And the first step was food. I kissed Raiden softly. “Food is a good start. Raiden, work your culinary magic. Finlo and I will try and make this place as secure as possible so we can all rest a little easier.”
Raiden nodded, sliding from between us and moving deeper into the house. Where they’d taught us how to fight as Alphas, they’d taught Raiden how to cook, like he was just some wishy-washy Omega with nothing else better to do than to cook food and lay on his back. He’d proved the system wrong, but his love of cooking had endured.
Both Finlo and I watched him go. “I don’t like it, Gatlin.”
I nodded. “We can only do what we can.”
Finlo huffed. “Stealing her is back on the table.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Having met her, do you really think she’d be okay with that?”
Fin sighed. “You make a point. I’ll do the back of the house.”
I watched him go and then moved to the front, checking windows and reinforcing doors. We’d make this place as safe as possible and then we’d go back to wooing the Omega female. I found the house already had bolts on all the windows and doors, and it made me wonder once more where this pretty Omega female, this unicorn of the supernatural world, had actually come from, and what drove her to lock her house up like it was Fort Knox.
10
Naja
I’d told Ellar that I didn’t have a bath. I had a shower and a tiny sink, and that was the extent of it. Honestly, this place was too small to house five huge men. What was I thinking, letting them stay?
As if my body was reminding me of the exact reasonwhy, a fresh wave of heat-related torture rolled over my body. It was like the sensation of a phantom sneeze, like something was just there waiting for you but you couldn’t quite grasp it. On top of that, my skin felt like it was on fire. It was hot and tight along my bones, and every hair on my body was so sensitive it was like there were bugs crawling on me. Add that to the insane cramps that I knew would come and then the blood, and I could see why the Manix only did this shit once a year.
Yeah okay, so the guys might be useful, if I let myself go. Let myself do what all my instincts were screaming at me to do. And if it had just been me? I’d have climbed Finlo like a tree in the car. I looked at the jabbering toddler on the floor as she played with a container of bath toys. Ellar had held me even as he’d set the water temperature to perfect, Seven protectively holding Luisa. When Ellar had been happy, he’d set me on my feet, kissed my temple and left. Seven had put Luisa on the fluffy bath mat without a word, grabbing the rubber ducky from the basket and handing it to her on the way out.
Both so damn thoughtful; it was getting hard to think of them as possible threats. The whole thing should have felt weird but it felt just right, and that scared the shit out of me. I peeked around the glass shower screen.
“What do you think, Lu?” She waved her duck like it was the cure to all the world's problems and I sighed as I leaned back under the water, letting it run over my body, soothing me. It was the perfect temperature to cool my skin without freezing me to death. I rested my head against the tiles and pretended I was a normal twenty-year-old. I’d be in college somewhere, probably here in the US, because that’s where Mom had been born. We’d never have gone to Mexico. I’d be studying something ridiculous and frivolous, while I tried to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I’d be going to parties; maybe I’d have a handsome boyfriend.
Instead, I was a stripper with a toddler and a room full of hot paranormal guys who wanted tobreedwith me.
I banged my head on the tiles and turned off the taps. Stepping out from behind the glass, I grabbed a towel and tucked it around myself, scooping up Luisa who had somehow fit most of the duck's head in her mouth. I gently pried it out, and she gave me an indignant look.
“We don’t try to stuff too much in our mouths. That’s how we choke,” I chastised her gently, and thought maybe I could take my own advice. When I stepped into the hall, it was empty. I could vaguely hear them in my kitchen, so I snuck down to my room.
I knew I’d run myself down to near exhaustion over the last few months. It was especially apparent when underneath all the panic about how I was going to pay the rent this week, was the feeling of relief that I could just put on my yoga pants and an oversize t-shirt, and curl up on the bed.
Sure, I was ignoring my problems, but I’d face them soon enough. I couldn’t remember the last time I wasn’t cramming too many things into every single minute of the day.
Luisa took the opportunity to blow raspberries on my face. We both giggled, and I realized I wouldn’t give her up for all the normalcy in the world. Not for an average, safe life. Not for a college education and a boring vanilla boyfriend. Luisa was worth all my sacrifices.
She grizzled, and I knew she was probably hungry. “Time to face the wild beasts, huh?” I asked her, and she grinned.
“Yeh!”
I snorted and put her on the floor, letting her run out of the room ahead of me. I wasn’t really worried that the big guys would hurt her. They looked at her with that softness and protectiveness that made my ovaries beat faster. My tigress might be practically non-existent, but she was wildly protective too. She didn’t want to rip their faces off, and that was a good start.
As for Luisa? She had no fear of them at all, and in her short few months of life, she’d seen the worst of humanity. She knew evil, which is why she’d gone so... blank today. She’d sensed the badness of the other Manix Pack.
She weaved between legs, grabbing onto jeaned calves and all five of the huge Manix looked down at her indulgently. She stopped at Gatlin, raising her arms.
“Up.”
Gatlin looked between us, pausing. “May I?”
I nodded, and he bent down and hauled the little girl into his arms. They locked eyes and stared at one another for what seemed like a long, silent moment.
Then Luisa poked him in the eye.
