AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeh. I mean… she said she fought with Rook, but she didn’t mention Ebony…” He looked back to the lineup of objects. Then he reached over and picked up the glossy print with the black swirls and a singular eye.
“This looks like the ‘Evening Stars’ logo, right?” he asked. That was the interview Ebony and Vex had attended the other week.
“Yeh, I think—” I cut off as the scent of raspberry treacle in the room changed, something anxious in it. I looked up instantly to see Vex had drawn up in front of us, a glass of water clutched in her hand. She was staring at the print Drake was holding, her face paler than usual.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She glanced up at me, then fixed her expression and nodded, though her scent became no more settled. Her eyes darted back to the print.
“Are you sure?” Drake asked, obviously concerned. Her fingers were gripping the cup so hard they were white.
“I’m… fine.” She glanced between us guiltily, and then back at the print, clearly unable to keep her eyes from it.
Oh.
Oh.
“Uh… mate,” I reached over, tugging it from his grip. Her scent spiked an edge of panic, but then I placed it back down on the sill where it had been before. Then, just like that, she was back to normal. Well… she wasthis, which wasn’t normal, but it was… it was good.
She settled back down before the sill, placing the cup carefully next to the chia pet. “How much do you think I should water it?” she asked, peering back at me.
I pulled my phone out to look it up.
Drake still seemed confused, until he caught her reaching out and adjusting the Evening Stars print once, twice, and then a third time, each time throwing a guilty glance Drake’s way.
His eyebrows had vanished into his messy hair as I read out how much she was supposed to water the chia pet.
“Is she… nesting?”he mouthed at me.
I opened my mouth, then shut it, giving him a non-committal nod. But it was hard not to think so as I watched her drizzling just the tiniest bit of water onto the chia pet, brows drawn with a focused expression only inches from the horrifying thing.
Drake looked back at me, absolute bewilderment on his face.“Ebony?”he mouthed again.
I shrugged, just as baffled as he was. I’d asked my brother to try with her, and it seems he had. Oddest of all, it seemed to have worked, and I would be lying if I said that didn’t make me a little jealous.
When Vex looked back to us, her eyes were a bit brighter than they had been yesterday. “Do you think uh… maybe we could unpack a box, today?”
VEX
I was tired of being broken and fragile and exhausted.
I wanted to be strong enough that I could take something back. Despite the bond on my neck. Despite the commands and the alphas lurking in the back of my mind.
Truly, I had no idea which part it was: screaming at Rook, demanding Ebonyrefrainfrom turning himself into the world’s most flawless mate, or perhaps it was finally knowing where I stood with them all. But this morning I’d woken up in Drake’s arms feeling… better. Not perfect, but a little less fragile.
And then I’d seen Ebony’s gifts, and the room had changed.
Right now, it was like they were the centre of the space. Everywhere I moved, they tugged my attention back to them. The point of safety, of… something right.
There was one other thing that felt a part of this room, tucked deep in the back of the linen closet. But it was a reminder of my desperation, and I felt a little guilty considering it. So, with Love and Drake, I began unpacking one of the boxes they had brought, and suddenly the room had more anchors in it, balancing it out. Each one made it feel more right. I placed Aisha’s collar, which I’d previously returned to the box out of nerves, on the table beside my bed.
Love and Drake were both being so patient with me. They’d promised me that, and yet it was more reassuring to see it. Love was nervous in a way I never thought I’d see, but I noticed he brightened more each time I found a place for one of my things.
Still, I couldn’t look at my makeup. It was in my bathroom where I’d left it, along with my straightener and curler, and in the afternoon, Drake caught me shoving it all back in the drawers. It was more of an issue now that the rest of the nest—room—was starting to feel more safe.
He stepped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and catching my wrists gently. “What are you doing, Dreamgirl?”
“I just… I don’t want it anymore,” I whispered, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
“That’s okay,” he murmured. “Just… tell me why?”
