The green-eyed boy trained day after day, growing stronger and taking on wolves much larger than him with ease.

The silver-haired girl watched from the trees. She was always glamoured, invisible and scentless. Yet, her gaze never wavered from the green-eyed boy. Something about him held her captive. She would watch just long enough not to be missed by her mother and father. Their movements, like clockwork, would give her enough time to climb down the tree, race home and appear as though she had never stopped training.

It was the day of her eighteenth birthday, following earth's time, and she was overcome by the need to see her green-eyed boy- now man, again.

She crossed the Invictus boundary with a simple glamour and skipped along the familiar trail.

Her parents had left to talk to her grandmother some time ago and had yet to return. This time when she arrived at her favourite tree, the green-eyed boy was talking to his friends. A short redhead with hair just beneath her shoulder blades giggled and jumped around animatedly next to a muscular brunette.

Another girl with a phoenix tattoo across her chest swatted at the redhead and threw her head back with a laugh. The green-eyed boy reciprocated, and the silver-haired girl's heart raced. He looked particularly dashing that day. She leaned closer when a twig snapped beneath her feet, and all four head's swivelled in her direction. She froze with wide eyes as the green-eyed boy lurched forward.

The tattooed girl tugged on his arm. "What is it?"

He rounded on her. "You can't see her?"

"Who?"

When the green-eyed boy turned back, the silver-haired ghost disappeared.

"Nothing," he replied. He told them he would stay behind and train, keeping a careful eye on the forest. Soon the silver-haired girl's head popped out from behind the tree, and he inhaled deeply. Lavender and rain.

He shifted and stretched, trying not to spook her, or know he had spotted her again. Then, without much forethought, he sprinted at the girl when she gasped and blinked out of existence. The black wolf dug his claws into the dirt and sniffed the earth. The scent, although faint, disappeared towards Malum.

He could see a slight shift in the fallen leaves when he focused his gaze as invisible feet tiptoed away. He followed the scent, faster and faster until he heard the faintest voice, soft and warm. "Stop it. You damned wolf! Go back home!"

The plea only spurred the wolf further until they crossed the territory lines. The green-eyed boy hesitantly crossed through the barrier until he reached a strange stone circle.

"Stop right there!" The silver-haired girl yelled, now corporeal and slightly flushed. "You can't be here!"

The wolf with green eyes took in the girl's appearance with a beaming smile. She was beautiful and deadly, he sensed. He turned, ran through the barrier and shifted after finding his hidden cache of clothes and energy bars. He dressed and returned to the same spot, but there was nothing there. The stones and the lavender scent remained, but the house did not.

"I'm not leaving until you come back and talk to me," he yelled to the empty trees. "I know you're still here."

He had heard of the Fae and learned never to trust them, but this mysterious girl transfixed his soul.

She didn't return that day, but he never stopped looking.

*

"Is that all?" Gideon murmured, clearly processing.

Visena chuckled nervously. "Uh, nope."

*

It was three years before the girl was brave enough to spy again after the thrashing she had from her mother when her father smelled wolf scent. Ew. But she was twenty-one, and she was done being afraid of 'what could happen.' A handsome, familiar face appeared from behind her tree when she arrived. Her tree! "Boo!"

She screamed and went running when his hand grasped hers, and she felt a jolt of electricity up her arm, making her gasp. It was pleasurable, and she grabbed his other hand curiously to see if she would achieve the same result. His shudder and widening eyes signalled she did.

"What's your name?"

"Visena... You?"

"Gideon."

"Huh. You're- You smell like pancakes and forest." The words escaped before her mouth thought to contain them.

He seemed unperturbed. "You smell like lavender fields and rain when it touches the earth. But you look different."

She smiled and touched her glamoured auburn hair, but his frown gave her pause. She ignored it and questioned lightly. "Wanna see something cool?"

"Sure."

They walked hand in hand to a small portal Visena had made years ago, her little secret that led to Angpriake. Or inside Angpriake, she still hadn't fixed that yet.

"Hold your breath."

The pair exited the ring at the bottom of the lake of angels and swum to the surface with glorious smiles. "I'm not supposed to come here," Visena breathed.

"I'm sure I'm not either. You're not going to kill me, are you?"

The Fae girl laughed brightly as another strange thought escaped her mouth. "No way, actually, for some reason, I want to ki-"

Gideon stopped her words with a kiss. Her first kiss with the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. She leaned into him and wrapped her hands around his neck, feeling his hard body against hers.

When they pulled away, she had never felt so happy. Neither had he.

They visited Angpriake for a few months before Gideon brought one of his secret bundles. Sweatpants, a t-shirt and his favourite energy bars.

"Why do you need that?"

He shrugged, "In case I need to change so I don't get hypothermia, considering we are still coming through your shotty portal."

"Hey! I made that when I was sixteen, okay?"

"Sure."

They talked about many things for many hours until Gideon's responsibilities called him away or Visena's mother returned home from her weekly absences.

It had been years, and their stolen kisses slowly turned into touches, caresses and intimacy.

Their first time was on a picnic blanket under the starless sky of the Veil. It was all teeth and hands and giggles. Then, after a consistent request, Visena removed her human glamour and let him see her. Her true self. His open expression of love quickened her heartbeat unnaturally fast.

"Are you sure?" Visena whispered as the green-eyed man's lips burned a trail down her neck and chest, to her belly and beyond.

"I have never wanted anything more than how I want you, Visena Sage."

When he touched her and filled her, there had never been a more perfect moment in her life.

*

"No fucking way!" Gideon replied hoarsely, staring at his mate like he had met her for the first time all over again.

"Wait, There's a bit more..."

*

The night of her twenty-third birthday, they had returned expecting an empty house, but Esmerelda had come back early. Gideon didn't get a chance to hide when she saw them and forced him to shift into his wolf. He whimpered and flattened his ears to his head, fighting the urge to snarl at the love of his life's mother.

"What were you thinking? Fooling around with the Alpha of the Invictus pack?"

Her furious stomps toward the flat stones had Visena and Gideon shrinking away. Visena had never seen her look so angry.

"It's not safe for people to know of your existence! You are not supposed to exist, Visena. Why can't you listen? Not once?"

"I - I love him, mother."

The pause in the forest was full and long. Even Gideon looked up at Visena with wide eyes. Then, a force of energy pushed Visena into a nearby bush as Esmerelda turned on the green-eyed wolf. "I'm afraid you won't be able to keep these memories any longer. It's not safe for her. Cross the stones, and I will give you back the memories you need."

He looked over to where Visena was struggling against her mother's hold. She was screaming and sobbing when the sounds stopped with a flick of her mother's wrist. "Or I will make you cross them. You decide."

He looked up at the furious Fae and nodded, walking brokenly across the flat stones. It only took a moment before he looked around wildly, unsure of his name.

"Shh, young Alpha. I'll give you back what you need to remember. Nothing more."

Visena could only watch sobbing as her best friend, her only friend, and her lover walked away from her.

*

"After that, I left. I couldn't stand looking at her for what she did to you. To me."

"I can't believe we had sex for the first time in a Fae realm."

The laugh that he pulled from her was of relief. He didn't sound angry at all.

"That's what you're focusing on?"

"Actually, I can't believe I had sex for the first time, and I didn't even remember it!"

Visena squealed as Gideon scooped her into his tight embrace. His nose nuzzled into her neck, and Faer returned, chirping excitedly.

"I am sorry that you had to go through that alone, Vi. I don't blame you for keeping it a secret either. But is that everything?"

She made an affirmative noise to hide her last secret. It wouldn't affect him, not really. It was her baggage to keep and maybe worry about later.

"You know when I said I would fuck you all over the house?"

"Yeah."

"Well... Let's start now."

*

Visena's last secret was that she was now technically mortal. The spell required more than 'just a little' anima, and with a strange sadness, she let her water fae magic drain from her body and into the humans, binding the memory loss spellwork to the hosts.

Her magic would likely have unusual consequences for the humans. Some may wonder why they could swim like a guppy without being taught, hold their breaths underwater for excessively long periods or submerge in frigid depths without freezing. But, they would never know why.

Fae, Vampire and Wolf shifters would now and forever be known as myths, legends or fairy tales.

Stories they told their children of creatures that go bump in the night. Fictional fantasies written, shared and rewritten depicting real lives they would never believe in.

And yet, we do exist. In secret, hiding among them, in the shadows, in the forests, and across the Veil.

FIN!

~~~

A/N

Thank you all so much for reading, and if you're seeing this, you made it to the official ending of The First Fae Mate!!!!

I have an Epilogue I will post soon, and then I will drop the first chapter of my latest work- eek. After starting this book, I thought, 'After this one, I'll stop. I don't have time to write another 100,000-word book', and five minutes later, I'm writing a synopsis for another book fml.

I hope this ending was as satisfying for you as it was for me, and I would love to read your comments if anything surprised you, shocked you or frustrated you perhaps?

Favourite character?

Saddest death?

Any sections that brought you to tears or elicited genuine laughs?

Favourite steamy scene? (Should I do a steamy bonus chapter?)

Thank you so much to all my silent readers; thank you so much - I'm always surprised when I see the number of reads on the latest chapters and wonder to myself, who are these people? If they keep reading, they must like it, (hopefully) haha

To all my regular voters and commenters, thank you endlessly- you are the reason I keep writing. I read every comment and laugh my ass off half the time at your reactions. It's been a pleasure. See you real soon xxx

K