Page 39 of Hidden

“Hey…” I tugged at Julian’s shirt. “What do you mean?”

The boys had mentioned this before. They couldn’t have relationships and children. But for some reason, it never registered as something that applied to me. I wasn’t even interested in a relationship like that, but that was my own weirdness. It kept me safe.

But beingforbiddenfrom doing it was something entirely different.

Julian glanced at me. “Why are they dangerous? Because the council is made up of a bunch of superstitious, old—”

“I’m not talking about that.” I pulled his sleeve again. “I can’t get married?”

The furious expression faded from Julian’s face in an instant, and Damen tensed.

“Darling, no,” he said, his tone a mixture of horrified and apologetic. “I didn’t realize that you didn’t understand… It’s one of the rules that we’ve agreed to follow and—”

I technically knew that, but having it confirmed…

My breath caught as another aspect of my own bodily autonomy was suddenly ripped away.

“Why not?” My voice sounded so strange. I had never thought to press this subject before, but now it felt urgent.

Damen answered. He turned, placing his hands over my shoulders. “It was originally a suggestion presented to the council, but we all agreed. The council turned it into actual law around three hundred years ago.”

“Asuggestion?” My voice squeaked. “What kind of idiot would come up with this? What business of theirs is it that—”

“Darling.” Julian pressed his finger to my lip, silencing me. “This was your idea.”

Surprise pushed away my shock, and I blinked at him. “What?”

“You’rethe one who went to the council,” Julian said. “You helped write the law. There are a number of arguments for it, all of which are very sound. At the time it made sense, and the council agreed. In those days, we had issues with our direct descendants. Then there was a prophecy that came up, too, which had the council concerned.”

“We’ve always planned on revisiting it after the paranoia died and our bloodlines thinned,” Damen said. “We needed to come up with something more permanent. But part of the law is that only you can change it.”

“And a certain number of votes must be for the change.” Julian glanced at Damen. “But that’s not going to happen now.”

Damen rolled his eyes. “There’s no merit to that bogus prophecy. I’ve already done countless decades of research into it.”

“What prophecy?” I looked toward Damen. Because he really didn’t seem the type. “You do fortunetelling?”

“It is one of my skills,” he said, letting go of my shoulder to touch his glasses. “But I’ve never seen—”

“What’s the prophecy?” My eyes drifted back to Julian, noting the hesitance in his expression. “What is it?”

Julian sighed, leading me to the bed where Bryce remained. The other man didn’t seem overly interested in the conversation, so I assumed he knew what this was about already.

Julian sat at my other side, holding my hand, and our gazes locked and he spoke. “Titus was the only one of us who never had children. In fact, he…” Julian paused, glancing at Damen.

Damen pulled up one of the chairs, answering as he sat back down. “He’s a virgin,” he stated, completely unfazed.

My face heated at his words. Titus? Once I got over them not being monks, I had assumed…

AndTitus, the one who most closely resembled a living sex god?

Titus with his long, flowing hair and Adonis physique?

“How?” I asked. “He said that Forbes—”

“He’s had many admirers throughout all his lives.” Julian shot Damen a disapproving look. “That includes this life. But he’s a dragon—he’s focused and possessive. He’s not interested in anything less than full commitment. A mate.”

“He’s never had a mate. A shifter can only have that bond with someone of equal strength,” Damen broke in, a curious expression on his face. “No one has ever been at his level.”