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“Get out. You don’t… Get out.” Maia starts to sob, and the sound only digs that knife further into me.
“Why does my mate cry?” Fluffy murmurs, leaning in towards her. Maia tries to bat us away, but he doesn’t budge. “Your eyes are so puffy, but your lips look so soft when soaked with your tears.”
“Please, stop,” she whispers, shaking her head. “I need to get Phoebe dressed, and I want to do it alone.”
“I won’t ever stop. You’re my mate. Mine.”
“But I’m not.” Maia fixes Phoebe’s clothes and sits back into her mountain of pillows. “I’m not your mate. I don’t feel this connection you talk about, and honestly, I don’t want to.”
“Why you must lie to yourself, I shall never know,” Fluffy says.
“What if… what if she’s not lying?” I ask quietly. What if Maia doesn’t want us? What if she truly can’t feel the bond? What if…
“Trust me.”
“It’s not a lie.” Maia’s on the defensive now, and she purses her lips. “I’m here for the month to learn how to take care of Phoebe so I don’t hurt her with my lack of knowledge. After that, I’m gone.”
“And yet, you are unwilling to let us?—”
“I am unwilling to let you replace her dead father. I’m unwilling to let any of you be her father’s. We do not know each other, and that is not your place to be,” Maia says firmly. She hunches over, wincing in pain, but still doesn’t lose her glower.
It’s horrifying that we’ve put her in this position, but somehow, another show of her strength.
“Are you in pain?” Fluffy demands, and Maia ignores him as she lifts Phoebe over her shoulder, cuddling her in close. I can smell the sweet lavender that accompanies my tiny pup because of her clothes, but soon enough, she’ll have her own distinct scent marking her as ours.
“No.”
“Lie to me again, mate, and I’ll take you over my knee and make you regret it,” Fluffy snarls.
Her eyes widen. “I thought with you being the runt that you’d be less…”
“Less?” Fluffy asks before shrugging. “Fluffy must be more to be seen as equal.”
We’ve never been handed anything, only had things stolen from us. From the moment it became apparent that I was the weakest link, Fluffy and I have had to fight for everything that we need.
Why should Maia be any different?
We may be a runt, but we’re strong, and confident, and more than willing to work for what we need.
“Oh,” she whispers, tilting her head ever so slightly. Her hand rubs over Phoebe’s back in a soothing manner. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Mate needs pain relief. Fluffy will get it for his mate.” He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Maia’s forehead before striding out of the room.
Space is probably for the best.
“Mate might be reluctant, but I will convince her,” Fluffy says, retreating into my mind.
The sudden shift makes me stumble in the hall, and I stay silent, hoping I didn’t wake one of my brothers. We share a soulmate, and we’re extremely close, but sometimes it’s nice to have moments just for ourselves. This is one of those times.
“We will convince her,” Fluffy repeats.
I pour a glass of her smoothie and cut off a slice of the chocolate cake. Whilst Phoebe is too small to eat it, my mate is most definitely not. I grab two tablets for her and plate it all up.
The box of Ryan’s things is sprawled out over the counter in a bit of a mess, likely from where one of my brothers was looking into things. I clean it up, like the thoughtful mate I am, so that Maia won’t need to see it in the morning.
“You don’t see the others doing that,” Fluffy says. “No, they leave the traumatising shit out for our poor mate to find. On our baby’s birthday, at that.”
“Assholes, Fluff. They’re fucking assholes.”
