Her Brother, Her Mate

I left Parker on my loveseat, using taking a shower as an excuse to separate from him and think for a few minutes alone. I’m glad I listened to Simone and Elena and gave him a chance to talk. My aversion is relenting some, but it’s still hard to shake all the lingering hurt from years of neglect. I can understand why he avoided me, but it doesn’t change how much it hurt at the time.

My mother is such a b***h. All she had to do was tell Parker the truth about my real dad and both of us could have avoided all this pain. She sacrificed her kids’s happiness to protect her own reputation. I say I’m not vindictive, but I’m standing under the shower stream wishing for her to get paper cuts every time she opens mail and flies to always land in her drinks.

I tie on a bikini then hear knocking on my door. I rush out of the room right when Parker gets up to answer the door. I noticed his smirk when looking at my bathing suit. He’s probably relieved I didn’t rush out naked.

Courtney is standing on the other side, wearing the bikini and coverup she bought with me earlier today. It’s almost comical how white she is compared to me and Parker.

“You look cute,” I smiled at her.

“Don’t lie. I look like a ghost,” she laughs.

Parker comes up behind me and Courtney’s eyes go wide in shock.

“Is this the kinky brother?” she whispers loudly to me, making Parker and me laugh.

“This is Parker,” I told her.

“Hi Parker,” she smiled brightly, “I’ve heard so much about you. Dang,” she looked him up and down, “That picture didn’t do you justice. You’re like a giant.”

He smiles shyly down at me, “Picture?” He raises his eyebrow.

“The one you took of us yesterday,” I smirked, “Courtney wanted to know what you looked like.”

“Usually people look better in selfies,” she giggles, “I’m officially team Parker. This Casey guy I heard our dads talking about for the last hour can’t be any hotter than him.”

Parker growls softly at the mention of Casey, making both me and Courtney laugh.

“Relax. Carli has already said she’s not interested in him like that at all. Dad was just talking about the gamma position and work stuff. Uncle Thomas only mentioned, like, 3 times that he liked the guy more than you. I got your back though. I’ll make ‘Team Parker’ shirts later.”

Parker laughs at Courtney’s bubbly attitude, and I can tell he likes her too.

I grab jean shorts, my phone and my keys and the 3 of us head out.

The sun was setting as we drove out to North Miami Beach to Oleta River State Park. It’s closed to the public once sunset hits, but supernaturals can use it after that time for events and bbqs. It’s great because we don’t have to worry about humans. There’s lots of tree cover, so sometimes when we party down here we will shift and go for runs along the river.

Courtney rains questions down on Parker on our way. Questions about me, him, me and him; it’s almost embarrassing, but he answers everything honestly.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Do you think the pack will react badly to you both being mates?”

I turned to look at him, wondering the same thing.

“No,” he shrugs, “Most people think she’s not really related to me. Your aunt and uncle are the ones who basically raised her. Our warriors know, but they also thought I was always weird for treating her the way I did. I think it will be fine with everyone when they hear the whole story.”

“How did you treat her?” Courtney asks, bouncing in her seat, waiting for a good story.

Parker laughs at her enthusiasm. “She always came first. I used to hover over all her training sessions, all her warrior meetings, scheduling myself to be where she was. When she turned 12, I started chasing all the little shits hanging around her off, telling them all they would never be good enough for her. The guys I worked with told me I had a sister complex. I thought I was acting like a normal brother. It scared me when I woke up on my 18th birthday and was struck with the mate bond. I thought something really was wrong with me.”

Courtney gives him a sympathetic pat on the back, “Something was wrong with you. Besides being freakishly tall, you had horrible parents who lied to you your entire life.”

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbles, “I don’t think I can forgive them for the s**t they pulled.”

“So you didn’t avoid me because you didn’t want to be with me?” I asked him.

He looks over at me, briefly taking his eyes off the road, “You were 14, Carli. And I thought you were my sister. I was scared because I wanted you.”

“Oh,” I whisper.

“That’s sweet in an eww-that’s-gross kind of way. Only a little cringy,” Courtney says, lightening the mood.

Parker huffs out a laugh, “Thanks?”

“No problem. Now, how old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I stopped her before he could tell her. I don’t need to know that.

Fairies are working the gate, waving us through when we get there.

“Wow, this is so pretty,” Courtney looks around in awe. Melody, my and Simone’s fairy friend, and her other fairy friends enchanted the trees to sparkle, and the moisture in the air to cast rainbows everywhere.

Parker parks his truck in the parking lot, then we all walk together, Parker with his arm around my shoulders, as we cross the walking bridge. Simone is at the other end, welcoming guests. Her face lights up when she sees me, then turns to a sly smirk when she notices Parker trailing close behind.

“Well, look at you. Take my advice?” she wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“Maybe,” I smiled and hugged her tightly, “Happy birthday! Where’s the birthday boy?”

She waves her hand in the direction of the beach, “Someone got in a fight over a paddle board or something stupid. He went to break it up.”

“Well,” I hand her the bag with the Jimmy Choos I bought her, “Here’s your real present.”

She squeals excitedly, “You love me!”

“I got you something too,” Courtney says cheerfully from behind me, shoving around Parker to hand Simone the little bag containing pretty gold rings we picked out earlier today.

“Oooh, you love me too. Who are you, by the way?” Simone smiled brightly at her.

“This is my cousin Courtney. She’s visiting from Blue Cliff Pack,” I told her.

“Yay! New friends!” Simone throws her hands up, then pulls Courtney into a big hug. “Did the puppy bring me anything?” Simone asks, looking expectantly up at Parker.

Before he can let her down by revealing he came empty handed, Casey appears out of nowhere and rips Courtney into his arms.

“Mate,” he growls before slamming his mouth against hers.