Koit
Istroked a finger down Viv’s back, feeling its velvety softness. She stirred under my touch. Not wanting to wake her again, I pulled my hand back and trailed over her body with my eyes instead.
How had I been so blessed to find such a strong, sassy mate?
Unable to hold back, I placed a soft kiss on her spine between her shoulders. After we had our fun in the workout room, I brought her back up to her room, where we’d been napping and enjoying each other ever since. She fit against me perfectly, like she’d been made to be here.
Unfortunately, though, I couldn’t stay in bed forever.
I carefully extricated myself from her and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the dresser.
Slipping out of the room, I headed down to the kitchen for a midnight snack—sex always made me super hungry.
I was surprised to find Rik up, reading something on Darius’s laptop.
“What are you doing up and using technology?” I asked. My brother always preferred the traditional way of doing things.
“I was emailing the leaders on Kursar. I explained the situation and that we would like to seek asylum there. I finally got the answer, and it’s a way bigger deal than I thought,” Rik said, looking up at me. “Here, read it yourself.”
I leaned over and skimmed the email, my eyes widening in surprise. “Oh, she is not gonna like that.”
“This must be what Tav expected to happen. I can’t say I’m shocked, but not sure how well it will go over when we get there. How are we going to honor their request not to tell her?” Rik said, his brow furrowed in worry.
“Sometimes we need to do what’s best for those we care about, even if it means keeping quiet about something. I’m sure once she figures out what’s going on, she will understand. Hell, we’ll make her understand. She has to,” I said, feeling the gnawing guilt of my own secret.
“Congratulations on your new mate,” Rik said as I walked over to the fridge.
“Thanks.” I paused and looked back at him. “You’re not mad that she marked me before you, are you?”
This had been another thing weighing on my mind. I’d spent my whole life working to stay by Rik’s side, and if this broke that for us, I wouldn’t forgive myself. Viv was everything, but there was something that couldn’t top the connection to family.
“No, I’m not mad. To be honest, I’m glad that I’m the last. I want to do things a little old-school.
I’ve never had a girlfriend or someone special in my life, and I want to do those things for her.
I want to wine and dine her, make her feel special, treasured,” Rik said, closing the laptop and joining me in making a sandwich.
“So you’re saying an impromptu mating session in the workout room isn’t romantic?” I teased, loving how very ‘Rik’ this whole thing was.
“That’s not what I meant, but you said it, not me,” Rik said, a smirk pulling at his lips.
I clapped him on the back. “I think it will be just what she needs. No woman ever turned down being wooed before. You do the romantic crap better than any of us.”
Rik laughed, making me feel more at ease about the whole thing. We ate our sandwiches in silence, just enjoying our company. Hopefully, this is how our pack would be. I respected the hell out of all these wolves, I just hoped we could keep our shit together when we got to Kursar.