Mated Enemies

“There was something here last night, or someone I should say.”

“Two of them.” This from Zoe who did not seem pleased in the least.

“Who, who was here?” I looked from one to the other of them.

“We don’t know, we’re not sure. I think we need to try getting ahold of the elders again. I definitely felt a very strong presence here, hovering over you.” Zoe flipped a pancake and prodded at the edges of another with her spatula.

“Yeah, well, I thought that was the worst of our worries you know, you being imprinted on by ‘him’, but I could’ve sworn I smelt hag in the air.” That one caught my attention. Fairies and hags do not mix and have gone out of their way for centuries to steer clear of one another. The hate is as real and as simple as jealousy. The hags hate the fact that the fae have a reputation for being good, while they, dark spawns that they are, get a bad wrap.

Birdie seemed a bit restless and I turned my attention back to him. “Oh what a pretty bird!” Annalise came forward with her hand stretched out to pet him and he made a fuss, flying up to my shoulder and running from one to the next to escape her touch.

There was something odd about his behavior, and for a split second I swore I could feel his emotions strongly. Come to think of it, he seems rather closed off. I’m usually very good at reading the animals around me but I just realized I haven’t been able to do the same with him. Very odd!

Lucien

Hey, cut it out. You’re not allowed to touch me, only she…. Dammit Lucien you’re a bird. Whatever, I moved from one of Natalia’s shoulders to the other to evade and escape the grasping hands of bitch girl who couldn’t seem to catch a damn clue.

I would’ve pecked her damn hand raw if I didn’t think my beauty would take offense and since the sun was on its way up I didn’t have time to deal with her fairy ass. I was on my third circuit around her shoulders when I felt the change. Her scent hit me like a cool wind in a Moroccan desert.

I turned my head swiftly to look at her and my eyes landed on the mark on her neck that she’d tried to hide but was still glaringly obvious, to my eyes at least. What was that? There was something… I sniffed the air again and my eyes half closed in ecstasy.

Well shit! I shook my head to clear my senses and barely caught myself in time to avoid the catastrophic fuck up of changing in her damn kitchen. I flew from her shoulder in the next second, looking for an open window or door and for the second time in as many days made a hasty escape.

By the time I reached the balcony outside my bedroom the sun was well up in the sky and I knew the drill from the day before. Dennis who’s been trained to always be one step ahead of me had preemptively prepared the icepack that was now awaiting me in the ice bucket he’d left on the bedside table.

This time I made it all the way to the chair next to my bed and sat down to ice my aching balls. If the men and women who fear me could only see me now. Brought low by my woman’s ovaries.

I’ve never truly understood the female body and all of its wonderful machinations so I’m at a bit of a loss as to what the fuck just happened. I’m not sure if it was because our mating time was so close that she’d subconsciously gone into possessive female mode, but I’d felt it in her.

Had her sister touched me she would’ve knocked her on her ass. I’d felt the confusion in her too; the little innocent had no idea what was going on, or why she suddenly felt murderous towards someone she loves.

But that’s not what had sent me flying out of there once again like my ass was on fire. Oh no, it was something much worse, according to how you look at it anyway; something that’s going to change the game for both of us.

I’m not going to be able to give her any more time, something I knew was a long shot since the beginning anyway. It’s not normal for my kind to hold out this long after imprinting. Mostly because of the fear of what might happen if we waited too long.

I felt a sense of rising panic for her before I was able tamp it down again. At least we’ve already met so it won’t be a complete surprise when I show up again. She already knows who I am; that I’m her fated mate, so there will be no surprise there either. And I can overcome her fear if I have to.