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  Together, I thought sleepily as I nuzzled against them so that my cheek was pillowed on Drace’s chest and my ass was snug against Lucian’s groin. We’ll be together forever.

  If only I had known how wrong I was.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Lucian

  “But Lucian, darling, it’s only a little dinner party. Surely you don’t mind.”

  “Yes, I do mind, Mother,” I said through gritted teeth. “Especially since you’re having it at my apartment without asking first. How did you even know I was coming here and when I’d get back?”

  “Oh, I have my little ways.” She smiled mysteriously until I glared at her. “Fine—I had a tracking device installed on your ship. Purely for your own safety, of course.”

  I made a mental note to have a good mechanic go over my ship with a fine tooth comb and to never again dock it in the same bay my family used.

  “Mother,” I said. “This really isn’t a good time for a party.” Not that any time would be.

  “I thought it would be good for your fathers to meet your little…friends.” She waved lightly at Drace and Rylee, who were standing behind me uncertainly. None of us had known what to think when we walked in my apartment and saw a catering team hard at work setting up expensive floral arrangements and hustling back and forth with platters of traditional Fang Clan delicacies. Of course, the moment my mother appeared, I knew she had to be up to something but I didn’t know what.

  “Drace and Rylee are my bond-mate and my female, Mother,” I said firmly. “They’re not just friends—I love and respect them both. I ask that you do the same—respect them, anyway.” I knew there was no way in the Frozen Hells my mother would ever love them.

  “But I thought that was all just temporary.” Mother’s eyes widened. “You said so yourself—just a temporary arrangement that you were working to get fixed.”

  “It’s become permanent,” I said stolidly. “Drace and I have sealed our bond and the three of us have decided to stay together.”

  “Oh my…” My mother put a hand to her chest. “How…interesting. But I thought…thought you were going to go look for something to help you. You said…some kind of artifact, didn’t you, darling?” She looked at me appealingly.

  I wouldn’t have answered but Drace spoke up.

  “It’s called the Claw—we found it in the Temple of Ganth in the K’drin Jungle,” he said, frowning. “It has the ability to separate male bond-mates—even those whose bond has been sealed.”

  “And what did you do with it?” Mother asked, all wide-eyed curiosity. I wanted to tell Drace not to answer but he was already speaking.

  “We brought it with us but we’ve decided not to use it.”

  “We’re staying together.” Rylee spoke up for the first time, lifting her chin high. “We love each other and that love is more important to us than any status or reputation.”

  “Well of course it is.” My mother gave Rylee a simpering sweet look. “I hope you don’t imagine I would ask you to give it up?”

  “Well…” Rylee looked confused and Drace frowned. I was frowning myself—what was my mother up to?

  “Just think of this as a little congratulatory dinner, darling” she said, smiling brightly. “A chance to introduce the rest of your Triumvirate to our family and friends.”

  “Friends?” I looked at her blankly. “You mean you invited other people? People outside our family?”

  “Should I not have?” She put a hand to her chest again, a look of innocent uncertainty in her eyes. “I mean, you’re not ashamed of your new bond-mates, are you?”

  “Of course not!” I said quickly, watching Drace scowl from the corner of my eye. “I guess I just thought that you and my fathers would be…less than supportive of my choices. Like you have been in the past.”

  “Oh, the past…” My mother made a shooing gesture, as though the way she’d kept me from finding a bond-mate and true love for so many years was no more troubling than a fly.

  “Yes, the past,” I said stonily. “The past when you forbid me from bonding with anyone you deemed unacceptable. When you separated me from Hylorn—”

  “My goodness, darling!” She cut me off with a light, breezy laugh. “Please don’t speak so in front of your bond-mates. You’ll give them the idea I’m an absolute monster!” She smiled at Drace and Rylee. “Now why don’t you all just run along and get into the clothing I had simmed for you? My parties are always the talk of the city and you wouldn’t want to be caught in anything less than your best if a news vid crew comes by.”

  “You invited a news vid crew?” I demanded. “You’re really going public with this?”

  “Well, no one invites those press people, darling.” She patted my cheek. “They just tend to show up whenever someone prominent is hosting a soirée. So it’s best to be prepared.” She smiled at Rylee and Drace. “So nice to meet you both again. I know we’re going to have a lovely time this evening. Now, if you’ll excuse me—I see a catering disaster about to happen.”

  She ran off into the crowd of caterers and I saw her berating a male holding a platter full of kiboth-hump bites. Then several more caterers, carrying a heavy buffet table between them, passed in front of us, blocking our view.

  I stood there for a long moment, speechless. What was going on? What was my mother planning? I honestly had no idea but it gave me an icy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  “Well…” Rylee shifted from foot to foot uncertainly. “Should we…go get dressed?”

  “No,” I said in a low voice. “We should go. I don’t trust this. I don’t trust her.”

  “Really?” Rylee looked at me doubtfully. “But…she seemed so nice.”

  “She can seem any way she wants to seem,” I said. “It’s one of her talents.”

  “Maybe you’re judging her too harshly,” Rylee said tentatively. “Maybe she’s trying to make up for how she treated you in the past. I mean, she did say she was going to have reporters here. Why would she do that if she was ashamed of you and your choice to be with Drace and me?”

  “The news vid thing makes me wonder too,” Drace said, frowning. “Do you think maybe she’s trying to get out in front of it—do damage control?”

  “Maybe she’s setting a trend,” Rylee said brightly. “You did say she was the social queen of Y’brith. Maybe this is her way of making, uh, marrying outside the clan fashionable. Like, if she’s doing it—or her son is, anyway—everyone else is going to pick it up and do it too.”

  “I highly doubt that,” I murmured, thinking of the unspoken yet ironclad social laws that ruled Fang Clan society.

  “Well, anyway—what harm can it do to just attend tonight?” Rylee asked. “I mean, she’s your mom. You can’t just blow off her party—especially when it’s a party she’s throwing for you. For us.”

  That was exactly what I wanted to do—just turn back around, walk through the front door, and spend the night on my ship with my bond-mates until I was certain the coast was clear and my mother and her army of caterers were out of my apartment. But the look on Rylee’s face let me know that wasn’t an option.

  I knew from some of the pillow talk we’d had that Rylee had lost her mother at a young age and had been raised by a relative who cared for her but never really gave her much attention or affection. The bond of motherhood was important to her and if she thought there was any way she and Drace could make friends with—or at least get along with—my mother, she wouldn’t waste the chance.

  “Drace?” I asked, looking at my bond-mate. “What do you think?”

  He sighed. “I don’t like it and I feel like I’m going to be really fucking out of place at a fancy society party, especially a Fang Clan society party, but…well…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Family’s important. And you guys put up with Twyla and Porgy for me—seems like this is the least I can do for you, bond-mate.”

  I sighed. It seemed my bond-mate and our female were in agreement—we would have to go t