6. Thoren

“You didn’t tell me you were coming!” Selah wails as she scurries to tidy around her home. She may be the youngest, but she is one of the most successful. She was able to move out of the family home at a younger age than I, and she loves her independence. Even though her independence tends to mean a very messy home.

“Thought you could see all.” I smirk at her when she throws a blanket at my face. I don’t dodge it, letting it hit me and then fall to the floor. Her sweet laughter floats through the home as she punches me in the arm.

“I wasn’t looking.”

“Ah,” I answer, pulling her in for a short hug. “It does not matter. That… vision of yours is here. Kaia, this is my sister Selah.”

I step out of the way, and Kaia steps forward, letting Selah take in her newly clothed self. The pants hug her lower half in a way that my oversized tunic did not. It’s been hard to keep my mind on the task at hand. All I want to do is rip them off her and bury my face between her thighs.

“Kaia!” Selah exclaims, closing the gap between them and hugging her tightly. As she pulls away, Kaia looks confused by the familiarity, but Selah is running her hands through her yellow hair like they’re already sisters. “Beautiful hair. Beautiful face.” Selah’s hands go to Kaia’s arms.

“Thank you.” Kaia looks shy. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“I have been waiting for you!” Selah finally lets her go and takes a boiling kettle from over the fire. “Sit! Sit!” she says, shooing us in the direction of her kitchen table. I pull a chair out for Kaia, and she sits.

“Thoren told me you could possibly help me?” Kaia’s voice is quiet, like she’s afraid Selah has news she doesn’t want to hear.

“I imagine it’s a bit jarring being thrown into a world that isn’t your own,” Selah tells her.

Three cups are sat down on the table, and Selah tosses some tea leaves in each before filling them to the brim with steaming water. The aroma brings great comfort. It’s the same blend of sage and blackberries our mother used to make us before bed, to calm our minds and settle our souls. I find it has the same effect on me now.

“You’re truly beautiful,” Selah says as she sits down, her eyes never leaving Kaia’s face. A kernel of jealousy takes seed in my belly. I want to be able to say these things to her, to show her how much I think she is beautiful, kind, and perfect. But my fear of chasing her away keeps my mouth shut.

“Thank you.” A faint blush breaks out across Kaia’s cheeks. She isn’t attracted to Selah, is she? Does she prefer the company of women to men? Would the Gods give me a mate that couldn’t love me?

“We come to you for help.” I finally find my voice.

“We were hoping you could see a way for me to get home,” Kaia adds. “I don’t know what happened. I dunked my head under the water of my bath and wound up in your brother’s arms in a lake.”

“Get you home?” Selah asks, her brows pulling together. “Why would you want to go home?”

“Why?” Kaia seems shocked, but I’m not. Selah isn’t going to make this easy. I wasn’t able to speak to her before we came here, so I have to figure out how to explain to her my thoughts without giving anything away to Kaia.

“Kaia obviously wants to go back to her home.” I try to convey my meaning to Selah without looking deranged. I will not hold her here if she doesn’t wish to stay. I need Selah to understand that. “We are hoping to find her a way home, and I wasn’t sure who else to come to. Can you help her?”

“But you can’t leave,” Selah says, panicked. Her eyes dart to Kaia.

“I don’t belong here.” Kaia tries to laugh off the awkward encounter. “I need to go back home to…” She trails off, probably thinking about her job, friends, and family. I can’t imagine what she left behind.

“But you are Thoren’s?—”

“Selah!” I say sternly, cutting her off. She curls her lip at my interruption.

“You are Thoren’s mate, Kaia. How could you leave him? Do you not understand what that means? To be his mate? Has he not explained it to you properly?” Selah looks at me, exhausted and annoyed. “Doesn’t surprise me.”

“I’m his what?” Kaia looks from me to Selah and back again, her dark eyes searching for answers.

“Thoren…” Selah’s head turns to face me. “You haven’t told her.”

“I really hope you mean mate as in friend. Right? Like he’s a good mate, a good friend. I know you don’t mean in the werewolf, fated mate kind of thing. That doesn’t exist in real life.”

“It doesn’t in your world,” Selah explains, her hands reaching across the table to take Kaia’s. I have to fight the growl that threatens to escape my lips. “But it does here. That’s why you were brought here.”

“He doesn’t even like me.”

I am shocked at my mate’s words. She thinks I do not like her?

“Yes, he does,” Selah says, laughing. “He likes you very much. He’s just holding it all in because he doesn’t know what to do with you.”

Kaia slowly turns her gaze on me. I can feel myself wither under that look.

“I—” I begin, but I am cut off.

“I am your mate.” Kaia’s voice is firm if not stunned. The guilt of lying to her weighs heavy on my heart. I have been too distracted by her presence for it to really sink in until now. By not giving her all of the information, I have lied to my mate. I have lied to her.

“And what happens if I don’t want this?” Kaia asks, her eyes never leaving my own. “What happens if I continue to try and leave?” A sad smile graces her pouty mouth. “Were you even going to let me? Were you going to just keep lying, hoping that I would change my mind if we kept hitting roadblocks?”

“Never,” I assure her. “I am happy to help you find your way home. You being my mate changes nothing.”

“I disagree,” Selah chimes in. “It changes everything.”

“It does not!” My voice turns into a growl as I shoot daggers with my eyes across the table. “I will not keep her against her will! I am no monster.”

“What does it change, Selah?” Kaia asks, ignoring our familial spat. “Why does it change everything?”

“He is your mate, sister.” Selah takes her hands again, squeezing them as she gives her a watery smile. “It will tear him apart if you leave. It will rip both of your souls to shreds. He will be stuck in the Forgotten Lands when he dies, never having you to come find him when you follow.”

My mate’s eyes flit to mine before settling back onto Selah.

“Can he not find another mate? Why me? Why a human?”

Selah shrugs and leans back in her chair, allowing Kaia’s hands to drop back into her lap.

“Drink.” Selah nods toward the steaming cup of tea. “I will read your leaves, and we will see what happens. And while we wait, I will explain everything that my brother has not.”

“I can explain everything to her.”

Selah scoffs at my words.

“You have hidden this all from her since you picked her up out of that lake. Why should she trust you to tell her the truth?”

“Because she is my mate!” I stand, my voice roaring through the small home.

“Sit down,” Kaia says, her voice tired. “Stop yelling at your sister.”

I obey, sitting immediately. Anything for her.

“Did he tell you that I saw you coming?” Selah’s voice has gone soft as she ignores me and gazes at Kaia. “So long ago,” she continues. “I saw your pretty golden hair and your dark eyes. I saw the love you hold in your heart for my brother. It may not be there yet, but it will come.”

Kaia looks skeptical, which brings a whole new fear that I had not yet considered. Can she love me? Does she look at me and see a monster or a man she could spend her life with? I realize I must look much different from the men of her world. Where her skin is soft and white, mine is rough from hard work and gray from my heritage. Where she is small and delicate, I am strong and foreboding, towering over her. Maybe she is attracted to men who look more like her.

Or women, like Selah.

“I definitely feel… something,” Kaia admits, her face flaming red as she tries desperately to not look in my direction. She is embarrassed. She feels she cannot speak freely with me here. And while I am elated that she feels something toward me, I do not wish to make her uncomfortable.

“I will leave you,” I tell them both, taking one last drink of tea before standing. “I will come back for you.” Taking Kaia’s warm hand, I kiss her knuckles. “My mate, speak freely with my sister. She will help you in ways I cannot. And later, you and I will talk.”

She nods, and I feel her eyes on my back as I leave. My heart hammers hard with each step I take away from her. We have yet to complete the mating ritual, but that doesn’t mean my heart will not ache when she is not by my side. The bond stretches thin, threatening to break if I do not stay near her. But her privacy is more important than my comfort. I will go to my forge and distract myself with fire and iron.