I showered until my head cleared before stepping out of the shower and drying off.
I pulled on the outfit Kael had left on the bathroom counter for me: soft joggers and an oversized tee shirt with Rhett’s half body suit. The full-body suit had been destroyed yesterday when I shifted.
By the time I left the bathroom, the main room smelled like heaven, like the heaven poets write about.
Kael stood at the tiny kitchenette, moving efficiently through it. There was toast, along with something that resembled sautéed tomatoes with garlic, and a bowl of cut fruit that was neatly arranged. Two mugs steamed on the counter.
"Tea," he said, motioning with his head to the mugs on the counter. "Chamomile with ginger."
"You’re trying to sedate me," I teased.
"Trying to keep you steady," he corrected. "C’mon, try it. It’ll make you calm."
I accepted the mug and sat on the couch, more aware than ever of the bed where Slater and Rhett were still sprawled, holding each other. How had any of us landed here, in this ridiculous new story?
Kael set my plate in front of me and settled on the ground opposite me, then watched as I took the first bite. It was delicious. I sighed with relish and took another bite.
A smile tugged at his mouth again. The new shave made the curve of his lip look dangerous. "Good?"
"Perfect," I said around a mouthful. "Is there something you cannot do?"
He took a sip of his tea, his gaze flicking to me and away. I could tell he had something to say.
"I can’t get you to forgive me," he said slowly, setting the cup on the table. "Tell me what I can do to earn your trust back?"
I paused mid-bite, feeling Rhyme perk within me. My wolf was so cheap.
"Well, for starters, I’ve forgiven you. I don’t know how to hold grudges..." Follow current novels on ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet
"But?" he intoned, arching a brow at me.
"There’s no but, Kael," I shrugged. "I’ve forgiven you. I’m just trying to reconcile with my new reality. Back in my pack, there was this girl whose mates were twins. She always looked tired, and she was always pregnant. I’m worried that may be my new reality."
"We’ll not be with you at once, Charis," he shook his head. "If that’s what you’re worried about."
I smirked, picking up my mug. "It’s easier to say that now because I’m not bonded to any of you yet. Wait until the bond happens, your wolves would be fighting for dominance, not to mention you’re all Alphas."
"Well!" he shifted slightly. "We’ll not always have sex—"
I choked on my tea, looking up at him. "What did you say?" I asked. "Maybe Slater or Rhett, but I’m not sure I can say the same about you, Kael. You kissed me more than the boys when I was still Eamon. Now that you don’t have to worry about that, you think you’d exercise restraint."
"Yes," he said quietly, gazing at me. "I can try, like how I didn’t come to your bed last night. Rhett joined you and Slater less than thirty minutes after you slept. It’ll be hard, but I can exercise restraint whenever you need me to. You just need to say the word."
I scoffed, reaching for my tea again. Why must he be so perfect?
He continued to sip his tea while I continued eating. A comfortable silence settled between us before Rhyme’s voice filtered into my ears again.
"Not yet," I thought back. "Let me breathe."
After I finished eating, he insisted I sit while he cleaned, ignoring my protests and my attempt to help with a look that said he would tackle me back into the chair if I tried.
Slater and Rhett eventually stirred.
Rhett groaned and complained loudly about having the sun in his eyes, and who had opened the window, while Slater untangled himself from Rhett, stretching and catching me watching him with a sleepy grin that made my chest ache with old memories.
"What smells so good?" Rhett said, sniffing appreciatively. "Did the Moon Goddess visit? Or do we owe Kael our souls?"
"Our souls are sold to him already," Slater said dryly, sitting up and raking a hand through his hair. Our gazes met again, and he winked. "Morning, trouble."
Kael slid a second round of toast onto the coffee table and, in the same motion, slid a look toward the clock.
"We’ll need to decide our schedule for today," he said. "Since she and Rhett are classmates, he’ll be with her the entire day. Also, sleeping arrangements. I don’t think I want to be separated from my mate tonight again, who has a bigger bed?"
Didn’t I just have a heart-to-heart conversation about my fears with Kael? And now he’s talking about a larger bed?
"Or we could take turns sleeping with her," Slater suggested with a yawn. "That is ideal."
"No!" Kael and Rhett said in unison. "That’ll be too much for her," Kael added quietly. "I think we should stay together for now until we figure out a better solution."
"We could ditch school today and spend the entire day with her, how about that?" Rhett suggested.
"We’re not slacking off now that we’ve found our mate," Kael said with a glare directed at Rhett, before turning to Slater. "Pick up all the things she’ll need and bring them to my room. I’m in charge of cleaning and cooking and—"
"Why are we choosing your room?" Rhett interrupted again. "I have the biggest house of the three of us. What if we stay there instead? I don’t want to wake up and see a kitchen."
"Your house’s too far from everything," Slater said. Kael’s room is bigger, and they said he’ll cook and clean, so we only need to worry about keeping our wolves in check."
All three boys agreed as they turned to look at me.
"First," I muttered, though I felt warmth at how my life was being organised without any input from me. "I’m not a smuggled artefact, and I only changed for three of you, not the whole school. No one out there knows I am Charis. I need to ease back into the life I had before last night."
Rhett rolled onto his side, facing me and propping his cheek on his fist "How are you feeling? Are you well rested now?"
Heat crept up my neck at his suggestive tone and the meaning behind his words, but I put on a brave look, trying to act casual. "I feel better. My spine still hurts, but I’m not in pain."
"It’ll smooth out after a few days," Kael said kindly "And I’ll give you a massage after school, okay?"
"Charis," Slater said suddenly, and I looked up at him. He had a soulful expression on his face.
"The bond," he started quietly. "Will you ever accept it? Should we hope that you would?"
"Of course, she would," Rhett glared at Slater. "Do you want to kill us? If she rejects us, I will die."
"I don’t know that yet," I said with a slight shrug. "Three mates..."
"How about you don’t think too much of it?" Kael interrupted. "These things happen naturally, right? Stressing over it would make it worse."
Then Kael clapped his hands, looking over at Rhett and Slater, still on the bed. "Move it, both of you, we have classes today."
We waited until Slater and Rhett had their breakfast. I’d wanted to slip out of Kael’s room, but Kael insisted we must all leave together. Now that we were done, Rhett stood at the doorway, blocking anyone from accessing it.
"I don’t want to leave yet," Rhett said with a sad look on his face. "This feels too good to end."
"We all have classes," I reminded him gently. "We can’t just skip school; someone will know something is wrong."
"Be compassionate, Charis," Slater added. "Zair is going crazy from not having you in his line of sight for several hours. He’s scared something will happen to you."
"Nothing’s going to happen in a few hours," I sighed, "We’ll meet here by evening."
"We’re going to have a terrible day without you," Kael added, surprising me. "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything knowing you’re not nearby?"
"You guys are unbelievable," I scoffed. "Fine, what do you want?"
"A goodbye kiss, to get us through the day," Slater said with a smile.
I looked at their expectant faces and sighed in defeat. "Fine. But just quick ones."