When I wake up, I can hear Cain and Asheron discussing something and I get tense for a second before realizing they're not fighting, they're talking about the council. Something boring. "Are you finally awake? We're starving," Cain says and he moves my shoulder. Ash slaps his hand."Let her sleep," he growls, but I am already awake, so I lift my head of the pillow, "Hey, love, you feel better?""Slightly," I admit, "Do you have a bathtub here, Ash? I need a warm bubble bath, my body is begging for one.”"Yeah, in my room. I’ll get it ready for you," he says. Cain opens his mouth, probably about to complain about his hunger one more time, but Asheron lifts a hand to shut him up before he even speaks, "How about you take a bubble bath while we go out to buy some brunch?""That sounds lovely," I say and I take a naughty look as he gets out of bed expecting him to be fully naked, but he’s wearing back briefs that hug his cute tush perfectly. I look at the scars on his body, but this tim
He walks us into his bathroom and I almost moan when I see his big bathtub. I think we could all fit in here, all three of us, but Cain makes himself at home and walks into the shower like he owns it. Asheron grabs my hand and he helps me get into the bath.I inhale the familiar vanilla-coconut scent and smile. "You like vanilla-coconut bubble baths, Ash? I thought you only bought them for me," I say in a teasing tone as I lower into the perfectly tempered water. Of course Ash would never let me get into a too hot or too cold bath. I sigh in relief and then look up at him as he sits at the edge of the bathtub."Adam still buys my groceries with the same old list, so yeah, they're still for you," he murmurs almost absentmindedly. I have to lower myself to hide my stupid smile in the bubbles, "It feels nice? You feel better?""Yeah, I'm already more relaxed," I say but before I can say anything else, the glass door of the shower opens again and we both look that way. Cain is still bu
When we get back home with the food, there's a man sitting in my couch next to Georgie and all my hairs stand immediately, but I have enough brain to know whatever I'm feeling, Cain is feeling too... only about a hundred times worse. I lift my arm automatically, at the same time he bulldozes forward, so I'm able to stop him."Another one?! Who the fuck is this?!" he growls, looking at Georgie in disbelief, but my head isn't as hot as Cain's and I can see this guy is some kind of doctor. A young, attractive one, which is fucking annoying, but a doctor. And I think I've seen him before. "I'm Harrison Yam, Prince Cain. Her gynecologist," the guy says and stands up. Now it makes sense, Georgie has seen this doctor a few times, I even went to his office with her one time. Cain wants to keep going, but I shut him up with a look, "I'm a professional… and gay, if that helps. So you can both relax.""Gay my ass," Cain spits out, but he stops trying to run to him, "Why would you decide to be
"Are you really still hungry?" I let out when he goes to grab another fucking breakfast sandwich. Cain stops midway to give me a weird look, then he grabs it, "I mean, you ate the whole lasagna yesterday, one would think you're not that hungry today.""That was a lot of hours ago. And Georgie ate it too, don't just blame me," he complains and keeps eating for another five minutes before finally pushing his pate away, "Yum.""Okay, so can we talk now?" Georgie asks, just as anxious as me. I nod and take a deep breath, trying to find the right words. I've been thinking non-stop about this, the whole night and the whole morning, while they were both sleeping. "Okay, before I start, I need to preface this by saying... Cain," I look pointedly at him, he immediately rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, waiting for the worst, "Georgie loves you, she wants you just as much as she wants me, that's why we're in this position and we went through that shit break-up. She never chose me over you,
"Okay, so... sure, you've thought of everyone and everything outside of us," Cain finally says, making me nervous because I can’t recognize his tone. Cain is the biggest wild card here. I already know Georgie loves this, but Cain could react in any way, "But what about us? Like, you need to be clear. Is she going to be my girlfriend, but your wife someday? Marriage is a big deal and she can only marry one of us. I already know it's going to be you... also, kids? like, if you really mean forever, that kind of shit is important.""No, it's not just 'going to be me' every time, Cain," I complain, "We're starting from scratch here. It's not me and Georgie adding you to our relationship. Our relationship died when she thought I died."Georgie makes a chocked sound. "We're going to start anew as a three-way couple and we both matter to her just as much," I say, "And no, she won't be 'my wife, your girlfriend' she's our fated mate. There's no other tittle that matters more than that one. Ma
"Why are you taking so long to answer?" Cain frowns, "It's not that difficult to say yes or no. It's not like it's a big deal.""So you think is not a big deal? To have me as your boyfriend? Forever?” I ask, “That doesn’t sound strange to you? I know you’re open-minded, but… do you even like me?”“I don’t know,” he says, crossing his arms and looking away.“Cain,” Georgie says in a warning tone, “Just be honest.”She totally thinks he’s in love with me. Just like Justin. Cain looks at her with narrowed eyes and I realize I have to be the one to set things straight before they end up fighting again. Cain doesn’t know how to be in a relationship. Not even with Georgie, whom he deeply loves; he still treats her as if she’s just his best friend most of the time. Cain has no idea how to deal with his feelings. However, I also think he already likes me and that’s why he’s getting defensive like this. “Okay, I’ll tell you how I feel about you, but you have to say something after me,” I s
A few seconds later, Cain is still avoiding our eyes and the conversation. “Who decorated this place? It lacks personality,” he mutters, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I did," Ash answers, looking at Cain with a smile, as if he finds him amusing, "So, getting back to the topic...""I don't hate you either," he says, returning to the topic all by himself, thankfully, "You're okay.""Cain," I growl, but Ash squeezes my hand to stop me, "No, I don’t want to leave this hanging. Cain, I know it's hard for you to talk about feelings, but it's necessary. We have to be...""A ball, I got it," Cain says and laughs, "I'll be a ball with you guys, don't worry.""Do you understand that I love you the same way I love Asheron? Do you understand he’s saying he cares about you?” I push. Cain nods, but I can see he doesn't fully believe it. I close my eyes and sigh, "No, this is never going to work. Forget it.”"Georgie," Cain says when I try to get up from the table, looking at me
“Oh, no,” I let out, dropping my phone to the floor as soon as the call ends and bringing my hands to my hair just like Cain. Asheron immediately wraps his arms around me, “He’s angry.”“He’s angry with me. He hates me,” Cain says, now with his hands on his hips, still pacing back and forth, “He’s going to force you guys to throw me away, I’m sure. He’s going to start a war with my pack or something extreme like that, just to show how little he wants me with you…”“Come here,” Asheron orders, extending a hand towards Cain. Cain looks at him as if he doesn’t understand what he means, but Asheron waves his again, so Cain comes closer… very slowly, like a scared animal, until he’s lightly touching Ash’s hand, “I said come here, damn it. Why do you have to be so difficult?”Ash pulls Cain’s hand until his body collides with ours, and I guess he hugs him too.“When we’re there, you both have to let me talk to him. Eugene appreciates direct but respectful approach,” he starts, I nod and wra
"I don't like you, what are you doing in my palace? I thought I told you, your family is banned from my territory," she says that directly to me. "He showed up unannounced, babe." "I come here in peace," Cain says and takes something out of his pocket. It's a card. Nina frowns, but she can't fight her curiosity so she walks closer to grab it, "It's a 'shut the fuck up' coupon to use on my mom. You can give it to me at any point if you ever need to tell my mom to shut the fuck up. I will do it for you and I will be aggressive about it. She deserves worse for being such a bitch that day. I'll take the fallout for you." "To be honest, I'm not that scared to do it myself," Nina murmurs, but a smile starts to grow on her face, "However, this is appreciated." "Can we start over?" He asks, taking a step closer, "I am actually very, very cool. I swear." "Mhm, I’ll be the judge of that," Nina says, punching his arm like she usually does when she's play-fighting with her brothers. Cain tu
"I can't fucking believe I said that," he says, covering his face in shame, "It was extremely disrespectful, I'm truly sorry. And I guess you're right, this isn't new, I just haven't fully gotten over it. Of course I will one day, this is still new. But you're my girl, I do desire you a lot, you are very pretty in my eyes. I just can't wait for you to grow up some more." I nod with a sigh. "I'm not angry, not like last time," I assure him, Justin takes a deep breath in relief, "But I don't love to know I make you feel guilty or bad. It's good that we haven't had real sex yet, I don't want it to be a bad experience for either one of us. I want to feel wanted and loved. So, I think what we should do is... put a pause in the sexual aspect of our relationship." "What?" He gets tense and looks at me like I'm crazy, "That's not what I want." "Yeah, but it's what I want," I say, clenching a fist. It's not what I want at all, but fuck him for making me feel like wanting me is wrong, "Not
"I'm sorry you had to hear all that, I really am sorry," the King says, looking down in embarrassment, "My wife..." "Don't worry, I get it. Justin shouldn't have surprised any of us with this news, it's not something easy," I say, eyes set on my mate's. He's totally freaking out, "I think I've caused enough damage, can we just go now?" "Yes," he almost whispers and just gives one last look to his dad before grabbing a suitcase so we can leave, but he stays silent as we walk out, all the way to the car. And even when he starts driving, "I'm sorry, Nina." "You should be. This was 'that bad' and then some," I mutter, looking out the window, "About everything else you said… don't even say sorry. It's simply what you feel and I understand, let's leave it at that." "No, no, I don't want us to be at odds again," he says, his hands tightening on the steering wheel, "I want to clarify, I didn't mean I'm not attracted to your or that I don't like you, that's the opposite of the truth." "I
"Let's go," Justin wraps an arm around my waist and he leads me outside. "Wait, son, I'm sorry I haven't said anything. I was just processing and..." the King finally speaks and I try to stop and hear him out, but Justin keeps me moving. He doesn't even give his dad a look, he takes me all the way to the foyer. "Wait for me here, I'll go pick some stuff, then we're going back to Fox," he says and leaves, almost as fast as he brought me here. I sigh and look for a chair so I can get comfortable, but when a couple minutes pass and I realize Justin is probably going to take a long time, I start wandering a bit. It's so weird that this place has so many corridors and different living rooms. Like this one. It's exactly the same as the last one I entered. I don't know what specific purpose it serves but... I stand very still when I hear footsteps coming closer and then two different voices. I gasp and look around for a place to hide. I find a little closet and run to hide in there.
"Cain!" Justin roars and a couple of seconds later I feel some relief and I can breath again as the huge man gets lifted and my fated mate comes to my rescue. He grabs my arms and picks me up, "Are you okay, Nina?" "No," I complain, my whole body hurts, especially my ass and my chest. The guy crashed against me like he had a personal vendetta against me, "What the hell? Who is that hippopotamus?" "Nina," Justin sighs, still not happy with me. He moves away to let me see the guy and points at him. I know who he is as soon as I look at his face, "This is my brother, Cain." He looks like a younger, less manly version of Justin. "I'm so sorry, kid, I totally didn't see you," he says with a grimace, he's still trying to recover too. He looks at me deeply and frowns, "Since when do we hire minors, dad? Isn't child labor illegal here?" Great. Amazing. So, Cain is an asshole. I sigh and look at Justin, he looks even angrier now. I don't know how this is going to play out if my ma
During the drive to his pack, Justin tries his best to make me feel less nervous. I'm sure he can smell my stress, fear and nerves all mixed up in my scent. Thankfully, he assures me over and over everything is going to be fine and he asks me so many questions to get me rambling that I actually start to get distracted. Until we get to Kallistar and I enter the pack for the first time in all my life. I swear it's like a new filter is unlocked to my eyes. So much color, everywhere. There's even a big welcoming mural, as if a lot of people travel from Fox to Kallistar. The grass is really greener over here, the sky is bluer, the roads are so perfect and clean. This is a whole different world for me. I'm almost scared. Because I know this is basically my pack now. But I kind of like my ugly, old, messed up pack. It has character. It's full of working people who are always willing to help one another. No one thinks they're better than other people in Fox but I'm sure over here everyon
"So, that means... I have to be the one to do something about it?" I ask, swallowing in nerves. Justin lies down next to me. "Not necessarily if you don't want to. All I'm saying is... I need to relieve some pressure," he says, "I've been so stressed about the conquest and scared about my brother possibly being in danger. And you being mad at me. I was so fucking tired and stressed." Oops. I guess that's my fault. Or his, for pissing me off to begin with. "Well... if you tell me what you like, I could help you," I offer, excited again. To touch him, make him feel good. It's my right, after all. But again, Boring Justin gives me a look that says he's not that sure, "Do I really have to beg a man to let me make him come? That's not fun, Fated Mate." "No, no, it's not like that. It's not like I don't want you," he rushes to say. I squint at him. He keeps saying that but not showing me, "I just... don't feel... okay. Tell you what. If you really want to touch me, you can do it."
I wish we could do it again (and again, and again) but I have a feeling Justin will get in his own head again. He just can't accept me for some reason. This past few days I've been doing research in fated mates. It's always what I thought it should be... instant love. Instant passion. Instant love-making. Obviously, because what else is it going to be when you find the literal love of your life? People never fight it... except for him. And why? Because apparently he doesn't like the way I look. Or, he does, but then he feels guilty about it. I sigh and roll in bed. My nose catches his scent in the sheets and I moan, feeling all tingly again. I gulp and my hand moves down south to relieve the pressure, but then I gasp when I remember why I woke up so early today. I jump up and run to put on my clothes on go to work. ➿➿➿➿ Justin and his brother were successful. When I get his text in my new super fancy phone, I almost pass out with relief. He told me a few times that it wasn'
That makes her look up at me again, confused. "We're going to get the territory today. I could technically die out there," I say, even though I know the chances are slim to none. I guess I just want a little kiss. For me, but for her, too. { Nina } One little kiss. This man who has been practically ignoring me even though he invaded MY home is asking me for a little kiss? After grinding his dick against me last night? He has some nerve. "Okay," I say, because... what am I to do? I've been waiting for this opportunity the whole fucking time. I’m not the one who hates this bond. I know I shouldn’t be so easy, but I am. I want that kiss so bad. Justin licks his lips and ends the distance between us, but not too fast. He takes his time, looking into my eyes for a few seconds. "I'm really sorry I made you mad," he whispers, melting my insides, "We've only been mates a few days and I already fucked up, I can't even begin to explain how shitty I feel. I'm just trying to do t