How to Keep a Fae (Coveted Fae #1)

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Adaline

M y heat is over. What’s done is done. I feel them inside me. In my heart. A little golden thread that binds us all together. It hums with contentment.

Their presence calms me. Lying here between them, facing August, with Jayga behind, I know everything has changed. Jayga purrs lightly, even in his sleep. It is the sweetest sound.

My nest is a mess. They have rutted me well. I demanded it. Commanded them like I really was their queen.

Connection.

I craved it. Something more than the incidental moments. I wanted it even before I met them. And then, after I did, I knew that they were the ones. My heart aches that it has taken so long to get here.

But nothing is claimed without consequence.

What will my mother say?

What about the king, and the chosen who tested my blood ?

I fret a little between them—the worry for what might come to pass intruding on the contentment.

They rouse instantly, reminding me they can feel my emotions just as I feel theirs.

“You’re worrying,” August says, his fingers tipping my chin so he can see my face. His eyes search mine. He has always been the cooler, level-headed one of the two. His overlying thoughts are of contentment.

He is not concerned beyond his concerns for me.

“No bastard is going to come between us,” Jayga says, his voice bristling with aggression triggered by my distress. He is so very different from August. They are a balance to each other. They are perfect together; they are perfect for me.

Only what if…

Jayga nips at my throat, almost like a warning to put the nonsense aside.

If only it were that simple.

“I can’t help but worry,” I say. “They might separate us… or cast us out.”

“Cast us out?” Jayga’s confusion is genuine. “Never heard of an omega suffering punishment of any kind for mating, never mind being cast out. Have you, August?”

“Never,” August agrees. “We’re mated now. It would harm you if they separated us. They won’t do that.”

“You think this is the first time this has happened?” Jayga huffs out a chuckle. “It’s not.”

August

“You belong to us now, Adaline,” I say.

A sob escapes her lips, and I hate that my words cause her hurt. Not because she doesn’t want to be ours but because she believes some terrible consequence is about to unfold.

We move instinctively, as we often do, pinning her between us more securely, letting her feel trapped. Right here is where she was ever meant to be.

“Y-you, c-can’t say things like that,” she whisper-yells.

Her feisty side makes me smile, even as I hate that she is upset. “You’ve always been ours. We have all known it for some time.”

She sniffles. Jayga cups her cheek and nibbles kisses on her lips to distract her. I take her tiny hand in mine and bring it to my lips. Her heat is over, and as one set of emotions eases its hold, a fresh one rushes in to take its place.

“You said you wanted us?” Jayga says between kisses. “Did we read all this wrong? Have we acted in error?”

“No. No, of course not. You know I love you. But while you were gone, I was taken to the king.”

I share a look with Jayga, trying to smother my emotions. I am new to bonding, and I worry they might leak through the bond to her. He knows about me, about my father, and what he is. Adaline does not.

“And what happened?” Jayga asks. He cups her chin.

“A chosen was there. He tested me. He said I had foresight, and now I’m having training. There was an imperial in the room, too. Aurelius. He looked just like August.”

My heart is slamming around in my chest. What the fuck were they doing with her? “Aurelius is my father,” I say.

I still don’t know my father well, nor can I guess his motivations. He told me to speak to Jayga, and while he does not carry the authority to sanction us, it was a definite endorsement.

Perhaps we still acted recklessly and with haste…

“August,” Jayga says softly, his eyes hard .

If he can feel my turmoil, then so can Adaline. I smooth out the mental ball of anxiety.

She twists back to look at me, her eyes wide. “I don’t remember all of it. Just snippets. I-I think the king did something to keep me calm.”

“The king has many skills, including glamor. Most likely, it was exactly that, done to keep you calm. The chosen are formidable. I’ve never met one in person, but I’ve heard it can be intense... Tell us what you remember, even if it is small.”

“Aurelius asked the chosen if he would sanction it. I-I think he was talking about us, about us bonding. And I don’t know why, but that was the impression I got… Then the chosen refused him.”

“Bastard,” Jayga growls.

Her lips quiver. Jayga purrs. I kiss her temple, trying to bank my own roiling rage and project a confidence I do not feel. My father did that much for me—I appreciate what he tried. But now, and unwittingly, we have been placed in the crosshairs of a chosen one who has explicitly dictated he would not sanction us.

“Do you think he was talking about mating?” she asks.

“It could mean many things,” I hedge. If it does, I know of none.

We will likely be hauled before Cecil the moment we leave her quarters.

Fuck him—I don’t care if he is chosen. Nothing and no one will break what has been made.

“Has this got anything to do with the couch,” Jayga says slowly, his voice dipping to a growl.

“A present from the king.”

I raise my brows.

Jayga bristles with aggression.

“He asked me what color I liked, and when I said all of them… Well, this is what I got.” She wipes a tear from her cheek, sounding more sulky than upset.

It brings an unwitting smile to my lips—her heat may be over, but I sense she is still needy, and it’s getting to her.

“I think the bastard is wooing our queen,” Jayga mutters, his aggression ramping up, which is making our mate all squirmy… and aroused.

I file her response away for later. She is not bred yet. The possessive side of me is deeply unhappy about this and is already calculating how long we might have to wait before we can force her heat again.

“Only one way to find out what is in store,” I say firmly, keeping my response locked down although I’m likewise murderous toward anyone who thinks of poaching our queen, be him a king or otherwise.

“Aye,” Jayga says. “Also, I’m fucking starving. Best we get up before I start snacking on our fae mate again.”