17. Gage #3
I watch as she awkwardly picks up the knife and fork, holding them in her fists as she attempts to cut the steak. I stare at her, unsure if I find this alarming or adorable. She’s like a toddler trying to use utensils for the first time.
The moment I realize why, shame fills me.
“Fuck,” I hiss through the bond. “She hasn’t used utensils in over ten years, since she was fourteen. She’s lost her dexterity.”
Chase opens his mouth to speak, but someone kicks him under the table, making his jaw snap shut as he winces.
“Don’t draw attention to it,” Hunter warns him. “She might pull back and shift.”
Bain calmly moves his chair closer to hers and gently takes her knife and fork from her. She looks up at him with wide eyes as he proceeds to cut a tiny piece of her steak off and hold it up to her mouth. She only hesitates a second before biting it.
He nods his head in approval as she chews, and he cuts another.
“Open up,” he says quietly when the next piece is ready, and she obeys.
“Good girl,” he says as he cuts another.
I see her cheeks turn pink, and when he goes to offer her a third piece, she reaches up and takes the fork from him.
His brow furrows, but when she holds out the piece of meat for him to eat, his eyebrows almost disappear up his forehead.
After a few moments of shock, he leans forward and bites it off, and she smiles and tells him, “Good boy.” He narrows his eyes at her as the twins start to laugh.
“I don’t enjoy praise nearly as much as you,” Bain tells her as he takes the fork back and feeds her another bite. “Or Hunter.” His eyes dart to Hunter, an amused smirk on his lips as Hunter stares at him in disbelief.
“Dude!” Chase says in surprise before he starts cackling like a hyena.
Cherry looks almost thoughtful as she glances at Hunter, as if storing that away for later. Then she turns those blue eyes on Bain. “What do you like to be called?”
“How about Daddy?” Chase says through the bond as he smirks at him. “Or sir?”
Bain tries not to glare at Chase as he tells her, “I like when you say my name.”
“Do you have a last name?” She glances around the table as she adds, “I don’t know any of your last names except Maddox’s.” Her brow pinches as she adds, a little quieter. “I’m a bad mate. I should have asked that already.”
“Baby girl,” Hunter says, reaching forward to place his hand as close to her as he can on the top of the table. “You’ve barely spent any time in your human form. We’ve had more important things on our mind. Besides, we don’t know yours either.”
A pang of guilt hits me. The first thing I should have done was find out her name and look her up. She may have a digital footprint I can follow to find out more about her. Suddenly, I’m desperate for the answer.
“What is it?” I ask. “Your surname?”
“Rosewood.”
“Cherry Rosewood,” Chase says with an amused nod. “Of course you have a name as pretty as you are.”
“What’s yours?” she asks, ignoring her pink cheeks.
“Timberland,” he says with a grin. “And he’s Gage Ashford,” he says, pointing to me. “And Bain Blackthorn.”
“Are you all thirty?” she asks, looking a little more relaxed. Bain feeds her another bite of steak as Hunter answers.
“Bain and Maddox are thirty. Gage is thirty-one, and Chase and I are twenty-eight.”
She nods, letting Bain continue to feed her as she glances at each of us. She opens her mouth, as if to ask another question, but the doorbell suddenly rings out, silencing her.
I exchange glances with my brothers. “Who could that be?” Hunter asks through the bond. “We don’t know anybody.”
“Bain, you’re with me,” Maddox says as he pushes his chair back. “Stay with them,” he tells Cherry before placing a quick kiss on the top of her head.
Her wide eyes watch them move toward the front door, and before I can blink, the twins have taken the vacated chairs on either side of her, pushing so close that their sides are touching hers.
“It’s probably just the neighbor,” Chase tells her, trying to help her relax.
“Or the mailman,” Hunter suggests.
I know the moment Maddox opens the door, because the unwelcome scent of burned vanilla wafts through our house.
All three of us are instantly on our feet as low growls ring out through the room in warning.
Chase yanks Cherry up into his arms, and she yelps in surprise, before shifting back to her wolf form.
He holds her tightly to his chest as he steps away from the door, and Hunter and I take a protective stance in front of them.
“It’s okay,” Maddox calls out loud. “He’s not here.”
“Bain’s double-checking,” he adds through the bond as I hear the door shut. When he comes back into view, he’s holding a rose with a note.
The sight has Cherry whimpering and her body starts to tremble.
“What does it say?” I ask as I reach back to stroke her. Even though she’s upset, I know she’ll want to know what the note says.
He sighs as he holds it up and reads, “No matter how far you run, how high you fly, I will always find you. Yours forever, Blaze.”
“How did he find us?” Chase asks as he gently sways Cherry back and forth.
“At least now we know we’re dealing with a supernatural,” I tell them. “Otherwise, he never would have gotten through the town barrier.”
“How does that help, though?” Hunter asks me.
“We assumed the facility was all humans. This means they have at least one supernatural helping them.”
“That just makes finding them harder. Anyone in this town could be working with them,” Chase says with an annoyed frown.
“Yes,” I concede. “But it also means that someone in this town probably knows where we can find Dr. J and the facility.”