“Good gods.”

Her face bloomed bright red, and she self-consciously patted down her curls, rolling her lips in, unsure what to do. What did you say to someone’s father who just realized you had sex with his son? Good morning, hope you had a great night. I sure did.

Pulling her gaze away from his still wide, unblinking eyes, she watched the second male silently enter the room, passing by Jaren with a single, clipped nod.

Jaren had warned her that Dedryn made Elric look downright friendly, but she had a feeling Dedryn’s lack of a warm greeting had more to do with the venomous look his son was currently shooting at him.

Broad shouldered and standing even taller than his son, Dedryn was one of the most intimidating males she’d ever seen, second only to Jensen, a Matherin guard she’d nicknamed Boulder Shoulders.

Although not as large as Jensen, Dedryn’s arms made her own look like sticks, and his trousers tightened and pulled around his tree trunk thighs with each step.

He stopped just behind his mate, towering over her even from several feet away. His hair was a muddied, auburn hue that looked like it’d curl if it wasn’t cut so short. The color accentuated his light skin and almost golden eyes, and made the chiseled, inhuman features of his face sharper, more severe.

His protective posture and armed waist didn’t help. Not to mention the hand he rested against Jaeros’s lower back, as if prepared, even in their small room, to defend him if needed. At least she knew where Jaren got his personality from.

Where Jaeros had been an emotional mess at seeing her in Ocridal, Dedryn’s expression remained stoic, revealing nothing as his eyes roved over her face, pausing on her ears before dropping. His jaw tightened, and he surprised her by using the common tongue. “Heal them.”

She blinked, not expecting that to be the first thing he said. Instinctively raising her arm to an ear, she brushed her fingertips over the scarred top. “Um…” He didn’t actually expect her to be capable of that, right?

Jaren stood beside her, wrapping a possessive hand around her waist, and pulled her in close. Thankfully, he’d at least taken the few seconds she’d been watching his fathers to step into a pair of trousers.

“That’s how you greet Bhasura’s heir? The heir you were charged with protecting?” He scoffed. “I suppose I should’ve known better than to expect any form of apology from you.”

While Jaeros flinched subtly at his unveiled hatred, Dedryn was an unmoving stone as he ignored his son and met her eyes. “We are running out of time. Your shoulder. Heal it.”

Jaren’s grip tightened, his voice containing a dangerous edge to it as he dipped his head and spoke in her ear. “Don’t you dare.”

She hadn’t planned on it, but with how his fathers were staring at her, she found herself suddenly second-guessing her decision. Weren’t mating bonds common? They were mated, themselves, so why did they seem so appalled?