[Rock]When Carmen came home and told me about being chased in the human town, I wanted to go hunt down whoever it was who was chasing her. I was sure Austin and Forrest felt the same way. While the ladies were having their girls’ day, we were hanging out. We decided to make a big dinner and invite Elbio and Kaya to join us for dinner. They accepted. She hadn’t been available to go with the girls, but she was eager to spend more time with them. Kaya had no reservations when it came to telling everyone exactly what Elbio thought of them. She even spilled the beans about Elbio setting Pyla and Forrest up. We had a lot of fun teasing him about that. I hadn’t told Carmen and had to pretend as if I didn’t know. Kaya fit into our group fairly easily. She had no problem with hanging out with softies or with me being half human. Carmen really liked her. As we sat around the dinner table the last time they came to dinner, we all laughed and joked around. Kaya was the life of the party, and her laughter was infectious. Elbio seemed happy too, despite being the butt of our jokes. I couldn’t help but notice the way he kept looking at Kaya, with a softness in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. It was clear he was smitten with her.Forrest and I were fairly certain Kaya was Elbio’s true mate, but we wouldn’t know until her coming of age. She was older than him by about seven months, so she would turn fifty before he would. He didn’t seem to mind too much, but it was still a couple months away. Until then, we were content to wait. Austin and I were in the kitchen, cooking. Forrest was in the living room with everyone else, but he had come into the kitchen a few times. I could tell he was agitated. “You’ve been quiet,” I said to Austin as I worked on my side of the kitchen and he worked on his. “I don’t have anything to say,” he replied. “I can tell you’re pissed and I could smell that you were scared when the girls told us about being chased through town. Do you need to talk? You know you can talk to me.” He needed to express himself more. Austin had a tendency to bottle things up. It wasn’t healthy for a troll to do that and I’d seen enough of a connection between werewolves and trolls to know that our furry little friends could be just as explosive. Sure, they probably weren’t as deadly as a pissed off troll, but they could hurt a lot of people before someone put them down. “What do you want me to say, Rock? Someone chased my mate through town and wanted to do goddess only knows what to her. Were they humans planning to sell her or worse? Were they trying to take her for a different reason? Were they hunters who just happened to figure out what they were? I don’t have answers and it pisses me off,” Austin growled as he stirred the pot on the stove. I nodded, understanding his frustration. “I get it, man. But we can’t do anything right now. We don’t even know who it was.” Austin grunted in reply and I could see the tension in his back as he leaned over the stove. I decided to change the subject. “So, what do you think about Kaya and Elbio?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Austin looked over at me, surprise written all over his face. “What do you mean?” “I mean, do you think they’re mates?” I said, gesturing toward the doors. Austin stared at me, then shook his head and laughed. “Changing the subject so fast I got whiplash. You sound like Gemma. She thinks they are. I hope they are. They look happy together. Sorry I got growly about that. It’s frustrating and I hate not being able to do anything because I’m not strong enough.” “You’re plenty strong, Austin. We’ve been training together for a couple months and I’d be proud to have you watching my back in any fight.” “I’m an omega. I’m not as strong as the warriors. All that training will be for nothing when I move to the pack,” he sighed. “I bet the Alpha will figure out some training for omegas if you ask. They probably just haven’t had enough people asking for it. It seems to me that werewolves are quick to accept tradition. Trolls aren’t like that. We do what we want and the only traditions we follow are the ones that protect others. If you don’t want to be weak, don’t be weak.” Austin nodded thoughtfully, considering my words. “You know, you’re right. I don’t have to accept things the way they are. Maybe I can change things up a bit.”I grinned at him. “What can I say? I’m the wise old troll.”He shook his head and turned back to the food he was working on. Being around Carmen’s friends had helped me to learn how to take care of someone who was softer than a troll. I would use everything I learned to raise my children in a fitting way. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell them that I thought of them as children, but they were kind of like kids. The difference between adult werewolves and adult trolls was pretty vast. All the things we had in common made the things that were different stand out. Forrest had been more like a werewolf when he was younger, but since he’d come of age, he was a lot more stable. He had also become more reserved and less impulsive. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. I wondered if he missed the wildness of his youth, but he seemed happy enough.When the meal was ready, we took it out to the dining room. Gemma had set the table earlier and I appreciated it. It meant we could just call them in and everyone could get settled and start eating. I went to get the pitchers for drinks. There were a few. Since the werewolves didn’t feel the effects of alcohol, they didn’t see a point in drinking it. Carmen told me they would prefer a really nice juice to a glass of wine. Even though we weren’t drinking to get drunk, most trolls enjoyed a little buzz if we could get one. It took a lot to get to that point. I mixed up six good sized pitchers. The four with white lids were alcoholic and the other two were not. I made the alcoholic ones strong enough for a light buzz. We wanted all of our guests to enjoy themselves. Fae loved hosting others. Some used it to get power over them and used all sorts of tricks. Others just loved having people over and making them happy. Carmen loved having people over as much as I did. “This is really good, Rock. Maybe you should have been a chef instead of a contractor,” Gemma joked. “That wouldn’t have worked for me. They don’t make commercial kitchens for trolls,” I chuckled. Carmen reached out to me and I took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and a kiss before setting it back on the table. I couldn’t imagine my life being any different. If I could go back in time and tell my younger self that I would find my mate, she wasn’t a troll, and we would still be very happy together, I don’t know if I would have believed myself. I always thought I wanted a troll for a mate, but, looking around the table, I could see that I wouldn’t have this if my mate had been anything other than my sweet little werewolf. Carmen was everything to me. I couldn’t wait to show her off at the banquet in a few weeks. It was the week after Pyla’s coming of age. We talked and joked while we ate. Austin joined in, which was rare for him. Gemma smiled happily at him. She always looked pleased with his growth and healing. Now, he was starting to come out of his shell and everything about him seemed to make her happier. After the meal, Carmen and I cleaned up. Austin and I would take care of the dishes in the morning. We went back out to the living room to hang out with everyone. “Pyla was telling us about the excitement from today. I wish I had a chance to go with. I didn’t realize it could be so thrilling,” Kaya said with a laugh. “It was scary. Gemma’s driving is already scary enough, adding a chase to it... I swear we almost met the goddess herself,” Carmen replied with a grin. Everyone laughed and Gemma pretended to threaten her. This felt like family. Carmen took my hand and I led her over to my chair. I sat down and pulled her into my lap. Pyla was sitting in Forrest’s lap, too. We were the only ones with much smaller mates. Gemma was only a couple inches shorter than Austin and Kaya was taller than Elbio. I smiled at my friend and he winked, then pulled his mate closer. Kaya didn’t look offended by him doing that. Our conversation turned to Pyla’s birthday. It wouldn’t be like a normal coming-of-age. Her father wouldn’t be there to give the blessing. Guests were still invited, but only Forrest would be going back. She didn’t have many troll friends, so Kaya and Tana would be the hosts. Elbio and Mica were planning to help out. “I’m really excited and glad that I already found my mate. I don’t think I would have liked the idea of the coming-of-age traditions,” Pyla admitted.“Yeah, it does kind of seem like bullѕhit, but we have to protect those who are weaker than us. We have to be chained up. You don’t want to know what happens when a troll comes of age without the precautions. The females are just smaller, not easier to stop,” Kaya told her. The conversation drifted off to other things and the coming spring ball. Most fae celebrated spring. It seemed like the only season almost everyone could agree on. There were some who preferred summer or winter because of their physical needs. Even spring was too cold for some fae. For others, it was the warming up that threw them off. Some winter fae only braved the sun for short amounts of time from late spring through mid-fall. Everyone was looking forward to the ball. Carmen said she had a perfect dress for it, so she wouldn’t need to buy another one. I didn’t mind buying her anything she wanted, but I wanted her to be comfortable. She couldn’t be that if she didn’t feel like I listened to her. As it got closer to midnight, the party broke up. Kaya, Elbio, Forrest, and Pyla all got ready to leave. It was a good night, but I was looking forward to them leaving. Then the kids would go off to their room and I could take my mate to bed. Once they were gone, Gemma yawned and stretched. Austin put his arm around her and said goodnight before leading her down the hall. I locked the front door and turned to Carmen. “Are you ready for bed, Carmen?” I asked. “Yeah,” she murmured as she moved closer to me and took my hand. “It was a tough day today. I got really scared today.” “If anyone ever tries to take you away from me, I will hunt them down and kill them. You’re mine, Carmen. And I’ll have Forrest and Austin right by my side if they’re stupid enough to take Gemma and Pyla, too,” I promised. “I’ll always fight to stay with you, Rock. Whatever it was, it’s over now. I’m safe again.” Carmen wrapped her arms around my waist and I hugged her tightly. She let go of me and took my hand. I smiled as she led me to our room. A couple days ago, I was talking about how much ѕex I’d had since I found Carmen. It was more ѕex than I’d had in the past ten years put together. Not that I really wanted to stop. She was perfect in so many ways and I didn’t want to give up even a moment with her. I closed the door behind me and started stripping off my clothes. Carmen did the same and giggled when I picked her up and carried her to the bed.