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She giggles again, cupping my cheek with her small hand. “He kept you safe when you were lost and vulnerable. I believe I shall love him when I meet him, too.”

I am unworthy, but she makes me want to do better for her. Her acceptance and belief in me would seal my fate if I were not already smitten.

Chapter Nineteen

Fawn

Ihave only just met Eiden, yet I already see his complexity. Those few words he gives hint at suffering and events he still feels shame toward.

My heart breaks for him.

I’m glad he found Seven and Nox, who have supported and cared for him.

I admit to being curious and confused about much of what will happen next. When Seven came to my home, it sounded like he intended to take me as a mate, and now I believe it is more, for he is no ordinary stag but the king and the Master Stag of all. And if I were to be with him, I would be considered a queen.

He speaks of courtiers and attendants. It is a lot to take in.

Yet this new place and people do not feel so intimidating as I float in the pool. Eiden’s soul calls to me. I want to tell him things about my past. For in my heart, I know he will understand. Then there is the way our scent mingles even here as the water swirls around us, making a different, more beautiful scent that isours.

I feel my blush rising as Eiden and I stare at one another, the warm water lapping around us. I’m aware of his body against mine, made slick by the water. Of the shameless way I’m pressing against him with my legs wrapped around his body. My pussy does not quite touch him, but it would be easy to snuggle just a little closer. Already I am certain that Eiden will be one of my mates.

Only there are three of them, when you include Nox, and from the way Eiden spoke, I get the impression they share a deep bond, maybe even intimacy. I’m curious about what that means. In the wolf village people form family units of all kinds… Although I’ve never heard of three males.Maybe there are does here that they favor. Maybe I’m foolish to presume I know how this might work. Their culture is undoubtedly different from wolf shifters.

All this aside, there is Wolf and his feelings to consider. We mated among the sunlit castle ruins. He took me for the very first time. He saw my doe.

He still wanted me, gave up everything for me, and whether I was a beta or a doe.

I may be young, but I still recognize there are many pitfalls ahead.

“I cannot wait to shift,” I say, pushing down my worries. We are here now. The decision was made. I want to believe it was for the best. I would never do anything willingly to hurt Wolf no matter the strange pulls acting upon me. “My doe has been kept hidden for so long. But Seven said I could do so here as often as I wished.”

Eiden smiles. “And so you shall. We have an extensive woodland right inside the city. Nox and I shall be with you, although these lands are eminently safe. You have lived among the wolves. That must have been very difficult for a young fawn.”

“I had to keep that side secret,” I say, thinking about my mother and how she went away when in season.

“Jude mentioned your parents have passed to the Goddess,” he says.

“My mother passed away a year ago. My father was a few years before that. We were happy in the Blackrock pack. When my father was alive, we used to go to a secret place where I could play in my deer form. But that was not often, and I always envied the wolf pups. I had one friend who knew. But then she mated an orc, and they left to live with him.”

He brushes my damp hair back from my cheek, and his eyes lowered to my lips. “I am sorry that you suffered so much. Rest assured, your doe may play as often as she likes.”

“Aren’t I too old to play now?” I am getting lost in his pretty eyes, in the awareness of him, and finding it difficult to concentrate. “I don’t know what’s happening here,” I whisper.

His eyes soften. “One is never too old to play. As for the rest. Take each day at a time. There is no rush in any of this. Get to know us. This is all on your terms. You decide. You choose. You already have one mate, Jude, your wolf. No one is seeking to displace him. He will be as welcomed here, although there will surely be some ripples. But he is a confident man and wolf, and I’m certain he shall find his place. He will always be your first, and there is no changing that.”

“What about you?” I ask.

He smiles. He really does have the most beautiful smile. His eyes are a warm light brown, and his lashes are long and golden, as are his brows. And his ears… My eyes keep sliding toward them. I do not have pointed ears, although my mother did, she always kept them hidden by wearing a scarf. Mine are entirely human and round, so I’m a little obsessed with his.

“We are a scent match,” he says. “It happens sometimes between male and female omegas. I believe, hope, pray,presumptuous though it is of me, that we are destined to be mates.”

My heart skips a beat. I feel the rightness of what he says. But also… “What about Seven and Nox?” I blurt out.

He shrugs. “Our relationship is complex. But if you are asking me if I have been intimate with them and care about them in the way of a lover, then, yes, I have and do. But love is not a two-way-only path.” He cups my cheek and kisses my forehead, brief and full of tenderness. “To love more than one does not diminish the love of another.”

“Are there any other does?” I demand before I can help myself.

His chuckle is warm. It makes me feel a little panicked. His face softens, and he swiftly shakes his head. “Fear not, Fawn. Have I been intimate with a doe ever? Then, yes, I have. But I love none beyond the intimacy we shared in that moment.”