Mina’s lips curve up like a little bow, happiness spreading inside her. Jayden’s eyes shined like two sapphires, and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her heart skipped a beat. “A surprise for me?” She could not believe Jayden had taken the time to get her something. She wondered what the surprise was but quickly realized Jayden could have brought her a stick, and she would put it in the Drawing Room for everyone to see because it was from Jayden. Silly how the idea of receiving something from her husband made her so stupidly happy, but she could not help it.
Jayden’s eyes flashed golden for a heartbeat. He took Mina’s hand, interlaced their fingers, and tugged her after him. “Come on, little lamb, let me show you the little demons I brought you!” Jayden said as he guided Mina down the hallway towards the entrance of the house. Mina wondered what the ‘little demons’ were.
Arald was in the middle of the foyer with two little ugly fluffy balls in his right hand. Mina stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixed on Arald. She didn’t know if she felt shocked or happy. Her eyes filled with tears, her vision blurry for a moment, and she blinked them away rapidly. Her lips parted slightly, her heart filling with love for the little demons, as Einar and Jayden called them.
Arald rubbed the back of his neck. “Commander, I don’t think Andarra likes them.” He sounded disappointed. “Told you we should have gotten her some gold trinkets or new dresses. Ladies love those things.”
“I do like them!” Mina blurted, not wanting to make Jayden believe she didn’t like his surprise.
Jayden chuckled. “You don’t know my wife then. She is not like other women,” he said and went to Arald and took the two little fluffy balls from him—they hissed and scratched his hand, but Jayden didn’t notice as he took them to Mina, his fixed eyes on her. Arald went to the kitchen, leaving Jayden and Mina alone.
Mina’s eyes were filled with happiness. “Are they really for me?”
Jayden brushed his knuckles against her cheek, and Mina leaned into his touch. “I love seeing you smile. Yes, they are for you. What do you think? Do you like them?” he asked, raising his hand so Mina could properly see her gift.
“Kittens!” Ivy squalled, coming into the foyer. “Let me see them better!” she said before rushing to take one from Jayden’s hand. The kitten hissed a few times, but when Ivy cradled it to her chest, it stopped and closed its eyes. A soft purr followed.
Mina took the remaining kitten from Jayden and looked at it. The kitten was not ugly but wasn’t what high society considered beautiful—the face of the little cat was half black while the other half was yellow. One eye was blue, and the other was amber. The fur was calico—a mix of black, cream, and white patches. The little kitten was far from being ugly. It was quite beautiful.
The other kitten’s color was a combination of black and orange. The eyes were green.
In Athea, only cats with solid colors were considered beautiful. Or those that were of certain breeds. But the little kittens that Jayden brought home were seen as ugly. Especially the one with the two-toned face was undesirable, as its coloring was considered an omen of bad luck for its owner. Most of the time, ‘ugly cats’ were killed or sent to farms to hunt rodents.
“They are perfect!” Mina said as she petted the little kitten, her green eyes fixed on Jayden. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jayden’s cheek. “Thank you!”
A soft growl left Jayden’s mouth, and he put his lips close to her ear. “Look at me like that again, and I will forget about your friend and the dinner. Instead, I will eat my dessert! In bed!”
Heat rose in Mina’s cheeks, and her pulse quickened.
Jayden’s words always seemed to have a strange effect on her, making her heart beat fast in her chest and her pulse roar in her ears. While she had been in love with Prince Liam for a long time, his words never made her heart race the same way Jayden’s did. Even the lightest touch was enough to send shivers down her spine.
A low knock on the door startled the two kittens and Mina. “Jay-Jay, can we enter now?” a child asked loudly, and Mina sucked in a breath. She knew that voice very well. Ivy gasped. “I want to see Mina!” the child demanded. Mina gave the kitten to Jayden, rushed to the door, and opened it. And there they were, standing in front of the house, her children—Belle, Violet, Xander, Shin, and Landon. Xander was holding an old satchel in his hand. “Mina!” Belle squealed with delight, hugged Mina’s legs, and looked up at her with big hazel eyes. Her strawberry blond hair was braided in double plaits.
The little girl was wearing a dress too big for her. It used to be blue once, but when Violet received it the previous year, the color was already faded and had been repaired numerous times. Mina had wanted to make new clothes for Belle for some time, but Violet had been growing up quite a lot since her last birthday, and Mina made her new dresses to wear.
Mina picked up Belle in her arms. “My sweet Belle, I missed you!” Mina cooed and kissed her forehead. Belle rested her cheek on Mina’s chest.
Her eyes went to Shin. He was holding Violet’s hand. Shin had always been protective of Violet, but since she turned seven, he was always looking for a reason to be around her. When Mina asked Shin about it, he shrugged his right shoulder and said Violet needed his protection more than the others. It was true that of all the children, Violet was the one that cried the easiest, and dark places scared her, but Mina suspected it was more than Shin wanted to reveal. “I thought you said the little ones would return tomorrow or the day after. And how did you know where I live?” she asked, remembering she didn’t tell Shin or Xander her new address.
“I brought them here,” Jayden said.
Mina turned around and frowned. Belle giggled at the sudden movement. Mina had never said a word to Jayden about the children, and only a few people knew about her visiting the sewers. “How did you find out about them?” Mina asked. One of the little ones tugged on her dress, and she stepped to a side, letting the children inside. Shin was the last to enter and closed the door behind him. The children stood next to Mina—Shin and Violet to her right, Xander and Landon to her left, while Belle was still in her arms. Emotions flicked in Jayden’s soft blue eyes. And there was something else in Jayden’s gaze—a tenderness Mina had never seen before.
“Caesar told me about Shin and Xander. I went to look for them in the morning. It took me a while to hunt them down in the port and even longer to convince them I was your husband. We went to the orchards to get the other ones before rushing back to Athea to make it in time for dinner. They are not returning to the sewers!” Jayden said to Mina. “What do you think of the house, little Belle?”
Belle lifted her head and looked around the foyer. “It is warm inside, Jay-Jay. And it is big!”
Mina did not expect Jayden to bring the children home and have them live with her. She was prepared to beg Jayden to have the children live in the mansion, even if it was for them to stay in one of the rooms destined for the servants. The rented house had two servants’ rooms, both occupied by Jayden’s men. Since Mina started sleeping in Jayden’s room, her room remained empty, and the children could stay there.
For the second time that evening, Jayden made Mina cry with happiness. She blinked her tears away and looked at him—really looked at the man that became her husband. He was still staring at her with so much tenderness it took her breath away. Her heart felt like a trapped bird and a warm feeling spread inside her. For a moment, everything faded away, and there was only Jayden and her. “Jayden,” Mina breathed, her voice thick with emotions. His eyes turned golden, and she drowned in them.
“Wait until you see the rest of the house!” Ivy said, and Belle’s eyes went wide. “How about I take the children to wash their hands?” Ivy asked, but Mina didn’t pay attention to Ivy—she was still drowning in Jayden’s eyes. “We will wait for you two in the dining room!” said Ivy, taking the other kitten from Jayden, as she moved towards Mina. “I will tell the others to stay away from the foyer, you know, in case you need to ‘talk’ to each other,” Ivy said and winked at Mina before guiding the children to the kitchen.
Mina took a first timid step towards Jayden, and they met somewhere in the middle. Jayden put his hands on her waist, and Mina rested her palm on his muscular chest. “Little mate. My little mate,” he rumbled and kissed her forehead. “You should have told me about the little ones.”
Mina bit her lip. She knew she should have told Jayden, but she was still learning about him. “I was scared you would not approve of them, but I was mustering up the courage to tell you.”
“I am a bastard myself, little mate; how could I not approve of the little ones?” said Jayden, his golden eyes drinking her in. “I grew up in a brothel. Why did you assume I would let the little ones live in the sewers before talking to me?”
“My uncle would have never let them inside the house, and I thought—”
“I am not your uncle!”
“Fair enough,” Mina said. “Thank you for the kittens and for permitting the children to live with me,” Mina said and pressed her lips to his.
Jayden devoured her mouth, his tongue tasting every inch of her mouth. Mina gripped his shirt. She loved being kissed by Jayden. “Little mate,” Jayden murmured. “Is there something else you have to tell me?”
There were no other things Mina kept in the shadows. “No,” said Mina. “You already know everything about me.”
Jayden buried his nose in the crook of her neck, his teeth grazing her tender flesh. He peppered her skin with kisses, and Mina’s bones melted away; if not for Jayden’s firm grip on her waist, she might have fallen. “Not everything, little mate. There are so many things I still have to discover about you,” Jayden said and lifted his head. “We should not let the others wait for us. The little ones need to eat before going to bed.”
Jayden’s eyes returned to their natural color, and he took Mina to the dining room. The children and Ivy sat at the table while the ocxoas stood.
“I think we need a bigger table,” said Jayden, as he looked at the table that was too small to fit everyone.
“Jay-Jay, can we eat on the floor?” Belle asked.
Mina smiled. In the sewers, they didn’t have tables, and the children usually sat on the ground and ate. “How about we all eat on the floor?” Mina suggested.
The ocxoas moved the table close to the wall and put the plates on the rug. The children sat on the floor with their legs crossed, and each grabbed a plate of food. When Jayden tasted the food, he praised Mina for her cooking skills, and the ocxoas agreed.
After dinner, Aksel took Ivy home while Caesar and Shaun cleaned the dining room. Jayden fed the kittens in the kitchen and prepared a place for them to sleep.
Mina took Belle and Violet to her room to help them bathe.
“A bed!” Belle squealed before she jumped on it.
Mina left Belle to play on the bed while she went with Violet into the bathroom. “You have been awfully quiet tonight,” said Mina as she let the water fill the bathtub.
Violet’s blue eyes turned sad. “I have seen things,” she said. It was not the first time Violet spoke of the things she saw when she touched someone. Her gift appeared soon after she turned seven.
“What did you see?” Mina asked. Not everything Violet saw came to be.
“The evil queen will send him away. He will lose his legs but will find his heart. Remember the baby’s cry; the man with the scar on his right palm will lie to you!”