I laughed at my beautiful niece. “Jeez, that’s impressive, kid,” I said, pulling Blue closer to my sister and her gorgeous little girl.
“Isn’t she?” Ava laughed. “She’ll fit right in with all the uncouth Alphas around here.”
“Who’s uncouth?” rumbled Rawson, striding up to his mate and daughter and taking Ava’s mouth in a hungry kiss.
“Whew!” Blue fanned herself. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me? I can’t cope with all this sexiness when I don’t have a man of my own.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please, you could grab any Fae dick you wanted. They love humans.”
“Yeah, but Mr grouchy pants Ice Prince won’t let me. I mean, I tried to get laid by one of the guards last time I was awake, and the fucker refused because he didn’t want his prince to chop his dick off.”
It was probably inappropriate, given Blue’s irritated expression, but I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, shit, really?”
“Yeah, and when I challenged Ventry about it, the bastard just smirked and walked off.”
Me and Ava exchanged a glance, but Blue just huffed and paced, looking so pissed off I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Yeah, if she didn’t see the possession in his eyes when he looked at her, I certainly wouldn’t mention it.
Ava held Faith with one hand and cupped my face with the other. “Hey, you okay?” Her eyes searched mine, and I knew she meant because Stone had left for a while. It was nice of her to worry, but I knew I was strong enough to stand on my own, too. Especially now, I had the confidence to say when I was struggling and a support network of friends and family that included my amazing sister.
Feeling self-conscious about my idea, I blushed a bit but was still determined to see it through. “Yeah, in fact, can you help me with something? I want to surprise Stoney when he comes back from Scotland.”
My sister blinked, clearly not expecting that. “Surprise him?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Any reason?”
More heat rose to my cheeks, but I ploughed ahead. I wasn’t used to doing things for others, but I still wanted to do something nice for my mate to thank him for all the times he’d been there for me. “Um, just because…well, I want him to know how much I appreciate him.”
Ava bit her bottom lip but smiled widely. “Okay, just maybe don’t do anything that will put you at risk so soon after recovering from your injuries. Don’t go anywhere alone or near Made territory, or he might lose it again.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes even though I knew she was right. Maybe I shouldn’t do anything. I mean, would he really like a surprise anyway?
Blue didn’t help my burgeoning doubt. “She’s right, you know. He’s an Alpha shifter, and on top of that, he’s Fae. And if I know anything about those possessive, testosterone-heavy fuckers, it’s that they want to protect their mates. Shifters are bad enough when they get all possessive and jealous, but Fae? Jesus, they think protecting and providing for their chosen partner is their purpose in life, the ultimate reason to exist. You were kidnapped, Shan, by his father, in a place that Stone chose to take you to,and,after he left you alone in that village. He’ll tan your arse if you put yourself in danger doing something nice for him.”
“Could be fun,” I muttered, but the doubt I felt grew. According to my father, everything that went wrong was because of my fuck-ups, and believing him was a habit. Becca wasworking with me on breaking it, but what if I did this and it went wrong, or he thought it was silly. I started to pace, my wolf whining at my tumultuous thoughts. We hadn’t said any mating words when we’d bonded. It had been frenzied and wild, and neither of us had remembered them, yet a part of me still wanted that with him.
“I just want to arrange something nice for him.” I stopped in front of my sister, meeting her gaze with my unsure one.
“To do what, lovely?” asked Ava gently, looking over my shoulder to the door where Rawson had disappeared.
“To tell him how much I love and trust him. To say our vows.”
“You didn’t have a chance when you mated?”
My cheeks burned, but I managed a smirk. “No, we were….occupied with other things.”
Blue chuckled. “I’ll bet you were.”
I met Ava’s gaze and carefully leaned in to kiss Faith’s downy little head. “So I need, like, a grand gesture or something. You know, like they do in romance books or those chick flick romances that you like, to prove that I trust him more than anyone in this fucked up world, not just to be my mate, but to be the Fae equivalent, too.”
Blue’s voice came from behind me. “They still have mates, I think, but it’s so rare to find them that they usually choose a partner like us lowly humans do, by attraction and their winning personality. Unless they have to decide on a partner for another reason—like politics or something.”
Ava glanced over my shoulder to where Blue stood near the door. Her eyes widened a bit, but I couldn’t think about why. It was up to me to figure out something that Stone would appreciate, that would show how much I loved him.
“Ooh, I know! How about a bungee jump from one of the biggest cathedrals or bridges in the world? Then you can screamyour vows on the way down and hope you don't splat on the ground before you get a chance to….”
Ava laughed and interrupted Blue. “Not quite the declaration she’s aiming for, I don’t think.”
