Fate Stained - Part Two
Chapter 7 - Mate

Quinn POV

Flynn jumped to his feet and wandered off, back towards the heart of the compound at a pace that suggested he had something on his mind.

“What do you think got up his nose?” Kyanite asked as he nuzzled into my neck, arms still wrapped firmly around my waist.

“Who knows? It could be a number of things. I can’t even imagine what he is going through right now, maybe I should go with him”

I moved to stand but Kyan tightened his grip, growling into the crook of my neck. I giggled, my neck folding over involuntarily.

“Stop. That tickles” I laughed.

Kyan sighed and removed his face. He lay back on the grass, letting his arms flop up and over his head. Twisting my body, I looked down at my mate.

Fuck. Why is my life so fucking complicated?

Kyan was, at this point, so very unlike Jayce. He was relaxed and seemingly carefree; maybe because life here at Fern Creek was a much better deal than what he’d experienced over the last three years in Hell. A smile tugged on my lips as I watched the way his perfect nose twitched and his hand swatted over his face as a fly darted by. At the moment, being in Kyan’s presence made me feel happy and at ease - which was a far cry from how I felt around Jayce.

Around Jayce, the weight of guilt threatened to flatten me into the ground. His pain was suffocating and even though a part of me knew I should allow it to smother me as it was all my fault - the other part of me refused to take full responsibility as it wasn’t my fault the God’s had fated me two mates.

“A penny for your thoughts”

Kyanite’s velvety voice drew me back and I stroked the backs of my fingers along his smooth, strong jawline.

“It’s nice to be able to see this clean, handsome face again”

The Prince snorted, grabbing my fingers and kissing the tips one by one.

“That’s what you were thinking? If you like me cleanly shaved…wait til you see what else I’ve got waiting for you”

Kyan, still holding my hand, tugged it down his body and thrust his groin into my palm.

“You’re the devil”

“No, just someone he tortured for three years—”

I cleared my throat, an awkward silence falling between us.

“Sorry. Too soon?”

Sighing, I threw my body down so I was lying next to Kyan, his outstretched arm curling around my shoulders.

“I can never thank you enough for going through that portal. You saved my life…but the fact you were suffering in Hell for three years before I got off my arse to save you…I’ll never be able to forgive myself for that”

“Quinn. I don’t want to hear it again. I’m fine, I’m here and you did come for me. Let the past be just that - the past - the only thing that matters now is our future”

Our future.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and another awkward silence fell between us. After a few minutes of neither of us talking I opened my mouth, the painful quiet being ironically deafening.

“Kyan, I—”

“Shhh, Quinn. It’s ok. We don’t need to talk about this now”

Kyan squeezed my shoulder and I nodded, he was right. Sure, it was a discussion that needed to be had, but this was neither the time or the place to start it.

Kyan and I lay there peacefully for the next, I don’t know how long, watching the odd cloud drift above us in the otherwise clear blue sky. It wasn’t long until the sun started to lower and I knew I should be getting back to Jayce. I wanted to see Jayce. It wasn’t as though I was reluctant to leave Kyan. I genuinely enjoyed spending time with both mates - which didn’t make my situation any less stressful.

“I should probably get go—”

Quinn. I need you at the West side of the compound by the old tree. Quickly please!

My father’s mind link silenced me mid sentence and I jumped to my feet. Kyan sat up, a worried look on his face.

“What is it?”

“Nothing” I answered quickly before breaking into a sprint, “dad needs me! Flynn”

I didn’t shift, but ran at my fastest humanly pace to the location of which Mason described. I sensed Kyan not to far behind me and as I slowed down when Flynn and Mason came into view, Kyanite finally caught up and stopped by my side.

“Who’s the redhead?” He panted.

My eyes were drawn passed Flynn and Mason and landed on a petite woman with red curly hair and large hazel eyes, I recognised her as a female we’d recently taken in to Fern Creek. She wore a green summer dress and clasped her hands nervously in front of her body. But the thing that really struck me about her was the way she stared at my brother.

Sure, there was fear written all over her face and body, but there was a look in her eyes that I knew all too well. She was absolutely awe struck with Flynn. Her pupils were dilated, her breathing heavy, her thighs pressed tightly together.

Oh. Shit.

Sitting in Dominic’s cabin, my head cradled in my hands at his kitchen table, I felt like a right idiot.

Fern was my mate.

I was a Warlock-shifter, an all powerful being that could possibly even give The Shifter Queen a run for her money. But here I was, plagued by supernatural hormones and having the father-son talk I probably should have had ten years ago.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about Flynn” Dominic added reassuringly, “it’s a miracle you controlled your animal as well as you did. There is a reason why we have years to connect with our animal before our first shift, it gives them an aspect of humanity and allows us to work on a balance that benefits us both”

It didn’t matter what Dominic or Mason said, the look in Fern’s eyes and the way her body shook in fear was firmly etched into my memory. It was so obvious now, in hindsight, that my advances on Fern had been unwanted but at the time I felt like she wanted me as much as I wanted her. This thing in my head, Pieter, had intentionally confused me, blinded me to the terror I was causing. My stomach turned at the thought of what could have happened if I hadn’t been strong enough to push my animal down or maybe if Mason hadn’t been there to school me.

“We’ll get you through this, son” Mason continued, “you should think yourself lucky that after only a day out of Hell, you have managed to meet your fated mate. There are shifters that go their whole lives without such blessings”

“Blessings?” I echoed, “It didn’t seem like a blessing to Fern”

“Aghh. She’s very new here, just like you. The girl is a month from her twentieth birthday and came to us from a pack that were quite nasty and abusive by the sounds of it. We are yet to know her true origins or story - but that’s Jayce’s way - welcome them in and ask questions later. She has had a lot going on, replaceing her true mate has been probably as overwhelming to her as it has been to you”

I groaned, shaking my head in my hands. Great, not only had I forced myself on someone that I didn’t even know, but it was someone who’d come from a harsh and abusive background. The voice in my head was right, I was that monster.

“So what now?” I asked, lifting my head up finally.

I stared at Dom and Mason. They’d explained everything to me from the physical aspects of the bond to the psychological aspects of the bond. They explained why only I would react in such a way to Fern’s scent and her to mine, also why my physical draw to her was so much stronger than her’s to me - because even though I hadn’t completed my first shift yet, I was over the age of twenty so my animal took up a lot more realestate in my subconscious.

Dominic seemed to think that as soon as Fern had her birthday she wouldn’t be able to control her animal urges and the power of our bond would draw us together until we finally mated.

“What now?” My father repeated, “well you’re going to have to be a bit more careful around the girl. If you’re together then make sure you’re not alone. Don’t get angry when near her or put yourself in situations where you’re overly tempted by her”

“I went through a similar thing with Jayce when Quinn came to Fern Creek” Dominic cut in, “He had a lot of trouble controlling his wolf and lashed out at Quinn a couple of times before they completed the bond. You can do some work with Moira or Cassius and focus on that connection with your animal. Slow but steady, you’ll get there”

“So, if Fern decides to…complete the bond with me…we just have— sex, and then our animals are bonded?”

I felt so fucking stupid asking the question. Both Mason and Dominic raised their brows in unison and shared a look of bewilderment before turning back to face me. I shrunk back into my chair. Thank fuck Quinn and Kyan weren’t hearing this. I was the thing of nightmares in Hell, able to take out a Hell Hound with one hand whilst ripping out another one’s teeth with the other. But here, now, I was a gawking, awkward virgin that pretty much needed a labeled diagram of how to complete a mating bond.

“You know how to have sex though— right?” Dom asked.

I rolled my eyes, my cheeks reddening at the question.

“Yes! I’ve read plenty of books on that. I understand the whole process and the anatomy and all that crap. Up until recently I thought I was a Warlock-human, I had no need to research how shifters completed the mating bond. I guess what I need to know…is there anything else to it? Anything I need to do—”

“You need to bite her and she needs to bite you. It’s usually on the neck, you’ll automatically be drawn to where your mating mark needs to be” Mason answered.

I nodded slowly, taking it all in. I knew I’d do whatever it took to make Fern comfortable and feel safe around me. I would also do whatever it took to gain more control over my animal or animals. There was still so much I didn’t know about myself and now that Fern was in the mix, it terrified me.

“Is the bond always this— overpowering?”

Both my father and Dominic sighed, the same wistful smile passing over their faces.

“Yes” they answered in sync.

“You have a fated mate too?” I asked Dom.

The smile slowly faded from his face and his eyes lost their focus for a second, as if he was momentarily whisked off to another place far away. Then, bringing himself back to the present, he shook his head and leant back in his chair.

“Had. She passed away a while ago now. Car accident”

I flinched inadvertently at Dominic’s revelation. His words cut me deeply and I could almost feel my animal cowering inside me, like the thought of losing our own mate suddenly became very real.

“I’m sorry. That must have been extremely painful for you”

Dominic nodded.

“And for Jayce. That boy loved his mother, like she was the stars to his moon. All his adult life all he ever wanted was something that mirrored what Delilah and I had, he would never admit it…too bloody stubborn and proud. But when Quinn showed up in Fern Creek I saw a change in him almost immediately. That woman became his purpose in life, his love…his vulnerability. As an Alpha we are always taught that the pack comes first; but an Alpha with a fated mate is something else entirely. Quinn will always come first to Jayce, I just hope she realises that”

Listening to Dominic talk about Jayce created a soft spot for him in my heart that hadn’t been there before. Maybe it was because I now too, had a fated mate and had a taste of how intoxicating and overpowering that bond could be; And Fern and I had only kissed! I couldn’t imagine the connection that Quinn and Jayce had - a connection built over three years, a connection that brought a baby into the world, even though she was born sleeping.

Now Jayce had to compete for Quinn’s love with Kyanite…

“Is there a possibility I have multiple mates too?”

The words blurted out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about what I was asking.

Mason and Dom thought for a moment. Mason scratching his bearded chin before answering.

“I guess, if you have multiple animals…then it’s a possibility”

“Did my mother…Claudia?”

Mason chuckled, then stopped. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, almost resembling some kind of confused goldfish.

“I don’t believe so. I mean, well, we never moved in circles with panthers or bears, so I guess— well, I guess she could have but we just didn’t know”

The three of us sat quietly for a few minutes, each one lost in our own thoughts.

One thing was for certain, if there was a chance that I had other mates out there then I didn’t want to know about them. I’d already hurt Fern enough for one lifetime with the brief encounter that we’d already had, the rest of my life would be spent making up for that and proving to her that I’d never hurt her again.