by Tami Lund
She frowned as her gaze swept over his person. “This must be a result of our two species mating, because I am certain I have never seen anyone glow like this immediately after mating before.”
He liked that she wasn’t afraid to say it. My mate, he thought, and he felt a surge of pride.
“You said your mating ceremony is different,” he pointed out.
She laughed. Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “No. Not at all. We stand before the king and whatever other Lightbearers we choose to observe the ceremony. We’re fully clothed,” she said on another laugh. “The king has to give his blessing. If he does not, the couple cannot mate.”
That part concerned him. While they were mated by shifter law, they were residing within the coterie. Would her father recognize that they were mates, or would he insist it was null and void because he had not given them his blessing?
“We’ve never had a situation like this before,” she said out loud, almost as if she were reading his thoughts. “I do not know how my father will react. Well, that isn’t true. I do believe I know how he will react, at least initially. But he understands the different magical communities have their own laws. I would expect he will accept us as mates, in time.”
They weren’t going to tell him that night, of course. They agreed that it made sense to wait until they could have a private conversation with Olivia’s parents. Making such a monumental announcement in front of several dozen party guests was probably not the most appropriate way to inform her parents that their daughter had mated with a shifter.
* * * *
The queen was in her glory. She’d insisted the small pack of shifters join the party, and she spent the first portion of the evening walking around with baby Freddy in her arms. It was almost as if she was already a grandmother, despite the fact that the pup was a full-blooded shifter and was not, in fact, related to her. Tanner decided the queen would be a significantly easier sell than the king. All he had to do was put a pup in Olivia’s belly and she’d be sold.
He glanced down at Olivia, who was chatting away with some female Lightbearer whose name he forgot. The dress she wore was cinched at the waist, emphasizing her tiny waistline and flat abdomen. Alexa had informed him that Olivia had been rendered temporarily sterile when she healed his mother, but she also mentioned that she had managed to pull the poisons out of Olivia’s system completely, when she healed her. Which meant she could very well be carrying his pup right now. He resisted the urge to reach over and flatten his hand against her belly.
He spotted Alexa in the crowd and wondered if he could talk the healer into checking without being obvious about it. Lightbearer healers, unlike shifter midwives, could determine the sex of the babe almost immediately. He would know, very quickly after conception, if she was carrying a boy or a girl. It didn’t matter in Tanner’s mind, but if it was a boy, he figured it was one more way to encourage the king to accept him as part of his daughter’s life.
Dusk approached slowly. The party had been going on for hours. Lightbearers, due to their need for sunlight, generally held their parties during the day, and outdoors, if at all possible. This particular party was held outside on the deck of the beach house. There were linen-draped cocktail tables every few feet, topped with pink and blue hydrangeas that perfumed the air. Servants carried trays laden with various food items and drinks. The wine was not as potent as faery wine, but it went down easily enough.
Cecilia wandered over at one point, and she looked worried, which was an unusual state for the normally carefree Lightbearer.
“My entire family just walked out,” she whispered into Olivia’s ear. Tanner heard, of course, thanks to his shifter senses.
“Why?” he asked.
She glanced at him and then averted her gaze. “My family is ... more rigid than most.”
He looked to Olivia for an explanation. She shook her head with a note of sadness.
“They do not approve of the fact that my father has allowed you all to stay within the coterie. They are extremely exclusive. The type who do not believe intermixing of species should occur at all.” A faint blush stained her cheeks.
“They are ridiculous,” Cecilia said hotly. “Once, when I was just a teen, I snuck out of the coterie and met this handsome human boy. I came home and declared that I wanted to mate with him. My father locked me in the cellar for three days. I was so weak from lack of sunlight afterward that they had to call a healer to revive me.”
“That’s child abuse,” Tanner said. Magic flared around his hands. Olivia placed her hand on his arm and he felt it as she pushed soothing magic at him.
“Don’t get overwrought,” she murmured. “It happened a long time ago. As you can see, Cici is fine.”
“Overwrought?” Tanner sputtered indignantly. “I don’t get overwrought.”
Olivia and Cecilia both snickered. He narrowed his eyes and glared at each in turn. One of the undercooks appeared, looking harried.
“Princess—I mean, Olivia—Carley’s mate is insisting she leave the beach house. But she isn’t done with all the food preparations yet. He’s making a scene in the kitchens. Carley nearly in tears over it.”
Tanner’s mate immediately squared her shoulders and frowned. “Thank you, Dahlia. I will handle this. I do not want to worry my mother.” The undercook nodded and then rushed away. Olivia and Tanner followed. Cecilia trailed along behind them.
While it was obvious that a great deal of activity had occurred within the kitchens, the rooms were surprisingly clean and organized. At the moment, there were twenty cooks of various stations, all standing around observing the interaction between Carley and a man Tanner presumed was her mate. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t much of an interaction as it was a man bullying a woman. The male Lightbearer stood over her, cursing and shouting, as she quivered and shrank away from him, yet at the same time, obviously was trying to save face in front of her staff.
“What’s his name?” Tanner asked without taking his gaze off the couple.
“Miguel,” Olivia replied.
He stepped around her and headed toward the two arguing Lightbearers. Ever the pack master, apparently, despite his decision to leave that life behind.
Miguel was a typical bully. He had no problem abusing those who were weaker than him, but when faced with an adversary who was at least his equal—or in Tanner’s case, unquestionably stronger than he—Miguel immediately backed down. He wasn’t happy to do it, though.
“You’ll pay for this, mate,” he threatened as he gave Tanner one last contemptuous glare before storming from the kitchen. Carley let out a relieved sigh and pushed her hair out of her face.
“Will you be okay?” Tanner asked.
She nodded. “Thank you. He just …”
“Doesn’t like shifters,” Tanner finished for her.
“Yes,” Carley admitted. “But I could not leave the queen’s party without finishing the desserts. I would not have a job to return to tomorrow.”
“I understand,” Tanner replied. He also suspected Carley did not hold to the same beliefs as her mate. He hoped she would not suffer for it later, as Miguel had promised.
“If he abuses you...”
She shook her head to cut him off. “I will be fine.” She dismissed his concern and began barking orders at her staff, and within very short order, the kitchen was back to a well-oiled machine, the employees creating delicious and beautiful edible concoctions for the queen’s party.
As Tanner, Olivia, and Cecilia returned to the party, he asked, “Does your mother come up with reasons for her parties, or are they always random like this?”
Olivia frowned. “Actually, there is almost always a reason. This is the first one in a while that she’s thrown for no other reason than to have a party.”
“Stress relief,” he reminded her. “Her daughter almost died a few days ago.” He wondered how much of a dent this party had put in the nearly empty royal coiffeurs. How much longer before Sander Bennett would be fo
rced to admit to his subjects that there was no more money? How much longer would he hold out before telling his mate she could no longer throw elaborate parties?
A short time after they returned to the party, Dane appeared. “Olivia, I need to speak with you,” he said, his voice insistent.
“What is it, Dane?”
His gaze darted to Tanner and back. “Privately,” he said, practically choking on the word.
Tanner arched his brows and said nothing. Olivia looked up at him. “Okay,” she said, as her gaze returning to Dane. “I’ll be back momentarily,” she murmured, and Tanner let her go.
Shifters as a rule had a jealous streak to rival anyone else in the magical community, but in this case, he knew there was no need to be concerned. It was Dane, after all, and Tanner and Olivia had only just mated a short time ago.
* * * *
“No!”
“I am afraid so.” Dane sounded and looked as grim as Olivia felt. She supposed that should make her feel a little better, knowing that neither one of them wanted this, but it was only a small consolation.
“We have to stop this, Dane.”
“How? He has been of this mind since we were younglings. He has been training me for years.”
“Unsuccessfully,” Olivia pointed out.
“Obviously, that isn’t going to stop him.” If it was possible, Dane’s voice had gotten even more grim.
This was a disaster. It was Olivia’s worst nightmare. And it was made even worse by the fact that was now mated to Tanner.
“Dane, I do not love you. Well, I do, but like a brother. I cannot possibly mate with someone who is like a brother to me. How would we ever procreate?”
“We’ll have to muddle through, I suppose,” Dane replied, and Olivia thought, Muddle through? I would never have to muddle through having sex with Tanner. On the contrary, each time she coupled with him, she could hardly wait for the next.
“I am not going to mate with you,” Olivia said firmly.
“Olivia, this isn’t our choice, and you know it.”
“My father may be able to control my life, but he cannot control yours. Tell him you won’t do it.”
“Don’t be naive, Olivia. He controls my life as much as he controls yours. He is my king, after all. In his mind, I should see it as a great honor that he chose me to be your mate.”
“He only did it because your family is so fertile.”
She knew the words would hurt, and she felt guilty for saying them out loud, but it was the truth. Sander Bennett had carefully selected his daughter’s future mate based on the very real fear that his daughter would have the same struggle bearing children as his mate had. His hope was that Dane’s fertile genes would counteract that issue.
Just as she expected, Dane looked hurt, but he did not defend himself, nor did he suggest he might be able to bring more to the table than simply fertile genes. He knew better. Which only reaffirmed Olivia’s belief that they absolutely should not mate.
Besides, they couldn’t. She was already mated to another.
“Dane, I have something to tell you,” she started, but it was at that moment that her mother glided down the hall and discovered them tucked away in the nook they’d ducked into to have their private conversation. She looked positively delighted and anticipatory.
“Your father has a great announcement,” she said. “Everyone is gathering round the bottom of our private balcony. Come, he says you are to join us. Both of you.”
Olivia and Dane exchanged a look. “No, mother,” Olivia protested. “I need to speak to you first. There’s something you must know— ”
“Olivia, really,” Genevieve chided. “I realize he is your father, but to everyone else, he is the king. You cannot delay whatever it is he intends to say. It’s bad form.”
But Olivia knew what he meant to say, based on Dane’s grim news that he’d just had a private conversation with the king, who’d reiterated his intentions to mate his one and only daughter to the healer.
“Mother, I cannot— ” Her protests fell upon deaf ears, and somehow, only a few moments later, Olivia found herself being herded through the door and into her parents’ private chamber, along with Dane, who looked as if he were heading to the gallows.
Genevieve, on the other hand, was a child on the morning of her birthday, excited and anticipating a surprise. Her mate had not told her the nature of his announcement, only that he meant to make one.
When Olivia stepped onto the balcony, her father was already there, looking down upon his subjects. He wore a royal blue and silver uniform that shimmered every time he moved. His thick blond hair was perfectly coifed, his face smoothly shaven. He turned when her mother gave her a nudge, forcing her closer to her father. She saw the determined look in his eye.
Everyone who was left at the party—which was nearly everyone, except for Cecilia’s family and a few hangers-on who had left in protest of mingling with shifters—stood on the deck below, looking up, waiting for the great announcement.
Olivia glanced the railing and within moments spotted Tanner in the crowd below. His face was upturned, like everyone else, except he was looking directly at Olivia. She shrank away from the rail and pressed her back against the wall, as far away from the crowd as she could get.
“Dane, my boy,” Sander boomed. “Come here, son.”
He winked at Dane, who hesitantly edged closer to the king. When he was within reach, Sander grabbed his arm and hauled him up to the railing. He smacked Dane on the back and waved one arm in an arch, as if to encompass all of the subjects below. A trail of magical sparks shimmered in its wake.
“This is a great, great day,” Sander began, and then he droned on for a few moments about the wonderful coterie and the inhabitants and how they’ve been ruled by the same family for more than five centuries.
“Today, we will continue that legacy,” he boomed. “Today, my only offspring will take her mate. Today, my daughter will mate with Dane Metaldyne!”
Chapter 23
Olivia. Mate. Dane.
None of those words went together. None of it made sense. And yet, as Tanner watched from below, surrounded by a crowd of excited Lightbearers, Sander Bennett performed the Lightbearer mating ceremony and declared Olivia and Dane mated.
His Olivia.
But she wasn’t, not by Lightbearer law. That couldn’t be right. She was mated to him!
He searched the balcony, but if she was still up there, she was standing toward the back, so that he could not see her from where he stood, almost directly below. But she must be up there, or else how could the king perform the ceremony?
Why had she not stopped it? Why had Dane not stopped it?
Dane? It didn’t make sense. Olivia had always insisted he was nothing more than a brother.
But as he thought about it, he realized it did make sense. The fact that Dane went to Vegas when he found out Olivia was missing. Several conversations he recalled overhearing, conversations that were intimate in the way of families—or lovers.
Had this been the plan all along? Was that why Olivia went to Vegas? A bachelorette party gone bad? One last opportunity to experience life, before she settled down to see to her duties as the only child of the king of the Lightbearers? Tanner had expected that it would be his pup in her belly that might be king someday, not Dane’s.
The crowd cheered and clapped, and Tanner realized the ceremony was over. Olivia was mated to another. To Dane.
It didn’t make sense.
The king turned away from the crowd and directed his attention to the back of the balcony. Tanner could not make out the conversation over the cheering, but it was obvious that Sander was having a very animated conversation with someone. Dane disappeared from view. All those jealous feelings that Tanner had pretended he didn’t have because it was Dane and Dane was hardly a threat suddenly flooded his system. He wasn’t a threat—yet he was.
He was the ultimate threat.
The glass balcony doors
opened and closed and Tanner thought he caught a glimpse of Olivia stepping through them, followed by Dane, and it took everything he had not to shift into the form of a bird and fly up there to find out what the hell was going on. He needed to know. He needed to hear it from Olivia.
The king appeared at the railing again and lifted both hands. There was a nervous smile on his face. Was he about to confide in his subjects that the coterie was broke?
Instead of that, he thanked his subjects for joining the party and for being a part of this special day. He informed them that his daughter and Dane were so excited about their sudden mating that they immediately decided to spend some time alone.
Tanner was twenty feet in the air before he realized he’d just shifted in the middle of a group of Lightbearers. He didn’t care. He had to talk to Olivia.
* * * *
“Dane, leave me alone,” Olivia cried out when she finally ran out of breath and stopped running, only to realize he had been chasing her since she left the balcony after her father’s horrible, horrible stunt. She hadn’t even been able to tell him that his ceremony was null and void because she was already mated.
“Olivia, talk to me. We’ll figure this out.”
She abruptly stopped and whirled around. Dane nearly ran into her, not having expected her to stop.
“There is nothing to figure out. I do not want to be mated to you. I want Tanner. I am already— ”
“I know.”
She stared at him. He waved one hand in a vague fashion.
“If it wasn’t obvious by the way he glowed, it was certainly obvious by the way you look at one another, and by the way he is so possessive of you. Not to mention the fact that he healed you, using your magic, I might add.”
Olivia felt her fury deflate as if she were a balloon. She slumped against the nearest wall. “If you can see it, why can my father not?”
“He sees what he wants to see. He always has.”
“I cannot be your mate, Dane.”
“I know. And I realize that I should be flattered to be mated to the princess, but to be honest, I do not wish to be mated to you, either.”