lady. You never call this late, what's happened?"
How does he always know when I do that?
"Well, you know how I said I would be leaving first thing in the morning?"
"Yes?"
"Yeah, that's not happening."
"Why? Do you have a flat? Is it car trouble? Are you being held hostage?"
"How do you go from flat tire to hostage situation?"
"Well?" he demanded, ignoring her perfectly logical question.
"I found my mate! Isn't that exciting?" She held her breath and mentally counted down.
Three...two...one...
"What!? That sonofabitch! Waiting until we weren't around to swoop in and steal my baby girl!" He called out to their brothers, "Kyran! Tristan! Get Packed! We're going to Lycaonia to beat some fae bastard's ass and take back our baby girl!"
"What!?" she heard Kyran shout.
"Motherfucker!" Tristan yelled.
Amelia stared up at the ceiling. Yeah, they wouldn't complicate matters at all.
"Freeze!" she barked into the phone. A second later, there was silence. "Listen, I'm a grown woman; please don't interfere."
"You're barely grown and only because you're half human. I thought we agreed you wouldn't mate until you were two hundred," Caiden argued.
"No! You told me I couldn't mate until I was two hundred. I have met him. He's my mate. Get over it."
"Shifty, blond bastard. I bet he makes shoes or something," Caiden grumbled.
Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Cai-den!"
"Yes?"
"Where am I?"
"Lycaonia."
"And..." She waited to see if he would put two and two together.
"Oh Gods! You're moving!" he practically wailed.
"Can she do that?" Kyran demanded.
Fuck my life right now!
" Lycaonia is the city of..."
"Shifters," Tristan answered.
"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "What type of fae live in a shifter city?"
Silence.
Silence.
"Do you have the roster?" she heard Caiden ask.
"Right here," Tristan shouted. "Okay, so her fae bastard mate could be Larik Li'Mileren from Beta, Barak Ri'Anvial from Delta, Alanis Vi'Kilernan from Epsilon, Sulis Ri'Orthames from Zeta, Gods, if that is her mate, then he isn't getting the two hundred bucks I owe him."
"Tristan!" Caiden barked.
"Right. All that's left are the brothers Darian Vi'Alina or Oron Vi'Eirson."
Amelia sat up straight. "Wait, how can they be brothers if they have different last names?"
"Gods, it's one of those two surly assholes," Kyran groaned.
"Which one is it, baby girl?" Caiden asked.
"How are they brothers?" she repeated.
"From what I've heard, they were raised by the same foster parents. Now, which one?"
"Darian."
She heard them swearing softly.
"Is he treating you right?" Caiden finally asked.
She felt her eyes fill with tears. She wanted to cry and tell him it wasn't fair, that all her life she had wanted her mate and now he was denying her. She wanted her big brother to fix it, like he always did, but she knew he couldn't fix this. She smiled through her tears.
"He's been so unpredictable. He looks exactly like I dreamt him." Technically her words weren't a lie, but her heart still felt heavy.
"Okay, baby girl, we'll stay out of it. We don't really want to be around when you're freshly mated; that would be weird. But if you need us for anything--and I do mean anything--you call, day or night."
"I promise." She tried to keep her voice upbeat and cheery.
"Also, don't hesitate to go to Aiden. He's a good guy. He'll help you any way we would," Caiden said.
"If the need arises, I will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading to bed. Remember, I'm three hours ahead of you now."
"We'll visit soon," Kyran called out.
"Miss you guys already." This time she couldn't keep the tears from falling down her cheeks.
"We miss you, too, baby girl. Now get some sleep and give that mate of yours hell," he said gruffly. She knew he was fighting his own emotions.
"Night, night, CaiKryTri," she said, using the abbreviated nickname she had for the three of them.
"Night, night, doodlebutt," Tristan said, making her smile.
She ended the call, curled up on her side, and
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