I thought about it and ended up shaking my head. “I can’t rightly say, Ethan. She’s been a wonderful friend to Evie. For that alone, I’d say yes. But I don’t know who Moira is. She gives me nothing. I know she likes to bake, and she likes babies. Other than that, she’s a blank slate. If you want to get to know her?—”
Ethan scoffed. “No. Absolutely not. I just don’t want another problem like the Floromancer.”
I slid a glance his way. “You mean, my mate.”
Ethan waved a dismissive hand.
“Who, I might add, never did anything to you or any of us other than exist. The problem you had with her lies with Caelan.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “I realized that some months back.” He turned to look at me. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I can be insistent on things when I think I’m right.”
Ethan hadn’t apologized for a godsdamned thing in the entire time I’d known him. I could be a dick about it, but this was a rare olive branch. “As long as you respect Evie as my mate and know I will protect her as I would anyone in my Keep, even more so, you and I will not have any problems.”
Ethan nodded. “Where is she?”
I chuckled. “A pub downtown. My Omega is with her.”
“Moira with her?”
I nodded. “They both needed to blow off some steam.”
Ethan opened his mouth, then closed it, a furrow appearing between his brows.
“Ask,” I said quietly.
Ethan shifted, the first sign of nervousness I’d ever seen from him.
“How is it having a mate of a different kind?”
“You mean her being fae and me being a shifter?”
Ethan nodded. Telling him the entire truth would divulge a hard-kept secret about my own identity. We weren’t there yet and maybe never would be. But I could throw him a bone andsee what happened. He deserved that much at least. Most people were different between work and home.
“That’s why she’s at the bar, actually,” I admitted.
Ethan’s eyebrows rose, but the Lord stayed silent.
“Evie’s magic is awe-inspiring to see in person. Being affected by it is something out of this world. When I took her out of Joy Springs, she was extremely careful about how she used my land because her type of power urges her to protect and nurture by claiming. When she couldn’t use her magic as it was meant to be used, her power reservoir grew too full. I had to take her far outside Keep boundaries so she could release some and not inadvertently claim my territory. While she was busy siphoning, she spotted that spell and healed the area, which resulted in a massive boom of magic. Now we have over a dozen pregnancies.”
Ethan choked. “A dozen?”
I nodded. “Those are the ones we know about. There might be more.”
“Gods, man.” Ethan scrubbed a hand over his face. “That’s unheard of.”
“With that sort of power comes misunderstanding.”
Ethan’s eyes flashed. “Your people are afraid of her.”
“Some,” I corrected. “Evie overheard my Second speaking. It threw her for a tailspin, and Moira invited her to blow off some steam.”
“I bet she gets that a lot.” The words weren’t accusing, more thoughtful than anything.
“Caelan tanked their relationship due to fear of the unknown and his own insecurities.”
Ethan let out a heavy sigh. “I suspected. When you took her out of his territory, I fielded half a dozen furious phone calls from him. His rage was something to witness.”
“Every bit unjustified. Evie took weeks to come out of her room. He’d broken her.”
