Page 6 of The Jorogumo (The Sanctuary #2)

Haruto

We talked for an hour after that, not about supes or magic, just about each other.

I discovered that Liam didn't have any siblings, and his parents lived on the other side of the country. He wasn't very close to them, but they were still a part of his life, if only on birthdays and holidays.

My home situation was a little more complicated. My parents were very firmly not in the picture, hadn't been for a long time. They were still alive, but they'd never understood why I insisted on 'rejecting our heritage' by not seducing young humans to increase my powers. The moment it'd been possible, I'd escaped my hometown in Japan, feeding on humans just enough to stay in my human form until I got to the States .

That had been decades ago. Once I got to the States, I'd lived a quiet, people-free life in the woods until Headmaster Morrigan found me.

He offered me a home among supes who would understand me. I'd been hesitant to accept his offer at first, of course, but it'd been too tempting, and I'd found myself saying yes. I'd never regretted my decision.

"I'm glad you found a place to belong," Liam said with a sweet smile when I'd finished telling him my story. It was a heavy topic for a first date, but he wasn't just anyone. He was my mate, and I knew I could tell him anything, even if he didn't know what he meant to me yet.

Since he had to reopen his shop, we couldn't drag out our lunch date too much. Liam offered to walk me home when he found out it was close by, but I waved him off, because leading him to the door of the Sanctuary would basically mean telling everyone who he was to me, and I wasn't ready for that yet.

We went back to Liam's store, where I texted Touya to ask him if he could pick me up. He texted back instantly with a ' Be there in five! '

Liam and I chatted while we waited for him, and I promised him I'd invite him to the Sanctuary for our next date.

When Touya arrived, he stayed outside, somehow sensing we needed a moment, and Liam reached down, taking my hand in his and giving it a squeeze.

"I really enjoyed our date," he said with a soft smile, and I returned it, my heart skipping a beat at the look in his dark eyes. I didn't think anyone had ever looked at me with such fondness.

"So did I. Thank you for saying yes. "

"I'm glad I did." He gave my hand another squeeze before letting it go, then stepped back, waving at Touya through the glass doors.

"I'll text you later?"

Liam nodded, and I made my way outside. Touya's keen eyes slid between me and Liam, and I had a feeling I'd be peppered with questions on our way back.

Not a minute later, Touya proved me right when he glanced over at me, his dark brown eyes full of curiosity. "You two seem close."

"We are," I answered steadily, knowing it would annoy him. Touya was a level-headed man, but he had his moments too.

"Haruto!" He was one of the few people who pronounced my name the way it was supposed to be. Headmaster Morrigan also said it right, and I had a feeling that was because he could speak Japanese. Liam had gotten it right after he'd heard me say it a few times too.

"If I tell you, you'll just tell everyone."

Touya gasped loudly, shooting me a wounded look with his palm pressed to his chest. "I am not a tattle-tale."

"So you won't tell your mate?"

Touya scowled. "You know I can't keep secrets from Silas."

"I know. And I also know that when you tell Silas, he'll tell Khush, and Khush will tell everyone." Khush and Silas were best friends, and there were no secrets between them. Khush was also the biggest gossip in the Forest, despite his grumpy demeanor.

Touya sighed, then shot me a wry look. "It's not like I can't guess already."

I glanced away, knowing he was right. The supes of the Sanctuary had certain...opinions about humans, mostly because we'd experienced hostility from them—or known someone who did—at some point in our lives. Which meant that there were very few reasons for us to actually grow close to a human, and being mates was on top of that list.

"Since you haven't actually told me, I won't say anything to anyone. But if you do want to talk to someone, you can always talk to Shade."

I smiled at the thought. Shade was the complete opposite of Khush in that regard. He was cheerful and great at keeping confidence. The dark of his home hid all our secrets, and I knew he'd never reveal any of them.

"Yeah, maybe I will. I have to talk to the headmaster first."

"He was in his office when I left. Let's see if he's still there."

I hadn't even realized we'd reached the Sanctuary, and I followed Touya in, stopping to get out of the wheelchair and store it with the others before heading to the office.

It housed both Touya's and the headmaster's offices, and he stepped inside while I hovered in the doorway, waiting for him to check if the headmaster was in.

"He's free. You can go in," he said with a smile, and I returned it before making my way past his desk and into the open office.

Headmaster Zephyr Morrigan sat behind a large wooden desk, his arms folded on top of it as he smiled at me. The metal of his left arm gleamed under the yellow light coming from the lamps placed on the far side of the room, his light blue eyes curious as he watched me. I didn't usually have a reason to approach him like this. I was mostly a homebody, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had an actual conversation with him.

"Hey, Haruto. What's troubling you? "

I blinked, then sighed, unsure where to start. I glanced back at the closed door, then stepped as close to his desk as I could without climbing on top of it.

Lowering my voice, I admitted, "I found my mate."

The headmaster smiled widely, sitting upright in his chair. The lamp light fell on his face, and I frowned at the dark circles under his eyes. Was he not resting enough?

I knew there had been incidents recently, things going wrong around the Sanctuary. Bits of the sky had flickered between night and day sometimes, one table had disappeared in the middle of lunch. Small things that were annoying more than anything, but I knew he was working on fixing them. He'd assured everyone he had things under control, but looking at him now, I wondered if it was at the expense of his health.

"That's great, Haruto! What are they like?"

I smiled as my thoughts turned to Liam, then realized what I'd done with a blush. The headmaster gave me a soft smile, looking utterly delighted.

"Well, I can see you like them."

Nodding, I shifted on my feet, my legs twitching impatiently. "His name is Liam. He runs a comic book store close by."

"A human, then?"

I nodded, then told him what happened today. "I told him about supes, but not that we're mates."

"Can I ask why?"

I shrugged then glanced at the desk between us, unable to meet his piercing gaze. "I didn't want to put pressure on him. We decided to go on a date before I revealed myself, and I didn't want him to think I expected a lifelong commitment from him, especially after I told him about my...limits."

"You told him you're ace?" The appreciation in his voice made me look up, and I nodded .

"That's good. And I understand not wanting to pressure him. There's no right or wrong time to tell him, Haruto. You're the only one who gets to decide when you should."

I nodded, grateful he'd said that. "I would like to bring him to the Sanctuary, if that's okay. He's very...curious."

The headmaster smiled, crows' feet framing his eyes, and I wondered if I was just imagining it or if he looked older than he had the last time I'd seen him.

"Of course. He's welcome here anytime. Though you might want to tell the others to keep the mate stuff to themselves if you're not ready to tell him yet."

I nodded, then realized that meant I'd need to tell everyone he was my mate. Ah, hell.

Liam

After Haruto left, I spent the rest of the day in sheer and utter disbelief.

The more time passed, the more I started wondering if I'd dreamed up the whole thing. Everything Haruto had told me—and shown me—seemed so farfetched, so surreal now.

While there was a lull at the store, I'd looked up jorogumos, and felt glad that Haruto looked nothing like the beings described in the articles. He'd said his kind were descended from jorogumos, so maybe that meant the ones in this article were to him what the apes were to me.

Still, I was glad he didn't want to eat humans, for one. Just their sexual energy. Which he also didn't like to eat because he was ace. I couldn't imagine what that was like for him.

I enjoyed sex as much as any other allosexual person, but the lack of it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. As long as I could have an emotional connection with my partner, I knew I would be satisfied. Honestly, after the string of "relationships" I'd been in built on nothing but sex, it might be nice to be in a relationship where sex wasn't a requirement. Or the only thing that kept the relationship going.

As a pansexual man in his mid-thirties, I'd been with my fair share of people, but because of my size and the way I looked, more often than not, I got pushed into a box firmly labeled "top," and that had left me with its own bundle of issues when it came to sex.

I would've loved to just once be taken care of instead of being in charge, but I never got the chance. In my last few, very short relationships, my partners had only been interested in my body, and what I could do for them. I couldn't remember if I'd shared even one conversation with them that didn't end in sex.

Haruto was different from anyone I'd ever dated, and not just because he was supernatural. It wasn't even that he was ace, though I was sure it played a role in the way he treated me.

Haruto listened to me. He wanted to know me, and he liked what he knew. He was geeky like me, and didn't mind spending an hour talking about comics. He was sweet, gentle, and kind. He wasn't intimidated by me, and he was strong too. Strong enough that he might be willing to take care of me for a change.

I'd never felt as deeply for someone in such a short time before, and I wondered if all this time I'd been going about dating wrong. I should've been looking for an emotional connection instead of a physical one. Or maybe I'd just been waiting for Haruto.

My phone pinged, and I picked it up, smiling when I saw the text from Haruto.

Haruto : Your shop is closed on Mondays, right ?

After the first few weeks of running the store, I'd realized closing on Sundays wasn't good for business, since a lot of our customers only had time to shop on the weekends.

New issues came out on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I'd figured Monday would be the best day to close the shop. Years down the line, I was glad of my decision.

Me : Yep. Why?

Haruto : Would you like to visit the Sanctuary this Monday?

I blinked, then grinned widely at my phone as excitement whizzed through me. I'd half-expected Haruto to change his mind about it, or for the 'headmaster' to say no.

Me : I'd love that!

Haruto : Great! I'm looking forward to showing you around. My friends are also excited to meet you.

Me : Really?

I wondered if his friends would accept me, or if they'd find me intimidating. Then I rolled my eyes at myself.

Haruto's friends were supes like him, which meant they were likely much stronger than me. They'd have no reason to be scared of a measly—in their eyes—human.

Suddenly, I was even more excited.

Haruto : Yes. I'm not exactly a social guy, so they're really curious about the human who makes me leave my house so often.

I'd known Haruto was a bit of an introvert, but he always seemed to enjoy my company. Or at least, I hoped he did.

Me : Well, I feel honored you did that for me.

Haruto : You're worth it.

My stomach fizzed with happy bubbles as I read his text, and I hoped no one came into the shop just then because my wide grin probably made me look downright demented.

Haruto : See you Monday ?

Me : Yes!

I couldn't wait to see Haruto's home and meet his friends. I hoped they liked me. Fuck, I felt like a teenager with his first crush. What was Haruto doing to me?