Chapter 142

Daphne and I chat amiably on the way to breakfast, her telling me all the things she wants to see in the city, me giving my own recommendations. But when we turn into the breakfast room, I go a little still to see that it’s just my dad sitting at the head of the table, having a quiet cup of coffee while he scrolls through some document on his tablet.

He looks up when we come in. Daphne freezes awkwardly beside me as dad stands up, giving us both a wide smile.

“Daphne,” he says, giving her a little bow that makes her blush. “As much as I’d love to have breakfast with you as well, Ella’s set up a little something for you and the boys down the hall.” He gestures to the hallway behind her. “I think my daughter and I need a little moment alone to have a chat.”

My eyes go a little wide because…well, I mean, I don’t think I’ve done anything to be in trouble...

But did mom tell dad I snuck out with Jackson last night!?

Does it even count as sneaking out if you don’t leave your house!?

“Okay!” Daphne says, her voice a little squeaky as she scurries out into the hall. She looks back at me anxiously, though, not knowing where to go.

“Three doors down on the left,” I whisper, grinning at her and nodding, knowing that’s the only other room mom would use to serve breakfast. Daphne grins at me and mouths “good luck” before heading down the hall.

“The door, Ariel,” dad says, his voice stern, and I take a deep breath as I press it shut and move to the seat at his side, which is already set for breakfast, a cup of coffee waiting for me. “A bit late,” he says, glancing at the clock as I seat myself. I glance at it too, and nod, realizing that this is more of a brunch or a lunch than a proper breakfast.

“We were all tired,” I say, giving my dad my best innocent-Princess smile, “after our long journey home.”

Dad just laughs a little, shaking his head, and seeing him smile allows my shoulders to unwind. “Don’t be so anxious, Ariel,” he murmurs as one of the cooks comes into the room with a plate of food for me. “You’re not in trouble.”

The chef sets a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of me, my favorite breakfast since I was a little girl. I smile my thanks at the chef, who murmurs that she’s glad to see me safe home before discreetly disappearing form the room. As I begin to eat, I turn my attention back to my dad.

“If I’m not in trouble,” I say, scooping some of the eggs onto my toast and making a little sandwich for myself by folding the slice of toast in half, “then…why the one-on-one?”

“Because,” he says, settling back in his chair with his coffee in his hand, studying me. “I thought we should talk. About this two-mate stuff.”

I grin at dad, anxious again because – well, because dad and I don’t really talk about romantic stuff. But when I see him clear his throat and flick his gaze away, I realize that he feels just as awkward as I do. And my anxiety subsides, replaced by love for him.

“I could kill Roger,” dad sighs, a growl rumbling in his chest as he looks down into his coffee. “For not telling me about this sooner.”

“Aunt Cora says you would have locked me up,” I say, taking a bite of my eggs and toast.

“Still might,” he says, flicking his eyes up to me. I squawk a little, horrified at the idea, and then cough a bit as toast crumbs get stuck in my throat. Dad laughs, leaning forward to pat me on the back. “Or I’ll just let your mates watch you eat,” he murmurs, “that should be enough to make them run for the hills.”

“They’ve already seen it,” I mutter, mouth still full, as I reach for my glass of water and take a sip, swallowing. Then I turn my eyes back to my dad. “They were able to get over it.”

“Brave men,” he murmurs, smirking at me, and I smirk back, and then everything feels…quite suddenly right again. Dad and I – we’ve always had a very special bond. And even if it is strange to talk about boys, I know that he’s got my best interests in his heart. And as we smile at each other, I know he’s realizing the same thing.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to have these relationships, Ariel,” dad sighs, leaning forward and talking to me more naturally now. “I just…it’s going to be hard on you, isn’t it? And I’ve got that dad thing where I just want things to be easy for my kids – want it to be all right.”

“Well, was it hard on you?” I ask, reaching for my coffee and taking a sip. “Aunt Cora told me that you have a little…experience here with the two-mate thing.”

“It wasn’t…hard,” dad says, leaning back in his chair and thinking about it. “But it was different. It wasn’t like yours – I met your mother long after I met Lydia, and we had enough trouble figuring out that your mom was a wolf before we ever figured out that she was my mate. I think that had I met them at the same time…” he hesitates and then grimaces at me. “I think it would have been…insane. Mostly because they would have torn each other to pieces.”

“Yeah,” I say, grimacing too as I lean back in my chair. “We had…a bit of that.”

“No!” dad says, grinning at me and leaning forward, clearly wanting to hear more. I smile at my dad, because as much as he pretends he’s so serious, he loves gossip as much as the rest of us. And so I launch into the story, telling him about the night that Jacks and Luca found out about each other, and how they shifted, and how Jesse and Rafe had to intercede, and how Ben knocked me out of the way and probably saved me from some serious harm.

“Wow,” dad says when it’s all done, looking a little pale as he runs a hand through his hair. “You were…lucky, Ariel. That could have been way worse. And I like this Ben character even more than I did before.”

“Yes, Ben’s a gem,” I say, smiling. “But Jesse and Rafe have been amazing,” I continue, keeping my voice soft. “They really helped me to negotiate the whole thing, and calm Luca and Jackson down, and helped me advocate for myself when emotions were running high. I’m very lucky to have them.”

Dad nods, thinking it through, and then we proceed to have a very long breakfast in which he asks for more details about my bonds with Luca and Jackson – nothing intimate, just the basics of how they feel, any abilities that come along with it, the politics of having to manage them.

And then, to my surprise, he tells me the long story of his first mate. Of how she had been engaged to Uncle Roger, and the torture of discovering that she was his mate when he reached his majority, and how she made it worse for years by insisting that he keep it a secret until Grandpa Henry finally decided to declare dad his heir, not Roger. And then Lydia had shocked everyone by revealing her mating bond with my dad and leaving Roger for his younger brother.

“Wow,” I say, kind of shocked. “She sounds…not nice.”

“Lydia was…complicated,” dad says on a sigh, lifting his eyes to mine. “And it wouldn’t have bothered her, at all, that people didn’t think she was nice. She cared much more about being powerful, and refined, and in control. She was a whirlwind of a woman – very easy to get caught up in, not at all concerned with the destruction she left in her wake.”

I go quiet for a little, studying my dad, wondering how someone like that could be his mate. Because mom…mom is the opposite of all of that. And dad and she match so well.

“I was a different man when I was younger, Ariel,” dad says evenly, intuiting the direction of my thoughts and telling me the truth even though I can see it pains him a little to do so. “I was…angry, and desperate for Lydia after so many years pining for her. And Grandpa Henry was…a different man too. He was still mourning the loss of mom and his political position.” Dad sighs, shaking his head. “It almost killed Roger and my relationship – we only got back on track after Cora and your mom came on the scene. They changed our entire world for the better.”

I smile a little, liking that part of the story. “So, how did you change?” I ask quietly, really wanting to know. “How did you becoming…someone who matches mom, instead of Lydia?”

“Grief,” he says, quite honestly, meeting my eyes. “It was a dark time, realizing that Lydia wasn’t the right match for me. Rejecting her – it almost killed me, Ariel. And I mean that quite literally – almost killed me in a physical way. The claim that a fated mate has on you, body and soul,” he sighs, looking down. “It is no small thing to reject them. It took me years to recover, but I think the crucible of that pain…allowed me to become the man who was worthy of your mom.”

He looks up again, studying me. I look back at him quite seriously.

“Does that make sense?” he asks, his voice quiet.

Slowly, I nod. But I don’t say anything.

“What is it, daughter?” dad asks, leaning forward and taking my hand. Because he can tell something is wrong.

And then, my voice soft in my fear, I tell him about Luca and Jackson’s decision – their request that I eventually choose one of them, and not just have them both. Because now that I know, at least second-hand, what it’s like to reject your mate?

God, could I even do it?