Page 16 of Accepted Bonds

Although my parents were tolerant of Aiden, Caden, and Mateo, they didn’t want me mated to them.Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t interfere in a true mate pairing like ours.

My mom had been dropping hints about me waiting a couple of years to confirm that they were the right ones for me and sharing stories that proved that not all mates were a good match.Whenever she spoke about this, Daddy Reece would frown and Daddy Aisling would snort waspishly, hinting at his displeasure toward Mateo and Caden for seducing me and making a sex tape viewing of us at Caden’s party.

My mom released a fake chuckle that I’d never heard from her before today, as she said, “Well, we’re glad to know you would be happy if that happens.”

When Alpha Owen opened his mouth to speak again, I shook my head to get him to change the subject.

Thankfully, he got the message and changed the subject, “Well ...Alpha Reece, will you be taking Aurora to the Alphas Congress coming up in the next two weeks?”

The Alphas Congress or Werewolf Alphas Congress as it was referred to by other supernaturals was an annual series of meetings which werewolf Alphas and select pack representatives like Betas, future Alphas, future Betas, and pack council members attended.It was called the Alphas Congress, but there were conference meetings and lectures to be taught by distinguished and experienced pack Alphas, Betas, and pack council members.

The Congress was usually held every year without fail, and the Crawford Pack was hosting this year’s Congress.

Daddy Reece’s furrowed brows smoothed a bit as he said, “Yes, we’ll be there.The Crawford Pack is hosting the Congress this time.How’s the preparation going?Surely, you guys are going to allow the use of magic for the mixed bloods coming along?”

Alpha Owen nodded.“Yeah, we are, but we’re working on building certain restrictions to ensure there will be order and security, even if the use of magic is allowed.”

Everyone nodded as we remembered how chaotic the last Alphas Congress hosted in Mac Tire City had been because they’d allowed the use of magic.It was the same Alphas Congress in which I’d saved Alpha Owen’s life.

“How about using magic monitoring bracelets, Alpha Owen?The Curio Factory and Cath Cróga launched the first batch of bracelets three months ago.It was originally created to monitor supernatural criminals released on parole, but I think Mac Tire City could benefit from it.”I said with a smiley face, trying hard to avoid sounding like a Curio Factory salesman even if I was trying to sell Alpha Owen a solution that would make my company money.

We started the Curio Factory four years ago when I was fourteen.When I got the idea, my parents, Nina, Daddy Aisling, and Grandma Imogen were all too happy to cooperate with me to make it possible.

My parents helped me set it up, leaving Daddy Aisling as the Chief Executive Officer.With the help of our very large and well-connected extended family, we found the engineers and staff that helped in the production of the little gadgets that were rapidly becoming popular all over the world.

Our gadgets were engineered with magic and human technology.They weren’t weapons, like the ones invented by Grandma Imogen’s company, Cath Cróga.Instead, they were useful gadgets that made life easier.The soundproof box I used when I was in the Davis home was a perfect example of the kind of products the Curio Factory regularly produced.

“The Curio Factory?What is that?Cath Cróga co-produces weapons with other companies now?”Alpha Owen peered at me with curiosity.

“Ah, no.Cath Cróga still doesn’t co-produce, but since we’re family and the founder believed in this product, they made an exemption for our company.”Daddy Aisling said with a smile.

“Oh, good, good.I heard rumors about Imogen being Aisling’s mother, but I didn’t expect it to be true.”Alpha Owen said with a polite smile before turning to me with genuine curiosity.“Aurora, can you tell me more about this bracelet?”

“It’s just a bracelet that monitors every magic spell used by individuals.It was created with magic and human technology and it’s bound to one person once they put it on.It observes the person it’s linked to, documenting each instance of their magic usage, whether through spell casting or instinctual magic and organizes this information within a database.It categorizes these entries based on the type of magic employed and evaluates whether the user has used dangerous magic or spells.Of course, for dangerous individuals, it could also be configured to start a recording when the individual uses magic.”

“What’s the error rate for determining the level of magic used?How does your system classify the magic as dangerous or less dangerous?”Alpha Owen was more interested in this.

And from how curious he was, I realized that he might want to use the bracelet to monitor not just the Alphas Congress but also visitors to Mac Tire City.

“Last I checked, the error rate was around 11.56 percent.We’ve tested it on over 18,000 supernaturals right now, but we’re still testing and improving it.”I said, knowing that it was impossible for me to hide the fact that I was one of the founders of the Curio Factory if he wanted to purchase our bracelets.

“And Cath Cróga is involved in the development of this bracelet?”He asked skeptically.

I knew it would be hard for anyone to believe that the Curio Factory, an unknown company with only about four years of experience, could create something of as much significance as this bracelet, so I wasn’t offended by his skepticism.

“Yes.”I nodded.

“Although the Curio Bracelet is the brainchild of the Curio Factory, Cath Cróga is not the only company testing and improving it.The Spell Makers Guild and the Supernatural Council are also involved in training the detection system of the bracelets.”Daddy Aisling said.

“What about the confidentiality of the data recorded by the bracelets?”Alpha Owen asked with a thoughtful look.

Realizing what he was worried about, I told him the truth.“For now, the data can only be recorded on our servers and we can only share permissions to the databases with the organizations or groups that purchase the bracelets.However, on our roadmap, we have plans to let well-vetted organizations or groups use their own servers to store their data, but the data would still be recorded on the Supernatural Council’s servers as well.The Curio Factory is very dedicated to the Supernatural Council’s vision of maintaining world peace and ...”

Midway through my sentence, a cough interrupted me, persisting for several seconds before subsiding as my mom handed me a cup of herbal tea.“Okay, stop talking.You’re coughing because you’ve irritated your throat by talking too much again.”

Giving Alpha Owen an embarrassed and apologetic look, I took a sip of the herbal tea.

In response, Alpha Owen just chuckled.“Alpha Reece, Aisling, and Amelia, you’re truly blessed.You have such an adorable daughter.”

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