Chapter 10
Ten
Miles
"Something was off back there," Mateo said as I drove down the street, and I glanced over at him.
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged, and I focused on the street, waiting as he gathered his thoughts.
"I mean, I don't know if our clan is over the top, but I always thought the news that someone you care about found their mate was something to be celebrated. Or at least to be happy about."
"I guess so. I don't think I've ever seen anyone in our clan be disappointed by something like that."
"Right? But did you see how Duckie's mom reacted? She couldn't wait to get rid of us."
My brows furrowed as I thought back, but I couldn't see it. I'd figured she wanted some privacy to talk to her son whom she hadn't seen in years. It wasn't an unfair request.
"I think you're overthinking this, which is weird because that's my thing."
Mateo snorted, then shook his head. "I'm telling you. She was not happy that Duckie has mates."
"You think she could ask Duckie to break his bonds with us?" I asked, jumping straight to the worst-case scenario.
While a completed bond was damn near unbreakable—the only thing that could break it was if one of the mates died—a growing bond was much easier to break.
It was why recognizing your mate wasn't enough to make you fall in love with them.
You had to get to know them to give the bond time to grow and strengthen.
And if you stopped midway, the bond would start weakening and then fall apart.
It was why newly bonded mates spent a lot of time together—consciously or subconsciously—during the first few months.
"I don't know. But even if she did, I don't think he would do it."
I wasn't so sure about that. While we had grown close over the last two weeks, Heather was Duckie's mom. He'd thought she was dead. Would he be able to say no to her?
Maybe he wouldn't break our bond, but he might decide to hit pause for a few months so he could spend time with his mother. I wouldn't blame him if he did, though I didn't want him to.
"We need something to take our minds off this," Mateo declared, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Any ideas?" I asked because he was right. I needed something else to focus on before I drove myself crazy worrying about this.
"Let me look it up," Mateo said, mumbling under his breath as he typed. "Okay, we have an escape room, a painting thing that sounds more fitting for you and Duckie, oooh, an axe-throwing place, a Nerf battle, some mystery adventure thing, and a rage room."
I pursed my lips, but I already knew I'd be picking the axe thing or the Nerf battle since that was what Mateo would enjoy the most, and he was the only one who could get me to enjoy them too. "How about the Nerf battle?"
Mateo grinned. "Yes! Okay, the next event starts in twenty minutes. I'm booking two spots for us."
After he'd done that, he plugged in the address for the place into the GPS, and I switched directions so I was headed the right way.
"Aww, Cam sent pictures of the baby dragons. They look like featherless birds," Mateo said, and I snuck a glance at his phone's screen, smiling at the display. They did look like birds. They were all wrinkled skin and squinted eyes.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them when we get back."
"Me too! I wonder if it's weird for Cam to have baby siblings as an adult."
"He has a mate that turns into a baby every hundred years," I reminded him, and he snickered.
"Touché. You think Raiden and Will might have more kids after these?"
I shrugged. "Given their track record and the fact that they'll live forever? Yeah."
"I guess you're right. They met when Cam was nine. So in seventeen years, they adopted two children—or at least Raiden has, since Cam was always Will's—and had another five. That's like one kid every three years."
I snorted. "I doubt they're going to keep up that pace. They'll be pretty busy raising these five for the next eighteen years."
"You think if they came across a kid in need, they wouldn't adopt them?"
I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. I couldn't argue with that because Mateo was right. Raiden and William were made to be parents.
"Though I am kinda glad our dads can't have bio kids with each other."
"That won't stop them from having more kids either," I pointed out, and Mateo chuckled.
"I know. But knowing Dad likes it when Papa drinks his blood is already more than I wanted to know about our dads' sex life, so I'm glad more kids have nothing to do with it," Mateo said with a scrunched-up face, and I laughed.
"It was your own fault for asking Papa about being ace and not Dad."
"I know! But I wanted a partner's experience because at that point I still thought I wanted a romantic relationship. Or more like I was supposed to want one. Whatever."
I smiled, remembering with fondness the day Mateo had stumbled back into our shared bedroom red-faced and flustered. I never got to see him like that, so that day was one of my most treasured memories.
"Okay, it's around that bend," Mateo said, and I parked the car in the adjacent lot.
After we'd gotten our gear, we joined the other players in a 'capture the flag' type of game, and of course, Mateo decided we should be on opposite sides.
We'd been playing for about ten minutes when Mateo stepped into my path, and I showered him with Nerf bullets.
"Cut it out! Duckie texted. We gotta go."
I jerked my gun down, and we rushed to return all our equipment before heading out.
"What did he say?" I asked as I got behind the wheel, and Mateo shrugged.
"Nothing specific, just asked us to come back."
Maybe we had been overthinking, and Duckie's mom had wanted some privacy with the son she hadn't seen in years.
Duckie
"What do you mean I need to break up with them?"
Mom shook her head, her eyes taking a faraway look. "Your bond isn't complete yet, so you still have time to get out of it, Duckie."
"I don't understand," I admitted, confused by everything she was saying. Why would I want to 'get out of it'?
Mom made a frustrated sound, then looked at me head-on. "You have no idea how painful it is to lose your mate, Duckie, and I never want you to have to experience it."
My brows furrowed as I tried to understand what she was driving at. "So you want me to give up a lifetime of happiness on the off-chance I might have to deal with Mateo or Miles or both of them dying?"
Mom nodded, and my eyes flickered to the picture of Mom, Dad, and me that hung on the living room wall. "Does that mean you regret being with Dad? If you got a do-over, would you leave him to save yourself this pain?"
Mom didn't reply, but she didn't have to. She would never do that, and it was shocking that she expected me to.
"I'm not leaving them, Mom."
"But—"
"You have no idea what my life has been like these past two decades," I said, cutting her off in an attempt to get her to understand.
"Miles and Mateo are two of the first few people who made me feel like a person.
And if it weren't for Miles, I wouldn't even be here.
I had no idea you were alive. Miles was the one who found out and told me after I told him what happened that night.
He did it without me asking, and they've both taken such good care of me. "
Mom's face softened, and she placed her hand on my cheek. "Sounds like you already care about them."
"I do," I murmured, and Mom sighed, dropping her hand.
"I want you to be happy, Duckie."
"I am. And Mateo and Miles live in a town that's watched over by a dragon, so I've never been safer. No one can hurt me or them there."
"That's good."
"I'm sorry I didn't find you until now. I was afraid to come back here," I admitted, and she leaned forward, pulling me into a warm hug that was so familiar and yet so different. She was smaller than me now, but she smelled the same. Like home and safety.
"That's okay, baby. I'm glad you're here now. And I'm sorry about the way I reacted. I'm glad you found your mates. They seem like good boys."
I smiled as I pulled back, thinking about the last two weeks. "Yeah, they are."
"Aww, that look on your face," Mom teased, making me blush. "I know some people have more than one mate, but I've never heard of them being brothers. How does that work?"
"It's not the same. My bond with them, I mean. With Mateo, it's platonic. He's aroace and not interested in a romantic relationship, and my feelings for him aren't romantic either. He's more like a best friend, or a brother. Miles... Miles is different."
"Ah, it's romantic with him, huh?"
I shrugged, because so far we hadn't done anything yet that could be considered 'romantic.' Going on a date when one of you was a bird wasn't easy, after all. But Miles had been happy to follow my lead, to let me set the pace, and I was grateful for that.
But now... things were different now. I'd shifted, and my world hadn't ended. I could go out with Miles. I could touch him, maybe even kiss him, if he was up for it.
Mom and I talked for a while after that. I told her about the various places I'd been, leaving out the fact that I'd been in my duck form the whole time.
She told me a little about her life here, but it was clear we were both holding back a lot to spare the others' feelings. Maybe someday we'd be able to communicate more honestly, but for now, I was glad I was here, talking to Mom. I'd never thought that would be possible.
"Why don't you call them back, and I'll make dinner for everyone?" Mom suggested after we'd exhausted our latest topic of conversation—Mom's current job at the local nursery—then got up before I could say anything. "Chicken and gravy okay?"
"Like you used to make?" I asked, unable to hide my eagerness, and she nodded. "Yes, please. I'll text Mateo."
Entering the code Miles had given me—which I realized was the date Mateo had brought me home—I used his phone to text Mateo, who replied within a minute to tell me they'd be here soon.
While I waited, I walked up to the mantel to look at all the photos mom had displayed. Most of them featured all three of us, and some were of me in various milestones. A baby picture, my first day of kindergarten, first day of school, me on a bicycle.
"I have a lot more in albums, if you'd like to look through them later," Mom said, and I turned to find her watching me from the kitchen doorway. "I bet your mates would enjoy seeing them."
"No, thank you." With a laugh, she disappeared back into the kitchen, and I shook my head, knowing Miles and Mateo would be seeing all my embarrassing baby pictures before the night was over.
The sound of a car coming to a stop in front of the house caught my attention, and I walked across the room to open the front door.
"Hey, Duckie. All good?" Mateo asked, and I nodded, giving them a hesitant smile before closing the door behind them.
Miles gave me a once-over, his concern-filled eyes lingering on my face.
I smiled at him, and he returned it, making my heart and another part of my anatomy react.
I blinked at the strange new reaction, and hoped they couldn't sense it.
While I wasn't clueless about things like romance and sexual attraction, I'd never experienced it myself, at least, not physically.
It was hard to do that when you were a bird, after all.
But now that I'd shifted back, my body felt more than ready to make up for all the years of physical intimacy I'd lost out on.
My mom called out then, asking me to make my mates comfortable, and her voice was enough to get my body in check. For now.