Page 137 of Pretty Little Prey
The men were adjusting. In the beginning of her animal state, they had clutched at their hearts and shed tears. Guilt and pain consumed their expressions every time they looked at her. Now, they were working together to provide for her, becoming a unit.
They made it known that they would be there for her in any form: vampire, prey, lamb…
They were not just being kind to her, but also to each other. When Daxton blew flames onto a marshmallow, Sly spent the rest of the night throwing random foods in the air to A) test the Light King’s aim and B) see what the best torched snack was. Spoiler: it was marshmallows. Another spoiler: wooden cabins are flammable but thankfully, no real damage was done.
As angry and hurt as she had been from these predator shifters, she had begun to forgive them. Every day they stayed by her, with no promise of a future with her, and took care of her in this form, she fell a little bit in love with them.
Each night, the predators gathered all the pillows and sheets and formed a nest of cushions and warm male bodies around Luna.
Never felt so…taken care of.
They provided for her. They cooed their regret of how they had acted and promised to be better. Shewitnessedthem being better.
Each morning, Bastille and Daxton would glance at each other and nod, as if they had a new understanding of what it meant to share a mate. Aka: to be civil and not act like spoiled, spiteful children.
One night, Bastille had pet her and whispered, “Even if you never turn back, this is enough for me. Just being near you will always be enough for me.”
As the days passed, Luna felt more and more like herself. She would poke her cold wet nose onto the men’s cheeks. Kobe would purr, “Moonbeam,” and hold her tight in his big arms.
“I miss your snarky comments, lamb,” Bastille would whisper to her. “I know everyone wants you to turn back, but sometimes I worry that once you do, you’ll hate us. And you have every right to. I don’t deserve you.” The basilisk stroked her. Petted her. “But I would do anything to make it all up to you. To start over.”
Days passed of tender touches and words, until her mind felt clear.
Kobe sat on the ground while watching TV, and she jumped onto him, tackling him. Her hooves pinned his shoulders as he gaped up at her, on his back.
“Moonbeam?” His tone dripped with excitement. Anticipation. Hope.
She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.
“Moonbeam, please come back to me. To us.” He burrowed his face into her wool. “Need you. Love you.”
And she began to shift.
Chapter 54
Bastille had finally taken a shower after all of the men’s griping. Apparently, he had refused to leave Luna’s side “long enough” because the men shoved him into the bathroom with a towel and a brand-new bar of soap.
He grumbled bitterly as he washed away the lather over his chest and meaty arms. Basilisk shifters did not often have to shower because they could just shed their skin for a new one. As fun as he felt it could be to leave the skinned shell of his body somewhere Daxton would stumble across it, he didn’t want Luna to find it and have another reason to stay catatonic.
Loud shouting reverberated through the bathroom door, and Bastille quickly shut the water off to listen.
When he heard Kobe shout, “Moonbeam,” followed by a crashing noise, Bastille sprinted from the shower. Not taking the time to grab a towel to cover his naked body, Bastille splattered water all over the floors as he ripped open the door and ran for the living room of the cabin.
“What? What’s happened?”
Bastille skidded to a stop, nearly slipping, as he saw Luna’s human form shaking in Kobe’s arms. Both of them were crying and clutching each other. Sly, Nikolai, and Daxton all burst into the living room as well. The intake of breath from all the men echoed around the space.
“Luna.”
“Lamb.”
“Little Mate.”
The men fell once more to their knees, shuffling into a circle around Kobe and Luna, all reaching to put a hand on her, to verify this was real.
“We’re so sorry, Luna,” they repeated their apologies.
“So sorry,” Kobe grunted into her neck.
