AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How was I going to fix this?
“The way you study people creeps me out,” I joked. He gave me a fake glare but stumbled back as I stood abruptly.
“Wait, where are you going?” he demanded, knowing the way I strode for the door was with too much purpose to be innocent.
“I'm going to go talk to our mate. She's not going to hide from us. There's too much at stake to just let her shut us out and walk out of our lives forever. We have a week to convince her to give us a chance and I’m not going to waste it,” I said in a rush, barely pausing to answer.
El let out a grin that rivaled the Joker. “I knew fate chose you for me for a reason.” He was already falling into line behind me. “Let’s go.”
I was so distracted talking to El that I didn’t notice someone on the other side when I opened the door and started rushing out. A girl faltered back and I reached out a hand to steady her. Her hand moved to the top of mine, nails biting into my skin as she gasped in shock.
“I’m so sorry, we didn't know you were out here,” I said. The ginger woman looked me up and down before her red tinted lips tipped up into a smile that instantly felt fake, like a well rehearsed act.
I recognized her from the competition. She was on team one with another woman as her partner. The ones who’d been in the business for over twenty years, though she couldn’t be older than thirty-five.Interesting.Maybe a family business.
“It's all right,” she practically purred, running her hand up my arm. My skin crawled at the contact and my bear let out a warning growl. Something about her just seemed off.
I may be polite, but El had no trouble shoving himself between us.
“Don’t touch my mate.” He unceremoniously lifted her hand off of me and let it drop back to her side.
She let out a scowl and adjusted her boobs in her shirt like that was enough to distract us. El rolled his eyes and I barely kept my grimace at bay. I already had a mate, and one more if I could fucking get to her. I didn’t have time for this drama right now.
“Well, when you decide that you want arealwoman on your side, come see me. I'm in room 416,” she said with an arch of her perfectly stenciled eyebrow.
“Don't wait up,” El deadpanned. I wrapped my arm around his waist and turned him in the other direction. Mostly so he didn’t go after the woman who clearly lacked boundaries and respect for fated mates.
We didn't let go or talk again until we were standing in front of Nyla's room. I could hear their voices on the other side so I knocked loud enough for them to hear. The voices turned into frantic hisses but it was cut off as Zathrian opened the door.
He looked frustrated but it didn’t feel like he was directing it at us.
“She doesn't want to talk to you,” he said bluntly. I could appreciate the honesty but that wasn’t going to work for me.
Nope, she wasn’t hiding. This wasn’t the time for beating around the bush and letting her lock herself in a tower. I’d fight for my mate but we had one week before the distance would be even wider. That was a chance I couldn’t take.
“Well, that's not going to work for me. We just want to talk. I know there's a lot going on here but we're obviously mates, so we have to figure this shit out together.”
“Just left them in, Zath,” Nyla called out in frustration. I was just glad she was giving us a chance, even if it was out of exasperation or exhaustion.
As we stepped around him to get to her, Zath started to leave, but I stopped him with a gentle hand on his bicep.
“You should stay. You're a part of this group, too.” The man's entire body relaxed at my words and he nodded once before turning and walking back in, closing the door behind him. There was a hint of relief in his eyes and the shadows had me curious what his skeletons were. We all had them around here, it seemed.
Nyla was wearing a fluffy, white robe and was tucked under her covers. She sat against the headboard as trash TV played across from her.
All I could think about was what she had on under the robe, if anything. My cock stirred but it all fell away as I took in the look of exhaustion and defeat on her face. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she was ready to fall over.
“Have you eaten?” I asked. It came out much harsher than I intended, and she raised her eyebrows at me.
“Want to rephrase that?”
My hands went up in defense and I blew out a breath as if that would cut the rising tension. She was more than a little fiery and my bear growled in approval at his strong mate.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out so rude. Have you eaten yet?”
She shook her head. “No, I wasn’t really up for it.” The honesty was refreshing. Especially in comparison to El who made me fight for every answer when we met.
“I've been trying to get her to eat for the last forty-five minutes,” her mate said as he sat down next to her. I tracked the movement as he reached over, resting a hand on her knee. Even if it was innocent and over the covers I expected my jealous side to react, but there was nothing. The only real thought I had was I wished we had that easy of a relationship. Even my bear was content, relieved even, to see her relax at his touch. If that wasn’t a sign that we were meant to be together, even Zathrian, then I didn’t know what was.
