“I was undecided,” he tells me bluntly, dragging that damn hood off and tossing it over the back of a sofa once more. His green and silver wings burst free, and he shakes his head, tossing his long, green hair back over his shoulder.
The goddess scoffs. “I call bullshit. Your innate curiosity would have outed you, even if the mating bond isn’t driving you nuts.”
Nox stares at Titus now that he has removed his hood. “I know you.” He points a finger at him, and Titus smirks.
“I’d say you know me intimately,” he purrs suggestively, and Nox glares at him. What the fuck are these two talking about? Do they know one another? And how?
“Where did you go? What did you want with me? I’m assuming you were just scoping me out for your king?” He stabs a finger in my father’s direction.
Titus ignores him, and Nox looks to me for help. “Colbie, what’s going on here?” He sounds desperate, and I sigh, deciding to put him out of his misery.
“Nox, this is the goddess Aramis,” I say, “and my dad, Loki.” Nox’s eyes widen at my words, but it’s Loki’s reaction that has me feeling all emotional.
“You called me Dad.” His voice is choked up with emotion, and he moves across the room in a blur of speed. He’s so fast, I can barely see him, but then he appears in front of me, throwing his arms around my shoulders and pulling me against him.
This close, I realize he’s quite a bit taller than me, and my ear rests against his chest where I hear his heart beating a million miles an hour, much like mine. I return his embrace, and tears stream down my cheeks at how right this feels.
“My precious girl. Can you ever forgive me for what happened?” he murmurs.
“Ah, Dad, I don’t blame you. You were as much of a victim as all of us. Let’s put the past behind us and move forward from this point,” I reply, making a split-second decision to let everything that has happened go, and his whole body shudders with relief.
“Seriously, what the fuck is going on? I came for a job interview, but I have a feeling that’s not what is happening here.” Nox sounds pissed off. Well, he can join the fucking club. I’m the reigning president.
My father and I pull apart, and I glance around the room, a wave of exhaustion rolling over me. My stomach rumbles like a hungry bear, and my father snaps his fingers.
“Let me send for dinner. We can at least get some food into you while we talk a little longer,” he offers, and I gratefully accept. I’m starving and would dearly love to have a shower and go to bed, but I know we have a few more issues to deal with before that can happen.
I turn my attention to one of the issues, whose fists are clenched and wears a look of fury on his face.
“Nox, there are a few things we need to tell you,” I start, but he interrupts me.
“How did you find me? I deliberately left my home after I found out you were the incoming queen because I didn’t want to be found,” he snaps, and his words feel like a stab in the heart.
“Actually, your parents told us where to find you,” Hunter drawls, sounding deceptively casual, but his eyes show his dragon, and I don’t doubt he’s seconds from shifting and teaching Nox a lesson. He does not like the way he is speaking to me. I send calming, soothing vibes down our bond, and I watch as he relaxes somewhat.
Nox’s eyebrows jump, and his lips purse in surprise. “They did?” He sounds hurt, and I’m sick of beating around the bush.
“Yes. When they found out that this is your bond group and I am your mate, they thought we had the right to know, especially since I can’t become queen without sealing the mating bond with all of you,” I say flatly, and the room is silent as Nox absorbs everything I just said. His golden tan is pale as his eyes dart from me to the guys in panic.
He stammers, but doesn’t get a chance to form any words before he is cut off.
“If you are Colbie’s mate as well, then why hasn’t the telepathic bond clicked into place?” Liam glares at Titus, breaking the awkward silence covering the fact that Nox hasn’t said a word about the big revelation. I can feel that my mates hurt as much as I do at his lack of a response.
Titus waves a gloved hand. “I wear a ring much like the pegasus’s necklace that blocks the telepathic bond. As soon as the mark appeared on my chest, I conjured it up. I was in the palace at Aramis at the time, and I couldn’t risk being found there. I wasn’t sure who wore the matching bond marks until I spoke to Lucas a little later.” He turns his attention to me. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to do anything about it until I realized the queen wore the matching mark, and I didn’t have much of a choice,” he admits without taking his eyes off me.
My creatures snarl internally. Part of me wants to say, “Fuck you, I don’t want you either,” while the other part of me wants to chase him down and make him submit. I can’t stop the low growl that leaves my mouth, and he has the nerve to smirk at me.
“Don’t be an asshole,” the goddess snaps at him. “You pretend to be cold and calculating, but I know deep down you’ve always longed for a mate. Well, I gave you one. Don’t spit on the precious gift just because you think you need to keep up an aloof front.” I don’t know if he’s brave or stupid by risking her turning her wrath on him.
“You’re my bond group, and Colbie is our mate?” Nox finally finds his tongue, and we can practically see the longing in his eyes before it fades and they become shaded with fear.
“Yes, and we don’t give a flying fuck if you’re a pink pegasus or a pink flying pig, so how about you pull your head out of your ass and prove you belong with us by stepping up and doing the right thing,” Gem says bluntly, and Nox’s eyes widen in surprise.
Brodie chuckles darkly, so unlike his usual happy-go-lucky persona. “Though if you continue to hurt our mate, maybe we will appeal to the goddess to fix this clusterfuck. I don’t know why we need either of you.”
There’s a knock on the door, and Loki stands, holding his hands up. “Hey, whoa, how about we all take a moment to calm down? Let’s have something to eat. We don’t need to figure this all out today.”
“Actually, we do. I have other shit I need to focus on,” I reply as he lets in the staff who wheel in six carts covered in all kinds of food. We are silent, and the tension in the room is thick as they lay it all out on a large dining table farther in the room. It’s big enough to seat all of us, and when they leave, Loki gestures for us to move over to it. My mates get up and head in that direction, ignoring the two elephants in the room. I turn to the goddess.
