[Rock]It had been a week since we went to talk with the Master of the territory. I faxed him the estimates after he called me and told me he talked with Queen Bellamy. She told him my idea would be better because of all the reasons I listed when we met. Now, we were getting ready for a dinner party at their house. Even though he wouldn’t be starting until October, Gray had quit his job and was taking some time for his relationship. Echo wanted to celebrate it, though. Carmen was dressed beautifully and told me to make sure I was wearing something nice. This was something more in her wheelhouse than in my own. I’d never been invited to something like this before. I took my mate in my arms before we left and held her to me. I was still on edge because, after the rainstorm, her father disappeared and even Rhett couldn’t find him. With luck, he had given up and left the area, but I wasn’t stupid enough to bank on it. “Are you having second thoughts?” Carmen asked. “No. I just wanted to hold you for a little while. I don’t normally go out on work nights. How long do we have to be at this thing?” “Until about an hour after we eat. After that, it’s no longer rude for us to leave. We can be back home in time for bed… and bedtime activities.” “Mmm. I would love to skip straight to the bedtime activities portion of the evening,” I purred. “I bet you would.” Carmen laughed and pushed away from me. “We promised to come to the party and it would be bad for our trustworthiness if we didn’t follow through.” I sighed and we went to put our shoes on. Trolls weren’t social when it came to other species, but I put in the effort a lot more than others did. Carmen was good at this stuff, too. We got into my truck and headed out. When we arrived, we were buzzed in by someone and parked with all of the other vehicles. I helped Carmen out of the truck and led her to the front where the doors opened before I could knock. The same blonde from last time waved us in. She smiled politely. “Everyone is gathering in the formal living room. Right this way.” “What’s your name? We’ve met you twice now and I don’t know it,” Carmen said. “Wendell. I used to work in the packhouse, but now I live and work here. This is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and I like that I’m not taking care of hundreds of people. It’s really nice,” she told Carmen with a smile. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It’s always good to find the place you belong.” “Who all is coming to this thing?” I asked. “Master Marius Aconitum and his wife Lila, Valor Aconitum, Harmony Blake-Aconitum and her mate Cam Blake, Alpha Trent and Luna Lily, Prince Rosario and his mate Sean Flowers, Dennis Lyons and his new human girlfriend. I’m told to let all of the werewolves know that she is afraid of them because she was attacked by a werewolf several years ago,” Wendell said. “That’s horrible. I’m glad she survived. A werewolf attack can be deadly to a human,” Carmen replied. “Yeah, we’re not telling her who all is a werewolf because there are more of us than other supernaturals in the house. She will know that Gray is and that his brother is. If anyone else feels like sharing, they can, but they don’t have to. Most pack wolves don’t like being associated with that sort of thing. As you know.” “I know I definitely wouldn’t. It must have been a rogue. Poor thing. She didn’t deserve that. No one does,” Carmen said softly. I squeezed her hand. Troll attacks were always deadly. A survivor was rare. The closest thing to a survivor was a witness. They didn’t truly experience the horror but saw it happen and it could scar them mentally. We entered the living room and saw Echo, Gray, and Victor talking with Echo’s siblings and Cam. No one else had arrived yet. Harmony and Echo turned and smiled at us. We went to where they were standing. “Hey, we were just talking about you two,” Harmony said. “All good things, I hope,” Carmen replied with a chuckle. “Just talking about how lucky you are to be able to work with your mate. Cam’s excited about this opportunity.” “I really am. I didn’t want to be a waiter, but nothing else felt right and Harmony told me she didn’t want me being a warrior for the pack. There wasn’t a lot left that wasn’t cashiering or working as a server somewhere. I could go to school, but nothing there really appealed to me either,” Cam admitted. “I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like there’s something else I’m meant to do.” “Cam has some sort of calling, but he doesn’t know what it is. He can’t do the work of being a Beta’s mate, even though Harmony is a Beta born wolf. I think that’s what it is. They’re looking for a pack that needs a Beta, but, so far, they have all been in the east and south. Echo doesn’t want them moving so far away. None of the triplets want to be too far from each other,” Gray explained. I nodded. That was entirely understandable. The family seemed close. “Why isn’t this a celebration for Cam, as well, or did I just not get an invite for that one?” I asked. Harmony laughed. “That was a family-only thing. We had it back when Cam got the call from you. A spontaneous same-day thing. Echo wanted to do something bigger for Gray.” “Most of the people I invited couldn’t make it because today is a Thursday. It was the only day Rosario and Sean were free. Things have slowed down for them, but most of their weekends are eaten up with prince things. Gray’s parents couldn’t make it because it’s a school night for Eden and they don’t want her to stay up late. William is busy with work, so he can’t be here. Only Trent could make it.” Echo sighed. “There will be plenty of other times we can have a party with everyone, Angel. We’ll see if they can make it to our Solstice party in December. That way they have time to make arrangements for the next day and the kids won’t be in school,” Gray told her. “You think so? We can invite Carmen’s brother and his mate, too! Carmen, would you and Rock like to come to our Solstice party?” Echo asked. Carmen smiled at her. “Are there any holidays the fae celebrate on the Solstice, Rock?” “Only the seasonal and nature fae. Not the trolls. We can go if you would like to.” “Then put us down as a yes,” she said. “Yay!” Echo squeaked happily. “Oh, and take off your glamour, Rock. This is a safe home and we want everyone to be comfortable.” “I’ll do that, thank you,” I replied, letting my glamour fade. We chatted for a while until Prince Rosario and Sean came, followed by Alpha Trent and his mate. Slowly, everyone broke up into groups. I took Carmen across the room and sat her in an armchair where she could be comfortable. Prince Rosario and Sean came over to talk. Sean sat on the coffee table, talking to Carmen while I talked with the prince. He insisted that I stop calling him that since we weren’t in the fae lands. “I wanted to talk to you about building a house for us in the fae lands,” Rosario told me. “I’m pretty booked until next year. Why do you need a house? Most fae live with their parents until their coming-of-age or the… or they find their true mate. You’ve decided to move out because you found Sean. I get it. Have you picked a plot of land?” “There’s one I’ve been looking at. We have some specifics that need to go into the house that others can’t know about. Can you keep it quiet?” “Absolutely. We can schedule a closed-door meeting to go over what you need,” I replied. “Wonderful. I look forward to it. I can call you tomorrow and we can schedule it. For now, going back and forth between my mother’s house and Sean’s parents’ house will be doable. I would like this done as soon as possible.” “Depending on how big the house is, it can take a few months once we get started. Luckily, we don’t have to go through entirely legal channels in order to get the permits we need. Since this will be your home forever.” I smiled. “Anything that makes it faster. Sean’s getting worn out from the back and forth and not having our own true space in either home.” We talked for a while about the more mundane things in the fae lands. That included talk about the fight between Pyla and Shayle. Everyone, no matter their species, was talking about it. When Forrest came into work on Monday, he found himself the center of attention. Even the rogues were impressed that someone who was so much smaller than a mountain troll was able to subdue one so easily. It made the other trolls on the crew look at me differently. Pyla was changing people’s opinions on half trolls and what they could do. Carmen sniffed the air a short time later and took my hand. It must be the human. There was a worried crease in Carmen’s brow. I could faintly smell the scent of fear. It must be strong if even I could smell it. Trolls could smell blood. We could smell other body scents, as well. Fear was not something we could scent normally unless it was very strong. This woman was terrified. When she entered the room, I tried to look at her without making eye contact. I knew I was frightening to most humans. She was curvy and looked like she was older than most of the people in the room. Not elderly, but fully adult, where you could see most of the other women were younger adults. She had red hair and dark blue eyes and wore something I would expect more in an office than in a dinner party. The woman looked around the room, I saw her eyes stop on me and widen. Her gaze was frozen on me for a few moments before it slipped down to where Carmen was sitting and a brief, but incredulous, look crossed her face. That was something I was growing used to. I focused on my conversation with Rosario. Paying attention to the woman might make her nervous. Tonight, she was learning there were more things in the world than what she had experienced. After they chatted with Echo, her mates, and the Alpha, they made their way to us. The fae corner had only one werewolf, so it was the safest bet for getting the human away from the ones she knew were werewolves. “Dennis. How are you?” I asked.“I’m very well, Rock. And how are you?” I smiled. “Amazing. Did you get the gift I sent?” Last week, I had sent him a basket full of gifts for his dog. Tyler told me it was the only thing anyone could give that he would find appealing. Dennis didn’t want much for himself. He had anything he could desire, but he spoiled his dog. “It was lovely. You didn’t have to do that, though. The fae night may have facilitated you finding your true mate, but that wasn’t my intention,” Dennis replied.“Don’t mention it. I wanted to express my gratitude. Finding Carmen has been the highlight of the last fifty years. She is very precious to me.”I turned to look at Carmen. She truly was the greatest gift I could have ever gotten. It felt as if I didn’t give enough to the man who made our first meeting possible. Carmen turned and kissed my hand. I knew she was grateful, as well.