Page 6 of The Fated Mate Bandit

I sigh. “Any alpha with a mullet gives you serial killer vibes.”

“Yeah. Because that is the serial killer haircut of choice.”

“Says who?” I ask.

“Says me, and I get to say?—”

“Whatever you want. Got it. I can’t tell you what’s going on with Lucas. I’m sorry. But I think you might be right that his mate is…”

“A serial killer? Really?”

“No, of course not. Jesus. But I think he might be dangerous.”

Link swears under his breath. He may joke about Lucas’s mate being a serial killer, but he cares about Lucas just as much as the rest of us.

“You gotta put your paws on him, Silver,” Link says. “To keep him safe.”

This is why I hesitated to call Link first. He oversimplifies things. Which is part of the reason I love him so much. The world is an easier place to understand while I’m talking to him. Everything is pure good or evil. Even haircuts.

“I’m not sure Lucas wants me to put my paws on him,” I admit.

“Maybe not now, but after you do it, he’ll have to love you. And I promise that loving you will be better for him than loving the mullet man?—”

“You mean Daryl.”

“Oh, that’s right. His name is Daryl. That’s a serial killer name to go with his serial killer haircut. This guy can’t be good.”

I laugh silently. God, I love Link. What would I do without him there to say something stupid enough to make me laugh?

“I think Lucas should get to decide who he wants to love, regardless of what’s best for him.”

In other words, I should talk to him. Just like Mom said.

Link sighs loudly. “Fine.”

“Thanks for talking with me about this, though. I should probably let you go.”

“What?” he scoffs. “That’s what you got me up for? Seriously?”

“Yeah. I just needed… to feel better.” It sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but it’s true. It’s hard to live alone after spending my whole life sharing a room with at least one of my brothers. Sometimes I just need to hear their voices.

“Maybe you should have eaten a hot dog or something, then. Because calling me this early is bullshit.”

I laugh again. “You’ll get back to sleep just fine.”

“Yeah, but still. You’re interfering with my EDM cycle.”

I smile. “It’s REM cycle. EDM is a type of music.”

“Oh yeah.”

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. Say hi to Lucas for me. I still think you should put your paws on him, but not from me, obviously. Like I mentioned earlier, incest vibes give me the ick.”

I laugh and end the call. I still have no idea what I’m going to do, but I think I can go back to sleep now, too. That’s a start.

I’ll figure out the rest later.

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