“Listen, I have a phone number you can call me on but the phone will be off most of the time. We will check the voicemail and I’ll call you back whenever you need something, okay?” I give her the number and I can hear the scratch of the paper as she writes it down.
“I miss you and I love you,” I say.
“I miss you and I love you too,” she answers.
We hang up and I give the guys a sad smile as tears drip down my cheek. Bailey comes over and nuzzles my hand in comfort. I scratch behind his ears in thanks.
“I’m sorry Aly, we know you miss her,” Jax says. He’s holding my other hand but I’m not sure when that happened.
“Thanks. There’s something else we need to talk about- Bailey.” We all turn and look at the dog in question. I tell them all about Bailey showing up during the fight and what my mom called him.
“He’s an Athermy! A supernatural animal who often bonds with hunters as a familiar. I can’t believe we didn’t realize it sooner. He will come to help you when you need him most,” Jax reveals.
My mind is blown at the idea that Bailey isn’t a normal dog.
“What does it mean to have a familiar?” I ask.
“They are incredibly rare, we will have to try to find some information on hunter familiars when we can. For now just treat him like you normally do and know he will come to your rescue.”
I dig back into my food and slowly the conversation starts back up around me. It’s empty small talk until it turns to what we should do next. No one is sure how to handle the situation. There’s not one single enemy to destroy. Both sides think we are an abomination. And we can’t completely annihilate a whole race of hunters. We don’t have the man power and the other supernaturals won’t back us.
We need to come at it from another angle. I tune them out as they keep going. I hope Anna will be okay without me. Her life was completely changed and I’m not even there to work her through it. Once again, I think I’m the worst best friend ever, and she’s the best.
I’m startled out of my thoughts by someone picking me up off the chair.
“We aren’t going to settle anything tonight. Let’s just snuggle our mate and watch a movie or play a game. Something to enjoy our time together,” Kiran says before walking off with me.
He drops me down on the couch before pulling out movies from under the TV. I hear the dishes being cleared before they slowly trickle in as well. Jay lifts me up into his lap, Jax sits next to us and very politely Jer and Nic leave the other spot for Kiran.
They sit on the floor in front of us, so they can still be close.
Kiran holds up movie after movie as we decide. I think I’m enjoying this more than watching an actual movie.
He holds one up.
“Boo! Too sad,” Jay says in between nuzzling into my neck.
Another with aliens on it.
“Too weird,” Nic comments.
Jax stays quite, letting everyone else pick. I nudge him to get an option.
“What do you want to watch Jax?” I ask.
“I don’t care. I’m just happy to be together,” he answers.
I think it’s sweet but the other guys boo him. I lean in and give him a soft kiss to make up for it. I like his cheesiness.
He holds up one more movie with a sappy looking couple on the cover.
“That’s a chick flick,” Jeremy sounds affronted by the idea. So obviously, I use my mate powers to annoy him.
“Oh! Let’s watch that one!” I say enthusiastically.
Kiran doesn’t hesitate to put it in the player before joining us back on the couch. Jeremy rolls his eyes but I see a small smile peek through as well.
We all settle in and watch the romantic comedy. The guys throw in lots of commentary about how she shouldn’t have to choose, and she must not really love them both if she can. It’s adorable and makes me smile and laugh, which of course makes them keep doing it, it’s perfect.
