She shakes her head, smiling at me. “Normally you probably shouldn’t if it’s a shifter thing, but I want you to trust me as a friend and worker, so ask away.”
“What’s a bond?”
“Ah, yeah, okay. So a bond is a group of shifters who have been brought together by the goddess Aramis to share a mate. They are all marked with a matching tattoo above their heart on their seventeenth birthday. They then move into one of the parents’ houses and learn to work as a team. It doesn’t happen to all shifters, and there are some one-on-one matings, but for some reason, there aren’t as many female children born as males, and bond mates sharing a mate makes it so no one misses out. I’d love to be fated to a bond, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky.” I can hear the disappointment in her tone, even as my eyes widen at the thought of having a relationship with morethan one man. Hell, I can’t even keep the attention of one, let alone multiple.
“The females don’t get a tattoo?” I ask.
“Only when the goddess thinks she and her fated bond are ready. It can happen at any time for females, which is why Gianna keeps hoping she will be blessed with Watch Team One’s symbol. It hasn’t happened yet, though, and now that she’s been reprimanded by the king, she’s certainly not going to be welcome at any royal functions for a while.”
“Thank you for sharing. I won’t tell anyone,” I promise her, and she smiles at me.
“I know you won’t. You’re a good person, Colbie Karridge, I can feel it.”
“Listen, do you think you could take that team’s order? They were arguing, so I gave them a few more moments, but I really want to go visit my mom.” I pull the apron over my head and pray that Violet doesn’t notice how nervous and unsettled I feel after seeing those shifters. It’s weird, they are all gorgeous and most of them have been nothing but cordial, but there’s still something that puts me on edge. I really don’t want to go back and have the black-eyed growly man grill me about my involvement with Archie. Nope, it will be better if I steer clear. I do feel a little guilty knowing they are going to smell Violet’s attraction, but if it’s a shifter thing, then I’m sure they are used to it.
She swallows nervously but nods her agreement as I hang up my apron and grab my bag. “Yeah, okay, but you owe me. If Talon ever comes in, you’re going to have to serve him for me.” I’m assuming that’s the brother she spoke of earlier.
“Agreed,” I promise. “Please tell Olivia and Justin where I went. I’ll probably be back later to do some prep, but tell them to lock up when you all leave.”
Tomorrow is the day of the retirement party. There will be a parade through the streets of the shifter zone that is being televised, as is the party, so I’m hoping it might be quieter tomorrow. Then, at the point when the full moon is high in the sky, the next shifter king or queen will be chosen by magic. I will be well and truly tucked up in my bed by then, but I wish the human who gets chosen much luck.
Chapter
Five
Hunter
“You fucked Gianna?” Brodie growls at our bond mate. “I thought we all decided to avoid her.”
“Fuck, man, I told you how my dragon feels about her. I can’t believe you would do that to us,” I scold our brother in all but blood, unable to stop the smoke from drifting out of my nostrils with my annoyance.
Liam is one angry messy ball of emotions, and my chest aches in the spot where our bond resides. I rub a hand over it. Most of the time, I can block out their emotions, but extreme ones seem to push their way through, even if I don’t want them to. I know he’s sick of waiting for our mate to turn up, but to fuck someone my dragon wants to decapitate, especially after I told him how I feel? That’s kind of spitting on our bond.
“Whom I fuck is none of your business,” he snaps, not looking at either of us. The damn phoenix just crosses his arms and smirks, watching our interaction with amusement. Liam glares at him for telling us.
“You could have kept your fucking mouth shut.”
The phoenix shakes his head. “No, I couldn’t, because since you gave her hope, she’s been hovering around everywhere we go. Hell, I’m surprised she hasn’t turned up here.” He looks around the café like he’s searching for Gianna, but I know him better than he thinks. The little human intrigued him, and I’m almost certain he’s looking for her instead, which will just piss Liam off further. I wouldn’t say he’s anti-human, but he avoids having anything to do with them. We’re just lucky that as the top team in the night watch, sanctioned by General Bryson, that we don’t have to have a human on it. We need to be able to move quickly, and humans just can’t keep up with our animals.
Liam’s eyes light up, and he looks around the room, hoping to see Gianna. I can’t stop the grumble that comes from my chest. Seems like she got her hooks into our bond mate. This is going to cause issues with our bond, because the rest of us won’t even look at her. We know our mate is out there, and we will wait until Aramis decides it’s time for us to know who she is.
Before Brodie and I can scold him any further, a shifter girl approaches our table. I recognize her, though I can’t remember her name. I quickly glance at her name tag—Violet. She goes to school with my brother, and he has a massive crush on her, but he has recently formed his own bond group, and I advised him to take the same caution. You don’t want to be responsible for a girl’s heartbreak. I can see why he’s interested though. She’s a pretty little thing.
“Hi, are you guys ready to order?” she asks nervously and holds up the tablet, waiting for our orders.
“Where did Colbie go?” Brodie asks.
Her nerves drop away, and she puts her hands on her hips and glares at us. “She had to duck out, but did you know you painted a target on her back? Colbie doesn’t deserve all the shit Gianna is spreading about her. She’s a good person.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” I ask, not sure what she’s talking about, and I can tell that Gem and Brodie don’t either, but Liam shifts uncomfortably on his seat.
“Well, since Gianna got raked over the coals by the king and General Bryson and lost her job, Gianna has been telling everyone that the human lied, and she didn’t tell her about the shifter cub. She claims she had to prioritize the calls because everyone was out searching for the cub, and Colbie was just a silly human who was complaining about something unimportant. Gianna has even gone so far as suggesting that she was the one who kidnapped Prince Archer and then pretended to rescue him to get in the royal family’s good books.”
Our gazes swing to Liam. We glare at him when he nods his head. “She was really upset when she lost her job and had to move out of the night watch apartments. She claims the human was lying and that she didn’t cut her off. She said she didn’t mention a thing about the lost cub, just that she needed the night watch to check out the alley because she heard a funny noise. Stupid human needs to learn to stay in her own lane,” he growls, and my dragon pushes forward, wanting to take a bite out of our bond mate. I wrestle him back, but not before scales flutter across my lower arms. Liam eyes me warily, knowing he’s playing with fire—literally.
“That’s bullshit and not true,” Brodie explodes. “Archie told us the truth. That could be dangerous for Colbie. You know how shifters can get. Maybe we need to warn the general so he can put a security team on her for a while until things die down. Everyone will be on edge until the next king or queen has been found.”
“Gianna has been banned from the neutral zone for six months anyway. I have to go back to the shifter lands to see her,” Liam grumbles, completely oblivious, or maybe stubbornly determined to ignore our feelings on the matter.
