Mated To My Boyfriend's Dad

Chapter 168: _Cullen The Gossiper

"So, how’re you feeling about your father’s decision?" I asked, fiddling with my fingers awkwardly.

Kylo tilted his head, shrugging with a defeated look. "It’s not like I have much of a choice, Isleen. This order isn’t just from my dad. This whole thing has the blessing of the Alpha too. I can’t simply ignore that and risk banishment. And besides, I’d be honored to serve the Raven wood pack in battle."

I bit my lip. He was right. Moon knew I would’ve loved to join in this battle as well. But alas, pack traditions and my stupid Omega status got in the way of that.

"Hey." Suddenly, Kylo held me with both hands on my shoulders, shaking me softly to get my attention. "Thank you."

I frowned, blurting out without much thought. "For what?"

Kylo smiled, looking into my eyes, searching. Searching for what exactly? Tripedation? Anger? Or... something else?

Kylo parted a stray strand of hair gently with his fingers, causing me to involuntarily shiver. He inched closer to me, his mouth lingering close to my ears.

"For caring so much about me." His breath prickled my skin, causing me to tense up. "I kinda wish we’d never broken up. But right now, I feel like I no longer deserve your care. Your affection. Your..."

He trailed off. Why did he stop? He didn’t deserve my what?

I blinked awkwardly, flushing red when my eyes caught some passersby staring at us. I gently pushed Kylo away, and immediately felt like I’d been given new air. Phew!

"Oh, stop that Kylo! We’ve been together since high school. Broken up or not, I’ll never stop caring about you." I gave him a little punch on the arm, trying to ignore whatever Kylo the awkward air around us.

Kylo chuckled, giving me a playful wink. "Gosh, I fumbled you so bad."

What the heck was this? Was Kylo trying to get us back together, or was I being paranoid? I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time after a breakup that we’d gotten back together, but this was different. I had my mate now.

Truth was, my feelings for Kylo were complicated, but I wasn’t in love with him anymore. I was moving on and I wanted him to do the same.

Kylo coughed dryly, as he patted me on the shoulder. "I have to go now. We’ll see later at home. You sure you’ll be okay?"

Okay? Oh, right. I was still trying to process the fact that the boy I’d called my ’ son ’ all this while, was a millennia-old vampire. There was still a part of me that grieved for him, even though I knew he wasn’t dead. He was still out there, and I didn’t know what his next move would be. None of us did.

If news got out that a shape-shifting vampire was out there, lurking amongst the pack, it would be absolute chaos.

I forced a smile at Kylo as I replied to his question. "I’ll be fine, Kylo. Just...take care of yourself, okay?

He simply chuckled in reply, giving me a slight bow.

"As you wish, milady."

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes, as we giggled together. I missed this. I missed us. I just hoped that whenever Kylo found out about me and his dad, it wouldn’t break our bond.

.

I swung the entrance to Gamma Rhett’s house open, walking in with a defeated sigh.

"Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence." Cullen’s annoying voice sounded from the stairs, causing me to divert my gaze to him.

He seemed oddly more jovial than usual. Almost as if he didn’t care about Liam’s whereabouts. I couldn’t help wishing I could be that nonchalant.

"Hey Cullen. I can see you had no luck with your receding hairline while I was away?" I managed to give him a sarcastic grin.

He pouted, sticking out his tongue with a roll of his eyes.

Not having the energy to go ahead with his back-and-forth rantings, I strutted towards the stairs. However, Lupe rushed down before I could, looking a bit stunned when she saw me.

"Oh, Isleen." She seemed exhausted, her cheeks turning red as she fidgeted while trying to adjust her clothes. "You’re back already. So, how was it? Any luck with finding Liam?"

I creased my brow. That was...odd. Cullen had also shown up from upstairs. And they were both left here, alone. Could they have...nah. Cullen was a hardcore homosexual. There was no way in hell that he and Lupe would have anything together, not even a casual fling.

"Nothing much. Gamma Rhett only told us that his men would try their best to find him." I sighed, making sure to keep everything Rhett told me and Kylo, a secret.

No one could know about Liam’s true identity. Especially Lupe. If she found out, she might blame me for her mother’s death, making me feel even more guilty than I already was.

"Hmph." Cullen scoffed. "Typical. But oh well, at least now you can focus on your new boyfriend."

I felt my heart leap into my throat. What? Did Cullen know?

I gave Lupe a questioning side eye, but she only raised her hands, In a bid to show that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Have you miraculously gotten even more delusional, Cullen? I must say, that’s a new record." I folded both arms in front of my chest, eyeing Cullen up and down. If he knew something, I wanted him to say it himself.

Lupe coughed awkwardly as she made for the kitchen, whistling away. Cullen meanwhile, moved closer to me, his mouth close to my ears.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about, Isleen." He managed to sound more serious just now, his voice getting deeper. "Or, do you need me to spell out the fact that you’ve already found your mate?"

My eyes bulged wide open as I gulped hard. Wh–what?

"How – how did you find out?" I stuttered, trying to find some reasonable explanation.

However, Cullen suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, frightening me for a second.

"Oh, you should’ve seen the look on your face just now." Cullen struggled to contain his laughter, clutching his belly tightly as he heaved for breath. "Girl, it was so obvious. Like, I’d only guessed just now that it was your mate and not just some guy you were seeing, but still."

I groaned, face-palming myself. "It’s not funny, Cullen. If Kylo finds out about this, he’ll be crushed. We’ve only begun to move on, and I don’t want it to seem so sudden. Also, I–"

I was almost out of air since I was talking really fast, and my voice edged with panic.

"Woah, chill girl! One word at a time." Cullen suddenly drew me in for a quick hug, taking me by surprise. "Now, care to share everything about your spicy romance with this new man in your life?"

Hmm...it seems I’d underestimated Cullen’s worth as a gossiper.