Page 29 of Fated Mates and How to Seduce Them (Fated Mates #4)

It turned out to be a long day at the group home, but a fruitful one.

The kids were delighted to have designer clothes, a luxury that had been nothing but a fantasy up until then.

Mrs. Castor, to his absolute lack of surprise, was great with the kids.

Like her son, she had no problem getting down on the floor at their level.

Benedict was clearly an old hand at assisting his mother, as he was right there whenever she needed something, often without an actual word passing between them.

The group home had struggled to feed and clothe the kids for almost as long as Ian could remember. Thanks to the Castors, that reality was nothing more than a memory now. Ian didn’t know how to thank them or repay their generosity.

Going along with their test seemed a good first step.

Honestly, Ian didn’t care if he was a mate or not. It seemed silly to him to even ask the question, as what difference did it make? He could tell, though, that it mattered a great deal to the Castor family. André was dying to know, so for his sake, Ian would cooperate.

He came into the mansion late afternoon with one eye peeled for his boyfriend, which was silly in retrospect because André had been lying in wait for him. The second he kicked off shoes, André pounced.

Both arms wrapped around his waist in a possessive hug, and Ian felt like he’d possibly been missed over the past day. Possibly the feeling was mutual. “That excited, eh?”

“And nervous,” André admitted, still not letting go. “Please put me out of my misery.”

Looking into his face, which did indeed look both excited and nervous, Ian suddenly felt like he was maybe missing some information. Context, at the very least. “Uh…is this something to be nervous about?”

André blinked at him like he had no idea how to respond to this question. “I thought Mom explained?”

“I thought she did too but now I feel like she missed telling me a few things.”

Speak of the devil, the woman herself came into the house next, already shooing them on. “Move, there’s no room for all of us in here.”

True, they’d entered via the garage, and the mudroom was large enough to kick off shoes and shed coats, but not for hanging out in.

Ian pulled André along with him as he headed for the living room instead, as that seemed the best place to conduct whatever test they wanted.

Mesmerize was something thrown out earlier, but Ian didn’t know if it was going to be the actual test.

Ian was somewhat aware of mates being important to vampires.

The copious amounts of books, fanfiction, tv series, and movies were enough to tell him this was a thing.

André’s reaction to the idea was also telling.

But now that he sat on it, Ian realized he didn’t know how much impact this would have on them as a couple.

What portion of those elements of being a mate described by the media were accurate?

How much of it was something else he didn’t know?

Well, they’d test first. André could explain afterward, if it was at all relevant.

Upon reaching the living room, Ian found both Mr. Castor and Felix there as well. Whole family, eh? This was gearing up to be a thing. Should Ian be nervous? He couldn’t summon up the emotion, though. If anything, he grew more perplexed.

“Ah, finally, everyone’s back.” Mr. Castor sat up a little on the love seat, looking at Ian with a strange intensity. “Ian, dance with my son.”

“He has to let go of me first,” Ian joked. “Also, that was random. Why dance?”

Everyone in the room sucked in a startled breath.

Eh?

Ian had the distinct feeling he’d just missed something major.

“My god,” André breathed, finally letting go enough to come around so he could look Ian directly in the eyes. The joy and surprise lighting up his expression was like a lighthouse. “You really didn’t feel a thing, did you?”

“Feel what?” Ian asked cagily. Was he supposed to have felt something?

“He really didn’t.” Felix let out a whoop and then laughed the laugh of the incredulous.

“Dad used Mesmerize on you,” André explained, and there were happy tears in his eyes, shining brightly. “You’re clearly immune. You’re a mate, sweetheart.”

“I’m…No, can’t be.” Turning his head, Ian demanded, “Try it again.”

“Hmm, well, let’s try something a little different.” Mr. Castor stood and looked serious again.

Ian waited.

Waited some more.

People seemed to be holding their breath, but even then, Ian had no idea what was happening. Was something even happening? Well, the air felt a little heavier, like there was a thickness to it, but maybe the heat had kicked on?

“Prestige doesn’t work on you either.” Mr. Castor shook his head, smiling. “You’re a mate.”

“EHHHHH?!” Ian’s eyes darted from one face to the next, finally landing on André again. “Surely not!”

“Proof is right here in front of us.”

“No, but, but…” But mates were gorgeous, charming people, right? Ian was just Ian. There was nothing remarkable about him.

Well, there hadn’t been. Until about a minute ago.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he tried to collect his thoughts.

Everyone in the room was dead certain he was a mate, and he didn’t think for a second they would lie to him about it.

Which meant he was a mate—or had the potential to be one.

He and André were only dating. They weren’t at soulmate status, after all.

Soft lips touched his forehead.

“I knew you were special the moment I laid eyes on you,” André murmured against his skin.

Ian peeked up at him. “You feel validated right now, don’t you?”

“So much. Come, sit, there’s things we need to discuss.”

Sitting sounded good. Did sitting come with a beer? Ian could desperately use a drink of the alcoholic variety right now.

Mrs. Castor gave him a searching look before offering, “Need a drink?”

“I need, like, three.”

She laughed and turned for the kitchen. “I’ll ask Auntie Im to make us some margaritas.”

Bless her.

Ian sat on the sofa with his boyfriend, looking at his hands like they held the answers to the universe.

They didn’t, sadly, but he kept hoping some part of this would spontaneously make sense.

Or at least feel real. His brain was trying hard to disassociate, so everything felt surreal more than anything.

A glass with a salt rim appeared before him, and he took it and promptly swallowed half before blowing out a breath. It was a delicious margarita on the rocks, but it had barely taken the edge off.

“I’d tell him not to stress,” Benedict said to the room at large, “but honestly, it’s probably best he stresses about it a little.”

Ian pointed a finger at him. “That. Expound.”

Benedict slung himself into the overstuffed chair next to him, which meant Felix immediately shifted seats to sit in his boyfriend’s lap. Benedict accommodated this without a blink, still focused on Ian. “I’m sure you’ve seen at least a few movies with fated mates being part of the plot?”

“Sure, they’re all the rage.”

“So parts of those movies are accurate. You are incredibly, indescribably rare. You’re as precious as a crown jewel to any vampire who meets you.”

Right, a question begged to be asked. “Why? I mean, the movies put a huge emphasis on the blood play being part of, um, intimacy, which I get is important to you guys. But the movies also portrayed the mate as suddenly having the same lifespan of a vampire, which is just Hollywood gimmicks…”

Ian trailed off as every vampire shook their head no.

“Do you mean that’s a thing? How?”

“Remember, I explained you’re highly compatible with vampire chemistry,” André reminded him.

“It doesn’t only mean you react well to the aphrodisiac in our saliva, it also means you can be changed just enough to alter your body’s chemistry so your lifespan elongates to match your partner’s.

Plus, you’ll share a vampire’s healing ability.

So you won’t have to be turned, but you’ll still live as long as I do. ”

Ian had often lamented the fact bodies were just piles of chemistry in a meat suit. Mostly when he hadn’t been drinking enough water or taking the right vitamins, and his body didn’t work as well as he wanted it to. The fact that drink more water solved most of his ills pained him on many levels.

That said, he never thought a human’s lifespan could be elongated because of a change in chemistry. My god, no wonder vampires got so excited about finding a mate. A human they could feed from, a spouse who would live their lifespan—it must be like finding buried treasure.

All right, he had a better grasp of the importance. It would probably take a while to sink in, though. Now he had a whole new batch of questions.

“Mrs. Castor, you mentioned reporting this to the VSB?”

“We don’t want to do that,” she countered immediately, all while making a face. “The rules are we report you the second we figure it out, as all of vampire society should have a chance to court and win your favor.”

“Oh, hell no,” Ian blurted out, horrified by the mental image of prospective suitors lined up outside his door.

“There’s been some rather disastrous events in another city recently with the VSB involving mates, and it makes us hesitant to report you to them,” she added, still frowning.

“They tried to forcibly take three men who were proven to be mates, all because they were still in the dating stages with their vampire partners.”

Hearing that sent a chill right down Ian’s spine. “You think they’ll do the same to me?”

“We don’t know,” Mr. Castor admitted with a shake of his head.

“The clans they’d crossed killed the VSB agents on site, demolished the building, and every VSB agent who had assisted with the kidnappings were killed as well.

They’re not even allowed to have an office in that city anymore.

All VSB agencies have learned from the incident, I think, and they’re handling all matters with mates going forward with kid gloves.

But we don’t want to risk you, Ian. You and André just started dating.

You should have the grace and time you need to decide if you want to be each other’s everything or not.

Both of you are barely into your twenties.

There shouldn’t be such stress laid on your shoulders. ”

Hearing that was a relief, and Ian blew out a breath, like the stress had been taken off his shoulders before it could fully settle. “Thank you. I don’t want to make snap decisions right now.”

“Nor should you,” he assured with a fatherly expression. “If somehow the VSB finds out about you, I will do everything in my power to put a stop to them even interviewing you.”

Considering the political power this man wielded? It wasn’t a light threat.

“No one speaks about this outside of this house,” Mrs. Castor warned. “Felix?”

Felix squawked. “Look, I know I love to put everything on social media, but I’m not going to out Ian!” Felix rolled his eyes. “No way. I like him too much, for one thing. For another, André would lose his shit.”

“André would lose his shit,” André drawled. “I’m glad you realize this.”

“There is no timeline on this,” Mr. Castor stated again in a calm manner, “so Ian, don’t feel rushed or pressured. But if, and only if, you choose to stop dating André, understand I must report your nature to the VSB. I can delay this for a long while, but it must be reported at some point.”

“That’s fair,” Ian allowed. “And if I choose to stay with André?”

“We’ll still report it, but we’ll report him as your mate at the same time.”

Er, what? “Wait, wouldn’t it be reversed? I’m his mate?”

“No, no,” André said. “You’re the one with all of the power here. Not me. I’m just the lucky SOB who you chose.”

Now didn’t that put everything into a dizzying perspective. A family of generation zero vampires surrounded him, and yet Ian held all of the cards. Seemed he had greatly misunderstood and underestimated what a mate truly meant in vampire society.

Ian was not a drinking person most of the time, but he drained the rest of his glass. “André.”

“Yeah, honey?”

“I want to get shitfaced tonight.”

“How about I go fetch a certain kitty so you can safely do it without worrying about her?”

Look at this man, reading his mind and giving Ian exactly what he needed. He almost blurted out I love you on the offer alone, but those words were far too soon, so instead he kissed André square on the mouth.

André chuckled as he pulled back. “I’ll take that as a yes. Be back soon.”

Belatedly, he realized it meant bringing her into a house without the parental permission. “Uh, is that okay?”

“Oh, we love cats in this house,” Mrs. Castor said brightly. “I’d love to have her here. Honey, let’s get you some snacks to go along with your alcohol.”

Ian was going to get spoiled rotten by this family. He could see it now. He should probably try to mitigate the damage, but not tonight. Tonight, he was going to just enjoy.