only supes he would tolerate being this close to his mate though.
"I think you should give her time," Jessa told me. "I know I wouldn't normally say that, especially not with a potential true mate, but you both have shit to work out. She should have time with her parents, time to learn her true heritage. That's important and she might not focus on it if she's focusing on you. Not to mention you're in an ideal position to help us negotiate with the president."
Jessa was giving me the facts, and she wasn't wrong, but something deep inside told me it was a terrible idea to not chase after Justice. Not to mention my dragon was beyond restless and would make life very hard for me if I didn't listen to instinct.
"She'll be fine there, bro," Tyson said unhelpfully. My brother was a dense asshole at times. "Her parents have been dying to get to know her, and since she's royalty, the men aren't allowed to just come up and touch her and shit—"
He was cut off by an explosion nearby. Fuckin' hell!
I'd hurt the trees, something I'd tried so desperately not to do.
"Maybe you should just stop talking now," Jessa suggested dryly, staring at Tyson.
"Yep, probably for the best," he said, stepping back, hands held in the air. "Or the next fireball might be me."
Jessa snorted, before trying to choke down her laughter as she side-eyed me. I shook my head a little calmer after releasing that energy. I sent soothing water across the trees, following it with healing energy as I apologized for my mistreatment.
Their healing energy returned to me and I knew the balance remained okay.
"I know what you need," Jessa whispered, her head jerked up. "We haven't done this in so long, but we all need it right now."
Everyone turned to her with slightly confused expressions, except Braxton, who was in her head. "We need to go back to the house," she said in a rush.
Everyone started to move except me. "I'll be there in a few minutes," I told her. "Gotta finish repairing the forest first."
"Perfect!" she exclaimed, jumping up and smacking a kiss on my cheek. "We'll see you soon."
Their energy lingered for many minutes after they were gone—powerful assholes. It was probably a miracle that we hadn’t turned into tyrannical fucks like the American president. Pretty sure it was Jessa keeping us in line all of these years. Not to mention the new members of our packs, the mates who were all strong and capable, smart and sassy, just like our Jess.
All of them making sure we stayed grounded.
Focusing on the trees, I made sure to use only positive energy to repair the damage I'd caused, the melody that I sang one of rejuvenation. When I was satisfied that I’d done everything I could, I made my way back to the house.
I felt wrung out. My chest fucking hurt and I knew what was causing it: Justice. I'd just spent a month solid with her, every single day, and now she was gone. In my soul I knew that not going after her was a mistake, but another part of me heard what Jessa said. I didn’t want to push or crowd Justice … take away from her chance to learn about who she was.
She already mistrusted men who hadn't respected her wishes and boundaries—men I was going to destroy when I found out their names. At least if I couldn’t be with her right now, I could do something productive with my time. Starting tomorrow, I was dealing with Justice's past, and hopefully by the time she was done learning about who she was, I would have cleaned up the rest of the shit holding us back.
Then we could decide once and for all what we wanted.
The true mate bond was always going to push us together, that was inevitable, but we had free will, and we got to make the final decision.
When I reached the house, it was oddly quiet. In a place this size with as many families living here as we had now, it was rarely silent. I felt the energy of them though, and I followed that through the main level and up the stairs. When I reached the room they were gathered in, my soul felt lighter.
The door silently opened and I moved into the semi-dark room. The bed in here had been custom made so that ten to twelve people could fit on it. Right now