[Rock]Forrest seemed pissed when I went to retrieve Shayle. I was as surprised as anyone that she hadn’t given in to him. Pretty much everyone knew all he had to do was glance in her direction and she would be on her back for him. She walked proudly out of the room and I closed the door. I started down the hall and realized she wasn’t following me. I turned back to Shayle and put a hand on her shoulder. “It wasn’t you, Shayle. You need to give up,” I said quietly, yet sternly to her. “I didn’t think it would be, but it was nice to get some sense of closure. He really wasn’t mine no matter how much everyone said he would be.” “Do you need a minute before we go back out there?” I asked. “You know I don’t hate you, right?” I laughed. “If you hated me you would have done far worse than being a bіtch to me. I know you don’t like me much, but you don’t have to like me.” “I was supposed to be one of your friends, but I wasn’t strong enough to think of that over what everyone said about the people who were. Maybe you would have been a good friend to me. Are you happy with your mate even though she’s not what you thought you’d get?” “Yes, Carmen is more than I could have dreamed of. Your mate will be that for you. He might not be Forrest, but he’ll be perfect for you in every way you dreamed,” I told her. Shayle seemed really different from how she had been before. This is the closest she had ever come to apologizing to anyone for her behavior. Maybe losing Forrest was what she needed to be a better person. She was finally free of what other people thought she should be. She looked at me and I saw some sort of emotion passing though her eyes before she put on her haughty expression. Now, I was starting to realize this was a mask. She couldn’t let herself be vulnerable to other people. I knew her friends were attention-seeking gossips. For the first time ever, I felt something like pity for her.“Let’s go,” Shayle said. We headed back to the living room and I announced that the match had been a failure. The men in the house cheered. The women gave Shayle a serious side-eye. They all wanted to know what she would do next. Shayle walked over to Pyla and looked down at the smaller woman. She glared and clenched her fist. Pyla seemed shocked to see Shayle. “I thought you would indulge his troll brain,” Pyla said. “Why would I want that if I couldn’t keep him? You stole what was mine and had been mine for decades. I’ll never forgive you or him if you’re mates. The goddess made a mistake if she mated you to Forrest. You don’t deserve him, snake bіtch.” Shayle sneered at the smaller woman. Without waiting for a response, Shayle turned on her heel and left the house. The silent room filled with quiet chatter. This was definitely going to make the gossip rounds. Everyone would know what Shayle said. No one ever thought Shayle would doubt the goddess over something like this. Pyla seemed to be shocked, but also a little pissed off. Forrest’s mom looked at his dad, who also seemed disturbed. Fae were the most beloved of the goddess’ creatures. None of us ever doubted her. “Next up is Pyla. Come on, it’s time,” I told her, holding my hand out to her. She took my hand and I led her through the crowd to the hall where the rooms were. Pyla stopped a few feet from the door. She took a couple deep breaths, but looked like she wanted to run away. “Why couldn’t this be easier? What if he doesn’t calm for me?” she asked. “You told Carmen the other day that you were certain Forrest was your mate. Don’t look so shocked. She’s my mate and tells me everything. Forrest is just as sure that you’re his mate. You only have to go into that room to verify it. Shayle might have left him alone, but no other female who we could call back would. You don’t want them back here,” I replied. “Do you think he’s my mate, Rock?” “I think you two have had five months to feel the bond and are living together. If you weren’t his mate, I think you would’ve moved out after a couple weeks with him. The infatuation would have broken and there wouldn’t have been anything to make you overlook how annoying Forrest can be.”“You think he’s annoying?” Pyla giggled. “No, but I don’t live with him, either. Staying out here isn’t going to change the answer to whether or not he’s your true mate, Pyla. You’re going to be mad at yourself if you don’t give this a chance, though.” She nodded and I opened the door for her. I could hear the rattle of the chains as Forrest moved. When I closed the door, I gave a silent prayer to the goddess that he would calm and convince Pyla she was truly his mate. A lot of people were praying for them tonight. I went back out to where everyone else was. Elbio was breaking up a small fight that had broken out, but everything else was fine. I missed Carmen. No non-trolls could come to the party until twelve hours after it started. She would be bringing Gemma and Austin. They wanted to be here for Forrest and Pyla, even though they knew we’d have the answer before they ever got here. For the next half hour, everyone was speculating if Pyla would really be Forrest’s mate. Some of the men were lamenting not getting a craсk at her before Forrest claimed her. In all, spirits were high. Forrest’s parents mingled with his friends. Everyone was eager for the answer. When time was up, I went to the room and paused for a moment before opening the door. This was the moment of truth for everyone. I opened the door. “Fuсk, goddess,” Forrest groaned. “Forrest!” Pyla cried out. I could easily see them in the dim light. Pyla was straddling Forrest and his hands were covering her breasts. She gasped and covered herself, wrapping her tail as far as it would go over her hips. “What’s the verdict?” I asked. “Announce success to the guests. Pyla is my true mate,” Forrest told me as his hands roamed her body after being chased off by her modesty. Modesty was rare for trolls, but I could understand if her people weren’t like that. She really was very beautiful. Her large eyes were closed in embarrassment and the dim light shone off her iridescent green scales. There was a ruddiness underlying the green of her face. That was what she looked like when she blushed. “Pyla, can you confirm that you’re his mate and that he didn’t just get you to give in to him?” I asked. “Y-yes. Forrest calmed for me.” “I’ll bring food and drink to you in a while. Have fun,” I told them and closed the door. I was thrilled for them. This was exactly what everyone was hoping for. It gave hope to young trolls when mates found each other early and felt the bond enough to be together before they had their coming-of-age. ‘They’re mates, Carmen. I can’t wait to tell you. You’re going to be so happy.’ I thought. ‘Rock?’Her voice was clear in my head. I froze. We were told that we’d be able to mind link like werewolves did at some point, but I had expected that it might take a year or more to happen. ‘Carmen, can you hear me?’ ‘Yes! I can hear you, Rock! Pyla and Forrest are mates!’ ‘I guess I’ll have to learn how to get used to this. I was just heading out to tell everyone and was thinking about how much I wanted to tell you,’ I replied. ‘This is amazing. I hoped it would happen for us sooner rather than later. You take care of your duties. I’m going to get some sleep. I love you.’‘I love you, too. I’ll see you in a few hours.’I didn’t know if that was it, but I made sure not to think of Carmen heavily as I walked out into the main area of Forrest’s house. The noise quieted and everyone turned to look at me. Forrest’s mother and father pushed to the front.“Well?” Stilla asked. “Pyla has been successful in calming Forrest. Forrest Montblanc has found his mate,” I announced loudly. The cheers were thunderous. Stilla and Slate clasped each other’s hand and smiled. Forrest was their youngest child and the last one they had to worry about, now he was a man and had a mate. It was a relief to a lot of parents. They turned and headed for the door. I followed them while everyone else went to get more booze to celebrate the mating. It wasn’t unusual for parents to leave before the end of a coming-of-age party, so I wanted to see them out respectfully. “We’ll be reaching out to Shayle’s parents in the morning,” Stilla said. “What she said was worrisome. I’ll also talk to Queen Maeve about it. Congratulate Forrest for us when you see him next and take good care of him and our daughter-in-law.” “Of course. You know I’m going to take good care of them for you. I’m glad you’re willing to accept a half troll as your son’s mate.” “Why wouldn’t we? We accepted a half troll as his best friend. The goddess made a beautiful woman for our Forrest. It was more than we could have hoped after the reasons we had for having him in the first place. Go have fun. Tell Carmen I said hello when she arrives. She has become a great friend to our son and I’m glad the two of you can continue your friendship because your mates have become friends as well. This is exactly what your mother and I hoped for when we made this decision.” I nodded and said goodbye to them. I never thought there was a possibility of not being friends with Forrest when we were adults, but I was glad our friendship was cemented. Shayle would have encouraged my friend to give up on our friendship. She thought too much of what others thought. For the next few hours, I joined in the revelry with everyone else. I took food and drinks to Forrest and Pyla. Unlike me, he wouldn’t be unchained until his coming-of-age was finished. I was only unchained because Carmen was able to break the locks and I didn’t tell her not to. That was my fault. I wanted to mark her so bad that I didn’t care about the rules. Even if we were calmed, we stayed chained in order to give our mates a chance to rest. There was a bed in the room that was out of reach. Poor Carmen had to deal with an unrestrained mate and it sometimes stopped her from being able to rest or eat. A lot of people had questions about my mate and what it was like being mated to something other than a troll. I could tell the men were intrigued at the idea of having such a tiny mate. They weren’t exactly trying to be subtle in their questioning. It was, honestly, the most interested other trolls had been in me for years. I answered their questions, but mostly spent time with Elbio and Kaya. When we weren’t breaking up fights, we were making plans for the first gathering at my house when the warm weather started. Kaya asked about the wedding Carmen and I were planning. It would be held in a venue owned by Dennis, so no one could complain too much about it being in the pack lands or the fae lands, plus I could invite humans I knew. We were very happy when he offered a place as a thank you to Carmen for encouraging him to stay with Sybil the night they met. Carmen almost cried when he told her to pick any venue she wanted for the ceremony. He even got us discounts on catering for the reception. That was amazing, though unneeded. I could more than afford to feed everyone. She had already found her dress. Carmen said it was bad luck for me to see the dress before the wedding. So she would be having her mother store it once it came back from being altered. She was very excited about it and I couldn’t wait to see her in it. The day she came back from dress shopping, it was all she could talk about. Once the sun came up, I knew it would only be a matter of hours before I could see her. Taking care of Forrest’s house and guests was helping to distract me until I could see my mate again. This coming-of-age had been almost perfect. Before the year was out, all of my friends would reach their coming-of-age and we would start the next stage of our lives together.