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I sipped on my lemonade. “Where did you learn how to cook? Weren’t you part of the Alpha family?” The prominent families of Alphas usually worked jobs related to ruling over the sleuth. Other people took care of their daily needs so that they wouldn’t have to waste their time on tasks others could perform. “Didn’t you have servants?”
“We did, but I’ve always been interested in how things are made. I love working with my hands; car repair, building maintenance, cooking. As long as the job is something manual, experience has shown me that I’ll like it.”
I stared at Esteban’s hands. They were much larger than mine and calloused, betraying the fact that he spent a lot of time using them to work. The realization that he was such a capable man warmed my heart.
Esteban was an Alpha one could rely on, and not only when the time came to make decisions for the whole sleuth. If something broke down, Esteban could fix it. Being protected by someone who knew how to do so many things was comforting.
Esteban, however, appeared a bit embarrassed. I raised an eyebrow when I looked back at him and noticed him blushing slightly, avoiding my gaze. The shyness made him seem younger, but the reaction felt so out of place on this experienced man’s face.
I didn’t have to wonder for long what had caused his shift in mood. “Gabriel is the one with brains. He does accounting and shopping for the sleuth. I could never work with papers and numbers like he does. I’m not… smart enough.”
I shook my head energetically, making my hair fall out of my bun. Esteban’s hand guided a strand of my brown hair behind my ear. He lingered next to my cheek but didn’t touch me. I felt a sense of loss, as if I was missing a vital piece of myself.
“You’re not stupid, Esteban. Everyone is good at different things. Gabriel wouldn’t be able to fix a car, and you can’t keep a ledger, but does it matter? No, because you two work together, complimenting each other! Where one lacks something, the other can fill in. You’re the perfect partners.” My tone was full of conviction. What I had just said was the truth. And after the words were out of my mouth, I felt even more certain that I was right about their perfectly complementary nature.
“Thank you for thinking that way.” Esteban looked happy with my words. I seemed to have reassured him.
We got up to clean the plates. We couldn’t leave a mess for tomorrow. While I performed the simple but repetitive task, my thoughts wandered. Esteban also had a thoughtful look on his face, so we worked in quiet companionship.
Gabriel without Esteban wouldn’t be the same Gabriel. Similarly, Esteban had to have Gabriel around to be the person he was. They were inseparable, two halves of a whole.
If I wanted to mate with them, I would have to accept them both.
The thought came so suddenly, my heart skipped a beat. A plate slipped out of my fingers but landed safely in the sink. Esteban gave me a look, one eyebrow arched.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”
“Be careful,” Esteban said.
We returned to washing the dishes, but my thoughts were still restless.
Why was I thinking of mating with the Alphas? Yoselin’s words came to mind. How she had said both of them were attracted to me, like that fact was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ever since then I had started to notice little gestures; how Gabriel looked at me with heat in his chocolate-brown eyes, how Esteban gave me those warm looks and soft smiles.
The kiss with Gabriel came to mind. The exchange had been heated and passionate; nothing like any other kiss I had ever experienced. Though I wasn’t very experienced in such matters, I still knew enough to realize Gabriel was a good kisser.
The intimacy with him had made me feel such heat and lust that the depth of the feelings had scared me. That was why when the kiss ended and I saw the same emotions reflected in Gabriel’s eyes, I became spooked. I turned tail and ran away.
I had fled as much from him as from myself. I hid in the four walls of my room, but the memory of the kiss had lingered for a long time. I hadn’t been able to sleep that night, and when I finally did fall into the embrace of rest I dreamed of Gabriel showering me with kisses.
The next day Gabriel had talked to me like he usually did. He had been his normal sunny and fun self. He had teased me, and I had responded as I had previously done, giving him the cold shoulder but my face heated up the entire time, so I hadn’t really been fooling anybody. My ice-queen act could have only gone so far.
And today with Esteban? I had enjoyed spending time with him a lot while we cooked together. He hadn’t jabbed at me with words like Gabriel. Where Gabriel always made sure I was on my toes, thinking of what to say next while we played a game of words, Esteban was like a calm lake. On its waters I could relax and bask in the sun of his rare but handsome smiles and now I had experienced not only the soft ones which he sometimes gave me but the bright and expressive ones full of joy as well.
The more time I spent in Santuario, the better I got to know the two Alphas who ruled over the sleuth. People talked about them favorably, and the two bear shifters lived up to their admirable reputation.
Before I knew it, my heart had warmed up to Esteban and Gabriel, and I had started having a small hope bloom in my heart that they felt the same toward me. I entertained the dream of being their mate for a moment. Would I finally be happy at their side? Would I find a home that accepted me fully for who I was, half-breed, scar, and everything else that made me Daphne? Was a future of that kind even possible?
I didn’t think it was. After all, I had been rejected by my mate not long ago. The Goddess of Nature wouldn’t let me form a bond with others so soon, if ever, or rather, two bonds – one with each of these men, but that fact didn’t mean I had to refuse Gabriel and Esteban if they wanted to be with me, right? We could try to be in a relationship without a mating bond.
The thought was somewhat grim. The bond was what enhanced shifter relationships, made them as close and intimate as two or three souls could be with each other. Depriving these two men of such a wondrous experience felt wrong and yet, the greedy part of me that wanted to be the one they cared for pushed me to try for a relationship without mating. Maybe Gabriel and Esteban wouldn’t mind?
I had to talk to the two of them about the thoughts that filled my head. I now noticed that the Alphas were trying to get me to like them. Knowing that their attraction to me was most likely the reason they had rescued me made me feel less like I owed them something in exchange for saving my life and dignity.
Now I was sure they wouldn’t demand of me anything I wouldn’t willingly give. Otherwise, like Victor, they would have already ordered my submission immediately, right? Yet I had been in their village for a week now with neither of them being pushy towards me. They approached me, but they didn’t force me to do or feel anything I didn’t want.
No, Gabriel and Esteban were nothing like Victor or Sander, the mate who had rejected me. The Alphas were good men and trying to be with them was worth my effort.
