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“Hey,” Jude said, gently putting his hand on the small of my back. “Are you okay?”
“I…” I stammered, feeling three pairs of eyes on me. “I don’t know how… Look, I’m fine.”
I wasn’t fine. Through all the fantasies and scenarios, I hadn’t mentally prepped myself for the walk of shame.
I mean, I wasn’t ashamed of what Jude and I shared, but to face the others… I simply didn’t know how to.
Jude made me a plate as I sat down next to Nico. “Good morning,” he whispered in my ear and then kissed my temple. Not the reaction I expected, but then again, I had no idea what to expect.
“Is it?” I said, not meaning to snap but feeling so damned wound up inside. Jude placed a plate in front of me, and I grabbed for the toast.
Soren stared me down and, after a few bites, I could take the tension no longer. I gently put my fork down and let out a long exhale. “I don’t know how to act or if this is a problem. This is weird for me and awkward and my fear and anxiety is turning me into a snappy bitch.”
All three of my mates chuckled. Soren cleared his throat and, despite their laughter, my spine tingled with trepidation. “Freya, we’re not laughing at you. I’m glad you broke the ice. We should probably all get used to talking about this openly.”
“Okay…is that…is that what you were doing when I walked in?”
Nico took my hand in his under the table. He always brought me back to calm. “We certainly were not. I mean, you were in our conversation because somehow all of our conversations always U-turn to be about you.” Jude and Soren chuckled low and deep. “But never in a crass or raunchy manner. You are our queen, not some conquest.”
Nico’s grip pulsed around my hand. “I, for one, am just happy about it. I’m happy for you two. Plus, I’m glad you finally trust us. Well, you trust Jude. Let’s put it that way.”
Soren changed the subject to some small fact he had found that might lead us to more information about the mountain and possibly me.
I’d noticed as the morning waned that my fever was coming back little by little. I didn’t dare alert my mates. They looked completely relieved not to be worried about me anymore.
“You need to eat more than that,” Jude murmured in my ear then pulled back. He cocked his head as his palm felt my forehead. The others had gone their separate ways, but I wanted to stay to help Jude with the dishes. Because apparently he did them now, too.
He started to laugh as we sidled up, turning the water on and adding some soap. “Well, we know this much for sure. Penis isn’t the cure to your fever.”
I laughed so hard that my knees went weak, but Jude caught me. He would always catch me before I fell. “Thanks,” I whispered before his lips descended on mine.
He growled. “Let’s see if we can get that fever down again.”
Chapter Seven
“For the record, this is the last place I want to be going in the entire world.” While we walked down the corridors toward the High Council’s chambers, I took the last opportunity to state my case.
A lesser going into the High Council for something other than a violent berating or a death sentence was unheard of—completely and totally.
Maybe the mountain would open, swallow me whole, and save me from this.
Yet, at the same time, I was highly curious.
“For the record, you should’ve thought about that before you forced yourself onto Jude. Now you’re one of us, and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it. If we are summoned, then you are summoned.”
I scoffed. “Forced myself. As if.”
Jude winked at me as he pulled the door to the chambers open. “Not forced at all, mate. Now, let’s get this over with. Please stay near to us. Mated or not, they can be…fickle.”
Nico laughed and placed his hand at the small of my back. “Fickle? At least your description starts with the right letter. My description of them would be a lot more…crass, shall we say.”
As we crossed the cool room, the High Council members took their seats. Some were shaking their heads, and others were red with anger.
I certainly knew how to make an entrance.
“It’s not you,” an older council member said, clearing his throat and then proceeding to cough. The sound was so deep and disturbing that I mentally wondered if this was his last High Council meeting.
“Thank you, sir,” I said even though my mates asked me to speak as little as possible.
