Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
H ades woke up smiling. He couldn’t remember ever being so happy. He was lying half over Frederick's back, who was asleep on his stomach. He sent a prayer of thanks to the Fates on choosing such an amazing mate for him. He thought he would never be blessed with one, but he had begun to secretly hope again after Ares found Jason. But now, Frederick had been asleep for long enough.
Hades moved so he was lying over his wolf mate and started kissing him around the back of his neck and down his spine.
“Now this is a lovely way to wake up,” Frederick all but purred in a gruff just-woken-up voice.
Hades lifted his lips and smirked. “If you liked that, you’re going to love this, then.”
Frederick woke up again a few hours later. After Hades made love to him, he returned the favour, and after having fun in the shower, they were now sat at the kitchen table eating, both ravenous.
Frederick was surprised when he first saw the kitchen, it looked so normal. He expected something otherworldly, but nope, it looked like a normal kitchen, with its chrome appliances and wooden cupboards, and lots of worktops. The set-up was much like the Fortuna kitchen with a large table and comfy seating area.
He finished his food and looked up. Hades looked pensive. “Is something wrong?” Frederick asked him, frowning.
“No, but I want to ask you something, and I’m afraid however I word it, you’ll think I’m insulting you.”
Frederick shook his head, pushed his chair out, and grabbed Hades’ hand. He pulled him up and onto his lap. “Yes, you can give me whatever protection you want.”
Hades smiled. “How did you know?” he asked, putting an arm around Frederick’s shoulder.
Frederick smiled. “It’s ingrained in mates to want to protect each other. You’re a god, so of course you’ll want to protect me.”
Hades lifted his free hand to Frederick’s cheek. “Thank you for understanding,” he said, leaning forward and kissing Frederick.
Frederick tangled his hand in Hades' hair and kissed him back.
Finally pulling back, they rested their foreheads together. “Is there a way I can come to the underworld without you by my side?” he asked.
Hades nodded and drew his head back. “Do you mind a tattoo?”
“Not if it’s your mark. Tattoo away.”
Hades smiled and, picking up Frederick’s arm, he kissed it. A mark appeared where he had kissed. “What do you think?”
Frederick looked at it. It was a pitchfork with a serpent wrapped around it. “Perfect.”
“If I’m not around and you need to come here, just touch it. It will bring you here, to our home. I’ve infused it with protection as well.”
“Thank you,” Frederick said sincerely. “Now, how about showing me your realm?”
Hades laughed. “I would be delighted. I need to speak to Decker anyway.” He stood up.
“Who’s Decker?” Frederick asked, also rising.
Hades took Frederick’s hand and led him out of the house. “Decker is Tatum’s brother. His demon gift is knowing what powers a demon has. I need his help finding out all the powers Barnabus has acquired. Plus, he makes the best lemon bonbons.”
“And that right there is reason enough to meet him. Lemon bonbons are my favourite, followed closely by strawberry ones.”
“You’re a man after my own heart. Mind you, everything Decker makes is amazing.”
As they were talking they walked down the road, with Frederick looking around. “It looks just like a normal town,” he commented, in surprise.
Hades nodded. “It is. The only difference is that it’s demons living down here, and there’s no natural light.” He pointed. “That’s the police station. Over there is our primary school and the section we’re going to is the shopping centre.”
“Your realm is amazing.”
Hades squeezed his hand. “It’s yours as well. I rule the underworld, therefore you are my consort.”
“Please tell me I don’t need a coronation.” He stared at Hades in horror.
Hades laughed. “Not if you don’t want one. I can just make an announcement and let everyone know.”
“Yes, let’s go with that option.” Frederick nodded and then paused. “I thought you ruled the dead?”
“I do, but they’re in different places, like Elysium, Asphodel, and Tartarus. I’ll happily show you Elysium and Asphodel, but Tartarus is somewhere you’ll never see. One day I decided that demons needed somewhere to live, so created a safe place for them. As you might have gathered, not all demons are bad.”
As they walked, demons stopped and stared at them before smiling and waving. Frederick was trying hard not to stare back, but seeing demons was strange. They were all shapes and sizes and more than one had large horns or long tails.
“Lord Hades,” a man said, walking up to them.
“Ah, Weston, I’m glad to see you. Frederick, this is Weston Rail, my Chief of Police. Weston, this is Frederick Barbuda, my mate and consort.”
Weston smiled and held his hand out to Hades and then Frederick. “Congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” Frederick said.
“Are you moving down here?” Weston asked him.
Frederick shook his head. “I’ll be splitting my time between here and my pack.”
“And I’ll be spending more time topside as well,” Hades informed him.
Weston nodded. “Good, you need to get out more.”
Hades laughed. “So I keep being told.”
“I’ll leave you now to continue showing your mate around. It was good to meet you, Consort Frederick, my lord.” And with that, Weston strolled away.
“When you make your announcement, I’m just Frederick.”
Hades laughed. “We’ll see. Here’s Sweet Delights.”
Frederick looked at the sweet shop, and even the window display looked inviting.
As if guessing what Frederick was thinking, he stage whispered, “It’s even better on the inside.” He winked and opened the door leading Frederick inside.
The shop was crowded and Decker and his assistant were busy serving, which gave Frederick ample chance to look around at all the shelves. Some of the sweets he had never heard of, and others were the same as those topside.
Hades and Frederick kept out of the way until the shop was empty.
“Hello, my lord,” Decker greeted, walking over to them. He looked at Frederick curiously.
“Decker. This is my mate, Frederick Barbuda. I’ve been telling him about your lemon bonbons.”
“Congratulations to you both,” Decker beamed at them as he walked to the counter. He got a large sweet box and filled it to the brim with lemon bonbons. He closed the lid and handed it to Frederick. “A mating gift for you both.”
“Thank you,” Frederick said, touched. “But I’m happy to pay for these. Hades said you make them yourself.”
Decker nodded. “I do, but they’re still a present for you both,” he explained before looking at Hades. “Have you any idea how Tatum is, my lord? We’re all worried about him.”
Hades smiled softly and touched his arm. “Be assured your brother is safe. He has also found his two mates and as soon as it’s safe for him to come back here, he will.”
Decker let out a sigh. “Thank you. My parents and siblings will be relieved to hear that. Will he be punished?”
Hades shook his head. “No, he’s currently helping us stop Barnabus, which is actually where you come in.”
“Me? You want me to make him sweets?”
Hades and Fredrick laughed amiably.
“No, Barnabus has acquired some new powers,” Hades explained.
Decker nodded his head in understanding. “You want me to see if I can find out what they are.”
Hades nodded. “I have Ambrose going through the list of powers to see what’s missing, but it would be quicker if you could have a look and see.”
“I’ll try, but from what I’ve heard he’s not in the underworld at the moment.”
“He’s currently at the Hayes pack inhabiting the body of Tom Hayes,” Hades replied.
“Leave it with me, my lord. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Thank you, Decker,” Hades said.
“And thank you for these.” Frederick held up the box.
“There’ll be a big celebration when word gets out that you have a mate,” Decker predicted, grinning.
Hades chuckled. “You might be right, but as long as I don’t have to organise it, I don’t mind.”
It was a quiet group that stumbled into the kitchen the next morning.
Blake looked around the table and smiled. There might have been a slight blip when Nemesis turned up, but once that was sorted the rest of the evening had been fun.
He looked at Jason and Ares and was relieved to see Ares looked bruise-free. He also couldn’t believe that Jason was now immortal. How amazing was that?
“How are you feeling this morning, Puff?” Peyton asked his brother.
“Not bad. This tea is really helping,” he croaked out.
“Maybe you should try not talking today,” Atticus suggested.
“You can only talk in interpretive dance,” Ashton joked, grinning.
“Oh just think how much fun that would be Puff you really have to try that we could get points if we guess correctly,” Tudor said, sounding excited.
Alex laughed and placed a hand on his arm. “That would be funny.”
“We could try that in class today,” Nancy suggested laughing.
Puff shook his head. “Oh dear, I think I’m busy with king stuff all day today.”
“What was that?” Mateo joked. “I’m not sure we can understand you.”
“Fine, see if I talk to you today,” he huffed out.
“Good job there’s two of us, you can talk to me,” Atticus said. “Mind you, it will be either through dance or you writing things down so we can understand you.”
“You’re all horrible,” Puff huffed out while trying his hardest not to join in the laughter.
Blake looked around the table and noted Shiloh was laughing and joking with those around him. Shiloh had fitted seamlessly into the pack already, he couldn’t wait to see how the defence teams turned out.