Page 81 of Laken's longing

Lane clapped his hands. “Scent marking, is that how your animal mates?”

Their housekeeper, Bessie, bustled in. “Are we ready for dessert?”

“Yes!” Laken, Kodi, and Jupiter exclaimed together.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Laken

Desperation poured off Laken as Bessie plated up a chocolate torte and a pumpkin pie. He did his best not to make eye contact with his brothers as he listened to Isley explain about his sugar glider.

“So when you scent marked me it was what, an accident?” Jupiter, the shit, questioned in a sultry voice that he knew would piss Laken off.

Isley was the shade of a ripe tomato as he stuttered, “A-accident.”

“Leave him be,” Laken growled, hating how mortified Isley was.

“Boys!” Dad said in a firm voice full of warning. “Enough.”

“It’s fine, sir—”

“Derick is fine.”

Isley nodded, cheeks glowing brightly. “When I touched you Jupiter, my animal was… already in a state of excitement, and when in that state it can excrete more marking scent thannormal. If transferred to, say, the inside of your lip in this case, the scent sinks past the membrane into the cellular tissue, creating a permanent mark. I’m sorry.”

The catch to his voice signalled his distress, and Laken pushed back his seat and Isley’s, catching his alarmed look before effortlessly lifting him into his lap.

“You don’t need to say any more,” he assured Isley, tucking him into his chest.

“How lovely,” Popi murmured, all sappy eyed.

“When did you scent mark Laken?”

Kodi’s question got a growl from Laken, but the damage was already done because everyone was looking at Isley for an answer and he knew Isley. Lying would not be what he would do.

“At the ranch,” said Isley in a quiet voice.

“Oh,” Frey coughed out.

Claim him.

What! We’re with my family.

I don’t mean the bite, stupid. You already see him as your mate. Tell them. I can sense his distress. This is me talking later. You called him your mate in your mind. He’s ours.

Laken flashed back and could recall the exact moment he’d done just that. He wasn’t ready to rush into a claiming bite, he wanted that to be special. A memorable moment for them both. He massaged Isley’s tense shoulder, considering his words carefully.

“Isley chose me, scent marked me to tell the world that. He wanted me even when I didn’t feel I was deserving of him. Until I can show him fully that he hasn’t made a mistake, he’ll hold my heart. As for the rest, for mating, it will happen when the time is right and not just because my nosey family pushed.” He cast a hard stare at the table? “Got it?”

Bessie clapped him on the shoulder, giving a squeeze. “Well said my boy. Isley is a very lucky man, if I do say so myself.”

Laken could hear the pride in her voice, and she’d been as much a parent to him as Popi and Dad. He rested his head against her hand, blinking rapidly.

“I know,” Isley answered in a tear thickened voice.

“Gods, he’s a crier, too,” Kodi exclaimed, scowling, but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed him.

“Fu—get stuffed.” Laken groaned and rolled his eyes, in the hopes to give both him and Isley time to get a hold of their emotions.