each other as though this was our last time together. I wouldn’t let that happen even if she had to mark Sir Axis to get him into the Summer Court to fix the spring.

She sighed and dropped her chin to my chest. I wrapped my arms around her back and held onto her. I’d always hold on to her. In this life, however long we had of it, and in wherever we traveled next. She was mine. I was hers. And I didn’t need the fates to tell me.

I tilted her chin up and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead. Her eyes glistened, but she nodded. She understood me so well that I didn’t have to say the words. I dropped a kiss on her chest over her heart. She gasped delicately.

“Shh.” I touched a finger on her lips. “Wolf shifters have exceptional hearing.”

She giggled and shoved me away. “You’re terrible.”

I placed my hands over my heart as though she’d wounded me.

“Go get changed,” she said with merriment dancing in her eyes.

Every time I saw a smile on her face it was worth a thousand wolf shifters overhearing us.