She reached into her desk and, instead of pulling out a wand, pulled out four composition notebooks, one for each of them. “I know this entire process may be difficult and embarrassing, so I’d like to encourage each of you to write something each day. It can be about anything. And when you come into your appointment, when things become awkward or uncomfortable, when you do not know what to say, you can open your notebook and talk about whatever it is you have written.”
“Great.Homework.”
“Shut up, Kai.” Jude huffed and politely accepted the notebook.
He couldn’t wait to fill up every page about Sonnet.
Chapter 25
Sometimes I wonder if biology got it wrong, because what did I do to deserve Sonnet or this pack? They’re all so good. Even Kai. But I’ve done nothing in the time I’ve known each of them to be worthy as their alpha. They were all following me and I lead them straight off a cliff, and a part of me hopes they’ll never follow me again.
Sonnet was beautiful. His perfect little mate who, in such a short time, had become the muse to his every song. He had managed to write lyrics to two new songs, and he could only imagine a lifetime more. He just couldn’t imagine being worthy of a lifetime.
He cleared his throat, checked his watch, and sighed. They were running late.
After scolding Felix and Kai for taking so long, he managed to convince Sonnet to wait in the car with him. She had her pink hair pulled back into two long, messy braids with some strandssticking out on her forehead. She was wearing white short overalls, one strap unbuttoned, and a baby blue t-shirt. Zayden leaned closer to her without meaning to, and he noticed for the first time that she wore a layer of concealer under her eyes and that her lip gloss smelled like watermelon.
“What?” She asked sharply, which made the corner of Zayden’s lips twitch.
She was so grumpy in the morning.
He hummed softly, pulling back and looking behind him as the boys were getting into a tiff on the front porch. It was too early in the morning for him to even try to break it up.
“I didn’t know you wore makeup,” he said matter-of-factly.
She huffed. “Don’t tell me you’re going to be one of those guys who tries to convince me I don’t need makeup, that I’d look prettier all natural, just because you think it’s some weird heroic thing to say?”
He chuckled.
I like our mate spunky.
“No.I’m not.”
“Good.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “I get bags under my eyes. I’ve tried every skin care routine, but it doesn’t matter. Summer used to tease me and say I looked like I stayed up each night studying, but she knew that couldn’t be true because I never studied.”
“You didn’t?”
She smiled shyly. “I guess you could say I was mydog ate my homeworkkid. That’s why I never went to college. I preferred the dog over the schoolwork.” Zayden absorbed every word that tumbled from her mouth. She talked almost as much as Jude did, getting carried away. It was cute. Way cuter than when Jude did it. “I kind of always pictured myself opening one of those doggy day care centers. I think that would be acool promotion from a dog walker, and I wouldn’t need a college degree for it. You and Felix have a degree, don’t you?”
Zayden cleared his throat. “Yeah. Well, Felix has two bachelor's degrees and is considering going to school for his master's.”
Zayden cringed. That was another agonizing reminder of his failures, because a year ago Felix was going to start his Master's, but then Zayden bulldozed his plans, and he hadn’t gone back since.
“And you?”
He cleared his throat. “I have my AA.”
Zayden was the opposite of Sonnet. He loved school. It was how Felix and him became friends in college, because they were both total teacher pets. But he was young and didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life like any twenty-year old, so he dropped out to pursue the one thing he did like which was music. Now he was older, he knew more about himself, and he couldn’t help but wish he knew everything back then. Sometimes he wished he would never have become a musician so that he could pursue something else.
Fuck. That's so stupid.
“Hey!” He barked, just as Kai was about to pummel Jude, with Felix looking like the exhausted mother behind his two bratty children. “Get in the car.”
They all loaded up, and Zayden zoned everyone out as he drove them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. About a forty-minute drive, with everyone in the car engaging in conversation, even Kai with his snide comments and scoffs.
When he pulled up, everyone got out of the car except for her. Sonnet swiveled her head, her eyes softer, her expression livelier than when they had left.
She pinched her eyes and mouth. “You really can’t come in with us? We can go do something else and save the aquarium for another day.”
