Alek had never doubted the love that his fathers had for him or his siblings. Evian had been his shadow growing up and Alek’s best friend for his entire life. He might bitch and gripe about Thomas’s hot head or the twins’ antics but he would back his brothers through anything. They would do the same for him.
Family.
Vadir, Mahah, Seb, Tate, and Carson were the best fathers that Alek could have ever asked for. Seeing the relationships that the rest of his mates had with their parents reminded Alek how lucky he was.
Mitch was doing everything he could to keep them away from his sire. Dario’s parents were gone. Wylder’s parents might still be alive but he was dead to them. And then there was Theo, who had the saddest story. Learning that his birth parents were an unseelie king and a shifter that had been killed by his own brother was a lot for Theo to have to deal with. Alek wondered if Theo was even processing it.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Mah said, sliding a mug in front of him.
Alek shook his thoughts away, now realizing that he’d turned inward and hadn’t noticed that Mah had finished brewing two cups of tea.
“I was just thinking of growing up in our house. How good it was. And that I never questioned that you or any of my fathers loved me. I have family to share with my mates when they don’t have anyone. It makes me sad for them,” Alek replied honestly.
Mah hummed as he sipped his tea. “We put off having children for a long time because we knew that eventually one of you would take over for us. It’s hard to put that on the boys that we love.”
Alek nodded. He’d heard this before.
“But we also didn’t want to rob you of your destinies either,” Mah told him.
This was something new. “What do you mean?”
“Fate is a funny thing. Had we not had children, then we wouldn’t have fulfilled our destiny. What was meant for us. It would have also taken away you and your brothers meeting your mates. And, son, mates are our reward. I thank the fates every single day for having your fathers.”
Alek smiled. “You make it look so easy.”
Mah laughed. “That’s because you didn’t see us in the early years. We had our own struggles. Your father is a very stubborn vampire who thinks he is right more than he is wrong.”
“Yeah. That hasn’t changed.”
“Tate just thought we were all crazy and part of some cult or something,” Mah said. “He actually tried to banish Vadir to hell or something. It was quite cute.”
“I’m sure Dad didn’t think it was cute at the time,” Alek commented.
“Well, of course not. It did make Vadir relax a little and he agreed to take things slowly with Tate. Which was really what my human mate needed.”
“I feel like we have zero time,” Alek mentioned.
“Maybe you don’t. Perhaps you should look at it as a blessing,” Mah suggested.
“A blessing,” Alek repeated.
“Theo could have learned about his heritage before he met you,” Mah responded.
“That’s true.”
“He was strong enough to survive. Fought for you. You and your mates gave him the strength to do that. And you’ll support him through the rest of this,” Mah said.
“I hate that he has to go through this at all.” Alek picked up his tea and sipped as he thought about Mah’s words.
“Because you love him,” Mah said. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“I love them all,” Alek admitted.
“Then support them. Theo will be okay. He’s had to be strong his entire life. Wylder is smart and fearless. Loyal. Mitch’s love runs deep for you all already. I can feel it when he’s aroundyou. And Dario will sacrifice himself time and again if it means keeping one of you safe. You can’t let him do that.”
Alek had already figured out all that about his mates but it was nice to hear that Mah agreed with his assessment.
“We managed to oversee a treaty between the seelie and unseelie courts. It is tentative and can collapse at any moment. Having a mate with unseelie blood might not be the worse thing for when you take over.”
