I couldn’t help myself. “Unused to the lack of bowing and scraping?”
To my surprise, Dad laughed. “That male is not even a little bit frightened of me.”
“Should he be?” I curled my fingers around Dad’s elbow and tugged him toward the forested area. A soft shuffle of branches told me either Hope or Declan was close by.
“Allow me my privacy,” I called.
The shuffling stopped, followed by a huff of annoyance.
Dad snorted. “Lots of ninja spies around this place.”
I rolled my eyes. “Four of them, to be exact. Overbearing but sweet.”
Another snort from the trees before the sound of someone dropping from a high distance thumped some distance ahead.
“We’re alone,” Dad said after a moment. “Or at least free of shifter eyes and ears.”
I let out a slow breath and let my shoulders relax.
“Very little privacy can grate on beings like us,” Dad guessed.
“They’re worried about Caelan and this damn spell. No matter that there’s no trace of it here.”
“Would it be better if they were nonchalant?”
I shot him a dark look. “You know the answer to that.”
“Shifters are nosy creatures by nature,” Dad said with a smile. “Even if all this wasn’t going on, you’re the fae queen and a Chimera, two things they’ve never experienced before. On top of that, their Lord is very territorial toward you, and there is an unfinished mating bond. Those two things send a shifter’s protective nature into overdrive.”
I’d been wanting to ask him a question for a long time and tried to figure out a way to ask without being so blunt, but there was no soft way to go about this. “Do fae have mating bonds?”
Dad stopped walking, jerking me to a stop with him. His eyes went all swirly. “Why?”
I blinked. “Um. Because I’m curious. If I’m sort of a shifter but also fae, does one bond supersede the other? If a mating bond exists for shifters, but both of those shifters have fae blood, is it possible for one bond to exist but for them not to be fae mates as well?” I pressed the space between my brows. “It’s all very confusing.”
Dad exhaled a heavy breath and gave me an exasperated look. “You think too much,” he muttered.
“Don’t I know it. Why are you being squirrelly about it?”
“You don’t have one with Rowan?” His eyes were still swirling.
“Not that I know of.”
“You would know.” Dad shook his head. “I’ve seen it knock grown men to their knees.”
“The answer is yes, then?”
He sighed and tugged me down to the grass. “We do have them, but they are exceedingly rare. No bond is something to take lightly, but a fae bond is…more.” My father’s face grew inordinately sad. “If you decide not to accept the young Lord’s heart, you can still walk away from this.”
Rowan had said as much. Eventually, I’d have to make a decision. Drawing this out was painful for both of us, but if I letit go on too long, it would turn cruel. Rowan deserved someone to love him with their entire being. I was too damaged to see beyond a few days from now, and with Caelan’s life on the line, I found it difficult to focus on much else except fixing that problem.
“If a fae mating bond forms and is offered and accepted, you will not so easily escape that magic. Your power will be forever linked together, and if one of you dies, the other will never be the same. With Rowan, even if you accept the bond, there are things that can shatter the magic. Not so much with our people.”
“Is there a possibility of two bonds?” I mused.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing. But…” he rubbed his hand over his face, “there has never been a fae and Chimera hybrid. I assume the bond would combine into something we’ve never seen before.” He studied me for a long moment. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
I shrugged. “Curiosity mostly.” A true statement, but also not the entire truth. I’d been feeling things lately. Odd things. Things that made me want to latch onto Rowan like an alien Facehugger and hold on for dear life. My magic felthungry,and I was getting a little itchy in the britches for more than friendship. It was making me twitchy, and Rowan knew something was up because of his excellent senses and because he was not an idiot. Was it the shifter bond, or was something else happening, something more fae than animalistic?
