by Emma Dean
Jace gave him a half-smile and slipped his hands in his pockets. “I appreciate it.”
What exactly was the plan? Emily narrowed her eyes at Jace and wondered if he was still terrified whenever he looked at her. He hid it so well it had taken a long time to find the purple so dark it was nearly black under all his other bullshit feelings he masked so well with.
He was terrified of her for some reason. Of who she was without any emotions to sway her thoughts and feelings.
“You think I should stay and help them out?” Emily asked Ben, smiling ever so slightly at the tiny prick of shock she felt from him.
Jace froze and the way he turned to study her…he was definitely afraid. “You’re welcome to, my dark raven. If that’s what you wish to do.”
There it was. That sharp pulse of fear that he buried down so deep he likely didn’t even realize that’s what he felt. This one was definitely a fixer upper.
Alice eyed Emily like she’d somehow snuck the crown on without any of them seeing it. “I believe these four need your help more than I do.”
Emily snickered and elbowed Aiden. “You’re definitely right. They’d be lost without me.”
Something in Jace eased at that statement. “We’ll be on our way then.”
Alice gave them a nod and checked outside. “Looks like they’ve lost our trail. Louis, Jack, and I are going to head to the base. Are you lot okay here?”
“Yeah,” Chance told her, taking out that awful silver device. “We’ll be fine. I can make a portal anywhere.”
“Handy little thing,” Jack said, eyeing it like he might just try to steal it. Alice pushed him out the mouth of the cave and Emily watched him go, eyes narrowed.
She supposed it would be fine to let him have the knowledge of the shadow realm. It wasn’t like Jack would ever end up in her world anyway. And if he did, he’d have an entire eyrie of assassins to deal with.
Her father would never let him get far.
“Thank you again, for the sword,” Alice said. “If we ever meet again, I hope it’s under better circumstances.”
“Agreed.” Emily tossed the crown back in her pack. “Bye then.”
They would never get along, but Emily still liked Alice. She was a strong female and a good leader. No doubt she’d have Wonderland under control soon enough.
“Are we ready to go?” she asked, adjusting her pack.
But none of the raccoons were moving. All four of them were staring at her.
“What? Do I have an eyeball on my face or something?” She tried to brush off her cheek, but the blood was sticky and glue-like now. She’d need about eight baths to get it all off.
“I’d like to know your plan,” Jace said simply, studying her like he was truly seeing her for the first time. “Are you going to turn us into the Enclave?”
Emily grinned at him. “Maybe.”
Aiden snorted and kissed her cheek. “I would expect nothing less from my enigmatic raven.”
“Why didn’t you take the demon’s deal?” Jace asked, not once moving or blinking as he searched her eyes. “Why didn’t you take the easy way out?”
Why didn’t you leave us? That was his real question.
She tilted her head and held that appraising gaze of his as she considered his questions.
Why didn’t she leave them?
Emily was Emily, as Chance had said. She was a raven, an assassin, and the mate to four raccoons. She was that and more. There was nothing that could really define everything she was, all of who she was.
But somehow, these four assholes had known that about her before she had. They’d known she was more than the tiny boxes she’d tried to fit into. Which meant…
“I’m more than just your mate,” Emily told him. “That the universe created this bond between us…it doesn’t define who I am. I cared about you before then. I liked who you all were before then. And I still do, even if I hate the idea of mates.”
She shrugged and glanced at the other three.
“You said I could have until the three items were found before you asked me for a final decision. Is that still true?”
Ben looked at Jace, slightly annoyed he hadn’t been a part of that conversation. And Emily found herself understanding the deeper meanings behind Ben’s quiet nature and the looks that conveyed so much with so little expression.
She could see how badly Jace wanted to ask how that would be possible without her emotions on. He didn’t understand how she could ever want to accept a mate bond without them. But that wasn’t what would make the bond work for her.
Emily already knew how she felt about them. That hadn’t been the issue. And even now, she could see everything so clearly without the pain and fear of losing them, without her feelings pushing her to accept.
It didn’t matter if she loved them or not. They were non-avian, and they would hate living in her eyrie, even though she knew they would try.
No, Emily had to figure out whether that’s what she wanted, or if maybe there was something else out there that was more fulfilling than her life in the eyrie. Emotions had never really played a part in that – except the lack of them.
Life in the eyrie was stuffy, formal, and rigid. It had never really fit all her personalities, her oddities, and desires. Even as an emotionless bird who felt nothing for no one. She still knew what it felt like to belong and for a long time that had meant her pairing with Corbin.
Now she had to find her own path, find out who she really was without her mother telling her who she needed to be, who she had to be.
And if Jace could accept this unemotional part of her, that it would always be a part of her…
“I will never bring it up again,” Jace promised her. “But I’m also not going to stop having sex with you unless you explicitly tell me no.” The usual twinkle wasn’t in his eyes, but he nodded once like this was good enough.
Emily smiled slightly. “I almost never say no to good sex.”
“Oh, damn.” Chance laughed. “Gotta make sure we keep up our game.”
Aiden took Emily’s pack from her with that shy, goofy smile she liked so much. “You’re hurt worse than I am, let me take this for you.”
She surprised herself when she let him, and when she allowed Ben to lift up her shirt and peel back the bandage to inspect her injury without smacking him over the head for invading her space.
Chance started up the portal and Emily looked back at Jace, wondering if he would ever be able to truly accept this part of her.
The alpha raccoon’s eyes narrowed like he could read her thoughts and he stepped forward, grabbing her face hard. Emily licked her lips as she waited to see what he would do, what he might say.
“I’m terrified of losing you,” Jace whispered.
“I know.”
He rested his forehead against hers, and she could feel his shuddering breath as he tried to hold it together. “It’s cruel to have feelings for someone who doesn’t have feelings for you,” he murmured, echoing her own words.
Emily laced her fingers in his, knowing it would comfort him. “That isn’t why you would lose me.”
It was his turn to say, “I know.”
“It’s not like I forget,” she told him, trying to gentle the harshness of her voice. “I remember what it’s like to love you.”
He lifted his head and there, that was the twinkle she’d been looking for. Jace didn’t say anything about it, but he had definitely heard her say the word love and he wasn’t going to forget it.
“You are your own person,” Jace told her, stepping back. “And I will support whatever decision you make. Even if it is to turn us into the Enclave.”
Emily smiled at that and knew it in her bones. They would let her turn them in if that’s what she needed to do – to save her from whatever the eyrie and Enclave would do to her.
That knowledge settled into her and Emily decided it didn’t matter if Jace liked her emotionless or not. He would always give her the choice – to be h
is mate, to stay with them, or hand them over to the powers that be…
It was always her choice.
Even now when she could easily leave them if it suited her end game.
The portal opened and Emily watched the four of them check each other over, make sure they had everything they needed, and double-check the location they were about to enter. She may not fully trust them, and they didn’t fully trust her, but there was a lot they had working for them regardless of all their challenges.
Rolling her shoulders back she smiled.
Flip.
This time it was her choice.
Emily wanted to explore her feelings for them. She wanted to find out what there might be between them while they worked on saving the world.
Jace whipped around when he scented something and inspected her from head to toe. Emily expected him to say something but all he did was grin and hold out his hand for her. “Ready to go?”
Gather two more items of power. Save their world. Save these assholes’ lives from demons and ravens and the Morrigan knew what else.
Emily grinned right back and took his hand. “Wherever we’re going better have a bathtub fit for a queen.”
“Nothing less for you,” Aiden said with a chuckle, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Together the five of them stepped through the portal and into a new world.
Get the next book
Make Out Like Bandits
UK
CA
AU
Want to know where Jace, Ben, Chance, and Aiden got the portal from? Check out the series The Chaos of Foxes
For Fox Sake
UK
CA
AU
Want Free Stories?
If you subscribe to my newsletter you can get these shorts free on Bookfunnel!
A Bandit’s Prequel
(Short steamy reverse harem shifter story.)
Royal Guard of Draga
(Novella prequel for a Game of Thrones in space slow burn story that turns into a reverse harem, this is also steamy and just the beginning.)
Other Books
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
A Wicked Raven
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
Bandits
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books UK Links
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
Bandits
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books CA Links
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
Bandits
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
Other Books AU Links
Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance*
Chaos of Foxes Series
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
University of Morgana Academy Series
Something Wicked
Wicked Games
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Blood
As Wicked As They Come
Standalones
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
Bandits
A Bandit’s Prequel
To Catch a Bandit
Make Out Like Bandits
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F Wolf Shifters)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Wolf Curse
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH like Game of Thrones in space without the incest)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same universe - the Council of Paranormals.
Want updates on when the books are released and my
progress with them?
Sign up for my newsletter @ emmadeanromance.com
About the Author
Emma Dean is the author of Draga Court and the Council of Paranormals. Juggling work, life, higher education, and a rambunctious toddler leaves little room for much else, but when she gets the chance she dives into a good book and likes to re-read the Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop every year during Christmas.
Follow her on Social Media or
www.emmadeanromance.com
