Before Ayden could formulate a plan to do just that he heard the unmistakable sound of Brogan’s cell phone ringing. Every ounce of pleasure he had just experienced dissolved in a hailstorm of hurt and anger. Brogan had set out to seduce him, and Ayden had gone along willingly, and the whole damn time he had kept his cell phone close at hand so he would not miss out on Paul. Ayden felt like a complete idiot. He sprung from the couch and grabbed his shirt from where it had been tossed onto the carpet.
“Ayden-”
“No. I will not listen to one word you have to say. Answer the phone, Brogan,” Ayden demanded, as he pulled on his shirt and zipped up his jeans.
“I don’t want to answer it.”
“Why not? You have much to discuss. Your boyfriend would find the story of the little familiar thingie disgracing himself after barely a hand laid upon him very amusing.” Ayden was so angry he found it nearly impossible to even remember that people no longer spoke in that manner of words. If Brogan said anything in response, Ayden never heard a word of it. Heading straight to his room, he not only locked it but cast a quick spell to prevent anyone from getting into his space. Taking a deep breath, he went to the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as he could possibly make it. The water felt as if it was scalding his skin, but he ignored it and scrubbed himself in disgust. He could not remember why he had ever thought trying to work things out with Brogan was a good idea. Enough was enough.
Shutting off the water, Ayden grabbed his towel and made quick work of drying himself off. Too quick apparently, because his T-shirt stuck to him in places where his skin was still damp, but he could care less. Shimmying into his jeans he swung open the door to his bedroom and headed straight for Latarian’s room. It was time to find out if she knew the spell he obviously needed to break up this ridiculous mating. He gave the door a sharp rap and Latarian opened the door in her nightgown. She yawned. She had obviously been sleeping. Before he could utter a single word, Brogan came storming down the hallway.
“Ayden, I need to talk to you,” Brogan said at a volume just below a shout.
“You have nothing to say I care to listen to. I do not care what you do or where you go, but I am going to talk to Latarian.” The witch herself said nothing after Ayden yelled back at the dragon.
“Brogan. Let’s give them a chance to talk.” Aleksander had materialized in the hallway as well; perhaps the noise had brought him there to investigate. All Ayden cared was that Aleksander was, gratefully, leading Brogan away from Latarian’s room.
“Ayden, what is it?” Latarian had never been someone Ayden had felt like emptying his heart to, but the night had left him with too many tumultuous emotions, he had no way to reign them in and he began sobbing silently. Thankfully, she wrapped an arm around him and led him into her room, and they sat on her bed while tears streaked down his cheeks. He cried for all the years he had spent alone. He cried for the mate whose life had ended so tragically. Ayden even cried for the glimmer of hope, only recently recognized, that had been destroyed. The hope that even though Brogan was not his true intended mate, that they could figure out a way to be happy. That hope had just died a quick and painful death. And finally he cried over his first sexual experience ending in first embarrassment and then betrayal.
When the torrent passed, his eyes were stinging, his head was pounding, and his witch was patting his back awkwardly. “Do you feel any better?” she asked and Ayden was pretty sure there was fear in her voice. His tears obviously made her uncomfortable.
“No, I have a splitting headache. Crying sucks.”
“Would you care to discuss it?”
He was not in the habit of confiding in Latarian, but he did want her help with the spell and she was offering solace, however begrudgingly. “Yeah.”
But before he could even figure out a way to begin there was a knock on the door. Much to Ayden’s relief it was Blodwen, and she sailed right past Latarian, took a seat on the bed and wrapped Ayden in her arms.
“Aleksander and Brogan are yelling in the kitchen, I figured something happened on your date,” she said gently and Latarian, who had not quite figured out how to deal with Blodwen, just sat in a chair opposite them and said nothing.
“Tonight we were watching movies, and things got really heated between us.” He was not going to even look in Latarian’s direction as he confessed this to Blodwen.
“My my, did our little familiar get his cherry popped?” Blodwen joked with a saucy wink.
“You are a pervert. No, we were making out and then his hand was in my pants, and I’m sitting there catching my breath and fucking Paul calls him.”
Blodwen’s eyes were wide with surprise, “Oh wow.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know what to say. He didn’t answer it, did he?”
“He might have, but I started yelling and gave him shit about it.”
“What are you going to do?”
“That is why I am here.” Gently extricating himself from Blodwen’s caring embrace, he rose and came to kneel at Latarian’s feet. “Latarian, I need to know if you can break our mate pair. Does such a spell exist?” Ayden hoped she had the right answer; he was desperate to not feel this way again.
“There is such a spell, but it requires the blood of both mates.”
“So Brogan has to agree.”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“I don’t see that being a big problem. I creep him out, and he has Paul, he will probably be glad to get rid of me.”
“Ayden, are you sure you want to do this? I have never heard of Fate matching someone for a third time. You might never get another chance,” Blodwen questioned from her spot on the bed.
“Clearly he knows his own mind.”
“Blodwen, I don’t want to settle for something not truly meant to be. If we were true mates, I would allow no one to separate us, but this… this is nothing short of a tragedy.” And Ayden was done playing the suffering hero.
“Want to explain to me why you and Ayden are both yelling in the hallway?” Aleksander asked Brogan as they entered the kitchen.
This evening was not something he wanted to discuss with anyone but Ayden. “He flipped out,” Brogan muttered.
“Stop mumbling. He flipped out? Why? Ayden has a temper, but he usually has at least part of a reason to lose it.” Clearly Aleksander was ticked off and was not going to let the issue drop.
“Well I had my hands down his pants and my fucking phone rings and Ayden starts yelling at me to answer it. He told me he knew it was my boyfriend Paul, and I should take the call. Then he went storming out,” Brogan explained miserably.
“Please tell me that I did not just hear you say that you never fucking explained to your mate that you in fact did NOT have a boyfriend,” Aleksander roared, his ire at his best friend impossible to miss.
“He never asked and he seemed fine all the other times I talked to Paul. I figured you or someone else in the house had told him.” Even hearing the explanation out loud Brogan realized it was weak, and he had seriously fucked up.
“You are a fucking idiot. It is not our place to explain your life to him. That is your responsibility, and Ayden should not have to ask. You knew he was aware of Paul; you should have set the record straight. How often are you talking to this guy? Why would you talk to him when Ayden is around? Why would you even want to?” It was so like his best friend to leave no question unasked, Brogan thought glumly.
“I don’t think Paul has a lot of people close to him. He travels a great deal representing his court for different council stuff. He seemed to latch onto me. I was just trying to be his friend. Nothing else. If I had known that it upset Ayden I wouldn’t have even bothered,” Brogan replied. He did not want to do anything to alienate Ayden, but it seemed he had done nothing but that since the beginning. Normally confident and good with people, he had turned into a bumbling idiot with no tact around his mate.
“I honestly do not know what to tell you. Obviously he is
very hurt and angry. You need to fix this. He is your mate. Your gift from Fate. The other half of your heart and soul. His happiness and well-being should by your only concern. Fate gifts us with a mate, but it is up to each person to make the relationship work.” Aleksander’s words rang with conviction and Brogan knew his king would give anything to be introduced to his own mate.
“I have some serious explaining and making up to do,” Brogan concluded.
“No, shit.”
“You suck at this best friend thing.”
“Yeah, well you suck as a mate.”
“Tell me about it.” Aleksander’s only response was a snort.
“Think they are done talking?” Brogan asked after a few moments of quiet.
“I don’t know, Brogan, but you need to lay all your cards on the table. Ayden is volatile, but underneath that quick temper is a big, caring heart. I know if you tell him how you feel and apologize, he will listen.”
“Right. Thanks. One question though.”
“What?” Aleksander still sounded exasperated.
“Do you know who Eoghan is?”
“He is Latarian’s mate. Apparently he was thrown from a horse as a teenager. I remind myself of her loss whenever I feel myself running out of patience with her.”
“That is awful about Eoghan.”
“Yeah, it is. Now let’s go talk to your mate. I love watching him hand you your ass on a platter.”
“Dickhead.”
Chapter 9
Ayden walked into the kitchen with his witch at his side, ready to end this charade. Brogan looked up at him from where he sat at the counter, but Ayden was unable to read his thoughts. It did not surprise him; they had not had enough time to get to know each other well enough to read each other’s facial expressions. That mattered little to Ayden at this point; he was not going to be swayed in his mission.
“Brogan, I have had a long talk with Latarian and Blodwen. I think we both know this idea of us mating is not going to work,” Ayden stated resolutely.
“I realize we have not gotten off to the best start, but Fate put us together for a reason.”
“Honestly I don’t feel the reason behind it matters. There is no reason we need to stay together.”
Brogan wasn’t sure what his mate was talking about; they were mates. Their mating was full of misunderstanding and Brogan had made some poor decisions, but there was nothing they could not work out. “We don’t have much choice, Ayden. Fate determines which two people should be mates.”
“Fate may have paired us, but Latarian knows a spell strong enough to fix that mistake.”
Brogan was starting to get pissed off, and his dragon was growing restless. “Mistake? Our mating is no mistake, Ayden.”
“I disagree. You are not my true mate. As I said, Latarian has a spell to break our mating pair,” the little familiar said seriously.
“I have no clue what you are talking about. True mates? All mates are true mates. You were matched with me. You are my true mate, and I don’t really care how powerful you are Latarian, no one should go against the wishes of Fate.” Perhaps no one had explained this all properly to Ayden, but Brogan’s dragon was hissing and snarling at the idea of anyone taking his mate away. It was taking all of his willpower to keep from shifting. His dragon wanted to attack anyone who would endanger their mating; it did not matter one whit that the person was Ayden’s own witch who was the threat.
“Ayden’s true mate died with Eoghan. It is my understanding that shifters are offered second chances in similar situations, but I have never heard of such a thing happening to magickind. My familiar is not pleased with this match, and it is my duty to see to his needs,” Latarian explained and while Brogan’s human side understood the words his beast was still clamoring to get to the surface and grab his mate.
“You honestly believe I am not your true intended mate? We have barely had any time together,” Brogan bit out.
“It does not matter. I have known for centuries that my true mate can be with me in spirit only. Eoghan’s familiar was who I was meant to share my life with,” Ayden explained, and Brogan was in disbelief. Obviously his mate had never even tried to work towards sealing their bond. They all thought him wrong for his relationship with Paul, but Ayden was the one that was promised to a ghost.
Brogan was incensed. “So I’m not a familiar, and that is why you don’t want me. You decided before we even spoke that you were not interested. You never gave us a chance.”
“Please don’t make this difficult. We need a drop of your blood for the spell to work. It will give you the chance to perhaps find someone better suited.” Ayden appeared to be pleading with him, but Brogan was well beyond caring.
“Did it ever occur to you that regardless of your belief that I am not your ‘true’ mate, that you might be mine? You would be sentencing me to a life with the hope that Fate will give me a second chance with someone who might not be a perfect match. If Fate decides to give me another mate at all!” Brogan shouted and felt his canines elongate, and his eyesight grew considerably sharper as his dragon began to take over him.
“Brogan, get a hold of your dragon. Look at me,” Aleksander commanded, and Brogan did as he was told. His beast immediately responded to his king’s more powerful animal and Brogan was able to regain control, but his dragon was still very close to the surface. Brogan doubted his dragon would relax until his mate was no longer in jeopardy of being taken away.
“We will have to find a way to make this work between us, Ayden.”
“I do not want to ‘find a way’ to be with you. We need to end this. It will not work,” Ayden snarled.
“What the hell do you plan to do? Reject every mate Fate grants you because you have some ridiculous belief that you were once mated with some long dead familiar? Do you honestly want to live your whole life alone?” Brogan challenged and stepped right into Ayden’s personal space.
“Yes, damn it! I don’t want to settle for sloppy fucking seconds!” Ayden yelled back, and Brogan was fascinated with the way the green in his eyes all but disappeared. His eyes now looked to be nearly the same dark blue of Brogan’s own.
“Gentlemen, we all need to calm down. We are getting nowhere. Take a breath and step the hell away from each other before someone gets hurt,” Aleksander ordered.
“Perhaps Brogan needs more time to think on this,” Latarian added.
“You are right, Latarian. Someone needs more time to think about this, but it is not me. Ayden, there is no way you really want to spend your life this way,” Brogan said as he backed two short steps away from Ayden.
“You are the one that needs to reconsider. Is that what you want? To be stuck with someone who believes you are not really meant for them? Is that the kind of relationship you want to force on us both?” Ayden countered, as he too took a few cautious steps back.
“You both need some space to consider what is right for both of you. I suggest you take a week to think it over, and four of us can reconvene.” Aleksander did not look to be in the mood to argue about his statement.
“Fine,” Brogan said at the same time as his mate. Not waiting to see if anyone wanted to add anything further, Brogan headed straight outside and stripped off his clothes. Letting his beast take over, he spread the giant wings of his dragon and took to the skies.
As much as the idea appealed at the moment Brogan could not spend the rest of his life in dragon form. The last few hours had passed in a blur as he worked through his rage at the thought of his mate being ripped away from him. Dawn was now approaching, and he glided down to the ground outside his home and shed his scales. Back in human form he quickly dressed and headed inside. The house was quiet, it was too early for anyone to be awake. Brogan went straight to his room and once again stripped down to his skin. He climbed into his bed, but as exhausted as he was he knew sleep would not come easily. His thoughts were too tumultuous to allow him to relax fully.
Since his arrival in Arizona, Brogan had d
one nothing but fuck things up. Although it was Ayden that had made him so angry this evening, he knew he had pushed his mate into wanting to be rid of him. Brogan knew he had poorly disguised his less than flattering emotions about Ayden’s unique existence. He had not understood what a witch’s familiar was, and he had not approached the idea with an open mind.
It made him feel stupid now, spending any time with Ayden made it easy to see just how real and independent of Latarian he was. Brogan supposed some of his initial intolerance had come from his belief that when he found his mate that he would be a dragon. He had learned a little too late that race didn’t matter, and Fate would not have paired him with someone incompatible. No matter what Ayden currently believed, the two of them were meant for each other. While not enough time had passed for them to get to know each other truly well, Brogan liked what he had learned of his mate. Feisty, funny, and passionate Ayden embodied the personality traits he had always been drawn to in the past.
Unfortunately, the whole familiar thing had not been their only problem. Brogan wanted to kick his own ass for not coming clean about his relationship with Paul. It was nothing short of criminal for his mate to believe his heart and body belonged to another. He truly did not understand his own reluctance in bringing it up. Each day that had passed without the truth had made the weight of it grow, and there was no delicate way to just throw it into a casual conversation. Brogan wished he had had some balls and gotten over himself long enough to do it though.
Latarian’s offer of casting a spell that could permanently separate him from Ayden bothered him as well. He had meant what he had said earlier in the kitchen; no one should have that kind of power to interfere with Fate that way. As far as his relationship with Latarian went, he barely knew the woman and now he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to put the evening’s events behind him and give her a fair shot. Brogan could fully understand that he had fucked up, and he could also understand her taking Ayden’s side, but no one had given him a chance to explain anything. It seemed like they had decided this was how it was going to be, and that Brogan should just fall into line. Give his consent, his drop of blood, and let some spell deny him the chance to be mated.
Grand Redemption (D'Vaire Book 1) Page 10
