Ares

My phone buzzed incessantly in my pocket. I didn't need to look at the display to know that it was my second-in-command, Evie. I had sent her a single missive this morning, "Hold them off. I won't be in today."

Evie had been in every meeting with the Darong demonic faction for the past seven years, ever since she achieved her position as my right hand. She had helped me prepare for our discussions (they were not truly negotiations, since no concessions were ever made on either side). She knew every facet of the conflict, as well as what we were and were not willing to give in exchange for its end. While the Darong leader refused to entertain discussions with anyone other than myself, he would have to either get over himself or learn patience.

Nothing could pull me away from Cole today.

The terror of last night lingered in the forefront of my mind, though he was doing a remarkable job of easing the memory with his endearing personality and his continued acceptance of me despite my missteps with him.

And now, he was offering me the ultimate act of acceptance by bringing me to meet his family. My realm would have to be burning to the ground to pull me away.

So, Evie's constant messaging would not change anything. I did feel a twinge of guilt at leaving her to deal with the fallout of my absence, but the Darong's arrogance in commanding my attention for these talks year after year without changing their impermissible demands was long overdue to be checked. Perhaps it would be good for them to be reminded that I was not at their beck and call.

It would have been better for the communication that I would not be in attendance to come in advance and from me directly, but there had been no planning for the events of last night. Now, I would trust Evie to handle the situation and report back.

I was needed here.

The very idea warmed me in a way I never anticipated. Cole needed me. At least, he'd needed me last night and today had shown a clear reluctance to be separated that mirrored the tightness in my chest when I thought of it. How could I be anywhere other than at his side?

Cole stopped outside a closed door and smiled at me. I tried to commit his smile to memory. It made me feel almost giddy, though that was not a word I had ever used to describe myself before. His smile looked like budding love.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready." How could I be otherwise when he looked at me like that?

Cole opened the door and entered the room first. I made sure to gently close the door behind myself. I hung back while he approached the hospital bed, where a woman lay who could only be his beloved gran. I kept my gaze fixed on Cole, but was well aware of the middle-aged man sitting in a chair tucked against the curtain on the other side of the bed.

The man - Cole's father, I presumed - rushed to embrace Cole.

"Give the boy some space, Brad. You'll embarrass him in front of his mate," Cole's grandmother said. The words were chiding, but the tone was affectionate.

I knew already that she had no idea why Brad would be particularly anxious to see his son. He backed away and rubbed surreptitiously at his eyes. "I know, I know. It's been a heck of a week," he answered.

His eyes fixed on me, which led Cole's grandmother and Cole to look at me, as well. Cole's father walked toward me and offered a hand. As we shook, he said, "I'm Brad. Behind me is my mother, Estelle."

I stepped back from Brad and dipped my head respectfully toward Estelle. "My name is Ares. I'm very happy to meet you both," I told them. It was the truth. I found myself studying Brad and Estelle's features, looking for similarities with Cole. I thought Cole had his grandmother's defined cheeks and his father's nose. Their eyes were very different from his, both light in color, so perhaps Cole's dark eyes favored his mother.

"Come sit," Estelle invited. There were two chairs against a wall that Cole and I claimed, while his father returned to his own. "Tell me all about how you two met," Estelle said eagerly. She used buttons on the side of the bed to raise herself up to be more upright.

Cole groaned while I did my best to smother a laugh. Understandably, he seemed reluctant to share the sordid details of our meeting. I resolved to jump in and try to smooth things over if necessary, but to let Cole control the narrative otherwise.

"We met at Lucia's birthday party," Cole said. I didn't usually struggle to control my reactions, but it was hard not to smile at how much he was stretching the truth.

"Oh, do you know Lucia?" Estelle asked. "She's such a good girl."

I looked to Cole, who looked pained, and shook my head. "I happened to be in the same venue. I caught sight of him from across the room and it was like something out of a movie. Everything else faded away and I had to meet him."

I made sure to meet Cole's eyes while I spoke so he knew it hadn't just been a deflection to keep his grandmother from prying into what had started as a one-night stand. It was nothing but the truth. As soon as I laid eyes on Cole, being with him had been an inevitability.

I never believed in destiny before that night. Now, there was no question in my mind that Cole had been mine.

I looked back to Estelle in time to catch the way her eyes darted between myself and her grandson. She wore a wide smile and, unexpectedly, her eyes welled. "Congratulations to you both. You make a lovely couple." It was easy to see how earnestly she meant it.

I ducked my head in acknowledgment and Cole said, "Aw, Gran, you're gonna make me emotional."

"Emotion is good. Emotion means you're living," she said. I could feel how her words sent a bolt of sadness through Cole. I felt it sharply through the bond. It was probably too soon for him to be comfortable discussing the philosophy of life with her so soon after her near miss with death. I took his hand and laced our fingers together, and he squeezed my hand gratefully.

My phone buzzed again and Cole's father said, "Should you answer that?"

I sighed. Evie would likely not stop calling until I answered, and it would be irresponsible of me to turn off my notifications altogether. So, my options were to continue ignoring her - and irritating everyone around me - or to take the call. "Will you be okay if I step out for a few minutes?" I asked Cole.

He released my hand and gave me a small smile. "Go ahead."

I hastily walked back toward a waiting room we had passed on our way in. It was blessedly deserted, and I called Evie as soon as I had relative privacy. It took her half a minute to pick up. She likely had to excuse herself from the meeting room before answering.

"What the hell, Ares?" she answered, sounding furious. "Kris has been finding a way to insert his displeasure over dealing with a woman into every vile word out of his mouth, and when he's not degrading me for having a fucking vagina, he's complaining that we're demeaning him by sending anyone in other than our leader. Which, in case it somehow slipped your mind, is you. Where the ever-living hell are you? Do you have any idea the position you've left me in?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and leaned against a wall, accepting that this call would take longer than I had hoped. "Apologies, Evie. I know it's poor timing."

"Poor timing? Ares, you couldn't have picked a worse time to play hooky. Look, they brought someone else in with them today. He hasn't said a word, but now they're trying to get us to allow just him to have access to the Hinterlands. They're pushing hard. Obviously, I told them no in every variant I could think of, but it's like I'm not even talking."

If it weren't for the remote possibility of being tracked back to Cole if I popped into the meeting room for a few minutes to give the Darong faction's leader a piece of my mind, I'd be there now. It was a rare occasion where losing my temper was the right call, but this was one of them and I rued missing it.

Well, it was clear there was no point in continuing these negotiations today. "Tell them the meeting is adjourned until I call on them to reconvene. I will send them a missive tomorrow with timing."

"And if they refuse to leave?" Evie asked, her voice still full of anger.

I shrugged, though she could not see it. "What's it to me if they decide to spend their day in an unattended conference room? They'll leave eventually." Oh, they may attempt a security breach first, but we didn't invite them in without appropriate precautions. There were cameras under constant watch by my security team as well as magic detectors. I also kept a team of elite guards posted strategically throughout the building. Any attempt to go anywhere but their own territory from the conference room would not end in their favor.

There was a brief pause during which Evie took several deep breaths. "Fine," she said. "As you command."

"Monitor them and message me if anything noteworthy occurs. If you call me again today, I'll assume it's an emergency and be very irritated if it isn't."

"Understood. And don't worry, they won't so much as sneeze without you knowing about it," she answered.

"That really won't be necessary," I said, but I knew it was pointless. Sometimes when Evie was especially upset with me, she took revenge in the form of extremely thorough paperwork. The kind that took hours to read because it included so much unnecessary detail.

"Oh, but it is. Later, boss." I heard her start laughing as she hung up the phone and shook my head fondly. At least she was feeling better.

I headed back toward Estelle's room and paused briefly outside the door to ensure I wasn't interrupting any important conversations. They were debating what to make their featured latte flavor next week in the café, so I went ahead and knocked on the door before entering.

Cole smiled widely at me as I returned to my seat.

"All good?" Cole asked.

"That was my assistant. She is... unhappy... that I'm not going in today."

Cole frowned. "Do you need to -"

"No," I cut in, not even allowing the thought to be voiced. "Today is for us."

When Cole blushed, it pinkened not just his cheeks, but also his neck and the tips of his ears. It was incredibly endearing.

I hadn't forgotten our audience, but it was clear from the way Cole jumped when his grandmother spoke that he had. "How long have you two known each other?"

Cole's flush darkened and I smirked. "We met three days ago," I answered.

Her brows raised. "And you already have a mate bond?" she asked, though it was clear she wasn't actually looking for an answer.

Cole put his hands over his face and I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. I was usually better at controlling my expressions, but I struggled around him.

"Alright, alright," Estelle said. "I don't want to embarrass you. I'm just so happy for you." She met my eyes and added, "For you both."

I pressed a fist to my heart and dipped my head in thanks.

"Well, if we aren't going to talk about how you met, I'd love to learn more about you, dear," Estelle said, still focusing on me as Cole collected himself.

I nodded, though uncharacteristic nerves fluttered in my stomach. Cole had taken learning about my species better than I could have hoped for, but would his family be so open-minded? And would Cole even want them to find out I was a demon? "What would you like to know?"

"What would you like to share?" Estelle asked.

It was a surprisingly difficult question to answer. I saw Cole had finally removed his hands from his face and was watching me curiously. "Well, like Cole, I'm an only child," I said. It was a safe start; or, it should have been. But then the energy in the room changed. The light went out of Estelle's eyes, Brad's next exhale sounded like a wheeze, and when I looked to Cole, I found that he was wincing and looking... guilty.

"I, um, have a brother. Somewhere. We haven't heard from him in a long time."

"I am very sorry. I didn't-"

Now it was Cole's turn to cut me off. "No. You had no way of knowing."

Still, I should know better than to make assumptions. But Cole had spoken so much of his family, I had thought I understood the dynamics.

"My apologies," I insisted.

"His name is Shane. He'll be thirty-six this year," Brad said. I was surprised he had spoken when it was clear this was an open wound. I met his eyes.

"What happened?" I asked softly, unsure whether it was okay to voice the question at all. Brad's eyes, steady on mine, seemed to welcome the topic; otherwise, I wouldn't have asked.

He shook his head. "We don't know. He left."

"It was sixteen years ago," Cole added, keeping his voice soft, as well. I knew better than to look Estelle's way. I could see how she had crumpled in on herself through my peripherals.

"I will find him," I said, and looked back to Brad. "With your permission."

He frowned. "We've tried. We tried everything. Especially after Cole's mother..." He shook his head and repeated, "We tried."

"I will find him," I repeated with steel in my tone. There was no doubt in my mind I'd be successful.

Brad scarcely seemed to breathe as his eyes searched mine. Finally, he nodded. "Please."

I nodded once, firmly. "I'll see it done."

The air in the room felt heavy until Estelle broke the weighty silence that had fallen over us. "What do you do for a living?" she asked. The question didn't sound casual.

I understood why she would want to know. How much hope could she rest on my ability to find her missing grandson? Of course, she'd want to know what could make me so confident, what qualifications I had. I glanced at Cole. I could not give her a complete answer before he knew everything. So, I told her the piece that I had told him. "I work in security. I run a firm I inherited from my parents. We specialize in intelligence."

Estelle's eyes welled as she nodded.

"Hey, does either of you need anything from home?" Cole offered. It was an obvious effort to change the topic to something lighter, but it worked. Gradually, the conversation turned to lighter things. Estelle brought up the people who had been visiting her from the pack and the gossip they had been sharing with her. Brad mentioned arranging to have a couple of teenagers come over to tend Estelle's garden. I was asked about my hobbies and interests. All harmless topics, until Brad stood and said, "I need to check on the cafe. Mom, can I get you anything before I go?"

I knew from overhearing his conversation with Cole this morning that he was due to meet a security company there soon. I didn't like the idea for an unknown entity installing equipment in my mate's workplace. Especially after last night had made it clear how critical the equipment would be to ensuring Cole's safety. No, it needed to be my people doing the work. I would make sure it was impossible for anything like last night to ever happen again.

Estelle shook her head. "No, I think I'll have a nap."

That gave me and Cole the cue to stand and say our goodbyes. Cole approached Estelle's bed as I caught Brad's eye.

"Can I speak with you?" I asked.

He nodded, though I could see he was surprised by the request. He waited while I said farewell to Estelle, who encouraged me to return soon. She called me "dear" again, and it warmed my heart.

I was the leader of my faction and my family was all dead or out of contact. I had thought any memories of being nurtured were long forgotten, but something in Estelle made me remember what it was like to have a mother. I surprised myself by leaning down and pressing a light kiss to her cheek before departing, and smiled when Cole lagged behind me as his grandmother whispered, "I like him."

Well, I liked this family, too. And I would ensure it thrived.