“I guess it might make sense if I do this.” She strips her tank top off, leaving her in a sports bra. Colbie turns around, and my jaw drops. In the middle of her back, sitting above the band of the sports bra, is a bond mark that is an exact match to the one above our hearts.
“Mate,” I whisper reverently. Holy fuck, the queen is our mate. Brodie, Gryff, and Gem look as stunned as I feel, but Liam is smirking. He obviously knew about this already.
“When? How?” I stammer and lean forward to grip the edge of the table so I don’t haul her over my shoulder and drag her back to our apartment to have my wicked way with her. My dragon is screaming to do just that, but we are a bond group of five, not eight, so we can’t be a match.
“I knew there was another member of our bond group,” Gryff shouts triumphantly before frowning. “Does this mean there are actually three more members of our group?”
“Put your shirts back on and sit down, then we can discuss our theories over a meal. Colbie needs all her energy if she’s going to spend the afternoon shifting with you,” Layla suggests, and I drop into my seat, quickly tugging my shirt over my head. There’s an impatient silence as Lucas directs the staff to serve the meal. I can’t tear my eyes away from my mate. I see her squirm under the intense scrutiny of all five of us, but she’s smiling like she’s happy.
“This explains so much, like why my tiger couldn’t get enough of you in the stables and felt comfortable going to sleep on your lap.” Gryffin stares at her with wonder. He reaches for Gem’s hand again, but this time it’s in plain sight, like it’s automatic, and I sigh in relief when Gem doesn’t push him away. Colbie will need to understand they come as a package, but I don’t think she cares. She looks at their joined hands and smiles, squirming in her seat. A fresh waft of cookies and frosting hits my nostrils, and I almost groan out loud, not upset in the least.
Lucas instructs the staff to leave us and gestures for us to begin eating. Everyone else at the table does, but the six of us don’t. It’s kind of like nothing else exists around us and we’re in our own little bubble, all of our attention focused on the queen and her on us.
Dad clears his throat. “Well, I’d say congratulations are in order and welcome to the family, Colbie.” He beams at her and raises his glass to the six of us. “You couldn’t find a better group of mates if you picked them yourself, but I don’t envy you trying to keep them in line. It’s taken the six of us all our strength since their group formed to keep them out of trouble.”
Everyone at the table laughs, and the tension in the air breaks. “Eat, my queen,” I rumble. “You are going to need all your strength,” I tell her, not hiding the desire I feel for her anymore.
“For shifting?” she asks, picking up her fork.
“And other things.” I wink at her, and it’s like her brain short-circuits for a moment, her fork pausing on its way to her mouth. A pretty blush heats her cheeks, and I chuckle at her discomfort. God, she’s adorable.
“Phew, the sexual tension at this table is off the charts.” Gretchin wrinkles her nose. “Can we maybe discuss our theories about the magic and what happened?” she asks.
“So eight mates? Does this mean there are three more out there somewhere?” I drag my eyes away from the woman who just became the most important person in my life.
Gryff is frowning but is still holding Gem’s hand while he eats with the other one. “The witch only told me there are six of us.”
“I told you she was a crackpot,” Liam mutters.
“I think originally there may have only been six of you,” Lucas says thoughtfully, “but something we did today must have changed it.”
Violet gasps. “Colbie decided to invite the fairies and mers to have representation on the council.”
My eyes widen in shock, and I look at our queen with surprise. I’m not the only one. Dad and my brothers are doing the same.
“You did?” Brodie asks her, and she nods and smiles, returning her attention to her meal.
“But she also invited the equine shifters as well, so why wasn’t it nine mates instead of eight?” Mia argues, and Colbie puts her fork down.
“Actually, I think I have the answer to that.” She looks like she’s running some things around in her mind before she nods. “When I was first marked, I thought I could run away. I didn’t want to be the shifter queen and thought that if I didn’t appear, the magic would choose someone else.” My heart sinks at the thought that our mate doesn’t want to be here. “But the goddess quickly took care of that when she appeared on the beach and basically told me to suck it up. Shortly after that, I ran into a man who offered me shelter from a storm.” She blushes again, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out something happened between them.
My dragon roars inside me, and I bend the fork in my hand in my rage. Some other man had his hands on our mate. Growls and snarls echo from Brodie, Liam, and Gryff, while Gem’s entire body lights on fire again. He swears and jumps back from the table again so he doesn’t set anything alight. He stands there, staring at our mate with a look of betrayal.
Her eyes widen, and she stands as well, holding her hands up in a placating manner. “He had the same mark on his chest that the five of you do,” she says in a hurry. “But at the time, I just assumed it was a tattoo. He told me it was from a former life, and I had the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push. He’s the one who gave me this.” Her hand goes to the pendant around her neck. “He had a matching one, and I’m assuming he was hiding the fact that he was a shifter. Before I got to the palace, I just assumed he was human, but too many things have happened for him not to be one and a part of your bond group.”
“But why wouldn’t he present himself to the bond center to find his group?” Gryff sounds bewildered, his snarling cutting off with her explanation. “I’ve been searching for him for years. I didn’t look in the human zone because shifters aren’t allowed to live there, so I thought there was no point.” He sounds crushed.
Colbie shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know, but I do know where to find him and will show you as soon as we can,” she promises.
“He obviously doesn’t want anything to do with us.” Liam sits down and crosses his arms, a stubborn set to his jaw. Liam won’t understand because being in a bond group was a blessing for him. His family members are assholes, and it gave him the means to get away from them. Most shifters see being part of a bond group as a blessing, and we are stronger as a group because of it, so why wouldn’t this stranger feel the same way?
“Well, he’s not going to have a choice. Colbie can’t be crowned without him,” Dad points out, and Colbie winces.
“I don’t want to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Nox has an underlying sense of sadness, but if I had to guess, I’d say he’s been hurt by something or someone, and if we are going with the assumption that my other mate must be an equine shifter, it would explain why he’s reluctant to join a bond group. You said they were treated as lesser because they aren’t predators.”
“That would also explain why you can shift into a pegasus. He must be one,” Violet blurts with excitement.
My mother nods, a look of understanding crossing her face. “That actually makes sense. Equine shifters, even the mythical ones, have always been looked down on, and some of the shifter towns have made their equines feel very unwanted. Most of them have banded together in Zalfari to escape persecution.”
