Free The Forlorn by Calle J. Brookes

I’ve looked at you since we came. And…I was afraid you hated me for everything. I should have told you, and should have given you better choices. It shouldn’t have taken you nearly dying in the demon world for me to tell you. If he hadn’t been there…But he is Adrastos. I cannot understand.”
    “I don’t know what I am supposed to do with him. He says we are supposed to be together, but what does that mean, exactly?”
    “Baby, the moment he claimed you as his Rajni , you were as good as married in Dardaptoan law.”
    “I don’t have a choice?” That terrified her. Wouldn’t it anyone? “No matter what I want?”
    “Of course your wants will be considered. Our people are not heartless. But your soul will cry out for his, you’ll feel…broken…when not with him. Eventually you will not even think of being apart. It is the Dardaptoan way.”
    “But I am not full Dardaptoan.”
    “No. My mother was half Druid. They follow the goddess Nelciana. They’re not like the ones you studied in college. They’re quite a bit different. We can talk about that later. And you are Lupoiux. Mostly Lupoiux, though you favor Dardaptoans more, being a female.”
    “Does that make much difference?”
    Her mother was quite again. When she spoke her voice was low, and Mara could hear the tears. “I loved him with everything I had, Mara. He was beautiful, inside and out. But the dhar of my House hates Lupoiux. Viciously so. He viewed my being with your father as an act of treason, I think. I was still a very young woman by Dardaptoan standards, not quite thirty. I packed a single bag, and I left. I knew what it would be like if I ever returned. And I planned never to. If it had been safe for you and the boys to remain in the human world, I would have been happy to do so. But it wasn’t. And here we are. I have been frozen these past five months. Fear for you most of all behind it. And the boys, of course. But I knew at your birth that you would be different than most Dardaptoans, that you would have a destiny to fulfill. One of those destinies is finding your mate. I did not want you to find him so soon. I wanted you to have time to make your own life first. Like I didn’t. And when I lost your father I had no idea of how to care for us all. Especially in the human world.”
    “I see.” Did she? Her mother’s words made sense. And so did the obvious pain in the other woman’s face. Her mother was hurting so much. Mara rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. They both needed the comfort. “So what am I supposed to do now? He wants me to help him. To study the different Houses in this city. The families. Record it for later generations.”
    “And that would definitely intrigue you. Would fill you with a purpose. But it would put you with him, close. Intimate. With a male who, understand it or not, is halfway in love with you already. I can promise if you go with him, you’ll be well treated. He is Adrastos, and they definitely love their mates. His father, too. It is hard to believe he is the son of Adric. I thought Adric would kill me that day. And now someday we may share grandchildren.”
    “You won’t. Even if Rion and I…which I am not saying I will…That man, this Adric, he won’t be a part of our lives. Ever.” Of that she was very certain.
    “Of that, I am glad. But more for your sake than mine. There is nothing that man can do to me now. Not now.” Her mother kissed her hair. “We are safe here, now. And now you know the truth. A burden has been lifted.”
     

    Chapter Twenty-Six
     
    Rion found the boys easily. They were like small male versions of his Rajni . Same dark hair, same shape eyes, though theirs were dark green. They eyed him with the same wariness.
    He bowed first to one then the other. “Hello. I am Rion Adrastos, Dhar of the Australian Adrastos. I am happy to meet you.”
    They stopped tossing the ball between them and stared at him for a moment. “We’re Lupoiux, you