13. Finley
Finley
“Snuggles, you need to wake up so you can eat,” Mason whispered in my ear as he swirled delicious-smelling food under my nose.
Cracking open an eye, I looked at him and then the steaming bowl of some type of creamy chicken and rice meal.
When I shifted, I felt that I was still attached to Zander, but for some reason, it wasn’t awkward to have Mason and Noah hanging out in the bed with us.
Zander grabbed a pillow for me to put under my chest so I could sit up higher and eat easier.
The food was amazing and tasted just as good as it smelled, making me hum and curl my toes.
After a week of being spoiled by them, to go without their cooking for two days was not something I wanted to make a habit of.
“This is wonderful, thank you, Mason,” I praised as I pushed forward, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Who knew you were such a good cook.”
Mason beamed at me. “To be fair, most of us are pretty good at making food since we all like to eat. Colt’s the only one you have to watch out for. He’s only good at making breakfast foods. Anything other than this is dangerous.”
“Good to know,” I giggled. Then froze, looking back up at Mason.
His eyes glowed with happiness, letting me know he didn’t miss it. “Now, snuggles, I didn’t think you made noises like that? Didn’t she say she never giggles, twin?” he asked Noah, who was lounging beside him.
“Once I could see as a mistake, but twice… now that’s becoming a pattern,” Noah agreed. “Guess we will just have to keep our ears peeled to see if it happens a third time, then there’s no way she can say giggles don’t come out of her mouth.”
“What are you two on about?” Zander asked, his voice muffled since his face was pressed to my shoulder.
“Answer this question first was that a giggle or a laugh?” Mason inquired, resting his chin on his hands like an excited child.
For as large of a person as he was, beating all the others besides his twin with bulk, he acted completely different than his appearance. No one would guess behind the brawn was a child-like heart and teasing attitude.
“Seriously?” Zander demanded, lifting his head to look at the beta. “I don’t even know what the difference between those is. A laugh is a laugh. Why the fuck do you need to put a label on it?”
“Dude, that made you sound so old,” Mason teased, rolling his eyes. “Did you need me to grab your cane for you when you get out of bed to make it back downstairs?”
Zander started to growl and raise up on his arms. “You are one lucky son of a bitch that I can’t go anywhere right now, but don’t think that will save you from me dealing with this later.”
As if the other two alphas knew the twins were causing trouble, they entered the room with Elias right behind them. Lane paused and took in the scene before him, brows raised. “Ah, everything good here?”
“Just having a bonding moment, right Zan?” Mason shared, grinning at the trapped alpha.
Clearing my throat, I smoothed a hand over Zander’s leg, trying to calm him down as he tried to get up to go after Mason. Thankfully his body realized that he needed not to be stuck in me anymore, and his knot eased enough for him to slip out of me.
“You better run, beta, or I’ll show you a whole other bonding moment we can have that I’ll enjoy more than you will,” Zander warned now on all fours, ready to leap over me.
A shrill whistle pierced through the air, making us all freeze and turn to Elias.
“Everyone off the fucking bed if you’re going to act like assholes.
Finley is in the middle of it trying to eat and you felt like now was the time to piss off an alpha?
” he demanded of Mason. “Don’t think your off the hook either, Zander.
You know he likes to get under your skin, but how could you let that cloud your judgment?
If the two of you really started to fight, Finley would be the one to get hurt.
You were still fucking knotted in her, for fuck’s sake. ”
The room fell silent as we watched the moody beta, who, from what I’ve seen, hardly spoke unless he had to. I don’t know if he felt this was necessary or if he was becoming even more protective of me now that I’d marked him.
He stood there like my dark protector as he made sure everyone got off the bed, leaving me in peace to finish my meal now that I could sit up.
My nose wrinkled at the feeling of sitting in cum, so I moved to another part of the bed.
Taking a real shower was going to be needed, but it could wait while the food was still hot.
“Dude, are you sure you’re not some undercover alpha?” Mason asked Elias.
Elias crossed his arms and gave Mason a withering look.
“My status as a beta doesn’t change the fact that I will protect my mate from any and all dangers that I can.
Titles don’t change your abilities. It only changes how people perceive you in their own minds.
I’d rather they underestimate me. It makes it that much easier to rip out their throat when they’re not watching. ”
Lane’s jaw fell open at this announcement. Colt, on the other hand, nodded his approval of Elias’s plan. Zander just muttered under his breath and headed off to the bathroom. The sound of the shower soon followed.
“Once you eat and get cleaned up, we can let you rest,” Noah assured me as he walked over to the side I was sitting on, kissing my cheek. “I’ll also make sure to change the sheets unless you want space in your nest?”
“No, space from you guys is the last thing I want,” I answered, scraping the last spoonful out of the bowl. “But I think it’s better to wait for Zander to get out of the shower before going back in there.”
Noah smiled, his eyes crinkling with suppressed laughter. “Smart plan, babe.”
With Zander having no hair to wash, it made his shower rather quick, allowing me to slip in right after him with Elias to block the door, ensuring I could actually wash up.
Clean and in soft, snuggly clothes, I crawled back into the massive bed that smelled like fresh sunshine.
I wiggled my fingers at the others, welcoming them into the bed with me.
Noah was the first to wrap himself around my back, and Elias took the front, leaving the others to find their own space.
“Does anyone need to be anywhere today, or can we nap without an alarm set?” Noah questioned.
Everyone muttered various responses of no, and we all settled in, allowing the comfort of being together to settle my wolf and remind me that my home was with them.
They were what mattered most to me, and I would do anything to protect and defend them.
If the Dark Ring or the Senate wanted to test my resolve on that, they were welcome to try, but they wouldn’t survive the encounter.
It turned out our nap lasted until the sun started to pour in the following morning. Trapped at the bottom of the snuggle pile of bodies, I tried to squirm my way out, but that was turning out to be more difficult than I’d expected.
Mason was wrapped around my legs like an anaconda, his head right on my bladder.
Noah was still at my back, one hand holding my boob, while Elias had his face shoved between them with his arms wrapped around my ribs.
This time it was the alphas who were draped over, only getting to touch me with a hand, unlike the many other occasions where that was the betas.
As I looked over the scene around me, I felt like something was missing, and when I reached out for it, I got a response.
Rath was awake and downstairs, getting acquainted with the house while we were still sleeping.
He also let me know that he was now on his way up to rescue me if I needed it.
I couldn’t help but smile at this interaction, now understanding why he’d been so thrown off that I kept him locked out of my thoughts.
It wasn’t like we could talk to each other in words per se, but more with intention and emotion.
It was clear that after we had sex, our bond strengthened even more, and I could feel him more clearly.
Almost like he had his one direct line into my consciousness that was separate from my empathic abilities.
We’d bonded physically, but it seemed we needed the emotional part of it to get everything to flow more smoothly.
When Rath appeared at the foot of the bed, he looked down at us with a smile and a huff of laughter. “I can see why you feel like you’re stuck, nin mel. They have found every possible way to make sure you weren’t going anywhere.”
“Yes, and while I find it heartwarming and adorable, I really have to pee,” I commented, reaching out a hand to him.
Rath ignored my hand, instead moving his hands as if weaving together something out of nothing but air.
Moments later, I felt wind surrounding me, lifting me from their hands and bodies before picking me up and carrying me over to Rath.
The wind gave out, and I landed safely in his arms, where I proceeded to nuzzle into his neck, marking him with my scent.
My wolf really didn’t like that he had almost no scent to him so he would bear ours.
“Thank you, and good morning,” I murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
Rath deepened the kiss a moment before setting me on my feet. “Good morning, nin mel, did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I feel back to normal and ready to take on anything.”
“Good, but first, I think you need to wake up the others from the healing sleep you put them in unintentionally,” Rath suggested.
Spinning on my heels, I took in my mates, observing they hadn’t moved a muscle.
Elias would have been awake the moment I stirred and definitely wouldn’t have let a gust of wind take me away from him.
The others also seemed to be in a deep sleep.
Only the rise and fall of their chests confirmed they were alive.
“I didn’t hurt them, did I?” I asked, panic clawing at my chest. “How did I even do that without knowing it?”
“You’re powers are so strong and untrained that you were taking care of them in your sleep.
If you had any lingering thoughts about how tired they looked or anything to do with their health, it could have triggered this.
No harm has been done to them, quite the opposite, actually.
When they wake up, they will be rested, healed of any ailments, and restored body and mind,” Rath explained, resting his hands on my shoulders to ground me as I tried to understand what he was saying.
“Is this what you did to me?” I questioned, looking up at him.
“On a smaller scale, yes, but you are far more powerful than I am to do this to so many at a time. Now, to bring them out of it, you just need to focus and put intention behind your magic. It wants to help you. Your magic wants to be used. All it needs is direction,” he instructed, running his hands up and down my arms. “Close your eyes and picture them how they would be waking up normally. Hold that in your mind and push out with your magic.”
Breathing in through my nose slowly, like I did with my meditation, I did as Rath instructed.
Once I had the picture in my mind, I slowly let my magic flow out of me and swirl around them, caressing them as if I were trying to wake them up.
Soon their stirring bodies had me opening my eyes to find them all waking up.
Mason yawned loudly, stretching his arms out, smacking Zander in the face.
“The fuck, man,” Zander snarled. “Watch what you’re fucking doing.”
“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Mason grumbled, stumbling off the bed.
“Not sure how that’s even possible when that was the best sleep of my life.
Snuggles, you are one addictive person to sleep with, that’s for sure.
I didn’t even wake up once with all these idiots jockeying for space. ”
The others got up as well, seeming a little disoriented but otherwise no immediate signs of what I had done to them. “That would be because I drugged you to sleep in a sense…”
They all paused in their actions to look at me. “Explain that,” Colt ordered but grunted when Lane elbowed him. “Please, little one, could you tell us what you mean by that?”
“You really have to stop ordering her around. She doesn’t like it and can’t say no to us,” Lane pointed out as he got up and walked over to me, giving me a peck on the lips.
“Good morning, sweetheart. I have a feeling there is a lot we are going to learn today if this is how things are starting out.”
“Coffee first,” Elias stated as he kissed me on the cheek and headed downstairs.
Flicking my gaze up to Rath, I shrugged. “They are acting totally normal. I thought they would be all relaxed and peaceful after a healing sleep.”
“Clearly, you had an incredibly specific memory of how they woke up and your magic gave you what you asked for,” Rath answered with a chuckle. “Let’s head downstairs. They’ll be along shortly.”