Page 169 of Bitten By the Fae

Aflora gaped between the three of us, acting as though we’d all grown multiple heads. “How…? How did this conversation become aboutexclusivity? I just told you all that I want to undo the mating.”

“And we told you that’s not happening, pixie flower.” I cocked my head to the side. “Three votes against one.”

“Hardly seems fair,” she muttered.

“Welcome to Midnight Fae society,” Shade drawled. “Where men make the rules and women are expected to follow them. Isn’t that right, Prince Kolstov?”

Kols ignored his commentary, his focus on Aflora. “You chose me.”

“Yeah, and you rejected me,” she countered. “And then, to add insult to injury, you set all my things on fire. Which, I guess, didn’t matter since none of them belonged to me anyway.” She shook her head, her exasperation palpable. “Why are we even debating this? None of us want to be in this situation.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “None of us want to be in this situation.”

She flinched, the movement slight but visible. And then she waved her hand at me. “See? Zeph admits it.”

“I admit to not enjoying our current situation,” I clarified. “The one where you’re mad at all three of us and punishing us with hurtful comments about breaking our ties to you. I strongly dislike this situation and would like it to cease. Now.”

She gaped at me, her mouth working without sound.

“Much better,” I praised, stepping toward her and brushing her dark hair behind her ear. “How about we go sit in the living room and try to discuss this like adults, hmm?”

“I-I don’t understand.” She seemed to be talking to herself more than to me, but I answered her anyway.

“We don’t want to break our quad, Aflora. Well, I might be okay with removing Shadow, but something tells me he’s staying.”

“I am,” he put in, seemingly unperturbed by my comment. If anything, he appeared amused.

I’d evaluate that later.

“You’re upset, and I know we hurt your ability to trust us. But we can’t change the past, Aflora. We can only fix the future.” Shade coughed, causing me to level a glare at him. “Is this entertaining to you, Shadow?”

He cleared his throat. “I can’t even begin to explain that reaction. Just. Yeah, continue.” He still appeared to be fighting a grin.

I sent a question to Kols with my eyes, and he just shrugged as if to say,It’s Shade. What do you expect?Which, yeah, what did I expect?

Rolling my eyes, I refocused on the female before me. “I’m sorry for not telling you what was about to happen. There wasn’t time, and I worked the situation to the best of my ability to ensureyoursafety, in addition to mine and Kols’s.” I cupped her cheek and tilted her head back as I stepped into her personal space. “I’ll prove to you over time that your best interests are important to me. But I need you to allow me the opportunity to try.”

She swallowed, her pretty eyes still holding a touch of that fire I adored. “Why should I?”

“Because I’m your mate, Aflora,” I replied, lowering my lips to brush a chaste kiss against the edge of her mouth. “Whether you want me or not, we’re bound together. And this will be a lot easier if you just accept that our fates are intertwined.”

“What if I want to undo them?” The breathless quality of her voice belied her words, yet her stubborn side refused to backdown. I really did adore that about her. I just wished she’d direct that fight to another topic, one less hurtful.

“You don’t,” I whispered, rubbing my nose against hers. “So stop suggesting it.” I nipped her lower lip hard enough to hurt without breaking the skin. A gentle reprimand for her cruel words. Maybe I deserved them, but I didn’t have to like them. “You’re mine, Aflora. And one day, you’ll trust me again. If you allow yourself to try.”

“I can’t,” she admitted. “I can’t trust you.”

“Not yet,” I agreed, pressing my forehead to hers. “But soon. You’ll see.” With a final kiss to her cheek, I released her once more. “Let’s continue this discussion over midnight lunch.” I held Aflora’s gaze as I added, “I’m cooking. I hope you like burning thwomp.”

A muscle in her cheek twitched, one that told me I’d almost earned a smile from her. Better than nothing.

“I need to take care of something first, but I’ll be back,” Shade said, disappearing into a cloud of smoke before any of us could comment.

A second later, Sir Kristoff ran into the room, red eyes glowing. “Where are they?!” he demanded, spinning in a circle, his little hand holding a stone dagger. Well, I supposed it was a sword for him, considering his size.

“What are you talking about?” Kols asked the little hellspawn.

The gargoyle growled, low and menacing. “The Death Blood and his sword-wielding friend.Where are they?”