Always By Her Side

18 years later

I sighed silently as Osirus held the door open for me to climb into the back seat again. This mating search was no different from all the rest that we had attended. Osirus came to my house to ride with us to the search grounds. Sometimes, I wished that we had been bonded together, but we hadn’t been. He was my best friend and, all around, the greatest being I knew. He was always down to support me with whatever I needed, and I did the same for him. He was incredible, which fucking sucked because he was everything I ever wanted in a mate. It just sucked that he didn’t tickle my fancy, or my pussy. If he had, I would have already spoken to him about being my chosen mate.

“So, this is the year,” my mother told us excitedly, just like she did every year, which drove me crazy. She had so much faith in the search, while I had already given up. “You’re going to find your fated mates.”

“Or you can just pick a chosen mate, because they’re just as good,” my father said bitterly, making me turn to look at him.

Over the last year, things between him and my mother had changed. I wasn’t sure what it was, and I was even less sure that I wanted to know what happened. I didn’t want to put more strain on their relationship. I didn’t want my curiosity to be the catalyst for their potential separation. I sighed, and Osirus reached over to take my hand.

“He’s right, you know? We can always choose each other as chosen mates,” he told me softly.

“Ugh, stop joking, Osirus,” I told him as I pulled my hand away from his.

“Who said I was?” he retorted.

I narrowed my eyes on him as I opened our link. ‘I thought you wanted to wait for your fated mate.’

‘I do. Just like I know you do, too. If we choose each other as chosen mates, then it gets our parents off our backs. We won’t mate, and we won’t mark each other. This way, both of us know that when we find our fated mates, we can walk away without any hard feelings.’ He sighed out loud as he ran his fingers through his hair. ‘Besides, I don’t know about you, but I’m lonely. I would love some companionship, without strings. It would be nice to have someone to come home to. It would be nice to have my best friend by my side to run off all the hussies who just want to be queen.’

I burst out laughing as I nodded. ‘I would totally keep your bed hussy-free.’

‘I know. Big bad, Tawnie De Sangre! Killer of men and women!’ he teased.

‘Shut up,’ I giggled in his head.

“Alright,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest as I settled back against the seat. “If neither of us finds our mates in this search, I will agree to be your chosen mate, but just so you know, I want the whole bed. You can sleep at the foot of the bed like a loyal little puppy!”

“Pfft. Fine with me! I prefer to hang from the rafters by my feet!” He laughed.

“I’m not surprised with how big your feet are.”

“You know what they say. Big feet, big—”

“Ears. Yeah, yeah. I know.”

He chuckled as I lay my head on his shoulder, my father turning in his seat to look at us, beaming. “You two are so cute together. I can’t wait to bow to you as my queen, Tawnie!”

I linked my fingers with Osirus’ before smiling at my father. “Thanks, Daddy.”

*****

Four hours later, I was shaken awake by Osirus as we started to drive down the long, bumpy path that would take us to the search grounds. When my mother stopped, we sat in the car for a moment, both looking at the people that were already gathered, slowly moving our eyes over them all before glancing at each other.

‘Anything?’ I asked through our link, making him sigh, already answering my question.

‘No. You?’

‘No. I don’t want to stay the entire week. It’s a waste of time. I will probably find my mate just by going out to handle gang business. These searches are bullshit,’ I replied, disheartened.

‘Yeah. I’m starting to feel that way too. Whenever you leave, I will go with you, and next week, we can announce each other as our chosen mates.’

My eyes widened as I met his eyes. ‘I wasn’t serious.’

‘Too bad; I was, and you agreed. I’m not letting you back out,’ he told me before climbing out of the car, leaving me alone with my parents, who were both watching me.

“Are you ready, princess?” My mother asked.

“As ready as I could be. Can you come get me in three days?” I requested, causing them to glance at each other before nodding.

“Yeah. If you change your mind, just let us know.”

“I won’t.”

I got out of the car and was immediately approached by a young male who ushered me into a crowd that already had Osirus in their grasp. I forced a fake smile onto my face as I introduced myself to everyone, barely managing to keep from shuddering at the lust they had in their eyes for me. A few minutes later, the crowd walked away from me, which allowed my parents to approach. My father cupped my face to look into my eyes as he tried to convey something to me that I didn’t understand, while my mother took my hand.

“We hope you find your mate, sweetheart. We’ll see you in three days. Enjoy the mate search, and don’t leave until we come back for you,” my father said before stepping closer and lowering his voice. “Stay vigilant, Tawn Tawn. You can’t trust anyone here. Not truly.”

I smiled confusedly at him. His words were different from his usual parting pep talk. He always told me that I should enjoy my search. He always encouraged me to give everyone a chance. I glanced at my mother, wondering just what was going on between them.

“Okay, Daddy. I love you, guys.”

“We love you too.”

My father draped his arm over my mother’s shoulders to lead her away from me, but something in the way she stiffened screamed that something was definitely wrong. Before I could ponder it too long, I was surrounded by dozens of people, all of whom were vying for my attention with flirtatious words and little touches that I hated. I didn’t want to be touched by anyone but my mate, and none of these people were them. As soon as I could, I slipped away from the overwhelming meet and greet that was currently happening, smirking at Osirus as I completely ignored his ‘save me’ look. He hadn’t saved me the year before. Now it was his turn to suffer alone. I’d save him later. But not now. I needed to be alone. At least for a little while.

I hurried into the forest, twisting my hands together anxiously. I hated that, for as much as I told myself not to have hope, I did. Every. Single. Fucking. Time. And every single fucking time, it 

broke me when I realized that I would still be going home mateless. Still alone. Osirus was right. It was getting old. Maybe accepting him as a chosen mate wouldn’t be so bad. I loved him like a brother. We understood each other. It would be better to be with him than to be alone. I sighed as I wandered through the trees, changing directions every time I smelled someone up ahead of me. I didn’t want to see anyone. I was over this whole thing. I should have just said ‘fuck it’ and gone home with my parents.

A few minutes later, squeaking and chittering drew my attention, and I slowed to look around to find the squirrel. Squirrels were one of my favorite animals. They were wild and so beautiful. When I found the small male, I approached it slowly so as not to startle it as I knelt beside it, extending my hand out to it, inviting it to be my companion for a little while. It only took seconds for him to run up my arm to perch on my shoulder, chittering happily as I stood back up to resume my walking while I petted his head. I began to quietly tell him about all my fears of never finding my mate. I told him about being disheartened because, year after year, search after search, I was let down. I told him about the never-ending loneliness and the need to have someone. At this point, anyone would do. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind me, and I spun around with my teeth bared.

“Who are you?” I hissed, growling a little.

“My name is Jonas,” he told me, smiling as he held his hand out to me.

I hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take his hand, gasping when electricity arced between us, and my inner demon finally raised her head excitedly, making me utter the one word that I never thought I would.

“Mate.”