Page 10 of Dark Souls

“Your Grandpops asked you a question,” Mum repeated. “What’s got into you today? You seem so distracted.”

I shook my head, peering over at the bulky frame of my Grandpops to give him my attention. “Sorry Pops, what did you say?”

“I was just asking if you’ve heard anything from Lorcan and Leif this week?”

“Oh. Um, not for a few days. Leif sent me a letter telling me all about the coven he is staying in, how much pussy he’s getting and dick he’s sucking. Apparently, they love their orgies in Heroux, so I doubt he’ll ever want to leave—”

“Ilaria!” My mum scolded me, her cheeks turning crimson as my dad choked on his beer and my grandparents all tried to keep a straight face.

“Yeah?”

“That is not an appropriate topic of conversation for the dinner table!”

“But Pops asked and that is—”

“Yes, but we have guests who I am sure would rather not hear about the sexual exploits of your brother while they eat their food.” Mum gave Calli and Niko apologetic smiles, which caused me to huff back into my seat.Really?Who are they all trying to fool? None of them would be accepted into a nunnery.

“I’m sure Calli and Niko are well aware of Leif’s antics. It’s not like it’s a secret. And besides, their daughter has two mates. Leif won’t be the only one having threesomes in Heroux.”

Grandpapi nearly spat his wine across the table and Calli, Neve’s mum, pinched her lips together to suppress her laughter at her mate’s whitening face. My mum kicked my leg under the table while my dad lowered his head into his hand and groaned. Neve would kill me for it, but everyone knew I said things how they were. I don’t know why they all look so surprised.

“It’s fine. We are all adults here. I am sure Neve is having a great time,” Calli offered, smiling at me with mirth dancing in her eyes as she patted Niko’s hand to calm him.

“Changing the topic then.” My Grandma Maddy laughed. “What’s new with you, sweetie?”

This was the moment I should have come clean about the heart beautifully presented in satins and bows in my bedroom by a twisted maniac. My pink eyes darted between all their expectant faces as I chewed on my bottom lip a little.

“Nothing much.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Still not dating anyone?” Grandma pressed, her mischievous grey eyes sparkling as my grandpapi noticeably tensed next to her.

“Still waiting on that miracle,” I muttered, pushing my plate away slightly.

“What about Ronnie? He seemed nice.”

“He’s just a friend,” I answered with nonchalance but my eyes locked with Grandma Alina’s.More like a Feck Buddy; a friend I occasionally fuck or feed from.She was the only one who knew about my little arrangement with Ronnie, seeing as she was technically my therapist, and agreed it would be a good idea to keep Rue under control by providing her with live feeds from a willing participant.

Grandma had trained to become a psychologist before she even found out she was a wolf and met my Grandpops. They were now retired from their Alpha and Luna duties. She devoted her time to therapy sessions for supernaturals. You’d be surprised just how many of us needed it and I wasn’t ashamed that I had been having weekly sessions with her since I was a child, mainly to help support me with my mind-reading abilities. The world was a pretty fucked up place without being able to see directly into people’s minds, so add that little nugget, and I was a walking poster potential for mental health issues. Before I could control how I read people’s minds, my parents worried about me a lot. They tasked my brothers with acting as my personal bodyguards because I freaked people the fuck out when they realised I could hear every little thought. Mixing that with my lack of empathy in most situations and inability to stand for anyone’s bullshit, I often rub people up the wrong way. It was a heavy burden and one I wanted to learn how to control for my own sanity. That’s when Grandma Alina suggested weekly sessions with her to help me cope or, to be honest, just provide a safe space to vent without judgment. I’ve always been a very private person, so it hasn’t been easy to talk about my feelings and emotions. But she had worked hard to gain my trust over the years and I knew everything I said to her in our sessions stayed just between us.

“And let’s keep it that way. No dating until your soulmate.” My dad nodded at me before my mum shook her head at him. “I like Ron. But not for my little princess.”

I rolled my eyes.Here we go again.

“No one will be good enough in your eyes.” Mum chuckled, threading her fingers into the back of his hair. “But she will meet her soulmate one day and you will have to be nice. All of you will.” She moved her gaze to my grandfathers in warning.

“We’ll be nice,” Grandpapi said with a haunting smile. “We’re always nice.”

“Yeah… okay.” Grandma Maddy laughed. “Remember how you reacted when Ruby brought Ezra for breakfast?”

“That was me being nice.” Grandpapi smirked. “He’s still breathing, isn’t he?”

“Only because Ruby saved my ass from you.” Dad chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “And you’d known me since I was born, practically helped raise me and still tried to kill me when you found out I’d marked your daughter.”

“Yeah, you were lucky I liked you.” Grandpapi laughed.

“I honestly feel bad for whoever your soulmate is, Ilaria. Having to impress this lot,” Calli directed the attention back to me.

“Which is why, if I ever do find him, I shall never bring him home to meet them and we shall run away together into the sunset. Or maybe it would be just my luck that my soulmate got stuck in a condom,” I joked, smiling sweetly as I pushed my chair back from the table, which caused their faces to drop. “May I be excused?”

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