Chapter 23 #2
"I think it would help stabilize her. Not diminish her power, but make it more... manageable." I ran a hand through my damp hair. "The mate bond would create a natural circuit, letting her energy flow between all of us instead of just building up inside her."
"Like a pressure release valve," Misha mused, and I nodded.
"Exactly. Plus, it would strengthen our ability to protect her. We'd be able to sense when she's in danger, and feel if she needs us."
Ash stood up and started pacing, his typical response when processing something important. "Have you considered that she might not want that? She just got free of Asrael's control. The last thing she needs is to feel trapped again."
"It's not about control," I argued. "She knows that. It's about support. Connection. Family." I studied Ash, wondering if he was projecting his own feelings. If there was any of us who hated feeling trapped, it was him. I had to know. “Ash, if you’re unsure—”
He snarled and was in my face instantly. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
"Okay, Ashy boy. Settle down. I think we are all in agreement that Felix is right," Rhodes said. "We’ve seen how it works with her and Jasper. It's not about dominance, it's about balance."
"And the fact that we all want to fuck her senseless has nothing to do with this discussion?" Talon asked with a smirk.
I threw a napkin at his head. "Can you be serious for five fucking minutes?"
"I am being serious! We're all thinking it. Might as well say it out loud."
"The physical attraction is... relevant," Misha admitted. "But it's more than that. We all feel it."
He was right. What I felt for Palmer went way beyond simple lust. The need to protect her, to see her smile, to watch her grow into her power—it was all-consuming.
"So what do we do?" Ash blurted out, finally stopping his pacing.
He was uncharacteristically out of sorts about this.
It was actually kind of comical. "Just walk up to her when she wakes up and say, 'Hey, by the way, you're our mate and we should all bond to help manage your newfound godlike powers.
Oh, and that includes you getting absolutely destroyed by all of our knots'? "
I winced as Talon laughed like a maniac. "Maybe with a bit more finesse than that."
"We let her wake up first," Rhodes said firmly. "Let her process everything that happened. Then we talk to her about it. Together."
"And Jasper?" Talon asked. "He's part of this too."
"Jasper's always been part of this," I said softly. "Trust me, he already knows."
Ash nodded slowly. "Alright. We wait. We watch. And when the time is right, we have this conversation with Palmer."
"And hope she doesn't use her new powers to send us all through the veil," Talon added cheerfully.
I grabbed my coffee and headed back toward Palmer's room, but Ash's voice stopped me.
"Felix? You know this changes everything, right?"
I looked back at my family, my crazy, complicated, fierce family. "Everything already changed the moment she walked into our lives. This is just making it official."
The coffee mug warmed my hands as I slipped back into Palmer's room. Jasper was no longer standing guard—instead, his semi-transparent form lay beside her on the bed, one ghostly hand hovering just above her hair, and Snake was now belly up on the pillow, like a pharaoh.
"You can touch her, you know," I said softly, settling back into my chair. "She responds to you."
Jasper's eyes met mine, and for a moment I saw the brother I remembered from our youth. "It's different now. Everything's different."
I nodded, taking a sip of coffee. "Good different though, right?"
"Yeah." His hand finally made contact with Palmer's hair, and I watched in fascination as it became more solid at the point of connection. "She's... extraordinary."
"That's one word for it." I set my mug down and leaned forward. "Can we talk about it? The mating?"
"What do you want to know?"
"How did you know? That she was yours?" The question had been burning in my mind since I first felt the pull toward her.
"It wasn't like the stories," he said after a moment. "No instant recognition or burning need. It was quieter. Like finding a piece of myself I didn't know was missing."
I understood that feeling all too well. "And the bond? Was it... overwhelming for her?"
Jasper's laugh was soft. "She took to it like she was born for it. The connection, the sharing of energy—it felt natural. Right." His expression grew serious. "You're worried about what happens when she wakes up."
"Aren't you?" Ashland’s concerns were replaying in my mind. "She's been through so much already. The last thing I want is to make her feel pressured or trapped."
"Felix." Jasper's voice held that familiar note of exasperation. "She chose us. All of us. Even before she understood what she was choosing."
"But a full mating bond? With six demons? That's not exactly—"
"Normal?" Jasper cut me off. "When has anything about our family been normal?"
I had to smile at that. "Fair point."
Palmer stirred slightly, and we both froze, watching her face. When she settled again, Jasper spoke softly.
"She's stronger than you think. Than any of us thought. The bond won't diminish that—it'll enhance it." His form solidified a bit more as he spoke. "And she needs this connection as much as we do."
"To help control the power?"
"To belong." Jasper's eyes met mine again. "That's all she's ever wanted. A family. A home. People who see her for who she really is."
The weight of unsaid words hung between us. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "For not seeing you. For not understanding."
"I'm sorry too." Jasper's hand reached across Palmer to grasp my wrist, and I gasped at the solid feel of it. "But we're here now. All of us. And she's the one who made that possible."
I stared at where his hand touched my skin, remembering centuries of missed moments like this. "How do we do this right? How do we give her what she needs?"
"We love her," Jasper said simply. "We protect her. We let her be exactly who she is, and we show her that she never has to face anything alone again."
Palmer made a small sound in her sleep, and both of us immediately focused on her. She turned slightly, pressing closer to Jasper's form while her hand reached out toward me. Without thinking, I took it, marveling at how right it felt.
"See?" Jasper smiled. "She already knows she's ours."
I squeezed Palmer's hand gently, watching as her face relaxed at the contact. "Yeah," I agreed softly. "She knows."
We fell into comfortable silence then, my brother and I, watching over the remarkable woman who had somehow brought our fractured family back together. And for the first time in centuries, I felt truly at peace.