As the night comes to an end and the credits begin their slow crawl up the screen, I feel a gentle brush against my leg. Anna stretches languidly, the movement casual, but there’s an intimacy to it that sends a jolt through me. Her foot lingers against mine, a silent message. When I turn to look at her, her green eyes meet mine and a soft smile graces her lips.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and though the words are meant only for me, I know they all heard it.
“Anytime,” I murmur back, the corners of my mouth lifting ever so slightly in response to her warmth. She settles back into her spot, pulling the blanket over her legs. We sit in comfortable silence. Some of the guys are slowly drifting off to sleep, the TV casting its last glow before the room falls into darkness.
Fifteen
Aksel
My phone pings and I ignore it. I’ve got Anna sitting on my lap at the breakfast table and I will be soaking up every second before she decides to give one of her other mates attention.
I bring a piece of toast to her lips and the rest of the guys stare with their jaws basically on the floor. I roll my eyes and continue holding it until she takes a bite.
Taking care of my mate like this satisfies a part of me I didn’t even know existed.
“I never thought I would see Aksel Lenoir feeding a woman toast at the breakfast table,” Griffyn says annoyingly.
I huff but don’t stop what I’m doing.
Blaze is watching my hand like it holds the answers to the universe. Right now, for him, it might.
“Don’t give him a hard time, look how happy Anna is,” Felix says.
My chest puffs up in pride.
“Come on, you know that Aksel acting like this with a woman is something you never expected!” Griffyn laughs like it’s ridiculous.
“Don’t -” Anna starts, but I cut her off.
“She’s not just a woman, she’s my mate,” I snap at Griffyn.
Everyone gets quiet, but Anna leans back into me and I know, for once, I’ve said the right thing.
My phone pings again.
“So, Blaze, you haven’t heard anything yet?” Rion asks.
Seems like Rion is trying to be nice to Blaze and include him. Maybe he feels bad that he’s in trouble with everyone. Although after last night I know we are all close to forgiving him.
I make a mental note to plan a lot of nights like that in the future.
Blaze grunts and shakes his head no.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
What the fuck could someone want that badly?
I huff and grab my phone, checking the messages. There are five from Adelina telling me to answer her.
“What’s going on?” Anna asks, turning in my lap to look at me.
“Adelina needs to talk to me. I should call her back,” I admit reluctantly.
I try to shift Anna off my lap but she stops me with a firm hand on my chest. “Take it here.”
I’m not sure if she doesn’t want to lose the closeness we are sharing or if she’s trying to imply I can trust everyone but either way, I stay.
The phone rings twice before Adelina answers.
