“You’re a big guy,” Wylder said. “The troll from the bridge?”
“Bo is my name. I left my bridge to travel with my friends,” Bo said.
“And this is Aurelia.” Garrett picked up the little brownie.
“Hello, Aurelia. Aren’t you cute?” Wylder cooed at the little creature.
“We need to get Theo home,” Dario stated. “We don’t know how long his brother will be gone.”
“The unseelie king will need time to power up. He does have an army at his disposal,” Alek responded. The unseelie king’s reputation was not that of his sire.
“I’ll portal us home,” Mitch offered.
“What about—” Wylder waved his hand at the troll and brownie. “Theo’s new friends.”
“I go with my friend,” Bo stated.
The brownie chirped and nodded.
“Uh, how are we going to hide a troll?” Wylder asked.
Alek smiled for what felt like the first time in days. “If we take him into the human realm, he will transform into a gnome. Easier to hide. Garrett should return to his form. The brownie should be fine if we give her tasks to perform.”
Leave it to Theo to be stolen away from his home and everything that he’d ever known and collect friends along the way. Creatures that would both support his unseelie side but also give Theo people to care about.
Theo might not realize how important this was for their little family.
There was still so much that Alek still needed to share with his mates about being the chosen, but it appeared things had a way of working out. The chosen grew their families by the connections they made.
“Let’s go home,” Alek ordered.
Mitch kissed Theo’s cheek then opened the portal.
Dario walked through first, still carrying Theo. Wylder took the brownie from Garrett and followed with Garrett and Bo on his heels. Alek took one last look around.
“We won’t let this happen again,” Mitch told him.
“I hope not. But I think we need to look at the bigger picture,” Alek confessed.
“Theo’s connection to the unseelie,” Mitch said.
“It’s been kept secret for a long time. We can’t rely on that to continue. Just our presence here is going to stir up gossip,” Alek reminded him.
“Then we’ll have the unseelie court negotiate for their soldiers back,” Mitch said.
“And they could give out intel that we want to keep hidden.” Alek shared his concern.
Mitch hummed, rocking back on his heels. “It would be a shame if something happened to them while they are being held.”
Alek snapped his gaze over to his mate.
Mitch grinned. “I want to check on Theo and make sure he is comfortable. Then I’ll bring some friends back with me.”
It was a calculated risk. In the end, nothing was more important than protecting Theo. Alek nodded.
“Since your fathers had an agreement with the seelie court, I won’t tell you more,” Mitch said.
“Agreed,” Alek told him.
