[Forrest]I was hoping Shayle would loosen up, but she seemed to get worse about Carmen as time went on. It was one of the reasons I wanted to bring her to the barbecue. She needed to see Carmen after she was claimed by Rock. More than just in passing as they left my house. When Rock’s brother asked me what I would do if my mate forbid me to see Carmen, I hated giving the true answer, but only because I knew Shayle was showing signs she was still jealous. She saw for herself that Carmen didn’t touch people’s ears anymore. She had to realize that was her ignorance, not an attempt to steal troll men from women. The idea of giving up my mate was painful, but Shayle had to learn that she needed to be a better person, though… the girl Elbio brought was pretty hot, too. Plus, she was raised differently. She didn’t understand troll habits. Lizard people were honest, but not brutally honest. They didn’t tease like we did. They were damn near emotionless compared to trolls. She wasn’t, though. Pyla was sweet and cheerful. Watching her and Carmen together made me reconsider my interest in Shayle. I knew she had it in her to be understanding, but I didn’t know if I wanted to wait for her to decide that was important. If my feelings didn’t matter, would our children’s feelings? My parents would flip if my mate was only half troll, but one as gorgeous as Pyla might make them reconsider. She was as soft inside as I was. It would be nice to have a mate who understood me instead of having one I had to hide my true feelings from. I went to help Rock and his brothers with the second table. We set it up right next to the other table. Rock did this when he was having a lot of trolls over. The pigs would be piled in the center for us to grab and there would be room for pretty much everyone. Pyla kept glancing at me. Elbio kept slipping little comments out to try to interest her, but she wasn’t biting. He didn’t realize he couldn’t treat her like a normal troll. I was being nice, though. Like human level nice. She didn’t like it when I said I would give up my mate for my friendship with Carmen, but I was hoping to get a chance to show her why. My friends were important to me. And it wasn’t only Carmen. If I wasn’t allowed to see Carmen, then I wasn’t allowed to see Rock. Who would watch out for my little buddy if I wasn’t there for him? Elbio and his family were at the same rank as me and mine, but he’d always been Rock’s friend because we were forced into it as kids. His mom was a higher rank. It was just what we did. I helped Rock bring the meat up and deliver it to the table. He brought Carmen over and sat her next to his seat. Pyla sat next to Carmen. She was obviously latching on to the first person who seemed normal to her. Tana sat next to Pyla with Mica taking the seat on her other side. Elbio looked pissed. I sat across from Pyla, hoping to talk to her more as the meal went on. Shayle planted herself next to me and Elbio sat on the other side of her. Aside from Rock and Carmen, the only couples sitting together were the ones who were mated. Well, and Shayle and me. Carmen sniffed the air. I did too, wanting to see if I could smell what she was smelling. All I could smell was the meat. It smelled great. We dug into the food. I saw Rock rip off a few good chunks and put them on Carmen’s plate. Pyla looked a little lost. Tana pulled some meat for her and smiled. “You have to be aggressive when eating with trolls in a group,” Tana told her. “Sorry, I wasn’t aware it was different than when I eat with my mother and it’s served to us individually,” Pyla said softly. “You’ll get it. We eat here a couple of weekends a month in the summer and early autumn. You should come to the next one.” “Yes! You should come to all of our cookouts!” Carmen added with a happy bounce. “You’re my friend now, so you are automatically invited to all of the events in my home.” Pyla blushed. Goddess, she could blush! I loved blushes. Trolls, full trolls, couldn’t do that. Even Rock didn’t. I’d embarrassed him enough I would know if he did. “I would appreciate that, Carmen.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was perfect. Maybe I was wrong about who my mate would be. I thought for years that it would be Shay because of how well we matched up everywhere else. From the moment I met Pyla, though, I couldn’t think of anything but her. Shaking my head, I reached for some meat and tried to focus on my food. Maybe I needed to take some time to think about what I really wanted. The goddess picked my mate. I would trust her decision. Perhaps I needed to have some time without women distracting me. I needed to figure out who I was. My coming-of-age was in February. That gave me six months to get my ѕhit together. If Rock could find his mate at his coming-of-age, then I could find mine. He focused on figuring out a way to support his family and created everything they could need. Watching Rock and Carmen, I knew I needed that. I needed more than my parents and their money. It was time for me to man up. “So, Carmen, tell us how you met Rock. I heard some rumors that you met before his coming of age,” Haldor said.She looked shocked, but finished chewing and swallowing her food, then smiled. I ate as I waited for her to think about how she was going to tell her story. I wanted to know, too. The truth this time, not a perspective where I only had half of the information. “Well, I went to a fae night at an all-ages club in town with my friends. They were excited about seeing fae out of their glamour. I just wanted to get out of the house and have fun. I couldn’t see them, but Sean and Rosario let me touch them. Sean’s wings are amazing.” She laughed. I always wanted to touch the winged ones. They were so tiny, and I didn’t want to hurt them, so I never asked. My hands could rip their wings up, anyway. “After dancing for a while, I went to sit down and smelled the mate scent. For me, it was my favorite dessert. Sean helped me find Rock and I knew as soon as I touched him that he was my mate. Werewolves feel sparks when we touch our mates.” “So she asked me to take her home and I carried her out of the club. There. You know the story,” Rock grumbled.“Ah, but all of the versions I know say she couldn’t go through with it and backed out,” Haldor replied. “What? That didn’t happen.” Carmen scoffed. “I came back here with him and gave him the first of many amazing nights. Where did you get that from? Rock? Were you telling people I backed down?” Rock scowled at his brother. Pyla blushed again, she was embarrassed for Carmen. Carmen didn’t look embarrassed. She looked pissed. “Elbio and I said that. Rock was worried some other troll would try to pressure you if they knew you fuсked a troll. He wanted you to be safe when you came to his party,” I told her. “It was the only way to make sure someone didn’t try something. Also, it was to make them less likely to put you in the room with him. Rock was worried he’d say something that would make you hate him. He wanted to be your friend.” “I’m sorry, Carmen. A softie that’s willing to sleep with a troll would have made other trolls try, and pressure from a troll feels a lot like you don’t have a choice. They’re bigger and stronger than you. If I was able to dominate you, then one of them easily could,” Rock whispered. “I’m not afraid of trolls, Rock. I know how to assert myself and I know how to say no clearly and in no uncertain terms. Plus, I didn’t care what you said in that room, because it wasn’t really you. Not entirely you, at least,” she hissed. “You don’t understand! They’re all bigger than you and you didn’t have a legitimate threat back then.” He growled. “I would have simply told them I had ѕex with you because you were my mate and I knew that as soon as I met you. Then I would have told Forrest to put me in the room so I could prove it,” Carmen told him candidly.No one said anything. That would have stopped any advances from other trolls and they would have insisted that she be put in the room. If she were telling the truth, they would have appreciated that, if not…. It wouldn’t have been healthy for her at all. “I had several plans for getting into the room if it looked like no one would put my name into the bowl. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to me before I could claim you as my mate. I know you like thinking I’m sweet and simple, but I’m not. I am a little tired of people underestimating me.” “I don’t think you’re sweet and simple. I think you don’t know anything about fae culture and you haven’t had a chance to learn any of it. I didn’t know anything about you when I did it. Can you at least try to understand what I was doing?” Rock asked. Carmen took a deep breath and nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry I started a fight about this, but I don’t like people lying about me. Now people think either your friends are liars or they think that I was vain until I found out you were my mate. They might think I thought I was too good to sleep with a troll until the goddess decided to match us. That doesn’t paint me in a good light. It makes me feel like people might think I’m prejudiced against trolls.” She wasn’t wrong. Some people had made comments about her being too good for him before she found out she was his mate. Others speculated that she was just trying him out and would be rejecting him. There were bets about how long she would pretend to accept him. “We’ll make this right,” Haldor said. “Rock and his friends were wrong. They were just kids. People will understand.” “I don’t know if that’s correct. I think this will tarnish all of their reputations.” A voice came from the counter behind me. I turned to see a man sitting on the counter eating a leg of pork. He looked human. He was dressed like a pirate. “Rhett, you weren’t invited. I told you not to come to my home or office unannounced,” Rock growled. “I’m outside your house. I wanted to see how Carmen did with other trolls. There’s one who doesn’t like her, but the others seem to be quite accepting. I had some questions I didn’t get a chance to ask. Also, when are you taking her to the healers? I think you need to talk to them before her heat comes,” the man answered. “We’ll take care of it. Leave,” Carmen replied. “Alright, but I think you should do it sooner rather than later. You don’t want to be unprepared.” With that, he disappeared in a swarm of shadows. I didn’t like that. I turned back to Rock. He was seeing to Carmen, who was shaking. The rest of the meal was tense. She kept sniffing around and answering questions in as few words as possible. That one interaction shut her down. When we were getting ready to go, I took Rock aside. He didn’t look too happy. “What the hell was that? Who was that guy?” I asked. “Some warlock who has some sort of obsession with Carmen and me. Don’t worry. I know how to hurt him if he takes it too far. I saw you making eyes at Pyla. Are you going to try to steal her from Elby?” “No. I’m turning over a new leaf. No more trips out to fuсk as many women as I can before I’m tied down. Can I come work for you? I want to see what real work is like.” Rock raised his eyebrows appreciatively. “You always said you would never get your hands dirty with ‘building ѕhit’. Are you sure you can handle it, princess?” I laughed. “I was a stupid kid. It’s time for me to grow up. I’m gonna become a man in just about six months. I’m not the firstborn. I only get a portion of my family’s fortune when I reach maturity. I should know how to do other things.” He nodded. “I need someone around the office who’s made of living earth. That warlock is weak against us. I’m looking for a female dark elf to be Carmen’s permanent assistant. I could use a security guy to watch over the office when I’m not around. You want to stand guard over my mate and her friend?” “Sure! I love the little wolfies. I’ll be there on Monday. What time?” “Seven in the morning.” “I’ll be there. I’ll look at guard clothes and make a glamour to make me look official.” I grinned at him. “Great. See you then. I’m glad you’re trying to be a man. I was a little worried you’d end up spoiled like Shayle.”With that, I went to the front door. Pyla was there, getting her shoes on. Elbio was already gone, and so was Shay. She probably thought she was going to make me jealous about her leaving with him. “Did Elbio leave you behind?” I asked. “Yeah. I don’t think we’re really clicking as much as he hoped with this invitation. I don’t know why he invited me if he was going to be mean to me the whole time.” She sighed. “I’ll walk you home. I want to make sure you get there safely.” Pyla blushed. “I’m three blocks down. I can walk fine on my own.” “Let me do this as an apology for my friend’s manners.” “S-Sure.” She smiled at me. We headed out and I couldn’t hold back my smile. Something as simple as walking her home made me feel like my heart was flying. It felt like my whole world was changing.