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Ollie snarls.
Cael lifts a hand and pats him on the head. “Take a deep breath.”
Ollie, for some reason, listens.
Cael continues rustling Ollie’s sandy brown hair. “You’ve gotten very testy since your mate entered the picture. I understand not wanting to look like a joke to her, but do please calm down.”
“It’s not…” Ollie swears, and his voice softens. “It’s not that. I care far less about whether I look stupid and far more about whether I look capable. I…want to protect her. Be reliable.”
“You are reliable, though, and you are so much stronger than you realize.” Cael cups Ollie’s chin and smiles. “They’re coming in three weeks, whether you’re ready or not. They will pester you and your mate, whether you confront them or not. The only choice you have at this moment is whether you face them together, or apart. As united soulmates…or not.”
“That’s…” Ollie swats Cael’s hand off him and crosses his arms. “That’s only twenty-one days, and there’s only eighteen until the next full moon.”
“Wow.” Cael’s brows rise. “Why are you keeping track of the next time you could change your mate if you’ve yet to find a solution to such an extensive dilemma?”
Ollie’s back goes rigid. “Does it matter? I can’t do anything without permission. I’m under oath.”
Cael laughs. “Very few people manage to be quite this skilled at catering to their insecurities, Ollie. It’s rather impressive, really, to tie your own hands on account of them.”
“Sometimes I can hardly stand you.”
“And that is when you are sitting down.”
Ollie scoffs. “Just do it isn’t the answer we’re looking for. Are you sure you don’t know of anything else more accessible than either become an alpha or get over it? Eighteen days is not enough time to decide to abandon people she cares about just to save some kind of face in front of my brothers. They won’t care either way. The only difference will be how they torment us.”
“It isn’t about saving face. This is about something else entirely.”
Ollie mutters, “You’re also cryptic after meetings, which is annoying. Please. Is there nothing else we can look into?”
“Talk to Pollux. He likes doing things he shouldn’t. Who knows? Maybe he’s concentrated the substance that lets humans see boogeys more often than any other fae.”
“Isn’t that substance stress and fear?”
“There might be side effects. I’ve not had any personal experience as his guinea pig, after all.” Leaning back in his seat, Cael smiles and lifts his hands, innocently shrugging. “I’m just the ruling monarch. I certainly shouldn’t condone or allow whatever it is he’s doing out there in the human world, right? It would be irresponsible of me to even know about things that break the rules of reality, wouldn’t it?”
Ollie sighs. “You’re a mess, Cael.”
“Ha ha ha. I had thought your days of flattering anyone other than your mate were over, Ollie.”
“Mess,” Ollie enunciates while I sip my juice in confused silence.
Cael seems nice.
I’m glad he’s not murdered us for our insolence.
Sip.
I raise my hand.
“Yes, little one?” Cael asks.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt. It’s just…what’s going on?”
Ollie grumbles, “My family is visiting.”
I construct the rest of the puzzle pieces. “And…I’m supposed to make a decision before they get here? With or without a way to ‘best of both worlds’ the situation?”
Ollie faces me and crouches at my side. “No. Cael just has blunt emotions concerning this because he’s so old and hasn’t found his mate yet.”
