Page 36 of Fate

He did not offer her one in return.

“Quite a predicament you have found for yourself,” the man continued, ignoring her words, if not her person.

She laughed. It was born of the steady waves of anxiety she felt through the bond rather than anything resembling good-humour, and it was enough to send two sets of pale eyes glaring at her each in turn. She almost placed a hand over her mouth to stem the sound, but that would be foolish. It was there, mingling and settling into the parchment and vellum of the library that surrounded them. And she was certain it was the first bit of laughter they’d heard in a very long while.

“I’ve been called a few things during my years,” Firen said instead, when she got control of herself. “A predicament hasn’t been one of them.” It was offered sweetly, with a smile that was not quite genuine, but wasn’t wholly false either. “Firen, usually,” she added, because she’d rather her name be known. “I am most pleased to have found your son.”

There. Those were the most important elements. She had not actually declared their bond—she would leave that for Lucian to present, even if it was more than obvious to any of them.

Lucian sighed, and the man glared harder across his desk, the heavy pen held tightly in his hand falling against the scroll with athump,ink splattering at the impact. Blotting paper would help, and she almost suggested it, but Lucian was stepping between them and she supposed that meant she ought to be quiet.

He did not speak, only positioned himself so she was half behind him, and the two men stared at one another for a long while. “Were you not told,” Lucian’s father began at last, “of the consequences that would come should you bring an unworthy mate into this house?”

Unworthy?

She had to bite her tongue to keep from offering a retort to such a claim. This man wrote their laws? Oversaw matters of justice? She had never given much thought to such matters, but it suddenly felt absurd.

“You did,” Lucian admitted tightly.

“So. You ventured out, away from your assigned areas, and youhappenedupon one another.” He shook his head slowly, and his attention drifted to the splattered ink, which earned her yet another glare. As if she was responsible for his grip and his temper. “If your desires were so strong, there are facilities that could have seen to them.”

Firen’s mouth dropped open.

Suddenly Lucian’s position between them did matter so greatly. Not when there was such a grave insult not only to her, but to her mate. She moved, the better to address him, to tell him to keep such vile inside his black heart and not pollute either of them with speaking them, but Lucian reached out and grabbed hold of her forearm, his grip tight.

“I went to the fete, asyourequired of me. I wished to remain home.”

A quirked brow, a tightened jaw. “So you are blaming me for your inferior bond?”

It was Firen’s turn to glare at the floor, lest she lose control of her tongue.

“I amsuggesting,” Lucian answered, his grip tightening on her as he struggled with his own temper. She reached up with her free hand and laid it gently on top, reminding him to be careful of her. That she cared for him, and she was sorry, and really, they should just leave and make a life with her family because this man was ridiculous.

Perhaps not all that made it through the bond, no matter how she tried to push it through, but something did. Because his grip loosened and his eyes softened, if only briefly. “It’s not about fault and blame. It happened. I cannot change it.” Nor could his father, but he did not add that part. Firen did not either, although she thought it with all the vehemence she could muster.

“If you think that will save you...” His father did not shout, but there was a coldness that unnerved her. Made her move a little closer into her mate’s side.

The door opened. Not all the way, not until the feminine head poked through and saw them all standing there.

Then it was thrust open with such force that the door hit the side wall with an echoing clamour.

His mother. She was certain of it. For as great a resemblance as there was between the two men, it was her expression Firen recognised. The shimmer in her eyes as she took in the two of them settled so close.

Then the disappointment.

When she did not recognise Firen as one of thoseapprovedwomen with an old family and an important title.

“Oberon,” she breathed, her hands clasping in front of her heart. No... in front of the bond. “We cannot be hasty. Please. Just...”

Lucian’s father—Oberon—stood, and Firen very nearly flinched when that hard look transferred to the woman across the room. Mates should not look at one another in such a way.

“Ellena, I will deal with this matter.” The words were harsh and brokered no refusal, and yet...

This was a mother, so she took a step further into the room, regardless. “Of course you will,” she soothed. “But perhaps... perhaps we might talk a little, first.”

It was a placation. One that Firen did not think was deserved in the least.

But this was not her family. It was supposed to be. Might be in the future.