by Liv Rider
“He’s got it down to ten minutes now. I’m working on getting him to cut it down further.”
“Let me guess, his first version was half an hour?” He knew how stubborn his father could be, and how seriously he’d take his duties as father of the groom. “But good luck with that. I’m glad I don’t have to give any speeches.”
His father joined them with two glasses of wine. “If I’d known you’d join us, I would have gotten you something too.”
“That’s all right. So, looking forward to the big day?”
That made his father smile. “Of course. Shame you’re not the first to get married, but Dale was fortunate enough to find his fated mate. Emily is very suitable for a human.”
Mitchell exchanged a look with his mother. He hoped Emily hadn’t had too tough a time breaking the ice with his father. Dale would have supported her, and the two of them being fated mates should’ve gone a long way to win him over. “I’ve been busy.”
“Yes, Lewiston. How are things going over there? Are you sure you can be here for the entire weekend?” his father asked. “No one would blame you if you had to leave early.”
“My council knows how to handle things. I went over things with them yesterday. We prepared for it.”
“You can never prepare for—”
“Emergencies, yes, I know.” He’d heard that one before. “But I also don’t want to miss the happiest day of Dale’s life on the off-chance there’s an emergency. I trust my council to handle things in my absence. They know how to reach me, and I can be back home in a few hours.”
“Only if it’s cloudy enough.” His mother sounded worried. “Or at night.”
“Well, don’t complain if you get back on Monday and there’s a pile of work waiting for you,” his father insisted. “That’s how it always goes. Council members say they can take care of business, but they always need us for advice and decisions.”
“It’ll be fine,” Mitchell replied, rather than ‘maybe you should give them a chance to do things by themselves for once.’ There wasn’t any point. His father knew best, and his council followed his lead.
His father looked skeptical, but then looked over at Jake and Bryan walking in. He shook his head. “I told Dale to pick his brother as best man, Mitchell. I want you to know that.”
“What? But Jake lives down the street. I wouldn’t have had time to do half the things he’s done in preparation.”
“You’re his brother.” His father sounded as if he didn’t think Mitchell was aware of this. “He should’ve asked you rather than go with the Jackson boy.”
“He chose Jake for a reason.” His mother patted his father on the arm.
His father huffed. “Dale should never have asked a fox shifter to be his best man,” he said in a hushed voice. “And getting that bear shifter involved….”
“Yes, it’s so strange that he included his best friends in his own wedding.” Mitchell wondered how many times Dale had had this discussion.
“He’s going against every tradition we have,” his father insisted.
“To be fair, dear, his wedding would never be very traditional,” his mother said. “Considering who he’s marrying.”
His father shook his head. “He should have still asked you to be his best man.”
“I genuinely think it’s better this way.” Mitchell knew it was pointless, since his father wouldn’t change his mind, but he wanted to make sure his mother knew he agreed with Dale’s decision.
“We’ll find out tomorrow.” His father sounded like he expected the worst. “But how are things in Lewiston? And with your colleagues?”
Mitchell had given up on convincing his father that Thomas and Parker were both friends and colleagues. His father had trouble enough believing that Mitchell was happy living so close to other dragon shifters. Sure, dragon shifters were territorial about their districts, and Mitchell always messaged his friends if he was visiting their district, even if it was a quick one. He expected the same from them. But knowing they lived in the same city didn’t bother him one bit.
“It’s going well. We’re working together more on issues that affect all of us, like finding suitable places to shift.” Buying that old farm last year had been a good first step, but it wasn’t a solution that worked for everyone.
“They knew that would be difficult when they moved to a city,” his father huffed.
“All the more reason to work together,” his mother said. “No reason for each district to reinvent the wheel, right?”
“Right.” Mitchell smiled at his father, who looked unimpressed.
“But how are things with you? I noticed there’s no plus one….” His mother trailed off expectantly.
The only plus one he wanted was here with someone else, but he wouldn’t tell his parents that. He didn’t need his mother’s pity, and his father would just say he should sweep Shaun off his feet regardless of his relationship.
“Like I said, I’ve been busy.” He couldn’t lie to his parents, since they would notice, but he’d gotten good at avoiding the truth.
His mother eyed him. “Well, some things you should make time for.”
“There’s no rush, though. Mitchell is right, his duty comes first,” his father said. “He won’t have children, so he can take as much time as he needs.”
Mitchell’s surprise at his father agreeing with him got replaced with a dull sense of ‘oh, of course.’ Dragon shifters were rare enough as it was, so one son being gay and the other marrying a human wouldn’t help with that, and his father was a practical shifter. Chances were that some of Dale and Emily’s children would be dragon shifters, but probably not all of them.
Well, at least his father wouldn’t be too disappointed if Mitchell ever brought Shaun home. He felt a stab of yearning at the mental image of introducing Shaun to his parents. Yes, they would meet him this weekend, but it’d be so different from introducing Shaun as his mate.
But there was no point daydreaming about things that wouldn’t be happening any time soon, so he squashed down those thoughts.
“Is that what you want?” His mother’s tone was kind. She must have seen some of his yearning on his face and gotten worried. “To take your time?”
“You can’t force these things, can you?” He hoped his cheerful tone was enough to fool his mother.
Going by the deepening frown, it wasn’t. “Mitchell….”
Even his father was looking concerned. “What is it?”
Dammit. What could he say that was true while not revealing what was going on? “Thomas and Parker, my friends back home, both found their fated mates last year.” He fiddled with a coaster so he wouldn’t have to look at his parents. He didn’t want to risk them prying further. “And Dale is marrying his. It made me wonder if I’d ever meet mine.”
And now he had, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He felt his mother’s hand on his arm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. But you won’t find your mate by keeping busy with work all the time.”
“The odds of meeting your fated mate are minuscule, so I wouldn’t waste my time thinking about it,” his father added.
Mitchell let out a laugh at his father’s attempt to be reassuring. “Thanks. I’m going up to my room for a bit, I’ll see you at dinner.”
As he went up, he tried not to feel disappointed he hadn’t seen Shaun anywhere.
He stared out the window onto the lake for several minutes before he bit the bullet and called Parker. He didn’t think Parker would have useful advice, but he needed to talk to someone about this. His friend would at least understand what it was like having a mate who didn’t know shifters existed. Dale had better things to do right now.
“Hey, Mitchell! If you’re calling because you’re worried, things are going fine over here.”
Mitchell smiled. “That’s good to know. Can we talk, or are you in the middle of something?”
Only a year ago the
re wouldn’t have been any point in asking, because Parker would have been in the middle of work. Cameron had been an excellent influence on him.
“No, now’s fine.” Parker sounded cheerful. “How’s the wedding?”
“So far, so good.” There were people outside, and he could see Jake, Bryan, and Kelly standing close to the lake. No sign of Shaun anywhere. “But that’s not why I’m calling.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve met my mate.”
Parker gasped, then laughed. “Congratulations! That’s amazing news. Who is it? What’s he like?”
Mitchell winced at how happy Parker sounded. “He’s the bride’s brother and has a boyfriend.”
“Ah.”
“He’s also human, and he doesn’t know about shifters.”
“Right.” Parker was silent for a long moment. “I was about to say that Cameron and I still have the weirdest way of meeting your fated mate, but you might have us beat.”
Mitchell walked over to the bed to sit. “Oh, meeting in a haunted house with one of you dressed as a zombie is still the weirdest. But I definitely got the unluckiest.”
“True. What are you going to do about it?”
“What is there I can do?” He let out another sigh. “Shaun has a boyfriend. They seem happy. I won’t mess with that by telling him we’re meant to be together.”
“He’s your mate. He’ll feel attracted to you,” Parker argued. “He’ll wonder why he likes you more than his boyfriend.”
Mitchell’s stomach squirmed with guilt. He wanted Shaun to prefer him over Chris. But he also didn’t want Shaun to feel like he had to end things with Chris suddenly. He wanted Shaun to make his own choice. “I should avoid him as much as possible, then.”
“You’ll be spending an entire weekend with him! How are you going to avoid being in the same room? From what Cameron told me, it’s weird to be so overwhelmingly attracted to someone if you don’t know about fated mates and shifters.”
“It’s weird if you do know about it.” He’d never felt like this about anyone. He needed to be with Shaun. Not knowing where he was gnawed at the back of his mind. Shaun was probably with Chris in their room, but that thought just brought on a fresh wave of jealousy.
“Which is exactly why you have to do something, Mitchell. There’s taking it slow, and there’s doing nothing.”
“I am doing something. I am not making Shaun’s life more difficult,” Mitchell argued. “He has enough to worry about at this wedding without me bothering him. The bridesmaids seem to have it out for him, accusing him of stealing cars years ago, but with no evidence! There’ll be more guests from his old hometown tomorrow. What if they all think he’s a thief too?”
“Oh, Mitchell.” Parker’s tone was fond. “There is no way you’ll be able to stay out of that. Not with how you feel about him.”
Mitchell was silent, wanting to snap that he would have enough self-control and that he wouldn’t get involved. But if anyone knew about getting involved with your mate’s problems after having just met them, it was Parker. “I can’t. I don’t want to be a burden and make things more difficult for him.”
“Don’t make things more difficult for yourself either,” Parker said. “I’m not saying you should run out and tell him about fated mates immediately, but you need to be honest with yourself and with him. Because you can’t ignore it for the entire weekend. You won’t be able to. Not with all the time you’ll be spending together. What’s next on the program?”
“Rehearsal dinner with the option to have drinks after.” He wasn’t sure if skipping those drinks would draw attention or not. He’d have to wait and see what Shaun did, then do the opposite.
“That’s great! You’ll be able to get to know him better.”
“And get to know his boyfriend better,” Mitchell said, with a sinking feeling. He didn’t know the seating arrangements, but with some luck he wouldn’t be next to the couple.
“That’s true.” Parker paused for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t know what I would’ve done if Cameron had had a boyfriend when we first met.”
“There’s a lake near the venue. I keep wanting to take the guy flying so I can drop him into it.” Not high enough or far out enough that Chris would drown. Just enough to make him change his mind about his relationship with Shaun.
Parker laughed at that. “That’d be one way for Shaun to discover shifters exist.”
Mitchell smiled. “Don’t think he’d be pleased with me, though.”
“Sorry I can’t be more helpful. But seriously, don’t just ignore what’s going on.”
“I’m not. I won’t.” He sighed. “I think what I needed was to tell someone. Dale and my parents have enough on their minds already.” Not to mention that his father would be the opposite of helpful. “Thanks for listening to me.”
“Anytime.” Parker’s voice was warm. “I hope you figure something out. Enjoy dinner!”
“I’ll try.”
Mitchell sighed again when he hung up. For the first time in his life, he considered skipping dinner entirely.
5
Shaun
After he brought the cats back to Emily’s and Dale’s hotel room, Shaun had the choice between going downstairs for drinks and mingling with the other guests, or waiting around in the hotel room he was sharing with Chris until it was time for dinner.
He flopped down on the bed. “Can it be Sunday yet?”
“When you said they’d bring up your past,” Chris said, opening the door to the bathroom, “you weren’t kidding. Geez.”
“Told you!” Shaun called out when Chris closed the door.
He was glad to have some time to himself. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping up the pretense that Chris was his boyfriend, or worry about the cats.
He wouldn’t have to think about Mitchell’s bright green eyes and his warm smile and the way the touch of his hand had Shaun feeling hot all over.
He’d noticed Mitchell looking over at him often during the rehearsal. Chris had noticed too, insisting it was because Mitchell was interested in Shaun, but Shaun refused to think about that. Maybe the guy was just worried Rumple would escape again.
He was here with Chris.
He’d chosen to lie about being in a relationship, and now he’d have to deal with that choice.
“When’s the rehearsal dinner?” Chris closed the bathroom door behind him.
Shaun glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. “We still have about fifteen minutes.”
Chris sat down on the other side of the bed. “Do you think they’re gonna be assholes about it again?”
Shaun pushed himself up on his elbows. “I think that goes without saying.”
“I can see why you brought me along. You didn’t want a boyfriend. You wanted moral support.”
“That too.” He sat up. “But I told you it was necessary.”
“I think I’m just impressed they’re still so obsessed with this years later. Does literally nothing ever happen in Millersburg?”
“You’re not far off,” Shaun grumbled. “But Caroline’s dad was the chief of police back in Millersburg. He was convinced I was guilty and hated having to let me go. And Natalie’s car got stolen, so it’s personal to her. Even though her parents got her a new car about a month later.”
“Natalie’s the Maid of Honor?”
Shaun nodded. “Yep. Emily’s best friend from Millersburg.” He’d never understood why. Emily insisted that Natalie and Caroline had their nice side and that they were wonderful friends. Shaun had to take her word for it.
“And Caroline is the other brunette, right? How about the blonde? Is she nice?”
“Kelly? She’s a college friend. I don’t know her that well.” But she had to be better than Caroline and Natalie.
“Is she single?”
Shaun groaned. “Chris, you can’t flirt with her.”
“Doesn’t hurt to talk to her.” Chris innocently straightened his tie.
&nbs
p; “No flirting,” Shaun told him firmly. “You’re supposed to be the perfect boyfriend, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. At least no one seemed surprised you turned up with a guy.”
“Small blessings.” He hadn’t been too worried about that today. Maybe there would be questions or remarks tomorrow, when older guests from Millersburg were here.
“Speaking of turning up with a guy…”
Shaun knew where this was headed. “Don’t.”
“I’m telling you, he was into you and looked disappointed when I turned up. You should go for it.”
“I’m here with you!”
Chris shrugged. “I won’t mind.”
“Other people will.” The last thing he wanted was everyone seeing him flirt with Mitchell. His reputation was terrible enough as it was. “We’re supposed to have an amazing relationship, remember?”
Chris gestured dismissively. “An amazing open relationship.”
“No.”
“Fine.” Chris looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. “I could break up with you!”
Shaun stared at him. “Even more no!” The gossip would be even worse. “Even if he’s into me, it doesn’t matter. It’s one guy. There’re plenty of other attractive guys out there.” He was struggling to think of any more attractive than Mitchell, but he was sure they existed. “I want my sister to have her perfect wedding, and that means no break-up drama or flirting drama or cheating drama or—or any kind of drama!”
“There’s gonna be drama from those bridesmaids.”
“Which is bad enough. I won’t make it worse.”
Chris looked at him, and for a few long seconds, Shaun worried Chris would start arguing about it again. Instead, he shrugged. “You know what, fine. It’s your decision. But if I were into guys and Mitchell was flirting with me, I’d know what to do.”
There was a stab of jealousy at the thought of Mitchell flirting with Chris, which was ridiculous. “You better not.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re amazing boyfriends. So boring.” Chris eyed the bed. “But we’re not sharing, are we?”
It took Shaun a moment to realize Chris wasn’t talking about sharing the bed with Mitchell. “No, I’ll take the couch.” It seemed big and comfortable enough, if he could take some blankets from the bed.
