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“Love shouldn’t be tit for tat,” I grumbled, poking at his fingers with my fork as they descended into my blurred vision.
Thankfully, Leith came to my rescue just in time. “Stop bullying Artie, Enz, I got you some food too before the hoard could snag it all. You four just have to make room.”
The lounger was already a tight squeeze with just three of us on it, but five? I was worried the legs would give out as we shuffled so that Leith could settle in behind Ciara and hand Enzo a plate.
“And I thought we were attached at the hip,” I heard Wilder, one of Aurelia’s alphas, joke as he passed us by.
A feminine chuckle that I instantly knew was Aurelia herself filled my ears and I turned my head completely to see her passing us by in her wheelchair, a broad grin on her face. “I distinctly remember a certain alpha not wanting to let me even go to the bathroom by myself in the first year of our marriage.”
They settled on the lounge across from us, teasing each other affectionately as the rest of the people at the party seemed to settle in with their food and a hush fell on the backyard.
After about fifteen minutes, one of the twins’ voices echoed through the space. “I’d like to propose a toast, if you don’t mind, Colt?”
“Fire away, Alexei,” Colt, who had come to join Aurelia and Wilder shouted back.
There was a beat of silence before Alexei began and I leaned back into Enzo’s chest, my stomach blissfully full.
“I’d just like to say that I have been so happy today to be able to look around and see just how much our family has expanded. Recently the fifteenth anniversary of our wives and Ciara’s mother’s death rolled around and it made me think about how alone we felt right after it happened. If it hadn’t been for Aurelia holding down the fort, then I’m not sure if we would have ever survived it and now she’s happy with a pack that loves her and now a new baby on the way and Maxim and I couldn’t be happier for her.”
Aurelia lifted her glass to him and her voice was thick with emotion when she spoke. “I love you, Dad and Uncle Alexei, thank you for not giving up on me.”
There was a rumbling of agreement before Alexei continued. “And to my little Brynny, I am always so happy that you found two alphas that love and care for you—even if you drive them up the wall sometimes.”
There was a smattering of laughter.
“She comes by it honestly, Coach,” Nash teased, probably earning himself a withering look from the older man.
“And finally, Ciara.” I could feel all of the attention in the yard turn to our little group that was crammed onto one lounger. “The daughter that wasn’t born to us, but that we were blessed with and the only good thing to come out of that accident. You never do anything in halves, sweetheart, but I am so damned pleased to see that you have a group of people that love you.”
Emotion flooded down the bond from Ciara and it made me feel like I was about to cry as Leith murmured something in her ear.
“I don’t know why I’m crying either,” she whispered back, her voice tight with tears. “I’m just feeling emotional, I guess.”
Alexei, who hadn’t heard the exchange between the two, lifted his glass up high. “To the future and to family.”
“To the family!” Everyone cheered and the sound of clinking glass filled the air.
“How did you manage to get a sunburn?” Ciara asked later on that night as she spread aloe vera over my nose and cheeks. “We put sunscreen on you multiple times.”
“I guess I’m just that pale,” I joked, wincing as her fingers brushed past a particularly sensitive part of my face. “I thought it was supposed to be more cloudy in Seattle than in the UK, but it was downright pleasant today.”
“We do get some sunny days, Art, “ Wiz said from his side of the nest where he was fiddling on his phone. “It’s not like what you see in Twilight. Sparkly vampires would probably be exposed as soon as the midday marine layer wore off.”
It amazed me how comfortable I was having an alpha in my nest that I had no romantic interest in.
We’d become close over the last month, but only in the sense that I was pretty sure I’d found a best friend in the easy going alpha. Which was why I wanted to bring up what had constantly been on my mind ever since Ciara joined us in our bonds.
Tonight—if possible—as my mood was still incredibly sentimental from Alexei’s speech earlier.
“Either way it feels as if you could fry an egg on my face,” I mumbled as Ciara got out of the nest and headed to the bathroom to put everything away.
I turned to Wiz. “While it’s just us, I am going to ask you something completely insane, but hear me out before you say no.”
Wiz sat up, his phone dropping somewhere in the nest as he faced me fully. “Okay…?”
Glancing over at the still-open bathroom door, I lowered my voice a bit. “How would you feel about biting me?”
“What?” Enzo’s voice filled the room and I winced, realizing that he’d heard everything I’d just said and his shout would bring both Ciara and Leith running.
