The First Fae Mate

Fifty-five | Mate

"Don't wake her up."

"It's important."

"I don't care. Let her rest."

"Visena!" Calypso's voice dragged Visena out of her afternoon nap, and she groggily wiped her eyes. Dribble pooled across the arm she had tucked beneath her head on the couch.

"What is it, Calypso?" she asked, chuckling lightly after seeing Gideon's smouldering glare.

"I've tightened the barrier as much as possible, but now I must leave."

"What for? When will you be back?"

Calypso's uncharacteristic lip-biting made the Fae sit a little straighter.

"Leave permanently. I've lived here for a century; it's time to move on."

"Is this because you and Mihnea want to be together? Because if it is, he can stay here if he wants. We can make you a bigger house. I reckon some Vamp-Witch babies would be cute."

Calypso appeared to choke before turning bright pink. "How presumptuous can you be? I feel like I'm talking to my mo- To Esmerelda all over again."

Visena smiled sadly at her slip of the tongue. "She was your mother too. I can sometimes hear her voice when you speak all proper and old."

Gideon scoffed while Calypso sputtered and spun away. "I'm leaving."

"Please don't go. I meant it when I said you could both stay. I quite like having a big sister."

The woman paused, clawing her fingers into the door frame and sighed heavily. Before she could say another word, the man of the hour strolled through the doorway, brushing his fingers across Calypso's shoulder sensually. Definitely fucking.

"Good to see you, little Wolf. Gideon."

Gideon rolled his eyes and kissed his mate's cheek. "I'll make you something for dinner," he whispered before walking to the kitchen.

"So, will you stay?" Visena asked hopefully.

Mihnea's thin lips pulled over razor-sharp incisors. "Are you inviting me?" 

The glimmer in his eye showed the awareness of underlying pop-culture reference, inviting a world-famous Visena eye roll. "As long as you promise that neither you nor your Vampire, uh, children hurt any of the wolves."

Gideon grumbled from the counter. "We'll see how long that lasts."

Calypso humphed as Mihnea turned to face him. "What are you implying?

"Your kind killed my parents."

They stood in heavy silence, waiting for Gideon to share more. It appeared he wasn't going to until he met his mate's wide eyes and sighed. "I found them on the forest's edge, drained of blood and reeking of Vamps. They were torn apart. " His voice cracked slightly on the last word, and Visena found her heart aching for him.

"Vampires would never drink from wolves. Kill, yes, in defence,  but wolf blood is generally foul. I heard of your parent's death, and my Vampires were not responsible."

"They would never tell you!"

"They are loyal to me!" Mihnea raised his voice, and Visena's ears rang from the sudden sound.

The Vampire apologised. "Forgive me. I do not take kindly to my species being accused of something they most certainly did not do."

"Then who the fuck killed them, Rău?"

Visena crossed the room and lay a hand across Gideon's shaking ones. "Whoever did it wanted you guys to hate each other. Who would gain from that?"

All the species stood to gain from Vampire, Wolf population control. If they were killing each other from some fake feud, then the others could gain more power. It made perfect sense, and Visena had to stop it.