Chapter 15
Jade
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
When I woke up, Beryl was nowhere to be found.
I reached out for him automatically, but we wouldn’t have our mating link until after we exchanged our claiming vows.
Though, the reflex was already there. In the quiet of the bedroom I missed him.
Then my brain started in on my to-do list. I needed to swing by Flight School today and figure out how to approach a sleepover for Jondi at Eran’s house.
Part of me wanted to say we could wait until he eventually stumbled onto the idea himself, but everyone knew there were some risks involved in putting off the claiming vows too long.
The first mate of the territory had his claiming gland erupt way back before I was born.
I never wanted to go through that. Plus, I wanted Beryl.
At least I did when it was quiet and all hell hadn’t broken losse yet.
Years ago, I’d read a book that arousal started in the mind.
It talked about how anyone with a heavy mental load might have trouble focusing on sex.
I always figured the true-mate response magic would take care of that but leave it to me to be able to out worry what we thought was one of the most powerful magics to be found anywhere.
I checked in on Jondi over the family link.
I loved that he’d slowly weaved himself onto the link and now we had that parent/child link most people have with their biological parents.
Not everyone. If it’s not nourished when you’re young it could easily fade away.
He was in the kitchen eating a raw fish stick and laughing at Beryl who was trying to figure out how to work the waffle maker.
He hadn’t flipped it upside down to turn it on and apparently it was comedy hour for Jondi.
Part of me wanted to join them in the kitchen.
The other part of me wanted to take advantage of the quiet for a few more minutes of sleep or a shower or maybe to check my work email on my phone.
I grimaced at my phone. Surely by now there were so many death threats that my phone was going to stage a rebellion against housing them.
Remembering the world was full of assholes made it impossible to go back to sleep.
So, shower it was. Under the hot water I let my mind drift.
I thought about work, my family, and what I’d need to do to get Beryl’s background check done for the Temple of Juda Child Foster Program.
Plus, how did I ask Jondi if he wanted a sleepover at his Uncle Eran’s without it sounding like I wanted to get rid of him?
I rested my head against the shower wall and let out a long, slow breath. I loved my life. At least I did before running Flight School pissed off people who had nothing to lose from it being in operation.
“Eat their faces so they can’t run their mouths,” my lion chimed into my thoughts from inside his inner sanctum.
I turned the water up and tried to think of anything else.
Of course, my mind landed on Beryl. We’d gotten off to a rocky start but Ferrick Moonscale had everyone on edge.
Plus, Jondi was finally comfortable enough to behave like a kid and a bit like a mischievous otter.
What would our future look like? Would Beryl just join me in the shower one morning?
Would he come in and massage my shoulders before trailing his big, warm hands all over my body?
Would he toy with my navel? Or would he drop to his knees and lick the water off my thighs and balls before taking me into his mouth?
Yep. We needed our claiming vows not only to close the gap between us but because I was horny.
That was probably the reason I was extra snappy.
I couldn’t actually remember the last time I had sex and that couldn’t be a good sign.
I turned off the water and toweled off. It was time to get the day started.
I’d make the waffles and warm up some fish sticks for Beryl.
Then I’d swing by work and maybe on the way there I could talk to Jondi about going to Uncle Eran’s house for just a night.
I’d even do his normal bedtime story routine over there with him.
Then I could come home for one night alone with Beryl before life resumed as normal.
I squinted as I walked into the kitchen because Beryl had the big overhead light on.
Usually, I only turned it on if we had guests or if I was cleaning up.
Apparently, my mate didn’t mind the big light burning holes in his corneas.
I loved the sun but there was something about artificial light that left me feeling an ick.
Jondi sat at the table with a glass of orange juice, a bowl of frozen, bitten in half, fish sticks, and a plate of waffles topped with blueberries I knew we didn’t have in the house when I went to sleep.
I sniffed the air to see whether it was Vatten or Eran who came in and helped Beryl make breakfast.
“They left early this morning,” Beryl said, figuring out who I was sniffing for.
“Did you ask them to?” I asked, more gently than I would’ve if Jondi hadn’t been in the room.
“No,” Jondi answered and I smiled despite my annoyance. “I caught them leaving. They left a note. I read it. Sorry. Uncle Eran knows some big words. I didn’t get what he meant at all.”
“They were gone when I woke up,” Beryl said once Jondi had finished speaking. “I think they were ready to have their kids back in their own space.”
“He left me a note too!” Jondi said, grinning as if he played a joke on me by not telling me straight away.
“What he’d say?” I asked, sitting down at the table, wishing for a cup of coffee to teleport in front of me.
“He invited me to sleep over at his house because he slept at ours. I think I might do it. Now that you have Beryl you won’t be alone if I do. Do you think it would be okay?” he asked me.
“Do you want to sleep at Uncle Eran’s house tonight?” I asked, gently.
“I think so. I mean, I already have a nap cot there. It’s not too far away,” he said as if he thought it through. “Will you be okay for a night?”
“I think we’ll be okay,” I nodded. “I’m okay with it if you want to. Plenty of kids sleep over at their friends’ houses.”
“I’ll have to pack, though.”
“Definitely,” I nodded as Beryl put a mug of coffee down in front of me. I added the cream and sugar and took a long drink to let it hit my soul.
“Grandma brought blueberries,” Jondi said. “I figured out I can just call her Grandma because I only have one.”
“What about Bree?” I asked.
“Ohh! No! I forgot!” he facepalmed. “I guess I’ll have to ask her what she wants to be called. Why do we have second names for everyone?”
“To show how much we love them,” I said, using the same line my carrier used on me when I was a kid. “And so other people know that they’ll protect us. Like if you’re a bad guy do you want to mess with Carmine’s grandbaby?”
“He’d pick ‘em up and thump ‘em on the floor,” Jondi said. “He’d thump ‘em until their brain learned some things.”
I gave him a sharp nod and took another sip of my coffee. Beryl put a plate of waffles and bacon down in front of me. Jondi eyed the bacon until I handed off both slices to him. Beryl frowned but didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“I thought you said you didn’t want bacon, buddy?”
“I was afraid you’d make it floppy like they do at school. We don’t eat floppy bacon. I don’t want it to oink at me,” Jondi said, matter-of-factly.
“I’ll make some more bacon,” Beryl said, turning back to the stove.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” I said.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I shot him a look. Jondi hadn’t been a ‘good’ eater when he first came to me. Now, if he wanted something on my plate he could have it. As long as he was eating, I’d survive. Beryl made more bacon anyway.
After breakfast, Jondi ran off to his room to pack, and I stood up ready to start cleaning up the kitchen.
“I got it. You can relax,” Beryl said. “And just so you know, Eran and Vatten really did leave on their own.”
“They probably sent me a text, but I turned my phone off before laying down last night,” I said.
“And I talked to Mum this morning. She’ll talk to the others about moving the date of our mating feast back so we can have a matingmoon.”
“You know I have a kid and a business, right?” I arched a brow.
“I know you need a vacation.”
“Well, this isn’t a season of my life where I can have a vacation,” I crossed my arms.
“Tough. You’re having one,” Beryl said, placing the stack of syrup-sticky plates into the sink. “You need a break, Jade.”
“And how do you think that’s going to work? That I can just dump my kid somewhere and fly off with you?” I crossed my arms. This alpha totally didn’t get a damn thing.
“He’s coming with us. The way I figure is that a matingmoon isn’t just mates romping all over the place. It’s about them figuring out how their lives will work together. That also means giving Jondi time to get used to me.”
“He has school, you know,” I said.
Beryl opened his mouth and shut it before saying, “I missed plenty of school to see the world when I was a kid.”
“Did you also hate change? Did you also have trauma built into the way you were born and found?” I asked him.
“I—” he huffed and a ring of smoke came out of his nose.
“We don’t smoke in the house,” I stood up and wafted it away.
“I didn’t mean to!” he growled low. “Look, you can’t bemoan the fact you want a partner and then not let me be a partner.
Being a partner doesn’t mean I just stand around waiting for you to tell me what to do.
You have employees for that. Having a partner means being a partner and that means sometimes you have to let other people make choices. ”
“Not about Jondi,” I shook my head.
“You don’t trust me, do you?” he asked, turning the water off.
“You don’t know him like I do! You don’t know him well enough to make choices about him!
” I whisper-shouted. “He’s doing so well right now with everything going on and I don’t want to risk that!
Right now what I want most in the world is to keep that little boy happy!
I’d chop off my own tail to keep him happy! ”
“What about you? Do you get to be happy?” he asked.
“I am happy!” I snapped, trying not to roar. “I have my dream business, my pride, and my baby is finally starting to find his place in the world! Being happy for me means keeping up with all of that!”
“Then where do I fit in? Finding rocks and whipping out my D-I-C-K when we have a night alone?” Beryl growled. “Don’t you want to see the world? Don’t you want Jondi to see it?”
“No, I don’t,” I sat back down. “I watch the news. I’m online. There are people here from all over the world, Beryl! I know how the world is and I don’t need to see all that mess in person. Neither does Jondi.”
“There’s more than mess to the world, mate,” he said, his voice softening as he joined me at the table.
“Let me take you to the lake house. We’ll have some time alone.
There won’t be any mess there. It’ll just be us and Jondi.
Hell, if you’re worried about being alone with me, bring a friend or two.
You can even invite the twins if it makes you feel better.
I just don’t want you to limit yourself because of the bull you hear from other people. ”
“It’s not just rumors, Beryl,” I sighed. “Bad things happen.”
“They happen here too! Have you forgotten about the three recent murders? Look, I’m not going to argue with you over this anymore.
Come or don’t. You say you want a partner.
You say you want someone to help you with life and I’m trying.
Maybe I’m going about it wrong. Maybe you’re right and I don’t get it, but this is what I do when I’m stressed out.
I go on vacation. I see some place new or revisit an old favorite. Getting away can give you perspective.”
“I can’t leave my business while it’s under threat,” I sighed.
“I’ll hire whoever you want to protect the place while we’re gone. I mean it seems the folks here are doing a fine job of it, but if you want extra security we’ll get it.”
“What about Sermon and Gaia?” I asked.
“They’re going home. They do have a life of their own, mate,” Beryl frowned.
“What about your mom’s big wedding?”
“It’ll be after our mating feast. Just come on a little vacation with me, please,” Beryl said. “I don’t want to argue. I just want to take you somewhere you can relax and not have a million things to get done. Let me take care of you and Jondi for a change.”
“How soon do we have to book the reservation?” I asked.
“We don’t. It’s family property. So take a few days and get everything lined out. Talk to Jondi about it. If he doesn’t want to go, we won’t go. I’m not here to wreck your life, but I’m worried about you.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to Jondi about it but not until after his sleepover. This is a big milestone for him and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“Thank you,” he smiled and a bit of my anger melted away. “Now, you can go relax while I clean up the kitchen.”
“Actually, I’ll probably swing into town and check on things at the playroom.”
“Can’t that be done over the phone?”
“I won’t feel better until I check things out in person,” I said.
“If you must,” he sighed.
“I’m not choosing work over you,” I said.
“I never said you were.”
“You can come if you want to,” I added, standing up.
“Do you want me to?” he asked.
“I missed you when you weren’t in bed this morning,” I said and headed through the house to check on Jondi.