Remy sighed as he walked down the street from City Hall towards Chloe's coffee shop, a dull ache throbbing through his head. He had spent all morning going over storm damage both in and outside of town and delegating tasks as well as pitching in physically to help where he could. His phone had been ringing almost non-stop all night and he was in serious need of caffeine before he did anything more.
As far as emergencies in Fisher's Bay, the storm hadn't been the worst by far. There were a few downed trees, damaged homes and outbuildings, and the electricity had been knocked out for a few hours for some houses farther out from town. That had taken some time to fix, but thankfully most people had been asleep and didn't even notice. Most of the calls last night had been the patrols checking in to let him know that all the borders were clear.
All in all, it wasn't that bad, though some people in the town were acting as though frickin' WWIII had launched (Agatha, who was convinced the storm was a bad omen), while others were more laid back (thank the gods for Tate and Chelsea). Either way, Remy was drained despite it only being about 11 a.m. He wasn't sure when he'd get to bed tonight either, considering the sheer amount of work ahead of him between the clean-up and the Council.
Oh, and the fact that there was still a murderer running around.
How he longed for the days when all he had to do was look out for the wolves and attend Council meetings rather than run them. He couldn't even remember the last time he had overseen training with the pack's warriors, leaving it mostly up to Chloe nowadays. He was lucky to make it to the gym as it was.
On top of all that, his thoughts kept circling back around to the Nadia issue.
All sorts of scenarios had played out, but he was no closer to figuring out what was going on. Not without speaking to Cian. He had considered talking to Agatha, but then quickly tossed that idea, knowing the witch, while powerful and knowledgeable, was the town's biggest gossip and currently not a huge fan of Nadia's.
In fact, she had never been a fan of Nadia's family, though Remy had no clue why. It was obviously something from before he was born, but didn't think it worth his while to ask his mother about it.
Yet again, his wolf grumbled in his head. Remy had been fighting him all day, the animal wanting nothing more than to go check on Nadia. Even a text from Chloe hadn't appeased him, wanting to see her with his own eyes. The constant grumbling and growling was only adding to Remy's headache.
A buzzing in his back pocket had Remy rolling his eyes. He contemplated just letting it go to voicemail, but then decided against it, knowing that would only bite him in the ass sooner rather than later. He then froze when he looked down and saw that it was Cian - the one being he most wanted to speak with at the moment.
"About damn time," he growled into the phone.
"No need to be rude. You know we take high offense to, well, just about anything," came the snarky, yet light response. "Be glad you didn't say that to Aoife. She'd have your head on a platter. Literally."
Remy bit his tongue, not really in the mood for Cian's usual cheek. The fae could be infuriating on a good day, but his extensive research into supernatural races over his many years of existence was invaluable. While Cian was relatively laid back compared to the few other fae that Remy had met, he still watched himself. They were an extremely powerful sect of supernatural, with Cian - the King of the Seelie Court - and his counterpart Aoife - the Queen of the Unseelie Court - the two most powerful.
Didn't help that they were notorious tricksters. One had to be careful what sort of deals you entered with any fae, Seelie or Unseelie.
Remy wondered what it was going to cost him for Cian's help this time. Thankfully the last time he had only had to pay money, granted it had still taken him a few years. But it was this or go to a demon and Remy pretty much had a "kill on sight" approach with demons. He didn't think any of them would be in the mood to help anyway.
"Anyway, lovely to chat with you. How can I be of service?" Cian continued jovially.
Remy could almost picture him sitting on a beach, sipping a cocktail right about now. He glanced around, glad the streets were mostly empty with everyone busy cleaning up after the storm. Most businesses had shut down and the schools were closed. He came to a stop on the sidewalk and took a deep breath.
"We've got a new resident in town and I need to make sure she is who she says she is," he said firmly.
"Specifics, please," Cian sang.
Remy groaned as he scrubbed his face, carefully considering what to say. He didn't want Cian to know about Nadia possibly being his mate, but at the same time, he needed answers. And even if he tried to keep things to himself, he knew the Seelie king would sense his dishonesty and refuse to help him until he came clean.
And then be annoying about it.
Gods, this sucked.
"She's supposedly the daughter of a half-Havsfru, half-wolf, but smells completely human. I need to know how her essence could be eradicated or hidden and what could do it. If that's the case," he said, his voice strained. "Also, I need to know if there is a form of magic strong enough to form a false fated mate bond."
There was silence on the other end, before Cian burst into loud laughter, making Remy roll his eyes.
"This is delicious! You... you... you have a fated mate? Oh my... Wait-"
Cian's laughter cut out abruptly and he remained silent for a lot longer this time, which made Remy tense. The king had been around for a few millennia and was well-learned in a lot of supernatural ways, which is the only reason the wolf shifter had turned to him for answers. Remy had expected him to have a response at the ready.
If he was silent this long, it wasn't good news.
"I need to see her myself," Cian finally stated. "I'll be there shortly."
Before Remy could question him further, Cian hung up. Remy growled as he glared at his phone and then shoved it back into his pocket, continuing to the coffee shop. Granted, his stomach began to churn, wondering just what could be so serious that the Seelie King would insist on coming to Fisher's Bay himself.
And without a discussion on payment.
When Remy walked in, he found Tate sitting at the counter, leaning over a mug of steaming coffee, looking just as tired as he was, and Chloe standing behind the counter with her arms crossed. They both looked over as Remy walked over and sat down next to Tate.
"Coffee, please," he asked, looking up at Chloe. She turned around, quickly pouring him a cup. "How's training going?"
"Canceled for today because of storm clean-up. And well, patrol was rough last night so Charlie and I thought it best to give those guys a good rest," she said. She placed the mug down and slid it across to him. "We need to talk about Nadia."
"Cian is coming. He said he needs to see her," Remy said tiredly, his mind still reeling from the implication of the king's visit.
"That's not what I'm talking about," Chloe hissed.
Remy looked up, shocked by her tone. Sure they had gotten into spats here and there over their long friendship, but this felt different. Chloe's eyes were shifting back and forth between their normal brown and the amber gaze of her wolf. She was very pissed, growling as she ran her fingers through her long black hair.
"I think her mother was running from something. Nadia didn't seem to know anything about it. And... she's had it bad, Rem. Like... really bad. I'll let her tell you, since it's her story. I only got what I did because she was blitzed off her ass," she gritted out. "Which I feel incredibly guilty about, by the way."
"I didn't tell you to shove alcohol down her throat," Remy scoffed. Chloe rolled her eyes.
"You wanted answers! And well, part of me thought she could handle it better, but... yea, I'm blaming both of us on that one," she said. "Anyway. We need to give her a chance. Show her that we trust her. She's been alone her whole fucking life and the town treating her like shit is not helping. She doesn't deserve this."
Remy looked down at his mug, feeling guilty about his reaction at the bonfire. Well, okay, so the way he had been treating this whole thing so far. Yes, he had been thrown for a loop with everything, but that was no reason to jump to conclusions that Nadia had any say in what had happened to her. He still needed to be cautious, but that wasn't an excuse to act like a dick.
If only this whole situation had been more straightforward.
Nothing made sense. Fated mates didn't happen with humans - not full humans, anyway. Which meant that magic was at work, mostly like the dark kind. That made it all the more important that Remy figure out who or what was behind this.
He prayed that Nadia was innocent.
His wolf howled in agreement, though seemed convinced already that she was. Then pushed through what Rob had said yesterday, reminding him that Mara's mother, as misguided as she may have been, could be behind everything.
"She needs us, Rem. Like, really badly. Half the town thinks she killed George and is some sort of psycho Havsfru on a rampage. The other half doesn't know what to do with her because she doesn't smell like a shifter," Chloe continued. "Besides, I think Rob is right. Someone fucked with her essence."
"We don't know that for sure," Remy said, looking up at her.
Chloe growled in frustration.
"What the fuck, Remy? Seriously? She looks just like Ms. Ingrid," she said. "Do not tell me you've been drinking Agatha's kool-aid."
Remy snorted in agitation, but then glanced at Tate. His other best friend looked apologetic.
"I'm with Chloe, man. I don't know what's going on, but I think we should give Nadia the benefit of the doubt," he said. "Besides, she's your mate. Aren't you feeling it?"
"What I feel is besides the point," Remy gritted out. "I can't do or say anything until I know more."
"When's Cian coming?" Tate asked, reaching for his coffee.
"Fuck if I know. He just said soon," Remy huffed, reaching for his own mug. "You know how fae are. Operating on their own personal clock. Especially Cian."
"He'll pull through. I think he's got a soft spot for you," Tate chuckled, waggling his eyebrows.
"Don't remind me," Remy huffed.
"Anyway, so, we're agreed? We're going to be there for Nadia," Chloe said. She sent a glare at Remy. "You're going to be nice."
He sighed and rubbed his face, knowing that Chloe was right about one thing. He didn't need to be an ass.
"Okay," Remy said. "But I'm not saying anything about all of this to her until we know more."
"Good idea. I think she can only handle so much," Tate said. Chloe rolled her eyes. "What? You think we should just lay everything on her at once?"
"No, but... she has a right to know," Chloe said.
"Unless she's not really one of us," Remy pointed out.
"She's your mate-"
"We don't know that for sure," Remy interjected.
His wolf growled in his mind, pawing at the ground in aggravation. But he was just going to have to deal with it. Remy wasn't about to accept - or reject - anything until he knew more about Nadia. And well, if she spent her whole life thinking she was human, finding out her family and the whole town was anything but would surely have dramatic effects.
Besides, there was a protocol to follow, though he couldn't remember what it was at the moment. He couldn't even remember the last time a human had been introduced to Fisher's Bay. Sure they would occasionally go to nearby towns for supplies - they weren't completely isolated - but no humans knew what they really were. Most just thought they were an isolated, kinda weird fishing town on the coast.
"All I'm saying is we still have a lot of unknowns and I would feel more comfortable figuring more out before we go telling her that her family is made up of supernatural creatures and she might be one too," Remy said. "That she's in a town of shifters, witches, and warlocks."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, but finally sighed, relenting.
"I wasn't going to tell her anything, but you should. And soon," she said. "Because we all know she will find something going through Ms. Ingrid's stuff."
Remy nodded, satisfied with her response. He reached for his coffee mug again, but froze just as it touched his lips. His wolf began yipping and prancing around in his head, meaning one thing.
Nadia was nearby.
It hit him suddenly, nearly overwhelming him. The urge to go to her, to wrap his arms around her and... No. Remy needed to tamp it down. Everything depended on him remaining in control.
The bell over the door rang out and all three looked over as Nadia slumped into the coffee shop and came to an abrupt stop. Her hair was up in a messy bun on top of her head and she looked a little rough. There were bags under her eyes and her skin a bit green - likely from whatever night she had with Chloe - but she was still remarkable. Remy resisted the urge to drink in her scent, finding it calming, while at the same time intoxicating. Gods, he wanted to bury his nose in her hair. Or neck. And then pepper it with kisses and nips before sinking his-
"Control yourself," he growled internally to his wolf.
He got a growl in return. And he thought puberty was bad. He hadn't struggled with his wolf this much since he first shifted when he was 15. Maybe he should spend some time in the Archives looking up more information on fated mates.
"Oh, um, hi," Nadia said nervously.
"Hey! How you feeling?" Chloe chirped.
"Like shit," Nadia muttered, walking over to the counter. She eyed the open seat next to Remy carefully, almost as though she was afraid to sit there.
Guilt rolled around in his stomach. Chloe was right. With the way town had been treating her, the last thing Nadia needed was one more judgmental prick. His wolf whined, wanting Remy to comfort her. Protect her. Provide for her.
And there was still the chance that she really was his fated mate. Even if he wasn't sure, Remy didn't want to turn her away until he knew.
"Morning," he said, nodding towards the open seat and trying to give her a reassuring smile.
A dazed look came over her face as her pupils dilated slightly. He heard her heart rate increase. Hope bubbled up. If she was reacting to him like this, surely it was a sign that this was real. Maybe he was being stupid for not pursuing things.
Nadia then shook her head and moved to sit next to him, glancing over warily before turning her attention to Chloe and ordering a coffee. Remy's wolf was at attention, pushing him to move closer, to touch her.
Shit, this was going to be an uphill battle. And well, the last thing he wanted to do was to come across as creepy.
"Everything okay at the house?" Tate asked.
Nadia glanced over at him and nodded as she reached for the coffee mug that Chloe held out for her. She inhaled deeply, a warm smile on her face before she buried herself in it, moaning slightly as she drank.
Remy felt his dick jolt to attention as his wolf howled at the noise, already imagining the various situations in which they could get her to make that noise again. Remy shifted on his stool, glaring down at his coffee mug. Maybe he shouldn't be sitting next to Nadia.
"Think of cold water. The lake. Anything other than that..." he grumbled to himself.
"Everything is fine, though there's some downed branches that I'll clean up once I get over my hangover," Nadia said, sending a playful glare at Chloe.
"Hey, I brought the Fireball, but you poured most of your own shots," she said, raising her hands in the air.
Chloe's smile was easy, but she still shot a look at Remy that he was trying to ignore. Nadia rolled her eyes and slurped down more coffee, wincing slightly.
"I know. I regret everything," she stated glumly.
"Oh?" Chloe said nervously.
"Just tell me I wasn't a complete idiot," Nadia moaned. "I don't even remember how I got to bed."
Chloe looked relieved. Though Remy knew she wouldn't say anything about what they spoke about in front of him and Tate. He turned his focus to his coffee.
"Nothing to worry about," Chloe replied. "And I helped you once the electricity went out. Figured that was a good sign it was bedtime."
"Talk to her, you idiot!" she shouted in Remy's mind.
Remy glared up at her, but knew that she was ultimately right. So he took a deep breath and turned slightly to look at Nadia. Suppose it was time to give this whole "be nice" thing a try.
"So... Nadia..."
Author's Note: So, what do we think? Is Nadia really Remy's mate? Who is behind everything? Are are Nadia's suppressed/wiped-out nature related to the death of the fisherman?
Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story. Free free to hit that vote button or leave a comment. ^_^