Chapter 5 Jae
FIVE
JAE
“Gods, how do you somehow manage to put so much force behind your elbows? You’re worse than your beagle,” Jae groaned as he tried to extract his best friend’s elbow from where it was getting familiar with his kidney.
“I’m trying to get comfy!” Hollis complained, wiggling his bony ass on Jae’s thighs, trying to keep them both wrapped in the blanket while simultaneously finding a comfortable perch on Jae’s lap.
“Here, just… fucking sit down,” Jae said, grabbing Hollis’ waist and maneuvering him so his butt was on the cushion of the patio sofa and his legs were thrown across Jae’s lap.
Hollis pulled one of the blankets around his shoulders and tucked the other one around Jae so they were both completely covered.
“We’re still going to have to adjust when Koda gets back,” Jae said, but his body didn’t listen, and he sank comfortably against the backrest.
“They can scoop us both up and hold us in their lap.”
Jae’s duck quacked affirmatively, but Jae was conflicted. “Is there anything else you want to talk about? Either about Koda, or us, or anything? I feel like that was a heavy conversation for a chilly walk across town.”
Hollis rested his head on the back of the couch and tapped his foot, causing both their legs to rock back and forth. It wasn’t a bad feeling, so Jae let him do it while he continued contemplating in silence.
“I think that everything Koda said sounds great, in theory, but I’m hesitant to believe it,” Hollis said, and the muscles in Jae’s back tensed.
Did Hollis think Koda was lying? Jae had been sure Koda was the real deal. So sure, he’d slept with them at the club, but if Hollis was picking up on something—
“Hey, relax,” Hollis said, resting a chilly hand on Jae’s cheek. “I’m not saying I think Koda doesn’t mean what they said. I think they sounded completely sincere. I just…”
Hollis combed his hand back through Jae’s hair, the same way he would smooth back Jae’s duck feathers when he was shifted.
Jae was suddenly hit with the desperate need to shift.
He wanted to curl up on Hollis’ back and have him walk them home, just a dog and a duck, best buddies out on the town together, no fate, deception, pain, or fear.
“Oh, darling,” Hollis said, replacing his hand with his forehead, pressing against Jae’s temple in a way that brought tears to his eyes like he’d pressed on a button.
Jae stared at the fire, watching as a large chunk of wood fell from the uppermost log and crashed down, spraying embers out the side of the pit and across the concrete patio.
“You just what, Hol? You can tell me if you noticed something I didn’t.
Gods knows I should have asked with Robert, and I didn’t.
That’s on me, but I won’t make that mistake again. ”
Hollis kept his head where it was so he barely had to raise his voice to be heard.
“That’s what I’m worried about, Jae. Koda seems absolutely perfect for you.
Like they said, I’m sure they have faults and some red flags because everyone does, but on paper it seems like they would complement you and yours.
But you’ve tried dating someone you’re not fated mates with, and look how that turned out.
Have y’all talked about fate? Are they also okay dating and mating with someone they’re not fated to? ”
Hollis pulled back, turning Jae’s face so they were facing each other.
“I don’t want you to get hurt again. That’s all I was trying to say.
And if I’m being honest, I don’t want to get hurt either.
It’s obvious Koda already has feelings for you, and that’s amazing, and I’m so excited for you both to explore that.
I just don’t want to get caught in the fallout because, while I’ve had a great time hating Robert, if you and Koda ended catastrophically, I would obviously take your side, but it would suck. ”
Jae’s duck began honking—which was very unbecoming, and much better suited for a goose, but his duck didn’t care.
He honked and squawked until Jae had to physically shake his head to get him to stop.
He knew the time had come to tell Hollis the full story, but he couldn’t very well do that with his duck screaming down the house.
“No? It wouldn’t suck?” Hollis asked, furrowing his brow in confusion at Jae’s head shake.
“No, it totally would suck. Which is why I’m really glad that… that I don’t have to worry about things falling apart—at least not in that way.”
Hollis cocked his head, and his hair ruffled at the sides of his head like his puppy ears wanted to come out and express confusion, too. “Say more,” Hollis prompted.
Jae couldn’t contain his goofy grin any longer.
Things had felt so right on the walk over, listening to his fated mate comfort and connect with his best friend.
He and his duck knew that this was what had always been destined to happen.
He’d needed to wade through all the bad to get to the good, and he was so close. He just had to take the last step.
“Koda and I are fated mates,” he said, and his duck let out a happy whistling noise.
Hollis sat back, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
“What?”
“We realized it the second we met at the bar. I sort of made an ass of myself and ran away, and they followed me into the bathroom, and we talked it out.”
“Koda… the sweet, kind, Kodiak bear shifter who kept both of us warm all night and can rock a crop top even better than you, is your fated mate?” Hollis asked, hissing the last words through his teeth.
Ice cold fear caused Jae’s duck to hide its head under its wing, and Jae bit his lip to try and stave off tears. He forced himself to nod even as everything went blurry. He had really thought he’d been doing the right thing by waiting to tell Hollis, but maybe he’d been wrong–
“Jae!” Hollis squealed, throwing himself at Jae until they collapsed sideways onto the couch.
“I… I…” Jae stammered, a few tears breaking loose to roll down his cheeks.
“You have a fated mate!” Hollis whisper-shouted, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him side to side.
“I do,” Jae hiccuped, wrapping his arms around Hollis’ back.
“Oh, my darling! I’m so excited I can hardly stand it!”
Jae managed to get one of his arms under himself, and he pushed them up into a more seated position. Hollis was half-on and half-off his lap, but Jae didn’t bother readjusting him this time. Hollis could sit however he wanted to process this news, and Jae would happily oblige.
“Why didn’t you say something the second it happened? We could have been celebrating!”
Hollis’ puppy ears had sprouted, and Jae smoothed the curl of hair off his forehead before scratching his left ear, which made the right flop up and down. “We could have celebrated me finding a fated mate at a Fuck Fate bar crawl?”
Hollis’ nose scrunched, and he glanced around at all the other bar crawlers.
None of them seemed to be paying too much attention to Hollis and Jae rolling around on their couch, but a group of women did glance over at them for a moment before laughing at something one of them said and returning to their drinks.
“Okay, point taken, but still—oh my gods!” Hollis planted a huge, sloppy kiss on Jae’s cheek, but then his body stiffened.
“Oh shit… I’ve been all over both of you all night. Are they okay with that? Are you?”
Jae moved his hand to the back of Hollis' head and pulled him forward so their foreheads touched. “Yes, I am totally okay with you being you, with me and with Koda. Obviously, you two should probably have your own conversation about it, but I haven’t picked up on any signs that they’re uncomfortable–I mean, they literally spent the entire walk trying to petition you to be their friend. ”
Hollis smiled, showing a few of his pearly white teeth, before his lips curved down. “Is it okay that I know? Did Koda not want you to tell anyone?”
“No, not at all. I—”
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting?” a warm, familiar voice asked, and they both turned to look at the alpha in question.
Koda’s face paled, highlighting the hints of dark brown in their beard.
They held out the cups in front of them like an apology.
“Oh, I clearly am. Okay, I can just leave the drinks—”
“Stay!” Hollis said, turning sideways so his butt was planted on the seat and his legs were arranged somewhat neatly on Jae’s lap again. “Please stay. Also, I’d like to amend my earlier instructions to Jae to also include you: stop apologizing so much. We both want you here.”
Koda curled their shoulders in and seemed to walk on the balls of their feet over to the couch, ready to run away at a moment's notice. When they were within reaching distance, Hollis grabbed the tray of hot drinks, and Jae took their hand, guiding them to sit pressed up against his side.
“I was telling Hollis that we’re fated mates,” Jae said, rearranging the blanket so Koda was tucked underneath it as well.
Hollis passed him a drink, which he handed to Koda and then another that he kept for himself.
He then tossed the drink carrier over his shoulder, and it landed somewhere on the other side of the couch.
Jae heard a soft huff from Koda, but they didn’t say anything so Jae took that as his cue to tell the full story, starting with his panic in the bathroom, spanning through the illuminating conversations about red flags, and skimming over their visit to the mating room at the club.
“Are you mated?” Hollis squealed, trying to climb on top of Jae to examine his neck.
“Not yet,” Koda said, notably opting not to help Jae fend off Hollis. Instead, they stood up and collected their empty cups. “Although, in Kodiak bear shifter culture, it’s common to mate within the first week of meeting.”
Jae’s jaw nearly hit the floor as Koda walked back over to the bar to get their second round of drinks. He turned to look at his best friend who was gaping at where Koda had just been.
“I am so glad I dragged you on this bar crawl!” Hollis said, pumping his fist in the air. “You’re going to be mated in a week, I get to have you and Koda in my life, and I’ll get to play with a real life bear shifter!”
Jae noted that only one of those things was about Jae, but his duck seemed completely on board with being mated by next week.
Duck mating culture also dictated they mate soon after meeting.
In the past, most ducks met their fated mates by attending gigantic mating festivals that took place at one of the great lakes of the world.
Duck shifters would spend months choreographing and rehearsing elaborate mating dances in preparation for the event.
By the time they finally met their fated mate, they were so eager to get their dances over with, they would often do it right then and there, and mate sometime over the next week of the festival.
Historically, Mandarin ducks had beautiful ceremonies, including traditional clothes from their home countries and more food than anyone could ever hope to eat.
However, as the times had changed, and fated and non-fated mate pairs were occurring more frequently amongst interspecies couples, most of the festivals had adapted into big parties to celebrate fated mates in general.
If a Mandarin duck met their fated mate outside of a festival, and especially outside of Asia, they would still perform a dance, but instead of being choreographed, it would be a mix of improv and the dance their ducks had always innately known.
They would then mate and hope to attend a fate festival at a later date.
Jae’s duck chose that moment to once again demonstrate the dance he’d been practicing all night, and Jae made a mental note to call his parents… later. He could worry about all of that later.
As Koda returned to the couch, bringing with them the luxurious scent of pine and sap, Jae let himself savor the feeling of his best friend’s legs on his, his fated mate’s arm around his shoulders, and his duck’s happy little dance.
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If you want to read more about the CEO of Hollis’ company, Emory, and how running a company is very inconvenient for finding a fated mate, check out Book One of the Fate Beyond the Binary series, coming March 2026.
If you want to read Hollis’ roommate Rain’s story, you can get it for free here.
Hollis will also be getting his own book in late 2026.