26. Finley #2
"Little one, I know that it's going to take some time to adjust, but you need to eat more and more often. If you've reached the point that your stomach is begging for food, you've gone too long," Colt scolded me.
Sitting up, I scowled down at him. "What, you want me to set a timer and eat every two hours or something?"
"That's actually a really good idea." Colt nodded.
"I was joking, you know."
Colt grinned and booped me on the nose with a finger. "I figured, but that doesn't make it any less of a good idea. Come on, smells like whatever Lane and Zander were cooking up for breakfast is done. Time to fatten you up a bit."
"Are you saying I'm too skinny?" I demanded.
The look of panic on Colt's face as he tried to find a way to answer me was priceless. Leaning forward, I gave him a quick peck on the lips before I slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom. "Kidding!" I called over my shoulders.
"Looks like someone woke up with a little extra pep in their step," Colt chuckled. "Come down when you're ready. We need to make some plans for today."
I piled my hair up and hopped into the shower, scrubbed my body, and called it good.
Starting off the day fresh and clean was the best feeling as well as a necessity for starting the day off right.
I wandered through the options that Zander bought me while discovering our idea of buying a few things was vastly different.
I had a full wardrobe of everyday clothes, workout gear, business professional, and dresses for something more formal.
Feeling the need to get a workout in, I slipped on leggings, a sports bra, and a workout tank with a sweatshirt.
Along the bottom of the closet, I found a shoe rack full of options that were exactly my size.
How Zander had managed to learn all this information was something I would love to know.
Ready for the day, I headed downstairs and found another feast of breakfast items laid out on the kitchen counter. What I'd been smelling was the giant icing-drowned cinnamon rolls that were making my mouth water at the sight.
"Smugg-el-s!" Mason called out from his spot at the table, mouth stuffed full of food, which he promptly started to choke on.
Noah slapped him on the with a loud thump, sending whatever he'd been choking on out of his mouth and onto the plate. "Don't fucking talk with your mouth full, you barbarian."
"Holy shit, you saved my life, twin!" Mason gasped in between coughing fits.
"Isn't the first and definitely won't be the last," Noah muttered. "Good morning, love, fill up a plate. We've all gotten ours."
Looking over the table, I saw that all of them had full plates in front of them even if they weren't really eating yet.
They were doing this for me, that way I could easily grab my own meal without needing one of them to serve me.
I grabbed the plate left for me and started with the cinnamon roll, working from there until the plate matched theirs in size.
I took an open seat at the head of the table so I could see them all as they talked.
"So, unfortunately, sweetheart, all of us have things that we need to deal with today," Lane started. "Would you like to stay here for the day or have us drop you off with some of the pack that work around the property? It’s up to you."
The idea of being stuck in this house didn't sit right with me, no matter how beautiful it was, but I wasn't sure I was so keen on spending time with the pack without having them around. "Are you guys leaving the pack lands?"
"I will be. Mother asked for me to meet her so she could introduce me to someone who spent most of their life living among the Light Elves. This kind of opportunity is too good to pass up," Zander shared, giving me an apologetic look.
"Colt and I will be close, but we have some meetings and new supernatural paramedics to train for the next two days. I know this came at the worst time, but the faster we get them on board and good to go, the freer we are to be around," Lane explained.
Elias reached over and took my hand, drawing my attention. "I will be on the pack lands, but being the only beta available to the whole pack, I can't stay with you."
"Oh, where will you both be?" I asked, looking at the twins.
Mason scratched the back of his head as if nervous to tell me. "Ah, you see, snuggles, we got asked to be security at this shifter club last week in another town. We wanted to call them and tell them we had to cancel, but Colt said we couldn't."
"Little one, it’s more complicated than that.
We’re the healthiest and largest pack on this side of Tennessee; if another smaller pack asks for our help, I feel it's our duty to help them," Colt added.
"There may come a day that we need their help, so fostering a mindset of give and take is helpful to us all as a pack. "
I nodded, agreeing with him on that logic. "Well, I can't plan on you guys being around me all the time, now can I? The goal is to get me more integrated with the pack anyway, right? So no time like the present."
Colt cupped my face in his hands and kissed me soundly. "You are the most amazing mate I could have ever been blessed with. We'll make it up to you, I promise."