Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

MATE“Thats a trap,” Eros said as I stared stupidly at Quinn’s message. Where was this going?

Instead of answering directly, I went the clarification route.

“Trap, trap, trap,” Eros chanted. I tried to push him away. Quinn wasn’t like that, and she definitely never asked me anything like this.

I knew I had to answer. I wasn’t lying; it had been a good while since I entertained anyone else like that. I was so focused on training and getting back to her that I didn’t leave time for ‘blowing off steam’ anymore.

ME

| why ?

It took a moment, but her picture reply came. With no hesitation, I was straining painfully against the inside of my athletic shorts. My heart was beating hard, and I suddenly needed water. They’d gotten bigger, and Goddess did it suit her.

“Mmmmm, those look delicious,” Eros purred.

“I thought it was a trap?” I shot back at him.

“A good trap.”

ME

| im not sure how to respectfully reply to that

MATE“f**k. f**k. f**k. What should I do? I don’t want to push her too far and kill this,” I thought to myself, trying to figure out the right way to respond.

ME

| you want me to be honest?

MATETo a future Stary Alpha,

Fae are creatures of magic. We have many abilities, some more than others. I have been blessed with the gift of foresight, and I am able to see glimpses far into the future. I see a small girl with hair of blue mated to the Alpha of Stary, and their bond will be like none you have seen before. She will change and strengthen him more than a typical bond ever could. I see wolves of silver and blue running together but only if she is kept safe from danger. Before seventeen, she will face many threats from places both expected and non.

I am thankful to your Goddess for the mate she has given me. Please keep this descendent of my b***d safe as she will be crucial to a descendent of yours. They will lead Stary into a time of peace and prosperity.

– Alice

“She has to be talking about us,” I mused to myself, reading the letter over and over again.

“I’m grey; I guess that’s close enough to silver?” Eros thought along with me.

“What are the other threats to her, though?” I wondered. “I stopped Lawrence. Who could be an unexpected danger?”

“We have to find out who wants to hurt our mate,” Eros growled.

“Agreed.”

My dad walked in with lunch for both of us; he’d stepped out while I was reading since I stopped talking altogether.

“I’m positive this letter is about us,” I told him, holding the book up in front of me.

“I’d forgotten about the letter until I pulled it out again,” he said, looking at me quizzically. “The only thing is, you aren’t silver.”

“With her looking several hundred years into the future, I feel like grey is close enough,” I responded, shrugging. “I’ll have to tell Quinn about this after the challenge. If she starts looking into it and Lawrence finds out, I don’t trust him not to find a way to break our oath.”

“What do you think about the section on the threats to her? It’s plural, not just Lawrence?” he asked, looking legitimately concerned.

“I’m going to have to find out,” I told him, a weight settling on my chest as I worried if there was something I didn’t know happening in Stary.

–

After lunch, I told my dad I needed a moment to check in on Quinn. The letter was worrying me.

ME

| hey blue

| just have a weird feeling

| everything okay down there?Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

MATE“Do. Not. Set. Mate. Up. With. Cousin. You. Cunt,” Eros roared pointedly.

“Exactly.”

I’d have to figure it out later. I needed to get out to train with my dad.

–

“Today, we’re going to begin weapons training,” my dad said seriously, standing in front of the throwing range with an array of weapons before us. I could see axes, hammers, sticks, sai, and even larger weapons going all the way up to a full-sized Scottish claymore.

“That’s a lot of weapons,” I said in surprise.

“By the time your challenge with Lawrence happens, you’ll know how to use all of them,” he replied. “We have a collection of weapons from all over the world. As you learn to use them, you’ll find that the principles and concepts will transfer to weapons of similar sizes and types. Eventually, you should just be able to pick up any weapon and still utilize it without needing to learn it specifically.”

I picked up the claymore, turning it around in my hand and admiring the blade. It was etched with our crest and looked as new as the day it was forged.

“That one is from the 1600’s,” he told me, smiling at my look of disbelief. “It belonged to the Alpha that brought us to America. The blessing keeps them in much better shape than they would be otherwise. We just have to keep them clean.”

“Will this be mine one day?” I asked him, loving the way it felt in my hand.

“The day you become Alpha of Stary, I will present it to you myself,” he promised. “What do you need to remember, though?”

Without looking away from the blade I held out in front of me, I repeated the motto he’d taught me before, “We may call these weapons, but they are tools. I am the weapon.”

“Very good,” he said with a nod. “Today, we will be working on familiarizing you with different weapon types to see which you hold any preference or specific affinity towards.”

In front of the actual weapons, he had a pile of wooden replicas on the ground covered in a thick foam layer. He reached down and threw me a short sword as he picked up a bo staff.

“You gave me a sword, and you’re using a glorified stick?” I asked. I was tired of instructors underestimating me as I started training with them.

“They’re both made of wood,” he responded. He smiled a little too cockily for me, “Besides, you should worry about figuring out what weapons work best for you. Today is going to hurt.”

“Why-”

The staff came whistling towards my head, and I got my blade up just in time to block something that was no longer there. He’d already changed direction, and I didn’t realize it until my vision went black. I saw stars as his bo staff connected to the unprotected part of my head. I dropped to one knee, trying to get my bearings again.

“These are wood!” I exclaimed. “That should have broken on my head. I’m a damned wolf.”

“Oh,” he laughed. “These are made of wood with foam coverings, but the blessing works on any weapon. That includes training weapons. These are damn near indestructible.”

“Now you tell me,” I g*****d, rubbing my head.

“Do I need to go easier?” he teased.

“Not for me, old man,” I taunted back. “We can stop when you need a break, though.”

I gripped my sword hard in my hand and lunged at him from my kneeling position. He immediately smacked the sword across the yard and then dropped the bow hard on the back of my head. It was going to be a long day.

–

“Hey!” Nic almost shouted as I answered the phone.

“What’s up?” I was lying in bed after showering, completely exhausted.

“I wanted to run something by you.”

“That is?”

“One of your favorite bands is coming into town a few days after your birthday, the next Friday. I want to take you as a birthday present. Is that an okay day for you?” she asked, the excitement barely contained in her voice. We both loved music, and this would be our first concert together.

“Uh, yea. Let me look at the calendar.” I flipped the pages, scanning for my birthday. I found that day, and it already had a big blue heart on it; it was Quinn’s birthday. It wasn’t like I could see her, but I needed to make sure I called her before we left.

“Yea, I don’t have anything. I’ll just have to make sure I call Quinn before we go. It’s her birthday,” I explained.

“That’s cool; we should have plenty of time. I didn’t realize your birthdays were so close together. That’s kind of cute.”

“Thanks, Nic,” I told her. “I haven’t looked forward to my birthday for a while now.”

“We’ll change that,” she giggled. “You want to do something later?”

“Can I raincheck for tomorrow? I am totally spent from today,” I pleaded.

“Of course, we can,” she answered. “Although… We could just watch movies or something if you’re tired. I can bring over dinner?”

That sounded nice, and it didn’t require me to really do anything, “Sure, I’ll leave the front door unlocked and have the living room ready.”

“See you soon!”