A stab of jealousy hit him square in the chest that his little brother could get a vampire to bare his throat to him and they weren’t even mates.
“When are you going to let me sink my teeth into you, hmmm?” his brother growled before he sucked hard on the pale skin of Henry’s neck.
Okay, shit, ugh. He’d heard enough. It wasn’t cool to see that Taleb was suaver than him. He cleared his throat loud enough to disturb them and walked into the kitchen. Henry blushed when he noticed him and went about busying himself with his tomato sauce. Macauley laughed, but Taleb looked pissed at being interrupted.
He didn’t feel all that bad as he went to one of the two stainless steel refrigerators and grabbed a bottle of water.
“Will you be joining Taleb for dinner, Alpha?” Henry asked, still not quite meeting his eyes.
“No. He’s not.” Taleb grabbed Henry possessively. “I already said I have plans to be alone with you.”
Macauley hated to be a killjoy, but he felt his issue was a bit more pressing. “This is important, Taleb. I need to speak to you now.”
The moment Taleb realized he was serious, Henry prepared them both a heaping plate of the delicious Italian dish and served them both. Before Macauley could excuse himself, Taleb insisted that he join them. “Sit down, sweetheart. We’re going to be mated soon, there will be no secrets between us.”
Wow. His brother was dead serious about making Henry his mate. Sometimes he wished he had half the confidence Taleb did. He never questioned himself on if he was doing the right thing. He just knew.
That must be nice.
Macauley was starving, and the pasta looked to be cooked to perfection, but he did little more than push the noodles around on his plate, his concern for Adres overriding his own needs. Instead of beating around the bush, Macauley decided to come right out with it.
“Adres Cavalerie is my mate… my true mate.”
Taleb dropped his fork, and Henry was frozen with his wineglass of ruby-red liquid halfway to his lips.
Needing to get some answers, Macauley launched right into everything he’d experienced from the time Adres had stepped foot onto their territory. He’d told his brother what he’d felt when he entered Adres’s core—careful not to expose the secret of his multiple shields—and the light he could feel that’d been extinguished by a now-dead sorcerer. When he finished telling them every detail, he then swore them both to secrecy. Taleb appeared uncomfortable with the request, and Henry appeared downright sick.
“It is a crime punishable by death to withhold information from my king.”
Macauley took a deep breath so he didn’t snap at Henry. “Anything you guys do seems to be punishable by death, for fuck’s sake. Wick will not know you have a secret, Henry, unless you go and confess to it.” Macauley pushed his full plate away. “All I’m asking is for a little time to get some answers. Can you tell me how to break the curse, Taleb? Please.”
He wasn’t above begging at this point. He missed Adres’s strong presence, and he needed his mate at his side. Though their bond was not even close to solid, he still felt him like a phantom love that’d once been there. He’d been in his core, felt his mate’s goodness, which was not only sealed off from himself but blocked from his beloved. Macauley wouldn’t rest until he fixed this.
“I don’t know of a way to break a centuries-old curse, Mac, especially one as strong as you described.” Macauley deflated for a second before his brother added, “But I think I know someone who does. I will have to travel far to get to her world and then beyond.”
“Where?” Macauley almost shouted. “How long?”
“A couple of days to get to the island of the Monstrous Reef, then I’ll have to send word.”
“What the hell is beyond the Monstrous Reef but deserted islands?” he asked.
“It is where the last of the fairies live.” Henry smiled wistfully.
“Yes.” Taleb reached over and took Henry’s hand. “I will have another fascinating story to tell you when I return.”
Macauley had heard the legends of enticing fairies who would visit packs and mate with alphas. It was said that they created the most lovely, magical omegas ever seen. Their beauty and scent were so appealing they could drive any unmated shifter to go crazy, some even doing terrible things to possess one. It had gotten so bad that the Mother took them away and hid them in a place where no beta or alpha could scent them and fall into a delirium. Therefore, no one had seen fairies since before their great grandfather’s reign.
“When will you go?” Henry asked sadly with his eyes lowered.
Taleb cupped Henry’s chin and lifted his head so his rich brown eyes met his. “I’ll have to postpone my trip to the Humboldt pack next week and leave for Vermont immediately. This matter takes precedence over anything else. It’s imperative that Mac’s wolf connects with Adres’s soul, and soon, or else they’ll never be able to fully bond. And it will eventually affect his mind until his wolf can barely function.”