Chapter 3 #2
It took a fair amount of negotiating and some expert-level flattery, but Emory was able to get them both booked on flights leaving within the next hour. Unfortunately, they were on opposite sides of the terminal from each other.
As soon as they both had tickets in hand, Emory marched off like a man on a mission. He seemed to be heading toward a bank of seats near a gate announcing the next flight to Anchorage. Cameron assumed he was meant to follow since Emory was still carrying his backpack.
When they were almost to the chairs, Emory turned around abruptly, and Cameron once again fell into him. Emory steadied him with a hand on his side, releasing a low chuckle that was practically a growl.
It made Cameron’s insides wobble.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Emory joked, the corners of his mouth forming a teasing smile.
“Sorry, I, uh…need my bag back,” Cameron said, gesturing awkwardly at the bag strap on Emory’s shoulder.
Gods, what was this man doing to him? His thoughts were a jumbled mess, and all he wanted to do was call Shay…but also possibly hug Emory until sometime next week.
“Oh…you’re right,” he said, laughing a bit awkwardly. “I’m feeling a little out of sorts after the long delays and, well, meeting you, of course. My fated mate.” Emory’s eyes went distant for a moment. “I’m going to have so much to tell—”
Emory blinked, as if coming back to reality, and his brows pulled together. “Are you going to tell your family? About…me?”
The question threw Cameron for a loop. “Uhm, yeah? I mean, I was planning on calling them the second we walk away—or maybe I’ll wait to tell them in person, but…is that alright?”
Did Emory not want him to share their news?
Cameron, of all people, was well aware that they might not work out in the end.
His birth parents sure as hell hadn’t. The last he’d heard, from an update he hadn’t asked for when he turned 18, his alpha father was in jail, and his omega mother’s location was unknown.
Even if it wasn’t anything as extreme as that, fated mate bonds weren’t immune to human folly.
For all their romantic glory, Cameron had heard of a few seahorse shifters who had left their fated mates, and certain shifters were more known for their commitment—or lack thereof—than others.
While some shifters were polyamorous and had a fated mate as well as other mates, some flat-out cheated on their fated mates.
Cameron would never cheat, but he wouldn’t force himself to stay in a failing relationship either.
Did Emory have the same doubt? He tried not to let the thought bother him, but his octopus slapped his tentacles on the ground.
“Oh, yes, of course it’s alright!” Emory said, still looking a bit flustered.
“Please, feel free to share with your family and friends. I was just realizing I… Well, I don’t really know very much about you.
If I were to tell my mother, she and the aunts would start an inquisition, and I probably wouldn’t know any of the answers. ”
Cameron’s shoulders, which had been inching towards his ears, relaxed. “Oh, well, that’s fair. Maybe after Fall Harvest, we can meet up and get to know each other?”
A foreign giddiness filled Cameron, making his fingers tingle and his foot start to tap. It was like his octopus was making him dance. While Cameron was still beyond skeptical of this entire thing, his octopus was completely on board.
Emory eagerly pulled out his phone to exchange numbers with him. He was about to ask Emory about his trip when a loudspeaker announced that Emory’s plane was beginning to board. Cameron retrieved his bag and found himself nearly tackling Emory for one last, awkward hug.
Except it wasn’t really awkward. It was wonderful and warm and safe and—
Emory tilted his head down and nuzzled against Cameron’s neck, right where his scent gland would have been if he were a mammal shifter.
Cameron tensed in the hug. “I, uhm, don’t have a scent gland there. Or anywhere, actually.”
“Sea shifter?” Emory murmured, and his breath ghosted out across Cameron’s cheek.
“Uh, yeah.” While Cameron braced for his response, his octopus forced him to cling harder to Emory’s arms. If this was going to be their final hug, he wanted a few more seconds of it. “Is that a problem?”
“No, beautiful, it’s not,” Emory said. “I’m a land mammal, but your species doesn’t matter to me.”
Cameron bit his lip and was about to ask if it mattered what kind of water shifter he was when his eyes caught the clock on the wall behind them.
If he didn’t leave right this second, he was going to miss another flight.
Emory must have felt his tension because he gave him one more squeeze and then released him.
“I don’t want to hold you up, Cameron. We’ll talk again shortly, I’m sure.”
Cameron felt the urge to go in for another hug, but he truly didn’t have time.
He bid a quick farewell and hurried across the terminal, running on the moving sidewalk, which earned him quite a few looks from the other patrons.
He arrived at his gate right as the final boarding group was being called.
He didn’t check his phone until he took his seat and pulled it out to turn on airplane mode. Emory had texted him a brief hello message, which kept Cameron company the entire plane ride home.
“Oh, my love! It’s so good to see you. You smell… Wait. Do you smell different? Honey! Come smell our child and tell me if he smells different!”
“Pa—please, my eardrums!” Cameron complained as his pa tried to squeeze the life out of him while shouting.
“You know your sense of smell is better than mine. Oh, he looks different, doesn’t he, sweetheart? Something’s different,” Cameron’s ba said as he walked into the room.
“That’s what I’m saying! There’s something different about you, Cameron,” Pa said, stepping back to give him a quick once-over.
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Shay snarked as she shouldered past Cameron to walk into the kitchen.
He glowered at her retreating form. When she looked back over her shoulder to wink at him, he stuck his tongue out at her.
Every time they came home, some of their childhood antics returned. Growing up, they’d constantly play-fought on land and in their pool. He’d changed a lot since then, but thankfully, his relationship with Shay and his adopted parents never wavered.
As they’d gotten older, they’d both fallen into their roles in the family.
Shay was the older—by three months, a fact she pointed out a lot growing up—golden child.
She’d been the most popular girl in school, and after college, she’d jetted off to one country after another to do field research and earn a master’s in shifter biology.
Cameron was the more subdued one, content to graduate college early and work in the nonprofit sector, filling his time with volunteering and quiet evenings at home.
Until this week, he hadn’t hoped for more. But now…
“Well, I’m not really sure if I look or smell any different, but I do have some news to tell—”
“Oh, honey! Did you get that new grant you wanted?” Pa asked, clapping his hands in excitement.
“Or a promotion? Can you get a promotion when there’s only two people on your team?” Ba asked, sliding up beside Pa to wrap an arm around his waist.
“Well, I did get that grant, actually, but no. Something else happened.”
“Well, don’t bury the lede, dear boy! Come! Sit down! Tell us everything,” Ba commanded, guiding Pa to sit with him on the love seat and gesturing for Cameron and Shay to sit on the couch across from it.
Cameron’s butt immediately found the all too familiar groove in the couch where he’d sat for countless family meetings.
Faces of him and Shay throughout the years surrounded them on all sides.
Even a week before, the sight would have left Cameron with an ache in his chest. His smiling, innocent face in childhood contrasted starkly with the few photos of him in college.
While he’d never told his parents how bad things got with Thomas, they must have sensed something was amiss because they didn’t argue when Cameron only provided them with a few photos from his college years.
Now, after his whirlwind run-in with Emory, a small part of him–most likely his octopus–wondered if he could have that childish happiness again someday.
Shay flounced over, drawing Cameron’s attention away from the wall of photographs.
She sprawled out on the floor in front of Cameron with a wide grin on her face.
“Yes, Camy, do tell us about this amazing grant which, like the rest of your job, is the only exciting thing you ever have to share with us.”
“Shay,” Pa chided, “Cameron is clearly trying to tell us something unrelated to his wonderful job. Also, Ba and I don’t care if he likes to discuss his work. At least he calls to chat.”
“I call to chat! It’s not my fault all you want to talk about is my nonexistent dating life!”
Cameron rolled his eyes at their bickering and glanced over at Ba. He looked steadily back at Cameron, not joining in on Shay and Pa’s back and forth either.
Pa was a handsome man. Tall, which was typical for seahorse shifters, and distinguished, with his salt and pepper hair, long-nosed face, and sturdy build.
His Pa was a little softer, both in body and spirit, and a little flightier compared to Ba’s seriousness.
Pa and Shay had always gotten on like a house on fire, feeding off of each other’s frenetic energy.
Cameron and Ba were quieter and a bit slower to trust. Cameron had always appreciated the softness Pa brought out in both him and Ba.
Cameron wondered momentarily about Emory’s family. Did he get along better with a certain parent? What was it like running the family business?
His pa let out a loud gasp, yanking Cameron’s attention back to his family.
“Did you see that? Look at his face!” Pa exclaimed.