His arms trembled when he placed them over the top rung of the gate surrounding the training area.
His eyes slid closed and his breath burst forth from his chest, a harsh sound of emotion and anger. "Josie, Blaze had these two men fighting. Physically fighting each other over whose son was gay and had turned the other one gay. I sat there watching them in complete horror. I kept looking to Blaze but he just had that look on his face that he gets when he finds something disgusting but isn't going to fight against it, or anything, and I knew he wouldn't be any help whatsoever. So, I did the only thing that I could do…"
Josie groaned aloud, allowing her head to fall forward onto Tal's shoulder from behind, before stepping up beside him. "What the hell did you do, Talon?" she asked, her voice filled with exasperation and a touch of fear.
Josie would never understand. She hadn't been there. She hadn't been there to look up and see the two boys with their arms wrapped around each other, the taller and older one kissing the temple of the younger one. She hadn't been there to hear the trees all tell him that the two boys were mates. She hadn't seen the two boys planning to run away if the wrong father won. He had done what he had to do. He'd stepped in as the Alpha Queen and put a stop to it.
"I had to protect those boys Josie. They were mates and one of the fathers knew it and was fighting it, the other father didn't know it and that was the reason he was objecting. One was objecting out of ignorance, the other one was objecting out of hatred. And if he had that kind of hatred for his own son being gay, can you imagine how he felt about his gay Alpha King and his mate, a man who can and did, get pregnant?"
Tal turned back to face the fields after glancing over at Josie. He didn't exactly know how to explain what he'd done and how it had been for the best of all of Tumaro. Couldn't explain how he even knew what was best for the planet full of wolf shifters. Yes, he'd become the Alpha Queen, the mate of the Alpha King, but inside he still felt only moments away from being the same orphaned delivery boy of the GPA, the same boy whose only goal in life had been to live.
He didn't know anything about ruling a planet, or even a country, of being diplomatic, neutral, or royal. He certainly didn't know anything about having a wildly possessive mate who got him pregnant the very first time they had sex. But he did know about family, and mates, and that deeply burning desire that rested in the pit of every living organism's being that longed for and pined for its other half. That person, that being, that shifter, that Dom, that sub, that something or someone who completed them, who made them feel something they never expected to feel, and feel it so deeply it took over their life, haunted their dreams, filled their every waking moment. A need that caused wars and drove children to defy their parents and full grown adults to throw away everything they'd worked so hard for. He knew about that need, that yearning, that desire. He knew about that obsession. The obsession to have something or someone no matter the cost, no matter what he had to do or give up, who he had to be…
The two young men needed their families, but being mated himself, he instinctively understood the importance of being with his mate. Sometimes the family one ended up being born into didn't matter as much as the family they created and any family created with the mate they were destined to be with was the ultimate. Not every person received a family that truly deserved them.
Josie should understand. She'd been taken from her parents at a young age because they were hooked on Printakium Acid and then shortly after she was removed from the home, they passed away. So while she would get the idea of biological families not always being the best, he didn't know if she would understand why he'd done this.
"I just stood up for what was right, Josie. You always told me to do that," Tal said. "Before those fathers had a chance to really get into it, I stood up in my chair, so they could see me, because you know, I'm vertically challenged and they were yelling so loud; and called a halt to everything." He grimaced when he remembered the look on Blaze's face.
The Alpha had flushed dark red with anger, his hands clenching into tight fists and he moved to the edge of his own seat but didn't stand up at that precise moment. Tal didn't know at the time if he'd been happy Blaze trusted him enough to not rise, or if he'd been afraid Blaze would watch him make a fool of himself before stepping in. His mate trusted him… in some things dealing with Tumaro, not all things, but a lot more than he had before. If Blaze had stood up in that moment and spoken, or had asked Tal to sit down, Tal figured everything would be a lot different now. But he hadn't.
"I told them the two young men were mates and both were adults," Tal picked back up with the story not looking in Josie's direction.
He dropped one hand down to his stomach and rubbed soothingly at the babies resting there, his other hand reaching up to play with the ends of his hair. Josie would see it for the nervous gesture it was, but he didn't care. That whole situation still gave him the shakes, and it had been weeks ago.
"I told them fighting over who was culpable was archaic and beneath the Tumaron people. Then I told them fighting because their sons were gay was insulting to both their Alpha King and their Alpha Queen, who are both men, and who are both obviously gay." Tal remembered groaning in embarrassment, and his eyes slid shut slowly.
He couldn't believe he said it and from the sound of his sister's scoff and the way she rolled her eyes, she completely agreed. Tal lifted his arms, shook them slightly and tossed them both back over the top rung of the gate before lowering his forehead to rest on them. He was tired. Not just physically tired, but emotionally drained. That day still had the power to utterly and completely drain him, and Tal didn't mind being drained, he just preferred to have it be done in a much more pleasurable way. Like with Blaze standing over him… naked… hard… and doing the sexy little growling thing that always made Tal shiver with delight. He shuddered now as he thought of his mate growling in his ear and considered for a moment sending the image to Blaze when his sister's voice penetrated the haze of lust currently trying to take over his brain. Godsdamn pregnancy hormones. Emotional one minute, tired the next, and then unbelievably horny right after that.
"You kids better so be worth this hassle," Tal bitched affectionately at his unborn children.
"Oh god, Tal," Josie breathed in horror. "I'm so glad you're still alive, but how in the world are you still standing in front of me and not completely ripped apart by a wild crowd of Tumarons?" she asked, her voice trembling in fright.
Her fear wasn't completely unfounded. Moments… no, seconds, after he'd made his speech, he'd stepped down shakily from his seat, the implications of his words, the accusations he'd bandied about finally sinking into his addled brain. He'd fucked up in that moment. He'd well and truly fucked up, and not only did he fuck up, he was fucked. He'd turned to face his very livid mate. The startling amusement he'd had to shove away from his mind when he took in Blaze's face, so dark red with a volatile anger it almost appeared purple. He'd never seen the Alpha King's visage looking such a way before and while Tal feared for his life he felt strangely fascinated to see what other shades his mate's face could turn. In that moment, he'd well and truly lost his mind and he didn't know if he could blame the unborn children that were inside of him.
Blaze shook with rage and for a moment, a brief flash of time, Tal thought that anger had to be directed at him, but he quickly noticed Blaze wasn't looking at him at all. In fact, Blaze looked past Tal to the two fathers. Tal realized Blaze wasn't angry with him, he was angry at the fathers and his purple face wasn't because Tal had overstepped, but because the men were homophobic assholes. His ruddy countenance had to do with being in the presence of said homophobic assholes, and seemed completely justifiable to Tal. As a matter of fact, had Tal been able to, he would have matched his mate's purple visage. Tal quickly squashed the thought or else he would have been doubled over in laughter at the image of his and Blaze's matching faces.
"Blaze was livid, Josie," Tal picked the story back up, bringing his mind back to the present and his conversation with Josie and off his reaction and that of his mate. "He didn't know the two young men were mates. He didn't know they were the age of consent, adults. He was furious the true reason the fathers were fighting was because their sons were gay and it was something neither man approved of," Tal muttered.
The disgrace he'd felt at doubting his mate flooded his body again like hot lava coating every insecure, unworthy nook and cranny inside of him. He lifted his head and turned to look at Josie. This part of the story always made him smile, even though the parts leading up to it always filled him with shame, fear, anger, and yes, just a touch of amusement.
Tal grinned brightly before he concluded his tale, "Blaze declared that disputes would no longer be handled with violence. Judgments shall be made by either the judges of each city or the Royal Alpha Couple. Then he turned to the two fathers and said finding a mate is a gift, a treasure, to be cared for and gender is not an issue, never should be, when it came to claiming one's mate."
Tal laughed in an almost childish delight, smacking his hands down on top of the top rung of the gray metal carbonate gate with glee and wrapping his fingers around the top rung and pulling back slightly, his toes lifting just a fraction in his slippers as he rocked back onto his heels.
"Then he asked the two boys if they were truly mates and both stepped forward and said yes. Blaze asked how they knew and the younger, smaller boy said he felt the mating knot extend after he came inside of the other, taller boy. Blaze said that meant that they were truly mates and then he encouraged them to give each other the mating bite." Tal grinned even wider, his white teeth gleaming in the yellow green Tumaron sun.
He had never been prouder to be mated to Blaze than in that moment, because Blaze had shown himself to truly be worthy of the title of the Alpha King in Tal's eyes.
"Wow," Josie breathed and Tal glanced over at her.
"Yeah, I know," he responded with a happy sigh. "He's so amazing."
Josie's eyes landed on him and Tal knew what she would say before she even opened her mouth. He'd been fighting with himself about it for days, weeks even.
"You love him. You totally love him," she whispered in a voice full of awe and wonder.
"Don't be ridiculous, Josie. We haven't been together long enough. I haven't even known him that long. People don't fall in love that quickly, not true love. Mates or not, love takes time to grow and develop. Anything that happens this fast is most likely lust," Tal debated with her, ignoring the almost painful pounding in his chest.
"Maybe for some people, but when something is meant to be, when it's been created and fused together by the gods, then love isn't restricted by time, it comes a whole lot quicker because it's supposed to," Josie pointed out. "Stop fighting this Tal, you're supposed to be with Blaze, and when it's right…"
Tal sighed in defeat. Josie had it right, but he refused to admit the possibility, even a slim one, he might be in love with his mate after only a couple of months. It just couldn't be true. He refused to be like every other newly mated sap out there. A good fuck did not make a good mate. Regardless of Blaze's care of him, his gentleness towards Tal, Tal absolutely refused to believe he loved Blaze until after the babies were born. Maybe then he could believe it didn't have anything to do with being newly mated or having an emotional pregnancy brain. He once again ignored the clenching in his chest and focused on his sister's face.
"What about you?" he asked, deflecting the question and homing in on his sister's slightly reddening face.
Fascinated by the hue, much as he'd been with Blaze, he'd never seen Josie blush before. He'd always thought his mother and sister were the prettiest women ever born, but his sister blushing was a sight to behold. Her eyes shone with an unnatural light, her lips pulled up into a glorious smile and her skin glowed with happiness. Not only did his sister love her mate, but she'd accepted and claimed the emotion. He felt slightly envious of her freedom to do so and wondered why he hesitated to admit the feelings he had for his own mate. Remembering Blaze's standoffish attitude towards him from days before, Tal gave himself a mental shake. He'd figured out why. He felt… something for Blaze and had he been having this conversation with his sister days before he might have even considered the possibility that he loved his mate, but now? Now he felt as if he were walking through a fog in conjunction to his feelings for the Alpha. He cared about Blaze and Blaze cared about him, but what did Tal know about loving someone? Anyone? Besides his parents and Josie, Tal couldn't remember loving anyone. The dull pressure in his head almost made him believe perhaps he had it wrong about that assessment, but then again, maybe a headache was just a headache.
"I love Gregor and he loves me. You have no idea how amazing it is to just embrace and accept it, Tal. Knowing you're with the person you were born to be with and being in love with them, it's almost magical." Josie sighed wistfully.
Tal stared at her and tried not to scowl in the face of her apparent joy. He was glad that Josie was happy, he really was, but Tal found himself feeling slightly… ripped off. He may have gotten the Alpha King as a mate, become the Alpha Queen, gotten pregnant on the first try, but his sister apparently got the love match. What kind of justice was that?