Alijah and Theo follow me into the kitchen where I proceed to grab the green grapes out of the fridge. Then I get out a bowl from the cupboard and pull some grapes off their stems to put in the bowl. I look over my shoulder at my twin mates who watch me silently. I wonder if they are always this silent or if it's just because they are unfamiliar with everything right now. Theo gave me the impression that he talks more out of the two, and Elijah is the more level headed one.
I lift a stem of grapes to show them. "You guys want any grapes?"
Alijah shakes his head politely. "No, thank you,"
Theo, however, grins wide and nods his head. "Yeah, of course. Thanks,"
"Cool, you okay sharing, or do you want your own bowl?"
"Sharing is fine with me," Theo answers.
I pull more grapes off their stems and then take the bowl to the sink to wash them when I decide I have enough grapes for the two of us. When the grapes are washed I put the bag back in the fridge and then take the bowl to the island and set it at the bar. Theo takes a seat next to me with Alijah on his other side. I pop a grape into my mouth as Theo takes one for himself.
"Alijah isn't going to eat any, he detests grapes, even grape jelly," Theo informs me with a snicker.
"Gee, thanks, Theo," Alijah mutters.
Theo grins wide. "Of course," He snickers again. "He was going to find out eventually,"
"I like knowing that," I say and both boys look at me. "I'll make sure never to feed you anything grape related. Any other foods I need to be aware of?"
"Hmm," Theo hums. "Pickles,"
"Pickles?" I ask for more clarification.
"Yeah, I hate pickles, but Elijah likes them,"
"Noted,"
"Salmon," Theo says next. "Elijah is like a cat when it comes to salmon, he could eat it every meal if allowed. I'm that way with cow. If it has cow I'll probably eat the whole thing within minutes. So, like, steaks, hamburgers, hot dishes, jerky especially. Things like that,"
"What about you?" Elijah asks. "Any particular foods you do or don't like?"
I nod my head immediately. "Tomatoes. I can't stomach even the smell of them. I can eat tomato sauce, though, but I prefer a white sauce or butter if I can. But, like chunks of tomato or slices, I won't touch them. I'm also not a fan of syrup. Sometimes I'll do like a maple syrup, but I prefer jam,"
"Jam on your pancakes?" Theo asks.
I nod my head. "And waffles and french toast,"
Theo looks to Elijah. "Got that? Jam, not syrup,"
"I got it," He chuckles.
"What do you like then?" Theo asks next.
"I love toast and jam. It's usually my go-to for a snack. Like, a buttered piece of toast and then slather some blackberry jam on it? Oh yeah, that's the good stuff right there,"
"He likes it so much we have to stockpile it every time the Farmers Market opens up," I nearly jump out of my skin at dads voice. I snap my head around to look at him coming in with Kadyn in tow. Kadyn still has the toad boy pressed into his chest.
Kadyn presses his back against the wall as dad moves to the fridge. He then pulls out a slab of meat that he had thawing overnight. He doesn't say anything more as he moves around getting everything he needs to prepare dinner. I ignore him as I look to Kadyn again who stares at the floor, the toad boy looking around the room in more of a human way than a toad.
"Hey, Kadyn?" I ask to get his attention first. He slowly lifts his head to look at me. "What's his name anyway?"
Dad stops what he's doing to listen. "Yes, I never did ask. It's better to have his name than to keep calling him a... a..."
"A toad boy?" I offer as help. He shoots me a dirty look.
"If that's what you are referring to him as then yes, we should definitely use his real name,"
We both look back to Kadyn to find him suddenly blushing. My eyes widen slightly at the reaction. All we did was ask for the toad boy's name, so why is he getting all embarrassed?
"His name is..." He pauses for a moment and I zero in on the toad boy as its head moves to look at Kadyn. "Noah," He whispers. If we weren't all supernatural creatures it would have been difficult to hear him.
"Noah," Dad says and I raise an eyebrow as Kadyn narrows his eyes at him. Hmm, interesting, very interesting. "Well, I'm glad we can refer to him by his name instead of what Alaska chose," He gives me a very unenthused look so I grin.
"I thought it was fitting, though," I laugh.
"Yeah, but it's rude, so don't call him a toad boy again," Kadyn growls out. "It's not his fault I turned him into a toad,"
"Hmm," I hum. "But, isn't he a bully anyway?"
"That's no reason to be rude back!" He snaps. Then he takes a deep breath and I watch as he tightens his hold on the toad boy... whoops, Noah. "His bullying didn't do any harm to me, so it was fine,"
"I disagree," Dad says as he resumes his preparation. "If you don't stand up to bullies it will either get worse for you or the bully grows into a felon. I don't want to see this kid turn into a felon and have to be the one to process him. Besides, I don't want any of my children being bullied in any way, shape, or form,"
"He didn't know how else to process," Kadyn defends his bully.
"Process? Process what?" Dad asks.
Kadyn's face goes scarlet and I suddenly realize what is happening. I understand why he was blushing and why he was being so defensive for his own bully. And I understand why he didn't want dad touching him but let me. I'm no threat to this Noah kid, whereas dad has the final say in what happens, especially since Kadyn is so young.
"Dad," I say to get his attention. He looks up at me and I nod my head towards Kadyn. He gives me a puzzled look before looking at Kadyn's completely embarrassed form. Dad still looks confused and I find it amusing. "Dad, think about it," I prompt.
Dad glances at me for a moment before I nod to my two once again silent mates. It takes him a moment to process before realization dawns on him and his entire face goes slightly pale.
"Oh," He says before looking back to Kadyn. Kadyn covers the... Noah... up with his hand so it's hidden. He knows we know now. "Kadyn, is this true?"
Kadyn doesn't move even the slightest. He is a statue that doesn't even blink.
"Kadyn, I need you to say it. What is Noah?" Dad asks in that gentle trying to defuse a bomb voice.
Kadyn slowly looks up from the ground to look at dad. He is silent for a long moment before the words finally come out, confirming what we already know. "Noah's my mate,"
Dad takes a deep breath through his nose and holds it. I bite my bottom lip as to not say anything. Poor dad, he's put up with so much today already. Between both my mates showing up and Kadyn turning a poor human into a toad. Now the bomb gets dropped that this toad boy also happens to be Kadyn's mate. I thought he was going to have a hard time processing my mate's being here, but now he has to process Kadyn's mate also being a toad.
Dad finally lets out the breath of air he had been holding. Then, he sighs defeatedly. "Were you just not going to mention that little fact?"
"I didn't realize I had to," Kadyn mutters. "Is it really that important?"
Dad sighs again. "Kadyn, this changes everything,"
"How?" He asks. "We still have to tell his parents he's not coming home, we still have to find a way to turn him back, and he won't even know because he's not of age yet. So, what does Noah being my mate have to do with anything?"
"Kadyn, we have to treat this even more delicately if he's really your mate,"
"If? What do you mean if? He's my mate, dad, I know he is. We have the mating sparks already and I feel better when I'm around him. And besides..." He pauses to make sure dad isn't going to interrupt him, which he doesn't. "My wolf has already told me he's our mate,"
"He did?"
Kadyn nods his head. "Dad, I've already shifted for the first time, we can find our mates as soon as we shift. I shifted and then found my mate. My wolf told me he was our mate. Why are you acting like it's impossible for me to find my mate? I'm not a normal wolf, dad, remember? I can do things sooner than other wolves,"
Dad shakes his head. "I know, I know, it's just... you're only thirteen, Kadyn, it's difficult to imagine you already finding your mate,"
"You haven't said anything about Alaska yet," He says with a glare towards me.
I snicker. "I'm eighteen, though, so technically I'm doing nothing wrong,"
"And I am? It's wrong to know who my mate is?"
"No, Kadyn," Dad says quickly to try and calm the powerful young Elder down. "He just means that I have less say over what he does now that he's of age. You, however, are not of age yet, which means that you can't do certain things like Alaska... will," He seems to struggle with saying that last word. I know he means that I'm allowed to show affection towards my mates and mate with them, while Kadyn is still far too young to even be thinking about that sort of thing.
Kadyn huffs. "What do you think I'll do with him, honestly? It's not like I'm going to mate with him right away. I may do things earlier than others but that doesn't mean that I have the urge to mate early too. I don't have an urge to mate with him right now, dad, I just... I just want to be near him. I want to protect him,"
"But he was bullying you, Kadyn, did you ever ask him to stop?"
"No, because... because..." He looks down at his feet. "I maybe liked the attention. If I asked him to stop and he did then he'd probably ignore me all together. But... if he kept his attention on me... I... I could..." He licks his lips before biting his bottom one. He looks dad right in the eye as he continues. "I could stay in contact with him. I could figure out what had him upset if he took his anger out on me. I could try to help him. I could talk to him and he would talk to me, even if it was only to say mean things. I didn't care that he said mean things to me because I knew it was just his way of trying to make sense of his feelings. Like you said, we're thirteen, so these feelings are all new to us and foreign. Plus, we're both boys and that's not something people are okay with. Thirteen-year-old boys do not want to admit they might have romantic feelings towards another boy,"
Dad waits to see if Kadyn is finished. He's not but he's stopped talking. Dad takes it as an opportunity to speak. "And what about you then, Kadyn? How do you feel about it? Do you have... romantic feelings towards this boy? Do you not like to admit it?"
"No," He says without skipping a beat. "I don't have a problem admitting that I love him," His eyes widen and his face once again goes scarlet.
"You... love... him?" Dad sounds like he's never heard of such a thing.
Kadyn takes a deep breath before making eye contact again. "Yes, dad, I love Noah. And don't tell me I don't know what love is, because you should know all about the love at first sight thing. I first met him in second grade, he was in my class, and I knew I had strong feelings towards him but I never talked to him. Then we kept sharing classes and I shifted for the first time, and then I understood what my feelings meant. I knew he was my mate and I knew I loved him,"
"Why didn't you tell us you found your mate?"
"Because I know how against it you were about Alaska finding his,"
Dad shakes his head. "No, Kadyn, you misunderstood. I'm not against Alaska finding his mate... or rather mates, I'm against the idea of him getting hurt by said mates. Kadyn, having one mate is great, but having two just seems like a lot of unnecessary work and hurt feelings. I'm worried, Kadyn, that's all. I'm afraid that Alaska will get hurt. I'm afraid that one of his mates will get jealous that Alaska has someone else too and it will end up hurting Alaska in the end. I'm afraid that they won't treat Alaska the way I believe he deserves to be treated. He's my son, Kadyn, I have every right to be cautious. Just as you are my son, I have every right to worry about you when you tell me you found yours,"
"There's nothing to worry about, though, he doesn't even know. He doesn't know what I am and I doubt I'll tell him ever. As soon as he turns back into a human I plan to stay far away from him so nothing like this can ever happen again,"
"Kadyn, why would you do that? I'm not saying you can't have him as a mate, no one can tell you that except the Goddess,"
Kadyn shakes his head. "I know, but it's the only way I can protect him. I make things happen without realizing it, dad, I turned my mate into a freaking toad on accident. With my powers aside, I'm a danger just being me. If people find out what I am I'll forever be hunted by Hunters and my own kind. I won't put him in that kind of danger, I just won't,"
"Kadyn, please, don't tell me you are going to reject him. That will affect him just as much as it will you. And you know that some rejected mates don't recover well,"
He shakes his head as he looks down at the toad against his chest. "I'm not going to do that to him, I know it will hurt him too, but as long as I stay away then he'll be safe. He won't be in danger by association, he won't be hunted beside me, and he won't have to worry about getting caught up in my out of control magic again. He's safer and better off away from me. He should stay far away from our world,"
"Kadyn," I say. "He's already a part of our world," Kadyn looks at me with so much hurt in his eyes. I can only imagine how bad it hurts to seriously consider staying away from your mate. "We don't know how him turning into a toad is going to affect him, and also the moment you used magic in front of him he was a part of our world. Magic leaves a trace, Kadyn, you know that better than any of us, so it's going to leave a trace on this kid. Noah is in our world now whether either of you likes it or not. You can try to stay away from him but he's already been dragged into it,"
"He's right," Dad says. "This boy is part of our world now. We have to keep an eye on him even if you are serious about staying away. I heard you, Kadyn, and I agree that it would be safer for him to stay away, but I also don't agree with that. He's safer with you, Kadyn, where you can protect him in person. Eventually, someone is going to figure out that he is your mate and what you are, and that will put him in danger. If he's not where you can personally protect him then he's in danger. And like Alaska said, he'll have a trace on him and we don't know how this transformation will affect him. It might not do anything at all, but we still have to take precautions,"
"Oh my Gods," Kadyn exclaims in exasperation. "Are you okay with me having a mate or not? Jeez, could you be any less bipolar?"
Dad chuckles. "Kadyn, I never said I wasn't okay with you having a mate, I said it's hard to process. Just as it's hard to process Alaska having not one but two mates,"
Kadyn shakes his head. "Are you guys going to stop hiding already and just come in?"
I tilt my head to the side as I realize he's not talking to any of us. Instead, he's talking to papa and Lyra who have returned home without my realizing it. I was so engrossed in what was happening that I didn't even realize they came home.
Papa and Lyra enter the kitchen with sheepish looks from being caught. Papa looks Kadyn up and down, his eyes lingering on the toad before they snap to me and my mates. He looks my mates up and down before looking to dad, probably to see for himself how he's taking the news. When he decides my mates are safe he looks back to Kadyn. From the look on his face, he either heard everything or just enough that papa filled him in through their mate link.
Kadyn takes a step away from papa as he shields the toad from his view. "Just say it already,"
Papa is quiet for a while and no one speaks as we wait for him to say something first. Papa is the most protective of Kadyn out of anyone, just like dad is the most protective of me when it comes to my mate situation. Lyra, however, finds the situation amusing as she takes a seat next to me at the island bar.
"So," Papa finally says after the longest silence in history. "His name is Noah, huh?"
Kadyn narrows his eyes at him. "Yeah, and?"
"It's a nice name,"
"Yeah, and?" He asks again.
Papa shrugs. "Nothing, it's just a nice name,"
"Yeah, and?" Kadyn repeats for the third time.
"And what?" Papa asks as he tilts his head to the side. "What more do you want me to say?"
Kadyn shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, but you always have something to say when it comes to me,"
Papa shakes his head. "Not this time,"
Kadyn's face becomes amusing as he looks crossed between skepticism and shock. But to be honest, I feel the same way. Papa always has something to say when it comes to Kadyn. Like I said, papa is the most protective of the kid. It's pretty unheard of that he wouldn't have some opinion on the matter. Especially something as big as this. I mean, come on, Kadyn turned his mate into a freaking toad, you can't just not say something about that.
"Why not?" Kadyn snaps. "You always have something to say. What, do you have such a problem with my mate that you're speechless? Or are you just that disappointed in me that I turned a human into a toad?"
"None of that," Papa defends. "I know you can't control your powers yet, and I know you didn't know you could even use transfiguration magic, so I can't exactly be mad about that. And I knew you had a chance of finding your mate since you've shifted already. Yes, I'm surprised that my thirteen-year-old found and turned his mate into a toad, but I'm not mad. I can't be. Honestly, I find it sort of funny,"
I'm sure mine and Kadyn's expressions of shock are the same as we both drop our jaws.
"You think it's funny?" Kadyn asks in disbelief. "What, why?
"Kadyn, sweetheart, you turned your mate into a toad. What's not to laugh about?" He says as he chuckles at the ending. "What would be even funnier is if he remembers this later,"
"You want him to remember?" Kadyn asks. "Why? So he can hate me forever?"
Papa chuckles. "I don't think he'd hate you, he might be a little mad and probably scared, but I'm sure he'd come around eventually. And then we can all laugh about it,"
Kadyn shakes his head. "I don't understand any of you. How can you and Alaska find this situation amusing? I don't find it amusing one bit," He says before storming out of the kitchen.
"Well," Dad says with a chuckle. "You took that much better than I was expecting,"
Papa looks at him. "You're taking Alaska's mate situation surprisingly well,"
Dad shakes his head. "Oh, no I'm not, I just haven't gotten to him yet,"
I sigh as the conversation shifts to me and my mates. My poor mates, they've probably already figured out that Kadyn is an Elder, but I'll still have to talk to them about it. And now they have to deal with both my parents and Lyra. I wonder how Lyra will take the situation. She's never really had a say about it before, but now that my mates are both here that could easily change.