She raised a brow the moment our eyes met.
“Well,” she drawled, “looks like someone had aneventfulnight.”
I mouthed ‘helpme’.
She sipped slowly from her tin cup, savoring her superiority.
“No,” she said. “I’m enjoying this.”
I tried wiggling.
Ashley only nuzzled closer with a content hum.
Malakai’s grip tightened like a warning to stay put.
Eve snorted. “Careful, move too much and they’ll start growling over you.”
I whispered back, voice strained against the weight of both of them. “This is not consensual snuggling.”
“Sure it isn’t,” Eve replied dryly. “You lookdevastated.”
I glared, but she only smirked.
“Want me to wake them?” she asked.
My gaze darted between the sleeping chaos enveloping me.
Ashley drooled again, while Malakai made a possessive rumble.
“No,” I sighed. “They look peaceful.”
Eve grinned like a wolf.
“Thought so.”
Ashley shifted behind me, blinking awake with a groggy hum.
“Mmm, morning, sunshine,” she mumbled into my hair. “You’re so warm.”
Before I could answer, Malakai’s arm tightened from the other side, not awake yet, but instinctively responding like an animal guarding its territory.
Ashley paused and I felt her stiffen as she peered over me and scowled.
“Oi,demon.” She poked Malakai’s bicep like it offended her existence. “Hands off. She’s my best friend, not your personal hugging bag.”
Malakai’s eyes opened slowly, no alarm, no startle. Just lazy scarlet focus sliding first to Ashley, then down to me in his grasp. His lips curled, unhurried, unbothered.
“Incorrect,” he rumbled, voice thick with sleep. “She’s mine, first and always.”
Ashley gasped dramatically. “Excuse you? I found her first. Ashen-Corps-Trials-best-friends rule. You’re the intruder in this cuddle pile.”
Malakai tilted his head, lips quirking in a smug smile. “She sleeps quieter with me. Plus, you drool.”
Ashley clutched her chest. “Slander.”
“I am lying right here,” I hissed, or tried to. It came out more like a strangled wheeze under the combined weight of ego and limbs.
Eve sighed like she was being personally harassed by our very survival.
