Chapter 3
Calum
I’d been talking to Ben about visiting next month once I had everything sorted out here in Egypt when I heard the quiet knock at the door.
I’d ordered room service for dinner, but it shouldn’t have been here yet.
That was only five or so minutes ago. I went to the door, not sure what to expect when I opened it, but finding the most adorable man I’d ever seen standing on the other side wasn’t it.
And he was most definitely adorable. He had blue eyes that stood out against his creamy skin and medium-brown hair. His hair was short on the sides and longer on top. Immediately, my thoughts went to grabbing ahold of it while I plowed into him from behind.
I vaguely remembered telling my brother I would call him back when that thought entered my mind. I didn’t have thoughts like that. I didn’t have sex with random people, and I certainly didn’t suddenly think about how it would feel to knot someone.
I was an alpha, and I had a knot, but it would only come out when I met my mate. Needing the cutie to move on so I could get rid of these thoughts, I decided to ask about him.
“Are you all right?”
“Umm…I’m Asher,” he told me before he looked both ways down the hallway and then leaned forward a little. When he did, I was able to get a better scent of him, and as he said the next words, it hit me all at once. “I’m from the fae realm, and the fates sent me here.”
I reached for Asher’s shoulders and pulled him into the room with me. I quickly closed and locked the door, throwing both the top and the bottom locks. I should have moved then. I had every intention of moving, but when I looked down, I found intense blue eyes staring back up at me.
Now that he was inside my space and I could feel the heat coming from him with how close we were standing to one another, there was absolutely no denying what my fox had screamed in my head just moments ago. This little fae was my mate.
It took an incredible amount of discipline to step back and give my mate some room.
He said he was fae. That meant he’d obviously traveled, although I would imagine that wasn’t much different than me traveling with my father or brother.
Just a thought, a little bit of magic, and poof, you were now on the other side of the world.
But it also meant he’d left his home. He was no longer in his own realm, and he was now here.
But I didn’t live here. Not permanently, at least. This had been my room since I’d arrived, and I had to leave it for extended periods while out in the field on digs, but this wasn’t my home. It was a hotel room.
“I have a letter for you if you want it. If you don’t believe me. I was told it would explain things.” Asher pulled a rather large bag from his back and started trying to dig through it.
“No,” I said and held up my hands. He looked up at me, sadness in his eyes.
“No? You don’t believe me? The letter will explain.”
“That’s not what I meant. Only that no, I don’t need a letter. I can scent that you’re my mate. I believe you.” I moved to the side. “Do you want to come in? I have several questions, and we should probably talk.”
Asher looked at me and nodded. He then moved to the side, dropping his bag by the bathroom door, and walked closer. He stopped beside me, waiting and staring up at me.
“It’s not much, but it’s only temporary. Come on in,” I said, holding out my arm as I started walking into the room. I’d been sitting at the table, working while I could. I’d seen the reports, had been watching the news. The storm was already moving across the desert and would be here by midday.
“It’s nice,” Asher said. “Our house was maybe twice this size.” He shrugged before he went to the small couch and sat down. His hands immediately went under his thighs, and I went back to the chair I’d been sitting at in front of my laptop.
“I’m not sure,” I said, trying to figure out how to start any type of conversation. “What…no. You said you’re fae.”
Asher nodded. “Yes. I’m twenty-eight, and I’m my parents’ youngest. I have four older siblings, and all of them are actually quite a bit older.
Only one was still at home when I was born, but I don’t remember them much because she found her mate and moved out before I was of an age to really remember much. ”
Asher continued to look around the room. I could tell he was nervous, not that I blamed him. I was as well, and I’d not been the one to leave my realm and go to a completely different one in order to find my mate.
“And you were looking for a mate? This is something you desire?” I asked.
“Oh yes.” Asher finally smiled, and it seemed genuine. “That’s what all paranormals want, is it not? To find our perfect match and have a family?” Asher’s eyes widened. “Do you not want those things? I was told you desired a mate.”
“I do,” I said quickly. “I want a mate and children. I have a younger brother who found his own fated One not too long ago. They have twins, and they are simply adorable. I was able to spend some time with them, but sadly, I had to return to work.”
Asher nodded. “I understand about work. I used to do the cooking and cleaning for my parents. I can do that for you,” Asher told me. He went back to looking around. “There’s no kitchen though.”
I shook my head. “There isn’t. I have a house in France that has a kitchen, but this is only a temporary place.
I’m working for the museum that is across the street at the moment.
We were out in the field until yesterday but had to return early because of the haboob that is coming.
The news predicts it will be here shortly after lunch. ”
There was another knock at the door, this one louder, and I could hear them call out that it was my room service order. I held up a finger and took off for the door to answer. When I did, I was met with a smile as the delivery attendant pushed in the cart.
“Thank you,” I said, signing the ticket he gave me.
“You’re very welcome. Leave the cart in the hallway, and we will collect it when you are finished.”
I nodded, and after I relocked the door, I pushed the cart into the room. I realized I didn’t have food for my mate, and my fox was grumbling at me about that. I shushed him because I’d had no way of knowing that my mate was suddenly going to knock on my hotel room door.
I pushed the cart up to the table before sitting back down. I ignored the food that I’d ordered for the moment, wondering how to go about explaining that I hadn’t intended to exclude him. Hopefully he was reasonable and understood that I had no way of knowing he would be here.
“You don’t have to wait for me to eat,” Asher said. “I actually had breakfast about an hour ago now, I think, and I’m not hungry.”
“It is rude to eat in front of you,” I told him.
I leaned back when the silver dome was suddenly in front of me, floating in the air. It carefully lowered to the table, and then the dome was gone, leaving behind the brunch I’d ordered. Fae. He had magic.
“You should eat. It’s not rude for you to continue on as you had planned when you had no idea that I would suddenly show up at your door.”
“Did you want something?” I asked. My stomach grumbled, protesting now that the scents were wafting up toward me.
“No. I’m not hungry as of now, and if I am, I can always use magic,” he said and held out his hand. In it, a shiny red apple suddenly appeared. “Did you wish for the apple as well?” Asher asked.
I stared at him, wondering about the sudden transformation. Gone was the shy and awkward man who had stood on the other side of my hotel room door.
“No, thank you though.” I picked up the utensils and started cutting into my eggs. “Did you wish to talk while I eat? Maybe ask me questions?”
Asher smiled and got up, joining me at the table. He took the other chair, and I moved my laptop aside so I could see him completely. Well, what wasn’t hidden by the small table.
“I have many. And hopefully you do as well?”
I nodded. “I know a little about fae. My sire and both of my brothers are warlocks. I know there are a lot of similarities between them, and I know of the history as well.”
“Yes. That’s also taught to us when we are young, although certain aspects of it have been changed recently. I would imagine that like any story, over time, it was embellished and fabricated somewhat.”
I nodded in agreement. After I swallowed my bite of food, I took a drink from my coffee mug and stared at my mate over the rim.
“You mentioned siblings. Are any of them here?”
“I have three. They were boy, girl, girl, me. But no, none are here except me. They found mates in other villages, except my oldest sister. She found hers in our village, but it was with an older fae once she was of age.”
That was interesting, I guess. “Do you have any preferences for where we live?” I asked, wondering if he would be willing to move with me to Montana. I would have to rethink my plans from a couple of days ago because now I had a mate, and that meant I had to consider him before making plans.
“No. Just with you. I have some money. They told me I would need it for things like food and stuff. I’m from a village, and we mostly did trades and things like that.
If we wanted a different bread, we would trade, say…
tea leaves for it if they were wanting tea.
We did have coins, but most things could be bartered for rather than purchased.
But I do have some to help. And I can find a job.
Are you going to be here long? You mentioned living elsewhere? ”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Asher was talkative now that that dam seemed to have been broken.