happy. You want a wife and children and all that goes with it.”
“I would be lying if I said I don’t.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he glanced sideways at Flora. “Instead, I just get to see what I’m missing.”
“I can do this on my own from here.” Elise let go of his hand. “Why don’t you go get something to eat in the restaurant. Once you taste the food, you’ll know why I wanted to come here.”
“Your food is good already, Elise. You have a natural flair for flavors.” He glanced over his shoulder.
“Flavors, yes. But I need to learn the skills that go along with it and I won’t do that in the fae realm.” She took a couple of steps away from him. “Go and eat.”
“I suppose you should go meet Ivan without your big brother breathing down your neck. Or his neck.” Karros half-smiled. “I wanted to be there in case he said no. I was going to be very persuasive.”
“I want to do this based on my own skill. I don’t think threats are going to get me very far.” She grinned. “But I appreciate the thought.”
Karros turned around and walked away. For a moment, she stared after him then she turned and hurried toward Flora and Aiden. She’d kept them waiting long enough.
“Elise, are you sure about this?” Flora asked.
“Yes.” She nodded and rolled her shoulders back. “I’ve wanted to train under a chef for years and I admire Ivan. I ate here a few months back, just to see what all the fuss was about. I want to show my parents that I can succeed. This might be my only chance to prove to them I don’t need a husband.”
“What’s wrong with a husband?” Aiden asked sharply.
Flora eyed him warily. “There’s nothing wrong with a husband, but Elise is right, no woman needs a husband.”
“But you do need a mate.” Elise arched an eyebrow at Flora.
“Okay, this is not the time to get into this.” Flora’s eyes fixed on Karros’s retreating back. “How is he?”
“You broke his heart,” Elise answered bluntly. “But he’ll get over it. Honestly, he’s happy you are happy. He always knew he wasn’t the love of your life. But he thought he could make you happy, give you a good life.”
“I know,” Flora answered softly and squeezed Aiden’s hand. “When fate steps in, there’s nothing you can do.”
Aiden inhaled deeply, his gaze resting on Elise for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “Fate has a mind of its own.”
“Like Elise.” Flora nodded toward the double doors leading into what looked like a kitchen beyond. “Do you think Ivan will let Elise be his student?”
“We should go ask him.” Aiden spun around to look at the door to the kitchen.
He just kind of stared at it as if he could see through the door to the room beyond.
Maybe he could connect telepathically with Ivan. She’d heard that shifters had super senses. No, that was crazy.
“Okay.” Elise nodded and inhaled deeply, trying to suppress her nerves. Fae were normally good at appearing aloof and hiding their emotions. Elise was the opposite, she struggled to keep her emotions in check. Why shouldn’t she be open with how she felt?
Aiden turned around to face her. “Okay.” He swallowed nervously, and then glanced at Flora, who cocked her head to one side while staring at him.
Shifters were kind of weird. Aiden looked as if he had a guilty secret he wanted to hide.
But a shifter wasn’t supposed to hide anything from their mate.
“Shall we go in?” Elise shuffled her feet but didn’t move, maybe there was something she was missing. Perhaps there was a shifter tradition she was unaware of. She glanced at Flora, looking for help, but Flora just shrugged.
“Yes. Let’s go in.” Aiden pushed the door open and went in first, before turning around and holding it open for the two fae.
“Wait. You look...” She stared at the man who stood in the kitchen, his expression matching her confusion.
“Caleb.” Flora greeted the man who looked identical to Aiden. Almost identical. There was something different about him, not so much in his looks but in the way he felt.
If she held out her hands, she’d be able to feel a certain vibe coming off him, as if he were set to a different frequency to Aiden. Elise curled her hands into balls and dug her nails into her palms, resisting the temptation to try out her theory.
“I...” Caleb