The sober note in his tone made me look up. There was a flicker of hurt in his expression.
Orpheus sighed. "Ryker used to call us fated."
Hearing that made the hairs rise on the back of my neck. My inner fox felt rabid with anger. "What? How dare he when he treated you like shit?"
Orpheus smirked, but there was no humour in it. "He only started doing it when he felt me slipping away. It must've been his last-ditch effort to get me to stay. After all, who could leave when someone insists their souls are bonded?"
This time I couldn't swallow back a growl. My fox wanted to rip Ryker to shreds.
Orpheus ruffled my hair. "Is my foxy angel upset?"
"Yes!" I snapped. "If I ever see that guy, I'm gonna tear each feather off his body and shove them up his ass."
The amused grin on Orpheus's face told me he wouldn't mind seeing that.
"Don't think about him anymore," Orpheus said gently, holding me closer. "About the fated mates thing… I feel it." Orpheus touched his chest where it met mine. Our hearts beat in unison. "So don't worry about that. But I need to suck the poison out first."
I nodded. Now that I knew his ex had tainted the term, I understood where he was coming from. "Do you think talking to other members of the pack would help? They all know what it feels like. The true version, I mean, not the fake crap your ex fed you."
Orpheus smiled. "I'd like that. It's nice to be around normal people who aren't constantly out to get you."
"You said it."
When Orpheus and I made it back into the grove, it wasn't long before people noticed. The pack was like an overbearing, meddling family who could never mind their own business, but I loved them for it. Even if I did have to brace myself for the onslaught of questions coming towards me in the shape of a certain wolf shifter named Sage.
He sauntered towards us, trying to be sneaky but utterly failing. With an exasperated sigh, his alpha mate Xander followed close behind him, holding their daughter Starry against his chest. She was presently trying to claw her way over her dad's shoulders and down his back like a lizard.
"Hi, Red," Sage said, barely trying to hold back hisI know what you've been up togrin. "The kids were looking for the babysitter last night. Do you know where he might've gone?"
"Oh, lay off the guy," Xander said, rolling his eyes. "He's allowed to have free time without a mob of furballs annoying him. Red, feel free to take as many breaks as you need, okay? We parents can look after our own kids for once."
I smiled. "I will. Thanks."
Starry, who had just realized that I was standing there, promptly forgot her journey to crawl over her mountain of a father—no pun about him being a mountain lion shifter intended. Now she shifted to her human form and reached for me with her little arms, grunting impatiently.
"Aw, isn't that cute? She missed you," Orpheus said, smiling.
Xander handed her to me. I lifted Starry above my head and she giggled, kicking her legs in glee. Just like the previous times I’d held her, I felt the same pang of longing. But this time, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Unlike before, the idea of me having a baby wasn't entirely out of the question anymore. I had somebody who was just as interested in that as I was. Orpheus was going to make a wonderful father, whenever that time came.
I hoped it was soon.
12
Orpheus
I sawthe way Xander looked at Sage. Even when he was exasperated with him—which I suspected was often—that shining gleam of love never once left his eyes. He gazed at his mate like he was the centre of his world. Out of all the pairs in the pack, Xander and Sage—a serious big cat and a silly wolf—seemed the most different. They were total opposites. And yet, it was undeniable that they were fated.
I knew I had to talk to him. When Red and Sage were gushing over Starry’s antics, I took Xander aside. "Have a minute?"
"Sure."
We strayed away from them so I could talk to Xander privately. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing to have to admit to someone who wasn't Red that I had issues surrounding the term fated mates. Everybody in the pack seemed so comfortable with it.
"You and Red seem happy," Xander remarked. He struck me as a no-nonsense type of guy—literally the opposite of Sage—so I knew his comment came from a place of truth, not just idle small talk.
"I think we are," I said.
He faced me. "Are you serious about him?"
