Chapter 26

Conall and Aisha were like two kids in a candy store. They were curious about almost everything they saw, and a few hours later, we'd probably visited almost half the stalls already. That morning, I'd made sure to exchange for the market currency, so we had plenty of money to spend.

"Tell us how much we owe you later, okay?" Conall asked while Aisha was looking at some handmade earrings.

I pulled him close and hummed, pretending to think. "You owe me ten kisses. How about that?" I said with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious here."

"So am I."

Our staring match lasted for another few seconds before he said, "You don't have to treat us, you know? I don't expect you to do that."

I wished I could tell him that it wasn't a treat but more like providing for him. I wanted us to be a unit, to give him everything he needed, but I didn't have the confidence to say that when all I could give him was money. Money that I didn't even earn myself.

"I know, but what's the point of having money earned from shit if I can't spend it on the people I love, right?" I tried to justify, but then realized the words that slipped out.

"You love me?" Conall said, obviously surprised. I tried to backtrack. I could say that it was just an expression or something, but no words came out. I didn't want to lie when my love for him was the most real thing I'd ever felt.

"I love you," I reaffirmed. "I never expected to fall in love, but then I met you. I think you captured my heart the same way you helped capture my briefcase snatcher."

Thankfully, the silence didn't stretch out long. He jumped into my arms, legs wrapped around me, and arms around my neck. I suddenly had a handful of Conall. "I love you too!" he exclaimed. The smile on his face was so wide I didn't know how his face didn't hurt, but goddess, he looked so fucking beautiful and happy as he said the words back to me.

There was no way I could keep my mouth off of him after that, so I didn't. I kissed him hard, pouring all my love for him into the kiss. It wasn't about pleasure or lust; the kiss was for us. It was a claim that he was mine, and I his.

"Tidun?"

A voice had me reluctantly breaking our kiss. I turned to find Naial staring at us with shock. She looked at me, then down to where my hands were holding Conall's ass to keep him up, then to Conall's face.

I set Conall down and took his hand. He looked confused, and I gave his hand a squeeze, hoping it reassured him. "Naial, I didn't expect to meet you here," I turned to her and said.

"The humpback whale shifters are coming the day after tomorrow for more negotiation talks, so I was just doing some shopping in preparation." She didn't take her eyes off Conall's and my connected hands, but then a slow smile formed on her face as she practically squealed, "Is this him? The boyfriend you were telling me about?"

Naial skipped toward us and grabbed Conall's free hand into both of hers. Conall was surprised by the sudden action, as he should be. "Stop. You're acting like a weirdo," I grumbled, blocking my sister from Conall.

She rolled her eyes and peeked around my body to see Conall. When I turned my head, Conall was also peeking around me to examine her. I quickly stepped aside and introduced them. "Conall, this strange person is Naial. My third sister."

"Rude," Naial grumbled, shooting me a glare, but her smile quickly returned as she grabbed Conall's hand again. "Wow, I had my doubts when Tidun told me he was dating someone. I mean, who's able to put up with him?—"

"Hey!"

She ignored me and continued speaking, "—but here you are! In the flesh! And you're really a cute one too." She eyed him up and down for a second too long. I grumbled and pulled Conall out of her reach again while Conall merely laughed at the entire situation.

"It's so nice to meet you. Tidun's told me a lot about you," he said and that instantly made her perk up.

"He did? I'm curious to know what he's told you, considering I'm his favorite sister and all. How about we all return to the castle and"—she paused and sniffed the air—"oh goddess. What's that smell? It's like my favorite bakery is walking right toward me."

"Conall? Everything okay?" Aisha's voice came from behind Naial. My sister turned toward the sound, and they both froze when they saw each other. Conall and I stood to the side, watching them watch each other.

I wondered what Aisha saw to make her look so shocked. My sister was conventionally pretty with the long, silver hair that ran in our family, and the flowy dress she usually wore—pink today. She'd had countless male suitors over the years, but nobody ever caught her eye. Now, I was wondering if she'd hidden her sexuality the entire time.

Conall tugged my hand and when I turned to him, he had a huge grin on his face. "Should we give them some alone time?" he said, sounding almost giddy. That broke the two women out of whatever trance they were in.

Naial practically skipped to Aisha and held out her hand. "I'm Naial. Tidun's older sister. Who might you be?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

I didn't know it was possible, but a deep blush appeared on the lynx shifter's bronze skin as she accepted my sister's hand. "I'm Aisha, Conall's best friend. Call me Ai."

I frowned at that. I knew we weren't going to be best friends right away, but it hurt my pride a bit that my sister already had nickname privileges, and they'd just met!

They stared at each other a bit more, their hands still connected, and their nostrils flaring like they were smelling each other. Weird, but okay. Conall smelled fucking amazing too, but I didn't go around sniffing him in public.

Just when I thought it really was time to give them some space alone, Naial spun around to us, her hand still holding onto Aisha's, I might add. "All right. Let's finish shopping, then head back to the castle for the night," she said, looking determined as she pulled Aisha along with her. I debated on saving her from my sister's claws, but she looked pretty happy to follow the peppy woman around.

"Wait, Naial. We're not going to the kingdom. We have rooms booked at the market."

She turned to me again, this time her brows furrowed. "You're not going to separate Ai and I already? Not when we just met?"

"I...I..." I didn't know what to reply to that, because honestly I was confused as fuck at what was happening here.

"Besides, the others would love to see you. They miss you, Tidun. And I'm sure they'll be excited to meet Conall." She wrinkled her nose then added, "Well, maybe not Corelyn and Mom, but Dad and Dyna will be so glad to know you found someone you love."

I was shocked that she knew I loved Conall, because the first person I'd told about these feelings was the very man himself. The shock must have registered on my face, since she laughed and answered, "It's so obvious from the way you two were all over each other. Besides, I'd never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him."

It was true. There wasn't anyone I looked at like I did Conall. Even if we hadn't known each other long, I knew he was it for me.

Conall squeezed at my hand and said, "We should go. Your family must miss you."

"If we go, that means you're going to meet them. All of them. Are you ready for that?"

He looked worried, but then determined as he said, "Yes. For you, I'm ready for anything." He turned to Aisha and gave her a questioning look. "As long as you're okay with that, Ai?"

Aisha blushed even harder, her eyes bouncing to the shorter woman before landing on Conall and nodding.

Conall grinned at them. "Looks like we're visiting a castle," he said and tugged me to follow my sister and Aisha.

We spent another thirty minutes shopping, mostly helping my sister gather the ingredients she needed. Aisha seemed to have lost all interest in exploring the market and followed my sister around like a puppy instead.

Conall and I followed a few feet behind them to give them some space. "What's up with them?" he asked as we continued to watch them. They were still holding hands, with my sister pointing out random things to Aisha like they were an old married couple on a weekend date.

I shrugged. I had a hard time guessing my sister's thoughts on a good day, much less now when she was acting like someone I didn't know. The best course of action was to just let her be.

When it was time to leave, Naial insisted on taking Aisha, so it was just me and Conall, which was more than fine with me. It was nice to be alone with him, even if I was in my whale form.

Our kingdom wasn't far from the market, though nothing was really far with how fast we swam in our whale form. It wasn't long before we reached our little kingdom. The gates were still firmly closed. We swam over them, of course. The gentle buzz ran over my body as the barrier recognized us and easily let us through.

I dropped Conall off and transformed back into my human form. He looked around the palace in amazement. Our little kingdom wasn't covered by an air bubble like the market was, so the castle glimmered with the waves and the light plants that lit up the entire kingdom. Inside the castle, on the other hand, was cast with magic to keep the water out.

Dyna was already there by the castle doors when we entered along with Finny and Dee. Their noses twitched in the water like they were curious about the unfamiliar scents, but they stayed quietly by my sister's side.

Dyna's happy expression at seeing me turned to confusion when she caught sight of the two strangers, then shock that I was holding hands with Conall and Naial with Aisha.

"Naial, I thought you were bringing ingredients back, not a girlfriend," Dyna said, rubbing her temples.

Naial smirked and pulled Aisha close to her side. "Good thing I didn't bring back a girlfriend, then. This is my fated mate, Aisha," she said, sounding so casual, like she was telling us what she'd bought at the market, not something so astronomically life-changing as finding your fated mate.

Conall, Dyna, and I stared at the two of them with open mouths. Conall looked at Aisha and asked, "Is this true?"

She nodded. Her face was almost purple with how much she was blushing at this point, but she never released my sister's hand.

"How do you know?" I asked, finally breaking the silence. I had an inkling that Conall could be the same for me, but how were they so certain after just meeting?

Naial rolled her eyes at me but answered, "It's the smell, dummy. We whales might not have the best sense of smell, but I would never mistake Aisha's delicious ginger scent for anything else."

"You smell like lilacs," Aisha softly said, and my sister absolutely glowed like it was the best compliment in the world.

My head flung to Conall so fast I was surprised I didn't get whiplash. That explained why I was obsessed with Conall's honey scent, but could humans even have fated mates?

"Conall, do you like the way I smell?" I pointed to myself and asked. He leaned in close, took a sniff of my chest, and nodded.

"Yeah! It's the cologne you always use, right? You always smell so yummy."

"I don't wear cologne," I replied. He blinked blankly at me. I wondered if he was connecting the dots now. I squeezed his hand, and he looked at me fondly, the realization in his eyes.

I'd never heard of humans even being able to have fated mates, but Conall had always been extraordinary from the moment I'd met him.

Dyna cleared her throat, and all eyes turned to her. "Let's take this to the main dining hall. I'm sure everyone's heard you're back by now."

The others were already waiting for us, but was I ready to see them again? Especially my oldest sister? I looked at Conall. His eyes zoomed around the long hallway, looking even more nervous than I felt. I squeezed his hand again, hoping to reassure him.

It didn't matter if I felt ready or not. I had to be.

For him.

For me.

For us.