"Yeah," Jesse says, considering, assessing. "Yeah, Ari, with all of it - I think you did as well as you could." "Really?" I ask, kind of shocked.

"Yeah, I agree," Rafe says with a sigh. I turn my eyes to him. "I mean, you had to get to know them first to know if you even wanted to tell them you were their mate. And then you certainly couldn't have told one before the other. And if you had told me, I definitely would have gone running off to mom and then dad would have pulled you out of school. The way you handled this was messy but..." he shrugs again. "I get it."

"Oh god," I mutter, putting my face into my tired hands with a shaky sigh. "That...that makes me feel so much better."

"Maybe you could have used the dreamscape," Jesse murmurs thoughtfully, "and pulled them both in. And then they couldn't have hurt each other physically, just their dream bodies..."

"Well, in retrospect," I say, crossing my arms and giving him a little glare, "sure, that sounds great, Jess."

your next mate," he says, waving a flippant

head back to

you for this. And I do think you owe them apologies and explanations but...I don't think you should let them make you feel

himself up on his elbow to hear what

guys and not telling them about it. You didn't pick this - you didn't even pick

little to hear it said this

Luca and Jackson don't like it doesn't make it your fault. You have to remind them of that, Ari - and if they give you any shit about it, then we'll remind them too." He raises his fist, smacking it against his other palm with a smirk, letting me know precisely how he intends to remind them. "Yeah, don't let them push you around," Rafe says, frowning now at the idea. "Luca, especially, is going to try to

are supposed to be a gift - and she's your grandmother, for heaven's sake. I don't think you should be ashamed of this, or feel bad about it,

evenly. "I think it would be a mistake to reject the Goddess' gift like that - I think she'd be pissed, and you'd do yourself a disservice. I think you should explore it. While being as fair as you can to Luca and Jackson, of course. It's not carte blanche to be

warmth runs through me as I begin to smile, staring at my brother, who is so sweet, and so

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