Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Aiden
Nolen’s food was amazing, and after our mating, it was as if a calm had settled over us.
We ate in silence, each of us content to just bask in this newly mated life together.
I could tell Derek and Nolen were tighter after yesterday, too.
Maybe Nolen needed to mate with me before we all felt this…
whole? Full? Whatever the word, I felt it, and they did, too.
Nolen was the first to finish his plate, smiling at Derek and me as we moaned our appreciation. He glowed when we ate his food, so we did all we could to show him how amazing it tasted.
“So, I was wondering,” Nolen began, smiling at Derek and me. “If perhaps you’d want to move into our house today? Alec gave us the go ahead and told us he’d meet us there in an hour.”
Wiggling in my seat, the excitement too much to contain, I nodded eagerly. “I can’t wait to see it!”
“Me neither!” Derek grinned, then rushed to stand. “We should shower!” He was already rushing to the bathroom.
Nolen and I shared a smile and followed Derek.
An hour later, we stood in front of our new home. A car had picked us up and after only driving for five minutes, we were home.
Alec stood and waved in front of the beautiful white two-story house, the front yard was spacious and even had two trees.
Nolen grabbed Derek’s hand and then reached for mine, all three of us hurrying up to the cute landing to greet Alec.
“Hello, you three!” Alec grinned, his face as excited as ours. “You ready to see your home?”
“Yes!” Derek replied, his tone so childlike with eagerness, it almost took me back several years, and even if those memories would always be tainted by the bad, right now, it was a happy memory of us playing around and having fun together that had resurfaced in my mind.
“It’s unlocked,” Alec informed us, handing Derek the key. “There’re two more keys inside on the kitchen counter. Oh, and fair warning, Juno and Remi bought their house as soon as I’d told them you’d bought this one. You have an hour max before Juno ambushes you.”
Nolen laughed at that. “Thanks for the warning.”
“Anytime,” Alec grinned, then waved and left us outside our new home.
“Ready?” Nolen asked once we were truly alone.
Derek didn’t even reply, just opened the door and hurried inside. Amused, Nolen and I followed behind.
The house was perfect for us, the bedroom had a big enough bed for the three of us, the shower also seemed to fit three people, the same with the freestanding tub. The kitchen was very high end, with three ovens and so many appliances I had trouble seeing what they were used for.
The whole house had a soft scent of wood, and I had to admit I loved it. It made it smell more cozy and less fake, if that even made sense. The floors were a reddish brown, all except the bathrooms which had forest green tiles. The lamps were all gold and we had several chandeliers.
I could see us living here forever.
“Look at the garden!” I said, rushing over to the tall windows from the living room. We had a huge backyard and one giant tree in the middle.
“Oh, wow!” Derek gushed beside me, both of us just staring outside.
The front door banged open and then we heard footsteps approaching.
“Aha!” A male voice said, like we were caught doing something we weren’t supposed to.
I turned around and found a blond guy standing in the doorway, mouth agape as his gaze ping ponged between me and Derek.
“Hi, Juno,” Nolen said, smiling knowingly at who I now knew was Juno.
“Ah, Juno!” I said, holding out my hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
He took my hand gingerly, still not speaking a word.
“There’s two of you?” Another man said, coming up behind Juno. He had brown hair, and I guessed he had to be Remi.
“Remi?” I questioned, then handed him my hand next. “I’m Aiden, Derek’s twin.”
“I can see that,” Remi said, his tone confused but not unkind. He smiled at me then. “This will take a few minutes to get used to, I think.”
“Fair,” I chuckled, knowing they had no idea I even existed.
Derek flew past me and hugged Remi tightly. “I’m so sorry we didn’t tell you about Aiden.”
Juno cleared his throat. “Feel free to tell us now, then.”
And so, we did.
They’d both taken it well, and were just pleased we were all happy and healthy now.
Remi seemed to take the news of how close I’d been to dying badly.
Knowing we shared the same father made this meeting rather odd.
I had a half brother who was right in front of me, and even if we shared DNA, he was still a stranger. I couldn’t wait to change that.
“Want to see our home?” Remi asked once we were done with the whole story. “We’ll move everything in tomorrow, so it’s rather bare at the moment.”
“We’d love to,” Nolen replied for us.
I loved that our house was already fully furnished.
It wasn’t because I didn’t like making the house ours and choosing furniture myself, but simply because I couldn’t be bothered making decisions like that yet.
I knew this world was close to the one I’d grown up in, but I still needed to learn how to live here.
Buying furniture just wasn’t on my list of priorities.
After seeing Juno and Remi’s lovely home, we went back inside and started making a list of things we needed to buy. The fridge was fully stocked and we had towels and linens and such, but Nolen needed specific spices for the kitchen and Derek really wanted some candles for the living room.
It would seem shopping was in order, but not today.
The doorbell rang, and I went to greet whoever it was. It couldn’t be Juno or Remi already, at least I didn’t think so.
“Aiden!” Oliver squealed, hugging me tightly.
“Hi, Oliver,” I rasped, feeling my lungs deflate.
God, I’d missed him.
“Oh, sorry!” he apologized and stepped back a bit. “I just can’t believe you’re okay! It was so scary, like, you were just kissing Nolen and then BAM!” I jumped at his loud description. “Then you were just out cold, a deadweight in his arms.”
I blinked, then closed the door behind him, urging him further inside. “I’m sorry that I worried you. I didn’t know I would faint.”
He waved me off. “I fainted, too. Seems like it’s sort of a rite of passage deal around here. I kinda love it actually, kiss the most handsome man ever, faint, and then wake up having magic and a fated mate? I mean, life goals, right?”
“Right…” I answered.
Oliver made it sound so easy coming here and learning you weren’t completely human.
Derek seemed to take to it easily, too, and on some level I did as well, but it was still hard to wrap my head around.
I was half human and half… not human. I guess the people here were considered human since their species was a match to ours, just with them all looking way more symmetrical in their facial structures. And then the whole magic thing.
Nolen had briefly told me that he actually didn’t know if it was their world having magic that caused them to carry it, too, or if they were born with it and offered it to their world so it could survive.
No matter the differences in our worlds, the ruling species was the same but I was still half of each.
“Anything I should know?” Oliver asked as we approached the living room.
“Regarding?” I questioned.
“You.”
“Um.” That was a loaded question.
“Like do you need to sit down a lot, or can you show me around your home? Do you need grass time? Water? Any signs I should know of in case you get ill?”
“Oh, nothing like that,” I waved him off with a grateful smile. “I’m tired and sore from the sleeping thing, but I feel better each day.”
“Did it help when you mated? I felt balanced for the first time in my life after Grovar and I mated.”
“Yeah, I feel calmer, too, and balanced is a perfect way to describe the feeling I have. It also changed things between Derek and Nolen, they didn’t feel the calm, balanced feeling until Nolen and I had mated as well.”
“That’s actually pretty cool! Another sign you three were meant to be connected,” he said, grinning wide with excitement.
“What do you mean?” I asked, stopping just before entering the living room where Nolen and Derek were.
“Well, one of the rulers’ working theories is that because you and Derek got so hurt, you weren’t strong enough for one mate each, so fate gave you one to share, so Nolen could mate with two but with the magical capability of one.”
I frowned at that. The rulers had theorized that we weren’t good enough on our own?
“Hey,” he said, placing a comforting hand over mine. “They’re the rulers, they need to think through every scenario. This was just one of many.”
I appreciated his kind words, but it still stung to hear it. “I guess the feeling of being broken doesn’t just magically go away even after being healed.”
He made a “pfft” sound. “I still feel broken, that hasn’t changed for me even after mating and moving here.”
“You feel broken? Why?” That hurt to hear. Oliver was such a bright person, he deserved to feel whole.
He shrugged. “I was bullied a lot growing up, never quite fitting in with others my age. My parents decided to homeschool me instead, making me stand out even more. When I got old enough, I started attending a public school again to get ready for adult life. I couldn’t hide away at home forever, but it only got worse for me. ”
“How so?” I dared ask, holding his hand in mine, this time it was me consoling him.
“Well, the bullies were still there, just some new shiny ones with new and more brutal ways in which they hurt me. Giving up wasn’t something I was okay with, so I stayed through it all. When I graduated, I decided to work for my parents instead of searching for a job.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe all of us half siblings are broken in some way, however awful that sounds.”
“It is awful to think about, but I guess it’s the truth. No one I’ve spoken to had it easy.”
“Maybe the lack of magic made us stand out in some way, showing them we weren’t completely ourselves in their world,” I suggested.
He shrugged. “Maybe, or maybe we’re just different, and now we finally know why.”
I smiled at that. “Maybe being a little broken isn’t such a bad thing after all. Not when you have half siblings to share it with.”