Chapter Two #2
The healer rubbed his hands together. “Yes. She did.”
“Vines, jackass.” Rowan wiggled her hands.
He looked surprised. “Ah. Oops. Apologies.”
Mell watched the vines retract, and Rowan sat up. “Thanks for that.”
She pulled her shirt down and jerked her jacket into straight lines. She rolled to her feet and looked at Mell. “You good?”
“Yup. He thought you were a dude. Hence the attacks.”
“Miss, I am very regretful that the goblin attacked you when he saw you. He thought you were trying to take our mate.” Norecayet sighed.
“Great. There is a reason that alpha and idiot both have five letters. Nice and easy to remember.” She stood and looked at Mell. “So what do you want to do now? I have kept your driver’s license and student loans updated. Your credentials are all waiting. Your bank accounts are intact.”
Mell smiled with watery eyes. “You did that for me?”
“No, I did it for the asshole next to you who likes hitting me. If you move in with him, I am going to do lots of video chats and not many visits.”
Mell felt like she had been struck. “What? No.”
“Yeah. He has regret. I had agony. That isn’t going to fade any time soon. I am not asking you to choose. He’s a mate. That’s fine. I just don’t want you surprised that I don’t want to be around him.” She smiled sadly. “You know I hate surprises.”
Mell started sobbing and thudded into Rowan’s arms. She was babbling apologies, and Rowan soothed her. Nothing felt like Rowan. She had found a mate, was having a child, and now felt like she was losing her best friend.
Rowan sighed. “You aren’t losing me, but our friendship is going to have to change. I can’t look at his face without remembering all the pain, and that is not a memory I want when I see him holding your baby.”
Mell blinked. “I want you both.”
“You can’t have us both. He hates me, and I really hate him. I have lost two jobs to repair because of him. I don’t have the kind of sick days that account for being attacked by a blue jackass.”
“I... didn’t know.”
“You didn’t need to know then. You need to know now. Dell is excited to meet with you again. You aren’t losing a village. Your village is just moving.”
“But... you invited Dell. You said she could bring her babies.”
“I did. That was before a green man pinned me down and took care of my internal bleeding and punctured lung. I had time to think.”
Mell sniffled. “You could just attack him if he growled at you.”
“Honey, you deserve to not be on guard every minute of every day. You know what? I deserve the same thing.” Rowan stroked her hair. “He’s looking at me like he wants my guts on the ground right now.”
Mell gasped and whirled, looking at her mate. There was a red tinge to his gaze. “Are you mad at her?”
“She’s holding you, and she smells like alpha.”
Mell stared at him in astonishment. “Are you mentally deficient? I know you are a slow learner. If you touch her again... ever... I am going to find someone to break your arms, and you won’t need them for me because any hand raised to her will never touch me.
I am not fucking kidding. Today, I want to go home, relax, have a shower, and try to find a new job.
I don’t want to hear from you for a while. ”
“But you need me.”
Mell looked at him. “You don’t understand.
The scent that she’s wearing is yours. She wears it so that the baby and I can continue to grow and thrive.
We never bonded. This is an alpha-less pregnancy.
She’s acting as friend and father during my gestation.
Your blue half wasn’t there enough to get me through the first few weeks.
You have been flitting in and out. I need someone dependable, and that has always been Rowan. ”
Mell looked at the other mages. “Can one of you give me a ride home? Rowan needs her bike.”
Ted raised her hand. “I’ve got you.”
Rowan gave Ted the address and then looked calmly at Norecayet. “If you try and touch me at any point, I will create a story to tell your child after I use my stored energy to rip you limb from limb.”
Bands of crimson light began to swirl around her again, and there were jagged edges this time.
She held her hand out, a disk of power began to spin, and she sent it shrieking across the landscape, plowing a path through grass, dirt, stone, and water as it ripped through the top of a pond, then spun around a tree, removing two lower limbs.
The power spun and returned to Rowan’s hand. “I only let my energy dissipate to stop you from being injured. That ban is now off.”
Mell saw Norecayet’s eyes widen as understanding dawned.
Rowan handed Mell over to Ted. “I will meet you at home.”
Mell nodded. “Yes. Thank you for not killing him.”
“I will print some Calm Down, Rowan cards. You can use them as you like, but you will only get ten.” Rowan patted her shoulder. “Okay, I am heading home. I will grab you a phone on the way.”
“Thank you.” Mell looked at her friend. “I mean that. Thank you.”
“Right. Well, I am going to grab some takeout on the way, so you have an hour to show up.”
“And then you eat it?”
“And then I eat it and come looking for you.” Rowan patted her cheek. “Okay, I am out of here. Goodbye, ladies.”
Mell watched her friend get on her motorcycle, put on her helmet, and coax it to life. Rowan roared off, and Mell felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Norecayet walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I am sorry. Did she really control a spinning saw blade made of magic?”
“Yes. That is how she took apart the shadow mages. She had six of those blades whirling around.”
“She never used them on me.”
“No, because she knew you were my mate. She would never hurt something that I needed or that made me happy.” Mell looked up at him to see if he was getting the point.
He winced. “I understand. My other self understands. He is filled with dawning horror as to his actions.”
“Great. Well, today, I am going home, and Rowan and I are going to have takeout. I am going to go over all the baby stuff she’s picked up for me, and we are going to giggle a lot and cry and more giggling.
” She smiled. “Tomorrow, I start applying for jobs and try to explain the gap since my last one. Nor, what would have happened if the runes hadn’t caught you when you came barging in here? ”
“I would have attacked the others around you. Why? Wait, how did they stop me?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
He sighed. “She caught me without hurting me.”
“Yes. And as you tried to fight your way out of the wards, she took the damage.”
“What can I do?”
“Not hit her. Stop glaring at her. I have to confirm she still has the same food cravings, and you could do something there. Oh. I don’t know if there are any shops that cater to omega stuff, but she loves soft stuff.
Her skin is hypersensitive, so everything she has is soft. Even her jeans have a lining.”
Ted asked softly, “When did you want to go?”