Quinn chuckled and put his hand on my stomach. "Don't forget this little one too."
A shrill, obnoxious voice drifted over from the peak of the mountain. It could only belong to one person – or I should say, spirit.
We hurried towards the source and found Mistral with his feathers all fluffed up, shouting at Animus, who stood there nonchalantly. I guess Santino didn't bother flying off since he knew Animus and Mistral could both get him back in an instant.
"And what exactly do you expect me to do withthis?" Mistral demanded, jabbing a finger at Santino in finch form, milling around awkwardly.
"What, you don't like my gift?" Animus asked. He didn't sound serious. I thought he was just fucking with Mistral, which honestly amused me. "He's going to keep you company until he recognizes and apologizes for what he's done wrong. Isn't that right, little finch?"
"Yeah, yeah," Santino said, glaring at Animus like he wanted to peck his eyes out.
"As you can see, he has some work to do on that personality," Animus said.
Mistral grumbled and waved his hand. "Fine, whatever. Santino, is it? Go inside. Just don't break anything."
Santino shuffled into the open door without making eye contact with us, then Mistral shut it.
"Um, excuse me," Quinn said.
Mistral whipped towards him. "Oh, look who finally decided to show up! Why ishe–" he pointed to Animus, "–here? Didn't I deliberately tell you to do the opposite of that?"
"I know, but–"
Mistral cut him off. "Well, forget it! You screwed up your end of the bargain. Don't think I'm going to bless you now."
Quinn's expression shattered. "What?"
"Hey, hang the fuck on! You can't go back on your word!" I yelled.
"I can and I will," Mistral argued. His feathers flared frantically. "You broke the agreement. I told you not to let Animus around me, so what do you do? You bring him right to my doorstep!"
To my surprise, Animus crossed his arms and growled, "Actually, Mistral, they did no such thing. If you had an attention span longer than two seconds you would remember that I was here first. They did not send me here. I came on my own accord." He rolled his eyes. "And honestly, do you really think a pair of mortals are strong enough to hold me back when I really set my mind on something?"
Mistral chewed his lip. "But those other two, that wolf and orca–"
Animus looked angry now. "I let them go of my own free will because I refused to harm a pregnant omega. And speaking of pregnant omegas–" He nodded his horns in my direction. "This one put himself in harm's way to rescue countless omegas. And not just him, but that alpha fox too."
We both blinked, surprised. I hadn't expected Animus to praise me so highly. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Quinn was just as shocked as I was. Despite my initial misgivings, I really was starting to respect Animus a lot more than Mistral.
Mistral grumbled to himself, looking back and forth between us. He fiddled indecisively with his fingers. "I… I don't know. What if this is all a trap? I use my magic to bless that fox and then Animus swoops in and steals it from me!"
Quinn slowly shook his head. With a weak smile on his face, he said, "You know what? Forget it. I changed my mind, Mistral. Thanks for your time anyway."
Appalled, I watched as Quinn turned around and walked back down the mountain path. I caught up with him.
"Quinn, are you serious?" I asked. "Don't let that guy boss you around. Even if he is a flake, we can still convince him to uphold his end of the bargain."
"Nah." Quinn waved a hand. "It's not worth it to deal with him. I should've known better. He didn't seem thrilled about wanting to help me in the first place. He probably only agreed to get rid of us."
My blood boiled. I was furious on my mate's behalf. "That stupid harpy," I snapped. "I almost feel bad that Santino has to live with him!"
Quinn didn't reply. He wore the same small, sad smile and walked on, further away from Mistral and his dream. My heart broke for him. He didn't deserve this.
"Quinn," I said. "I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do, just tell me. I'll do anything."
Tears welled up in his eyes. "Stop making me emotional," he said with a soft laugh. "I'm trying not to cry here."
I opened my arms for him. Quinn came forward, wrapping himself around me and burying his face in my collarbone. I rubbed soothing circles on his back, trying to calm him and myself down. I was still angry at Mistral for letting my mate down, but right now I had to be there for him.
