Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

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Trinity

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Vincent, Gabriel, Shawn, Shane, David, Waverly and Pierre were all to escort me to Aunt Glory's personal study. Vincent, Gabriel, and David were to wait inside with me while Shawn, Shane, Waverly and Pierre were to guard the room from the outside.

Pierre had been the guard that tested for poison at the closing ceremony last time and was ultimately poisoned. He said that he wanted to protect me again and had actually volunteered to be my official taste tester this time as well. He and Waverly, who had also been a tester last time, were both going with us tonight for that purpose alone. They would test anything that me, Reece, Reagan, and Rika were going to eat.

Just thinking about that job for them terrified me. I know we had saved Pierre last time, but what if we aren't that lucky this time around? What if I actually were to lose someone while we are here?

Aside from my guards, the council was joining us for the discussion, but they were going to be dismissed before the meal. They were there just to share in the information.. Aunt Glory had approved of this ahead of time, but I still felt bad that we were usurping the meeting.

Trevor, Landon, Nathair, Kayda, Rahim, and Daciana were all coming with someone that was basically the equivalent of their Gamma. They would test any drinks that were offered to them. This taste testing was going to be a united front from all of us.

Now that we were ready to leave with the order of events decided, there was a knock at the door. That was most likely going to be Athai mòr. He was going to walk with us to the meeting since he was part of it as well.

"Welcome, Prince Valerian." Gabriel welcomed him into the residence.

"Thank you, Gabriel. I hope you're all-?" He stopped in the middle of his sentence like someone had slapped him or he had been overly shocked by something.

"Athair mòr?" I asked as I stepped closer to the door to find out what had happened.

"I..I..I don't believe it." He was grinning like this was the best night of his life. "T..Trinity, Gariníon, how is this possible?"

"What happened, Athair mòr? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, Goddess no." He grinned at me. "Trinity, this is the most amazing night ever. How did I not catch this sooner? How did I not notice this before we left your castle? Were they inside the vehicle the whole time?"

"What? What are you saying Athair mòr?"

I started to look around the room and figure out what was going on. That was when I noticed that Daciana, the Gypsy was looking at Athair mòr in a way that I never noticed during the previous meetings.

This makes no sense to me. If this was what it looked like, they would have known it much sooner, wouldn't they? Or, could it be possible that they had to be here, in the lands of Fae to feel this bond for the first time.

"Daciana, are you feeling what I think you're feeling?"

"I..I..I think so." She was grinning broadly.

"Athair mòr, you've met Daciana before, multiple times. How is it that you didn't mate until now?" I was so confused. "Do you think you needed the magic of this place to make it happen?"

"That is possible. There are many things that none of us know about the mate bond, and how it affects those from different groups of people." Even though he still wore a dazed look on his face, he was speaking as if he knew exactly what he was doing and saying. I was glad that he didn't seem to be at a complete loss.

"Well, I guess this is truly a night for celebration. Daciana Joviak, you may already know him, but this is Valerian Undine, your mate. Congratulations to the both of you." I looked between the two of them as they walked slowly toward each other. Athair mòr took Daciana's small, slender hand and kissed the back of her knuckles while looking in her eyes.

"Daciana, I am sorry it took until now to feel the bond, however, I am delighted."

"As am I, Valerian. I must say, I thought you were a very good looking man the first time that I saw you. I just never thought that this was how things would end up."

"And you, Daciana, are an exceptionally beautiful woman. I truly do think that fate can be an interesting thing, and I am delighted to be sharing this moment with you."

They spoke for a few moments longer, but they both knew that we had a job to get to. With another kiss to her hand, Athair mòr let his eyes smolder as he made a promise to her.

"Let us return to our work now, Daciana. After that, we will make the best of this Yule celebration. We do have a very long future ahead of us after all."

"Yes, that we do."

I had to wonder, how would Aunt Glory feel about the fact that Athair mòr had met his mate? She had been waiting for a mate for a very long time. And while Athair mòr had never mated before today, he had been married and had a son. He had more in his life than Aunt Glory had ever had.

While part of me was overjoyed by this new mating for my family, for my great great great grandfather, I was still worried about another part of my family. I didn't want to hurt Aunt Glory's feelings, but I also didn't want to tell the new couple to pretend like nothing had happened at all.

While these thoughts were playing over and over inside of my head, we prepared to leave. All of my guards, and the council were circling Reece, Reagan, Rika, and myself. Even Athair mòr was acting more as a protector than a royal at this moment. I wonder if they had planned this ahead of time. Did the council know that they were acting more like they were servants of mine than my trusted advisors?