Chapter 27

"Have you completed your mission?" were Corelyn's first words to me. She sat to one side of Mom, who was at the head of the long table, and Dad sat on her other side.

They all stood as we got closer. Dad pulled me into a giant bear hug. He was even bigger than I was, towering over everyone in the room. Mom also hugged me, much more elegantly than my Dad. She looked as put together as always, with her silver hair pulled up high in a complicated bun with not a single hair out of place.

Then came my oldest sister. She was a few inches shorter than me but had the aura of a giant. At least, that was how I'd always felt around her. She stared me down, her eyes chilly as she waited for my answer.

Conall looked confused by the question. I gave him a bright smile, then turned back to my sister and nodded. "I have." Maybe I hadn't gotten all my shit together, but I wanted to be a better person. I couldn't just live for myself anymore. There was someone I wanted to protect, someone who needed me.

Corelyn studied me like she was trying to catch any lies. I stood firm under her gaze, and she nodded in what seemed like approval before flicking her gaze to the man beside me. The unspoken questions were there, asking who he was and why I'd brought him here, holding hands, much less.

"This is Conall," I started. I pulled the love of my life closer to me and wrapped a hand around his waist before continuing, "my fated mate."

The audible gasps of shock sounded louder, echoing through the large room. All the staff currently working stopped what they were doing to gawk at us.

"Hey, no fair! I was supposed to announce that I found my fated mate first!" Naial said as she pulled Aisha forward. The gasps and mutterings were so loud now that it encompassed the whole room. I could understand their shock. The last fated mate pairing in our kingdom was our parents, and they'd claimed each other over a hundred years ago.

Even Corelyn seemed shaken up by this revelation. One pair of fated mates, she could handle, but two? Apparently, that was enough to even surprise her. She looked between the four of us before her gaze traveled to the side where her personal guard stood.

Was it just me or did I see…longing in her eyes?

I chuckled and shook my head. That was impossible. Corelyn didn't want for anything. Whatever she desired, she obtained with her own hands. She quickly turned back to face us, missing the loving eyes her guard shot at her.

Shit.

Was something secretly happening between them?

"Silence!" Mom commanded, and the entire room instantly listened. She looked between Conall and Aisha before turning to us siblings. "They're a human and a feline," she said. It was a simple comment, but there were a dozen questions unspoken.

Our kingdom had been isolated for so long that there had never been a coupling with other species in my memory. Hell, we rarely mated with other whale shifters even before we'd isolated ourselves.

"I'm a lynx shifter, your majesty," Aisha said with her head bowed and a hand to her chest.

Mom looked impressed by her etiquette, but her voice was still cold as she said, "Nevertheless, land dwellers are still unable to survive in these cold depths."

I was about to open my mouth to give her arebuttal and tell her it didn't matter if Conall couldn't live in our kingdom, I would gladly live on land, but Dad spoke up first. "Dear, let's have dinner first, at least. It's not proper to have our guests just stand there."

Mom's frosty exterior melted just a bit as it always did when it came to Dad. She nodded and returned to her seat at the head of the table. Dad sat to one side and Corelyn to the other. Dyna and her husband sat beside Corelyn, followed by Naial and Aisha. I led Conall to sit by my Dad.

Mom raised her hand, and the staff swiftly brought out the food. Conall leaned toward my ear and whispered, "What about Corelyn's partner? The one standing behind her? Isn't he going to join us too?"

I was aware that Conall was observant and had a high EQ, but I didn't expect him to clock the two of them as soon as they'd met.

He might have whispered, but the thing about shifters was that we had really good hearing, whale shifters especially so. The room fell quiet again, and all eyes turned to Conall.

The attention made him jolt in his seat, looking terrified, like he'd done something wrong. "Did everyone hear that?" he whispered again to me, his eyes darting to everyone.

I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. "It's okay," I told him, then turned to my oldest sister. "Corelyn, do you have something to tell us?"

She calmly looked at everyone. Her gaze landed on Ardar, and her nose flared in a very familiar way. The same way Naial and Aisha had done when they were scenting each other. The same way I do when I want to bathe in Conall's delicious scent.

Fuck.

It wasn't as simple as secretly dating. They were fucking fated, and my sister had still agreed to the arranged marriage. It made sense why Ardar turned down so many promotions over the years to stay by my sister's side. But how the hell was he able to watch his fated mate agree to be with someone else?

He was a better man than me, because I would tear the world apart if anyone tried to keep me from Conall.

Not my sister, though.

"No," she replied without even blinking. I studied Ardar's expression. He was good at keeping a neutral face, having been Corelyn's personal guard since I was a kid, but I still caught the flash of sadness that quickly passed through his eyes.

Fuck, I'd be gutted if Conall casually denied our relationship like that, so how could she do that to him? My sister was a lot of things, hard, demanding, and prickly, but she wasn't evil. She wasn't this cold-hearted to the people close to her. At least that was what I thought.

The thought plagued me through the rest of the mostly quiet dinner. It was mostly Conall, Dad, and Naial keeping the conversation going, being the more outgoing bunch in the group.

By the end of dinner, Conall had basically become part of the family, laughing and joking with my dad about different sea creatures and giant squids, of all things. He told everyone about how he and Aisha had grown up with the circus and invited them to come see their famous show. He promised to be their personal guide.

I smiled as I watched them, knowing full well he would keep his word. It was an easy promise to keep when he was sharing one of his favorite things. My family also seemed to sense how genuinely excited he was talking about the circus and having them come visit. Even Mom popped a small smile as she listened to him describe the show.

Conall always told me that I was able to charm the pants off of anyone, but in reality, he was the charming one. He had this bubbly personality that attracted anyone in his presence.

After dinner, I asked Conall if he'd be okay if I left to talk with Corelyn.

"You should talk with her," he said and hung his head. "I'm sorry if I made things weird at dinner with my big mouth."

I hooked my finger under his chin and lifted his head so he was looking at me. "Never apologize for that. I love that mouth of yours," I said and kissed him, biting his delicious lips softly before pulling back.

"I love you," he said. The sad look was gone, now replaced by a goofy smile and starry eyes.

"I love you too. And I'll never get tired of saying that," I replied and scooped him up for another kiss just because I couldn't resist.

Conall ended up joining Aisha on the castle tour that Naial and Dad took them on while I walked to Corelyn's room. The hallway had seemed endless when I was younger and had been summoned to her room. Mom was always busy with the kingdom's affairs and Dad was too soft-hearted to discipline anyone, so Corelyn had been like an authority figure to us.

Now as an adult, the walk to her room didn't take nearly as long as I thought it to be, and I'd come to realize that Corelyn had sacrificed so much of her freedom, her youth, and her life for us.

Ardar was standing outside her door and nodded when I approached. He knocked, opening it for me only after Corelyn's consent.

Corelyn sat on her sofa with a glass of red wine in her hand, warming herself by the fireplace. She glanced up when I entered, gestured for me to sit, and offered me a glass of wine as well.

It was only after Ardar closed the door and left that she spoke. "Why did I have a feeling you'd come find me?"

I chuckled. "You know me well," I said, pouring myself a glass of the red liquid. Her preference in wines leaned much too dry for my taste, but I felt better having something in my hand for this conversation.

"Let's cut to the chase, Tidun. I don't have the energy for games right now," she said and took another gulp of her wine. "What do you want to say?"

"Ardar's your fated mate," I stated because I didn't even need to ask to know.

Her dark eyes landed on me. She was so good at controlling her emotions that I couldn't tell what she was thinking. "And Conall is your fated mate. He's cute, by the way," she countered. She spoke as if she thought it silly that we were stating the obvious.

I sucked in the growl of frustration that bubbled up and tried to focus on the reason I came here. "How can you continue this stupid arranged marriage when you found your fated mate? You know how rare that is, especially for sperm whale shifters. How is it not killing you to have to be with someone else?"

I suddenly felt the urge to move, so I shot to my feet and paced in front of her with the wine glass as I continued, "And why isn't Ardar fighting for you? Doesn't he care? Or is this all part of the big plan? You'll marry that playboy of a prince and both of you will have your side pieces?"

Corelyn didn't interrupt me and continued calmly sipping her wine. "Are you done?" she asked when I finally stopped talking. I huffed, nodded, and sat to her side again. "Once I make a vow to someone, I intend to keep it even if they don't," was all she said.

I slumped in my seat, now having my answer. She was going to sacrifice herself for us. Again.

"Core, you don't have to do this. There has to be another way. It's not right that you can't be with the person even fucking nature intended you to be with."

She watched the fire crackle in the fireplace. Her eyes were not looking at me as she said, "We're not animals, Tidun. We don't have the luxury to follow our instincts, and I don't have the freedom to cast aside my responsibilities. Not when I have the lives of hundreds in my hands."

I bit back my urge to correct her that we were technically animals, but I knew that was beside the point. Hell, I wanted to argue with her that this connection I had with Conall wasn't just instinct.

Sure, fate might have been what drew us to each other in the beginning, but what kept me around was who he was as a person. Nature only showed us the greatest probability match for a mate, but nothing could force two people together unless they chose each other. Corelyn and Ardar were the perfect example of that.

I'd always choose Conall, but I had the privilege of falling in love and choosing my fated mate. They were never given that chance.

Corelyn was too busy taking care of everyone in this kingdom, protecting us from any threats that might come after us, but who was taking care of her?

I'd told Conall how I'd always felt like a fuckup and never did anything to contribute to the kingdom, besides being a delivery boy. Helping our people was never the problem. It was the fact that I wished I could do more, and that was the stem of not feeling fulfilled. He'd said I hadn't found the thing I was passionate about yet and did his fucking best to help me find it.

Thinking about how much effort he put into helping me always made me smile. And he had.

I was good with people. That was something I'd always known, but I never really thought about how I could use that to my advantage. Conall believed in me when I couldn't, but now it was time to believe in myself. And I needed to trust myself if I had any chance of making this plan work.

"I might have an idea. It's going to take a lot of work, but if we succeed, it'll solve the current problem our kingdom is facing. And you'll be free to be with Ardar."

It was a slight movement, but I could see her fingers tighten on the stem of her wineglass just a bit. It was enough to show me that being forced from her fated mate hurt her more than she let on. It was even more crucial for this plan to succeed.

"Tell me," she said, and so I did.

Corelyn patiently listened to my idea. And with each of her nods as I explained, the plan felt more doable. We spent hours going over details and outlining what needed to be done in order to ensure the safety of our kingdom.

Corelyn might be the future ruler, but she didn't have to do it alone. We would be there to help her.

"Like you said, this is going to take a lot of work, Tidun. Do you think you can succeed?" she asked hours later when the bottle of wine had been finished and the fire in the fireplace had dimmed to a soft glow.

It would be so much easier to leave all of this to Corelyn and follow Conall as he travels with the circus, but that would be just an excuse for me to run away from my responsibilities. I didn't want that either.

And while this might take me away from Conall for a while, being the kind of person he was, I knew he'd understand that I needed to do this. I didn't ask to be part of the royal family of our little kingdom, but here I was.

And I wasn't a fuckup.

"I will succeed."