Page 69 of Culture and Curiosities
“I don’t care what they think.” My mate’s voice went louder and angrier, but it may have just sounded that way because the rest of the room went silent, doing their best to overhear the council members discussing the portal trip. “I’m an adorable squirrel and he’s my mate.”
I couldn’t decide if Klynn was going to regret his decision to refuse to come to the diner or not.
This was not my problem to solve, but I took Wren’s hand under the table and was glad to see Pierce functioned well under pressure. “If someone tattled on you, I’m betting it’s that nosy woman across the street. Your mother probably used one of those map sites to figure out who to track down. She’s crazy but not stupid.”
Somehow, on Earth, intelligence and curious decision-making always went together.
“And how cute you were was probably lost in translation somewhere.” Pierce’s calm response had Wren’s anger lowering at a fast rate. He must’ve understood the danger had passedbecause Pierce looked more relaxed as well. “And you’re probably lucky all she told her was about you wearing a cute outfit.”
Glancing back and forth between us again, Pierce’s mind seemed to go back to his original topic. “She’s going to want to know that you found your mate and little details like where he’s from.”
Wren’s smile was dangerous and Pierce’s sigh said he knew it. “For fuck’s sake.”
If he was highly intelligent did that mean I needed to question his ability to make decisions as well?
“What country is he from?” Pierce was clearly working as fast as he could to understand my place but he was not coming up with the right details. “She’s going to have a cow if you leave the country.”
A cow?
Asking got an immediate explanation.
“It’s an expression that means she’s going to be irrationally upset and dramatic. I have no idea where it came from.”
Wren’s information was helpful but that seemed to always describe his mother, so I wasn’t sure it was accurate to our current situation. The giggles coming through our bond said he agreed with my thoughts on the subject, however.
“Well, you’re going to have to be the one to deal with her calls for a while because I’m going where no cell phone has gone before.”
Wren showed me the opening of a space show, quickly explaining the joke as Pierce just stared at us in silence. My mateseemed pleased with his actions because he smiled brighter and picked up his fork. “Have you had the waffles? I think they’re better than the pancakes.”
My mate was evil.
His laughter and the kiss he gave my cheek said he understood the praise. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Pierce blinked several times. “You’ve…you’ve got a strong bond.”
It seemed to be a move in the right direction, a saying that was odd but effective, and made my mate very pleased. He straightened and wiggled excitedly before snuggling against me. “It’s amazing. I never expected to love it so much.”
He smiled.
Maybe Pierce was not as upset about Wren mating an alien as we had expected?
****
My mate was remarkably stubborn.
“That isnotwhat I was saying.” His drama was nearly performative…and I knew that word was accurate because of Pierce’s grumbling. Still, it seemed to be my place in the game to push back against his behavior. “I simply don’t like the way you described it as being boring and blending in. My mate is a wonderful predator and I will not let you ignore that.”
Had he been standing, my mate would’ve stomped his foot. “I get to pick and choose where I’m little and when I want to have people stare at me, Daddy. If I want to be boring and blend in, that’s my right as a pain in the ass.”
Our audience seemed to be influencing how stubborn he was being, so I kept that in mind as I gave him a stern expression.
“You are deliberately drawing attention to us, my mate.”
The tall frowning man from Canada should not have told him to put his coloring pages away.
“Yep. They have to learn I’m going to be me and no one was asking enough questions.”
My mate was smart and the pain in the ass he claimed to be.
