average human’s Reviews > Unwilling Queen > Status Update

I sigh, and my gaze moves to my best friend’s parents who, while they put on brave faces, are also worried about their son not being at their retirement party.
“He promised his mothers he would be back,” I murmur, and Gem scoffs.
“I don’t know why he keeps looking. Our sixth, whoever he is, does not want to be found. How do we even know that what the witch told Gryffin was true? What shifter wouldn’t come forward when a bond mark shows up on their body? The witch was just trying to stir up trouble, and now Gryffin spends as much time roaming, looking for our sixth, as he does at home. Our bond is not as strong as it should be, and I bet that’s part of the reason the goddess hasn’t revealed our mate to us.” Gem is pretty easygoing most of the time, except when it comes to this very subject. He and Gryffin have been dancing around each other for years, and I think he’s jealous about how much time Gryffin spends looking for a mythical sixth member of our bond. They just need to fuck and make nice.
A commotion by the entrance to the ballroom draws our attention.
“Ah, there he is, the prodigal son deigns to make an appearance.” I point my beer in that direction. Our bond mate looks immaculate in his black tux, his black streaked silver hair brushing his shoulders. He’s smiling as he greets his parents, but I can feel the tension in our bond. He obviously wasn’t successful.
Gem dumps his empty glass on a server’s tray as they walk past us and grabs another, tossing it back. He eyes the prince like he’s a tasty morsel of meat he wants to take a bite out of. I roll my eyes. Hunter, Brodie, and I are all straight and strictly into females, but Gryffin and Gem are fluid, not leaning to either side. It’s become awkward as fuck. Gem watches him obsessively, and Gryffin seems oblivious, wrapped up in a reading a witch gave him a couple of years ago telling him we wouldn’t meet our mate until the sixth member of our bond was found. He’s taken it upon himself to search for this unknown member, but I don’t believe they exist. Being marked for a bond is a privilege, and no shifter I know would not come forward and admit to being marked. If we don’t sort out our issues, our bond is going to be permanently broken.
I watch as Brodie and Hunter make their way over to our bond mate, welcoming him home with hugs and whispered conversation. I grimace. I probably haven’t helped our problems with the whole Gianna thing, but fuck, my bear is becoming unruly and aggressive. It isn’t often a born shifter goes feral, but it has happened, and I’m worried that might be my future if our mate doesn’t appear soon.
I sigh. “Come on, we better go say hi. I want to find out where he’s been all week. He should have returned as soon as he got the message that Archer was fine,” I grumble. “We needed his help with those damn ferals yesterday.”
The lust drains from Gem’s eyes and is replaced by sadness. We caught up with the feral pack and took them out. They were lost to the madness of being bitten without the king’s magic to stabilize them. Four wolves had to be put down. It’s why unsanctioned turning is outlawed. Once turned, the king’s magic can’t even fix the problem, though they have tried. We even tried to imprison them in the hope we could find a solution to the madness, but that made it worse.
When we returned home, Gem disappeared for the rest of the night, wallowing in his grief. Nothing the three of us said could get him to come out of his room. I hate not being able to comfort my bond mate, and his residual sadness leaked through the bond, making us all miserable. Thankfully it doesn’t happen too often because I’m not sure if Gem would survive.
Brodie and Hunter must be filling Gryffin in on what happened as we approach, because his gaze shifts to Gem, and I can see the compassion in his eyes. He opens his arms and engulfs our phoenix in his embrace, hugging him tightly. We watch as Gem sags against him, shuddering with emotion as Gryff whispers words we can’t hear into his ear. I know they will be the same thing as what we all tried yesterday, but it’s more effective coming from our unofficial leader.
I exchange a knowing glance with the other two as Gryffin pulls back, turning to face me while keeping one arm around our phoenix. “I hear you’ve been stirring up trouble,” he says to me, cocking an eyebrow.
I glare at the two tattletales who just shrug unrepentantly. “Look, you might like to pretend you’re a monk and ignore what is right in front of you, but my bear has needs, and seriously, you have the nerve to have a go at me. Where have you been all week? We needed you yesterday, and you were off on a wild fucking goose chase. Archer has been safe since Monday. Did you get lost on your way home?” I snap, unwilling to deal with his crap.
“I was checking out a mythical town on the border between us and the witches’ kingdom,” Gryffin tells me, and I see Gem stiffen slightly.
“You’re still trying to find this mythical sixth member. It’s bullshit, man. You should be here, working with the bond you do have, not ditching us all on a pipedream.” I can’t stop the rumble of my bear in my chest. He is angry and pacing inside me like he wants to gut Gryffin.
Before Gryffin can answer, Brodie clears his throat. “I mean, it’s not a bad idea. Maybe one just recently manifested and was marked as a part of our bond.”
“Ever the fucking peacemaker,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.
Unlike regular shifters, mythical shifters don’t have the ability to shift into their creature’s form at birth. It’s because mythical shifters often have extra magic that would be unruly in a child. Hunter’s and Gem’s animals manifested at seventeen. Could you imagine baby dragons and phoenixes flying around, wreaking havoc and setting shit on fire?
I scoff. “There has never been a bond group with an age gap like that, and you know it. You’re grasping at straws,” I argue. “Maybe you are just going to have to face the fact that a sixth doesn’t exist, or if they did, maybe they died in an accident before being marked. Give it up, Gryffin, and focus on the bond you have right in front of you, because we are falling apart.” I don’t wait for any of them to reply before I leave.
My bear growls inside my chest as I make my way through the shifters and humans on the dance floor. He is both pissed and sad, and I feel the hair on my arms ripple as I struggle to keep from shifting. It’s a full moon tonight, as is required for the ceremony, and instead of being out in the woods and shifting like we normally do, we’re stuck in here, wrapped up in confining suits and playing nice. We want nothing more than to shed the uncomfortable clothes and run, and it’s making us miserable.
“Liam, hey, Liam, wait up,” Brodie calls, but I don’t stop. Instead, I make a beeline to the balcony doors for some much needed fresh air. Maybe if I get outside, I can stop some of the panic inside me.
The cold air slaps me in the face, and I breathe deeply as I step out onto the deserted balcony. The nights are getting colder, and the leaves are starting to change color in the forest. Winter is definitely on its way. The urge to shift and run hits me hard, and I reach out to grab hold of the railing to steady myself, my knuckles turning white with the exertion.
“Hey, are you okay, man?” Brodie puts a hand on my shoulder, and I shake my head.