“No, you aren’t,” he agrees before turning his attention to Nox, who is the only person in the room he isn’t familiar with.
“Hi, I’m Lucas, Gryffin’s father.” He puts out his hand for Nox to shake. Nox looks a little rattled at the friendly greeting but returns the handshake.
“I’m Nox,” he replies, and Lucas nods.
“Yes, I have met your mother a few times. Unfortunately, we aren’t as friendly as I hoped, but I’m sure Colbie is going to right everything I couldn’t.” Wow, no pressure! Before I can respond, the door to the study bangs open, and the already crowded room is filled with chattering, shrieking women, followed by Archie and Adam.
“My sidepiece!” Archie shrieks and throws himself at me, not caring one little bit that I’m on Brodie’s lap. Brodie grunts, a whoosh of air escaping his lungs, as Archie’s knee makes contact with his crotch. Archie’s little arms wrap around my neck, and he has me in a chokehold as I hug him back. “I thought you had gone forever.” His little voice trembles, and I rub his back, trying to comfort him.
“I could never leave my favorite little man,” I tell him, and he relaxes and spins around so he can see everyone else in the room, waving to the rest of the guys.
“I’m sorry,” Gracelin mouths, but I shake my head. I love the delightful little boy.
“Welcome back,” Mia says warmly to us, and Gryffin introduces his family to my two new mates. I gave him permission to tell his family everything, so they know of my parentage and who my two new mates are.
“Now, we have issued a kingdom-wide announcement for tomorrow’s coronation. It will be held in the colosseum. I just need to know if you have any family you would like to invite,” Evie says, her attention on us.
“Evie, just let them catch their breath,” Layla scolds, but she glares at her co-mate, so I answer to keep the peace.
“My grandparents, of course, and I guess my mother, but she is still avoiding my calls.” I tried to call her from Chaos Kingdom. Cell reception is spotty between kingdoms, but Loki rigged something that makes it possible from his palace. It’s how his assassins feed him information if they can’t physically return. Not all of them are fae hybrids with the ability to sift like Titus. “There’s no one else really.” I feel a little sad about that. I might have invited Niles and Brock, but they were banned from the shifter zone, and I can’t see Lucas lifting that, especially considering their relationship to the Tidemans.
“Fuck no,” Liam grumbles. He has no relationship with his family. Liam was the youngest of four brothers and the only polar bear like his mother. The rest were grizzlies like his father, and he was tormented for it. From what I understand, his family members are not good people, but he doesn’t like to talk about it, so I haven’t gotten all the details yet.
She nods, sympathy in her eyes. “I can’t stop them if they turn up, but I won’t issue them a specific invitation.”
“I will speak to my father myself,” Micah assures her. “He’s a stubborn old bastard and holds a grudge like no one else. Unless he knows that I am one of the queen’s mates, he will ignore the announcement.”
“That would be lovely, thank you. We want Colbie’s reign to be a new beginning for shifter relations,” Evie says with so much hope. Again, no pressure.
“I would love for my parents and sister to be there, but they are likely to be in danger since they are in a mixed relationship.” Titus sounds sad.
Archie’s attention turns to the assassin, who had been shadowed against one wall during the conversation. I hear his gasp, and he struggles to get off my lap before darting over to the hybrid.
“Who are you?” he asks, wide-eyed and awestruck. “You look like a warrior. I’m Archie, Colbie is my sidepiece.” He puffs out his chest and holds out a hand for Titus. “Why are you hiding your face? Are you ugly?”
Gracelin groans and goes to snatch Archie away from Titus, but my mate drops into a crouch so he’s the same height as Archie.
“I am a warrior, and I only show my face to those I trust,” he tells the boy before reaching up and removing his cowl and cloak. “But I trust you since you have such good taste in sidepieces.” His eyes twinkle when he looks at me. I roll my eyes, but I can’t stop smiling at seeing how kind the assassin is to the boy.
“Titus?” I hear a gasp and find Violet, who I hadn’t noticed, looking at my mate with wide-eyed shock.
“Hello, cousin.” Titus smiles at my friend, and it’s my turn to gape as I look between them.
“Oh my goodness, you’re Colbie’s fairy mate! Mom is going to be so happy. Does this mean your parents will visit more often now?”
“I hope so. When Colbie’s relationship with the Chaos king becomes common knowledge, and she disposes of the ban on cross mating in the kingdom, it will become a lot more hospitable for them.”
Violet beams at my mate and claps her hands happily, and I just kind of shake my head. Aramis is such a meddler, but I’m glad.
“My parents are focusing on the missing children. I spoke to them this morning, and they said they are hot on the trail. If they find them, they will keep watch over them until we can get there to extract them. My sister, her mates, and her children probably won’t come either, but I can’t wait to introduce you to them,” Nox tells everyone.
“What about you two?” I look at Gem and Brodie. I don’t know as much as I would like about my mates’ families yet. There just hasn’t been enough time.
“My parents are kind of aloof,” Gem explains. “Both of them have precognition as their gift, so they find it difficult to be around people.”
“That’s a thing?” I gasp.
“Yeah, it can be for phoenixes. There aren’t very many of us. We were one of the races targeted in the great war. As far as I know, they are the only two in existence at the moment. They live in an isolated area and avoid being around big crowds so they don’t become overwhelmed. I think it’s bullshit. They can block it if they try, but they are also very self-involved, so they don’t try too hard. I was grateful when the trait didn’t pass down to me.”
