Page 40 of Savagely Mated (Shared Mates #1)

The wait for my mates is slightly awkward. There’s a part of me, a very large part that is certain this is somehow a trick or a trap. It feels too good to be true.

“You mean this, right?”

The cardinal smiles that indulgent smile again. “Some people would be afraid to offend me by questioning my word.”

“Ah. Well. I’m not some people.”

“You’re not, are you. Yes, Darcy. This is all real. You’re going to have to pick a last name, though. For your dynasty.”

The only last name I can think of is Bitten. That’s Einar’s last name. Maybe I should ask Rafe’s and Kirin’s. Maybe we can triple-barrel that shit.

“Seems to me that dynasties are pretty hard to get started, and pretty easy to end,” I say.

“That’s a wise statement, from one so young and with such limited access to anything resembling a history textbook.”

The cardinal is right about my lack of traditional education, but he is kind of an asshole for pointing it out.

Before I can make a comment to that effect, Einar, Rafe, and Kirin are led into the room.

They have been allowed to shower, shave, and put on fresh clothes.

They’re looking quite nice, actually, all in dark three-piece suits.

But there are plenty of signs of resistance and fighting on them.

Einar’s knuckles are swollen and skinned.

Rafe has a cut under his left eye that has been taped shut.

And Kirin, well, Kirin looks perfect. Nobody, not even a cardinal’s guard, would willingly hit that face.

“Quite a set of mates,” the cardinal drawls. “Royals always seem to have a preference for multiples.”

I rush into their arms, grabbing Einar first because he is the closest. The others gather round and we embrace with real relief.

“Your eminence,” Einar says. “May we know what is happening?”

“Ask your little mate,” the cardinal drawls, clearly enjoying the drama of the moment.

“Darcy?”

“You want the good news, or the bad news?”

They all look confused and maybe slightly annoyed. I guess this isn’t the time to be playing games.

“Okay, well, bad-ish news first, I did kill the king, I have killed eight people in the last week. It’s starting to become a bad habit, and…”

“Darcy, what’s the good news?” Rafe asks the question with as much patience as he can muster.

“I will be king,” I grin.

They look at the cardinal.

“It’s true,” he says. “She will be.”

“And I will keep working for D2G.”

“Well,” the cardinal says, at the same time as Einar.

“How can she be king? She’s a female.”

“She’s a woman, and she could be a queen, but then everybody would be wondering who the king is. Easier to just make her the king.”

“Is this some kind of…”

“Don’t ask him that,” I interrupt Einar. “It offends him.”

“You need proof. I understand,” the cardinal says. “After all, your lives are on the line if this proves to be a jest.”

“Sure, understand him, but be offended by me. Feels sexist,” I mutter.

I feel Einar’s grip tighten on the back of my neck. I know he’s trying to tell me not to piss this guy off, but I got this far by being myself and I guess I’m going to keep going.

“Have your phones been returned to you?” the cardinal asks. “If so, I suggest you check the news.”

My mates do so, all three of them staring at little glowing tablets, with three sets of tinny voices speaking at the same time as they catch the Eclipse News app broadcast in progress…

“The palace has announced that King Amathar has passed on unexpectedly, due to a lack of throat. He will be replaced imminently by the female shifter who removed it. Long live King Darcy.”

“It’s online,” the cardinal says. “It’s official.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Everybody in Eclipse knows that you killed the king, and that you will be replacing him. Death and regency are simple things, Darcy.”

“Rafe should be king,” I say. “He’s got the parts for it.”

“We can’t play musical kings,” the cardinal sighs.

“But I’m the king. I can assign another king if I like…”

Einar wraps his hand around my mouth, as if I am a child, or unhinged person.

“Thank you,” the cardinal says. “I speak the language of politics, but this one speaks the language of a guard, and I’m afraid those tongues are worlds apart.

Take your royal mate, my good men, and impress upon her what a narrow escape and great victory this is.

I fear she does not understand the magnitude of this moment. ”

“Thank you, your eminence,” Rafe says. “We will do that.”

“Give the palace some time to get cleaned up,” he says. “I trust you have somewhere moderately secure to stay? One of Kirin Lupine’s many homes should suffice?”

“Of course, your eminence,” Kirin says.

I am elegantly dragged out of the cardinal’s presence by my mates.

“What the hell is happening?”

“Be quiet until we get home,” Einar says, squeezing me tight. “Please.”

“We did it!”

“I don’t know how, but we did it!”

The mood back at Kirin’s house is truly jubilant. I am kissed and I am hugged and I am held by all three of my mates, as they shower me with affection and praise, so much of it I can barely comprehend it all.

“You did so well, Darcy. Somehow, you managed to complete a plan we didn’t even have,” Kirin says.

“Maybe that’s what fate is,” I say.

Rafe smiles at me. “Maybe,” he says. “Or maybe you’re the kind of force of nature nobody can resist. We’ve all been moths to your flame, including the king. And now the future of Eclipse rests in your hands.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I frown.

“Don’t worry,” Einar says. “You’re not going to be alone in this. We’re going to be here with you, by your side.”

“Didn’t you want to be king?” I turn to Rafe. “Aren’t you supposed to be the one true monarch, or whatever?”

“Something like that,” he smiles. “But the cardinal was right. Changing monarchs every few minutes is a bad look, and you earned the throne, Darcy. You’ve earned it every day of your life, whether you knew it or not.

You suffered a childhood devoid of family, an adolescence of abandonment, and now, as you step into adulthood, you’ve not only found three men who will always love you, but you’ve claimed what I am starting to truly believe was always destined for you. ”

There are hot tears running down my cheeks as he says those things.

They are not just sweet words of affirmation; they are words that make me feel seen and tell me that I am truly understood.

Rafe knows me. Einar knows me. Kirin knows me.

They all know me in different ways, through their own lenses, but they each see a part of me nobody has before.

They love me. I know it. I feel it. And most of all, I trust it.