Page 46 of The Fated Mate Bandit

With that, he stands and dresses quickly before heading out the door.

20

SILVER

Link is sitting in the dining room, taking a bite out of a hard-boiled egg when I get to the kitchen.

“Congratulations, man. It sounds like things went pretty well last night. Do we have a new brother-in-law?”

I sink down in the chair next to him. “Not yet.”

“Really? I thought for sure you sealed the deal. Lucas wasloud.” Link tosses the rest of the hard-boiled egg in his mouth and grabs for the second one on his plate.

“Sorry about that.”

He shrugs. “At least I couldn’t see you this time. Back in college?—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You fucked omegas in our room, too. Why are you up so early?” I ask.

“Coin made us get up. We have to leave in a few minutes. He’s got work, and Slade has to get back to the trailer park before ten. Did you know he’s taking up plumbing with Mom?”

“What?” Our alpha mom has been running the Fox Plumbing business by herself for as long as I can remember. She won’t even let Uncle Dagger’s bookkeeping guy help her with her taxes.

“Yeah. I guess he’s a licensed electrician, so they’re expanding the business.”

Tin appears in the doorway of the eat-in kitchen. His eyes are alert, and his face is already shaven. He probably gets up this early every day at the ranch. “Good morning. I hope you don’t mind, but I already brewed a pot of coffee.”

Coin squeezes around him and walks into the kitchen. “Thank you very much.” He opens a few cupboards before locating a coffee mug. “Are you guys ready to go?”

Link shoves the remaining egg in his mouth and gives a thumbs up.

Chime scampers into the kitchen wearing a bright red dress and gold shoes. Link holds out his arms to her, and she runs toward him. At the last moment, he stands up and lifts her off the ground. She squeals with delight.

“What are we having for breakfast?” Quin asks, trailing behind her. Slade has his big, beefy arm around his narrow shoulders. They seem so comfortable together, which is bizarre. Back when we were in high school, Quin got all jittery and nervous every time Slade so much as glanced in our direction.

I guess a lot has changed for them, too in the last five years.

“Tin made coffee and Link raided my fridge for eggs. You’re welcome to eat whatever you can find. I have bread for toast. There’s cereal, yogurt, bananas.”

Quin opens the fridge. “We could make pancakes.” He smiles at something behind me. “For old time’s sake.”

I turn to see Lucas standing uncertainly in the hallway. He’s wearing his new jeans and one of the nicer shirts. The collar is wide enough to expose his scent gland, which is still puffy and scabbed over from last night. I notice the way Quin’s eyes dart to the bite, but only for a second.

“We don’t have time for pancakes,” Coin reminds him, taking a long swallow of coffee. “We need to be out of here in ten minutes.”

“Are you sure we have to leave?” Quin asks. “We haven’t seen Lucas in forever. Wouldn’t it be fun to play hooky and bake cinnamon rolls or something?”

Lucas gives him the sweetest, shyest little smile. God, he’s cute. I can’t wait until he’s properly mine.

“What do you think, Chime?” Link says, tickling her belly. “Should we play hooky and bake cinnamon rolls?”

She giggles. “Yes! Stop it, Uncle Link.”

He sets her down, as requested. “Okay. But I think a tickle monster might be coming.”

She rolls her eyes dramatically. “I’m too old for the tickle monster.”

“That isn’t possible. The tickle monster attacks everyone. Even old people.”

---