“Anything I should know?” Oliver asked as we approached the living room.
“Regarding?” I questioned.
“You.”
“Um.” That was a loaded question.
“Like do you need to sit down a lot, or can you show me around your home? Do you need grass time? Water? Any signs I should know of in case you get ill?”
“Oh, nothing like that,” I waved him off with a grateful smile. “I’m tired and sore from the sleeping thing, but I feel better each day.”
“Did it help when you mated? I felt balanced for the first time in my life after Grovar and I mated.”
“Yeah, I feel calmer, too, and balanced is a perfect way to describe the feeling I have. It also changed things between Derek and Nolen, they didn’t feel the calm, balanced feeling until Nolen and I had mated as well.”
“That’s actually pretty cool! Another sign you three were meant to be connected,” he said, grinning wide with excitement.
“What do you mean?” I asked, stopping just before entering the living room where Nolen and Derek were.
“Well, one of the rulers’ working theories is that because you and Derek got so hurt, you weren’t strong enough for one mate each, so fate gave you one to share, so Nolen could mate with two but with the magical capability of one.”
I frowned at that. The rulers had theorized that we weren’tgoodenough on our own?
“Hey,” he said, placing a comforting hand over mine. “They’re the rulers, they need to think through every scenario. This was just one of many.”
I appreciated his kind words, but it still stung to hear it. “I guess the feeling of being broken doesn’t just magically go away even after being healed.”
He made a “pfft” sound. “I still feel broken, that hasn’t changed for me even after mating and moving here.”
“You feel broken? Why?” That hurt to hear. Oliver was such a bright person, he deserved to feel whole.
He shrugged. “I was bullied a lot growing up, never quite fitting in with others my age. My parents decided to homeschool me instead, making me stand out even more. When I got old enough, I started attending a public school again to get ready for adult life. I couldn’t hide away at home forever, but it only got worse for me.”
“How so?” I dared ask, holding his hand in mine, this time it was me consoling him.
“Well, the bullies were still there, just some new shiny ones with new and more brutal ways in which they hurt me. Giving up wasn’t something I was okay with, so I stayed through it all. When I graduated, I decided to work for my parents instead of searching for a job.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe all of us half siblings are broken in some way, however awful that sounds.”
“It is awful to think about, but I guess it’s the truth. No one I’ve spoken to had it easy.”
“Maybe the lack of magic made us stand out in some way, showing them we weren’t completely ourselves in their world,” I suggested.
He shrugged. “Maybe, or maybe we’re just different, and now we finally know why.”
I smiled at that. “Maybe being a little broken isn’t such a bad thing after all. Not when you have half siblings to share it with.”
Chapter Forty
Derek
Aiden came back into the living room with Oliver, I’d yet to meet him myself, but I’d heard so much about him that I felt I knew him pretty well already. His greeting to Aiden had been loud enough that Nolen and I knew he was the one visiting.
“Derek!” Oliver exclaimed, hurrying over to where I sat on the couch with Nolen. He sat down next to me and hugged me like he’d known me for years.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, meaning every word.
Aiden had told me how Oliver was just so truly himself when they’d met and I couldn’t wait to get to know him myself. He’d had trouble socializing with others too in our old world, so I instantly felt a companionship through that knowledge alone.
