Page 2 of The Monster's Mate
My heart races as his silvery-white hair falls around his handsome face.
This is all so complicated.
It’s hard because I like Athos. He’s lighthearted, and he never fails to make me smile.
Things between us would be…easy.
Things with Eldritch might be significantly lesseasy, but my heart won’t allow me to forget about him. I’m pretty sure part of my matebond with Eldritch snapped into place the night his teeth nicked me when I almost fell out of the cave.
Athos bows his head slightly. “I understand your situation with Eldritch is complicated, but I fear you can’t deny our connection forever.” He swirls back to my side, taking my arm once again. “We need to discuss you accepting my jar. I’ve worn out my welcome with Nadia and her mates. Wraith and Knight regularly discuss dropping it off at The Den?—”
I gasp, shaking my head. “They’re just blustering. They would never actually go through with it.”
“Perhaps not, considering the implications if the wrong individual were to come to hold control of my wishes.” He hums. “Either way, I believe I’ve stayed longer than socially acceptable. They’re adjusting to life with twins, and I’m constantly underfoot.”
I’m sure that is tough, especially since he mentioned before that he hasn’t been in the human realm for hundreds of years. At the same time, it’s not as simple as inviting him to stay with me, even if I do have the space.
If I was single and lived alone, that would be one thing, but being a mom complicates everything.
Veryn is a precocious little monster. He’s a quarter siren from my side and half dragon. However, his dragon roots won out, which is complicated because his father abandoned us before I even realized I was pregnant.
It’s difficult to raise a child that’s a completely different species, but I’m doing the best I can, especially since he’s an alpha.
He really is a good kid, just willful and stubborn, like most alphas.
His father left me with no knowledge of how to raise a dragonling, and I’ve come to learn that male dragons actually plant the egg. Meaning, Cyril disappeared, knowing I was carrying our child.
It’s led to quite a bit of resentment on my part. I birthed an egg with no clue it was coming, completely on my own, only a month after conceiving. It was quite the shock to grow at such a rapid pace, and then I had a freshly delivered egg with no idea what to do next.
Luckily, instinct took over, and I managed, but the entire experience was traumatic. And all because Cyril couldn’t be bothered to have a simple conversation to warn me what to expect.
Dragons don’t even originate in the human realm. They reside in Faere, and their culture is secretive and extremely insular. Everything I’ve learned has come from species who’ve heard rumors from living in Faere themselves.
Well, until Bane.
Ugh.
Even thinking about that sexy dragon gives me indigestion. My feelings about him are complicated, at best.
Bane lives in one of the houses in the small cluster next to mine.
There are four in total, and the backs of each line up to form a courtyard. My friend Aline lives in the home across from mine. The old wolf shifter, Mrs. Segar, is on one side, and Bane resides on the other.
It’s impossible to escape him.
The housing market in Haven is cutthroat, considering how long everyone lives.
Not thatIshould have to leave.
Bane is the one who lied to me.
Okay, maybe he didn’t lie, but he purposely omitted, and that feels like the same thing. If he had been honest about being a dragon from the start, I wouldn’t have held it against him. It’s the lying and sneakiness that I’m not sure we can come back from. It reminds me too much of Veryn’s dad, and I’ve already lived that lesson once.
“I suppose it’s too much to ask that you would allow me to plant my jar in your home?” Athos asks, startling me out of my thoughts.
I snort. “Athos, I think that sounded more sexual than you meant it to.”
He chuckles darkly. “Oh no, darling. I’d say it came out exactly as sexual as I meant it to.”