Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
FRAY
It had been a crazy few days, Fray had to admit. Like, craaaaaaazy. His entire life had changed, and he was so blindingly happy that he was having trouble remembering how unhappy he was before.
No, not unhappy. He loved his life—pining for Tobin aside—but he’d just been existing. Coasting through on complacency and sarcasm.
Now he felt like Dorothy when she’d stepped out of the black-and-white house and into the colourful World of Oz.
He knew now, without a skerrick of doubt, who he was and that he was where he was supposed to be.
All the doubts and unknowns were gone. He felt contentedness in his core, in his stupid human bones.
Fate was such a funny thing.
He’d been handed a winning ticket, for sure.
It wasn’t self-righteousness or him being smug. He was, to put it simply, now loved so completely, it couldn’t help but bring about a confidence and surety he didn’t have before.
That he didn’t know he was missing before.
And he couldn’t help but laugh as he walked, hand in hand with Tobin, across Bay Road to the jetty where the boat was now docking.
He was actually excited to meet Otis’s cousins. The Māori consortium was friendly and hospitable yet largely feared throughout the Southern Hemisphere. They were bigger in size and, like Otis, were renowned for their brute strength and sheer force.
Fray could see two people standing on the bow of the boat. Both were like Otis in size, tall and broad, with the same huge grins too. He’d seen them enough on Facetime to recognise Te-Ariki and Koa. Otis and Ciaran met them with handshakes and warm hellos.
A far less formal meeting than with the Norwegians, that was for sure.
The Māori boys were more like extended-family brothers than Otis’s cousins, and the difference between welcomes and their relationships had never been more apparent.
Not to Fray, anyway.
And he loved his Nordic cousins. He did. They were just different. Ciaran’s consortium, like the New Zealanders, was way more relaxed and chill. The Norwegians were reserved and stoic.
Fray shuddered to think how he’d have fared if he’d stayed there.
“Welcome, welcome,” Ciaran said. “Thank you so much for coming. We appreciate it more than we can say.”
“Ah, my boys,” Otis said. “Good to see you on the right side of the ditch.”
They laughed at that, of course.
Ciaran turned, about to make introductions, no doubt, when Otis looked back toward the boat. “Is it just you two? I thought you said there’d be a party of three. Did something happen?”
The bigger of the two men, and their consortium leader, Te-Ariki, inhaled and seemed to steel himself. “We have news of our own to share,” he said. His gaze went to the Norwegians, then to Ciaran. “And we trust our friends will be receptive and understanding.”
Ciaran gave him a serious nod. “Of course, brother. We have news of our own to share, so trust me, on behalf of my consortium, you are in safe company here.”
Yeah, Fray thought. News that our consortium now includes a human. A human cop, at that.
Te-Ariki turned back to the boat and held his arm out. “Pania,” he called.
A figure appeared, emerged from the boat, and then stepped onto the dock and into the light. A woman. She was tall and strong, her long black hair flowed in waves down her back. She had pretty eyes, and a traditional moko kauae tattoo on her chin.
A woman?
“Oh my god,” someone muttered. Fray thought it might have been Kellan. From the look on his face, he seemed to understand something....
Te-Ariki gave her a smile and a nod. “Yes, female,” he announced. “She is like a daughter to me. And she is cephamorph.”
Holy fucking shit.
Everyone was wide-eyed and slack-jawed. There were a few whispered “What the fucks,” and the Norwegians were whispering amongst themselves, but...
Pania was staring at Otis.
And Otis was staring at her. She tilted her head and rubbed at her sternum, and Otis looked like the air was punched out of him.
Oh...
Oh fuck.
She took a step toward him, and he stumbled. Ciaran grabbed him, but he seemed to realise at the same time Fray did. And Tobin. And Sawyer...
They knew exactly what it was because they’d all gone through it.
Otis shrugged Ciaran off, his eyes locked on Pania.
“Pania,” Te-Ariki said, alarmed, but she was staring at Otis as if nothing else in the world existed. She still rubbed her sternum, face pained, and took another step toward Otis. Te-Ariki reached for her arm.
Ciaran put his hand up, palm forward to Te-Ariki, to intervene. “Wait,” Ciaran said. “Please. I know what this is.” He shot Kellan a wild look, and then sent one to Marten. He caught Fray’s eyes, and all Fray could do was smile and nod.
Otis let out a low cry, guttural and wounded, his hand also pressed to his chest. But he stepped to meet her and bowed his head, reverent and humbled, and when he raised his head to meet her gaze, Pania smiled.
She held out her hand, and Otis took it.
He bowed his head again, as if he’d just stumbled into a magic realm and was meeting its queen.
His queen.
His mate.
Tobin turned to stare at Fray, eyes wide, mouth still open but with the curve of a smile. Fray’s expression must have matched his because Tobin chuckled. “Holy shit,” he whispered.
“What is this?” Te-Ariki asked. “Pania, what are you—”
Pania put her hand on Otis’s cheek, but she turned to look at Te-Ariki with tears in her eyes, her smile blinding, and she let out a laugh. “Oh, Papa, this is wonderful,” she said before she looked back at Otis. She studied his face, tracing his eyebrow, his jaw. “Who are you?” she asked.
“I am Otikoro,” he murmured. “People call me Otis.”
Then she kissed him. It wasn’t a chaste kiss either. Mouths open, hands to faces, hands in hair. Right there, in front of everyone.
“Pania,” Te-Ariki hissed.
But she wasn’t stopping. And Fray knew what that initial desire was like. There wasn’t a force strong enough on the planet to stop them.
Otis picked her up, and she broke the kiss only to drop her head back and laugh as he spun her around.
Fray had never seen Otis so happy.
He put her feet back on the ground, and Pania took Otis’s hand and walked backward, leading him to the edge of the dock, their eyes only on each other, grins wide as she pulled him into the Cove. Her loud peal of laughter was swallowed by the water.
Everyone stood there, stunned and silent, wide-eyed.
Fray couldn’t help but laugh, because holy fuck.
“That just happened, right?” Sawyer said.
The three Norwegians didn’t look overly impressed, but now all the Tenebrae boys were smiling.
“What is going on?” Te-Ariki demanded, his voice booming in the silence.
Ciaran took another step forward, both hands raised this time, but he was fighting a smile. “Cousin Te-Ariki,” Ciaran said. “Please, let us sit and eat. You’ve come a long way, and it appears we have much to discuss.”
Much to discuss was the polite way of putting it.
The fact that Pania was female—a female cephamorph—was rare. Fray had only heard of them in tales or rumours. He’d certainly never met one.
She was shunned as a hatchling by her family from one of the surrounding islands and had found a family in the Māori consortium. They had hidden her identity from the world for years, not for subterfuge, but because they were not sure how her existence would be received.
Te-Ariki had not expected her to be received this well.
“Bonded, you say?” he asked.
Again.
Ciaran nodded. “It has not been an isolated incident. Sawyer and I bonded first. Then Fray and Tobin just a few days ago.”
Fray gave a wave to the big guy.
He was huge. Bigger than Otis, even. Te-Ariki’s short black hair had flecks of grey, giving the older cephamorph a distinguished look. He was their leader, and for good reason. He was, as his name suggested, a chief of his people.
His arms were like tree trunks, and Fray doubted he could get his arms around Te-Ariki’s chest. Not that he wanted to. He had battle scars too. Permanent lines in his skin that told more stories than his tribal tattoos.
“And your mate is human?” Te-Ariki asked.
Ciaran nodded, and Sawyer gave a helpless wave. “Yep. Sitting right here.”
Fray snorted, and Tobin pressed his face behind Fray’s shoulder to hide his smile.
“And he’s a policeman,” Ciaran added.
“Detective Sergeant,” Sawyer provided.
Te-Ariki seemed to weigh up which he found more offensive. Apparently it was too close to call. “A human. And a cop?”
Sawyer made a face that Ciaran seemed to find funny. He reached over and took Sawyer’s hand, threading their fingers.
“It cannot be helped,” Kellan said. “Who we bond with is not a choice we get to make. Pania and Otis had no way of knowing it was going to happen.”
Te-Ariki still didn’t look too impressed.
“Otis is a good man,” Ciaran said. “Pania would not have found better.”
“Well,” Fray added. “Look on the bright side. At least he’s not human. Or a cop.”
Sawyer smiled sweetly at him. “Hey, Fray?” he said, eyes bright. Then he whispered the rest. “Fuck off.”
Fray laughed, and Tobin chuckled, moving their joined hands to his thigh. Fray’s hearts swelled in unison, beating a strong and steady song. He glanced quickly at the man beside him—his man—to find Tobin looking at him, his hazel eyes warm and soft, his smile gentle.
Fray grinned at him, still not quite believing this was all real, and then he felt a burst of emotions: love and gratitude, rich and decadent. Wonderful.
And so very real.
“Hey, Tobes. Still want that tattoo?” Hendrix asked, and the bubble of emotions snapped like an elastic band. It left a hole where it had been, but Fray was getting used to that now.
It helped to know what it was. That Tobin could include him in his defensive walls, that he was learning how and willing to try. Maintaining it and holding it, even when startled as he was just now by Hendrix, was going to take some practise.
Until then, Fray would be patient.