Page 77 of The Magic of Eternity
“There’s my Cub,” Kai crooned, smiling wide.
Cam brushed his ass off and headed for the door. “I’ll just be downstairs. Come down when you’re done?” He shifted on his feet, staring intently at me. I nodded. I’d follow him anywhere. With that, he left us.
“Alright, Sprout. Let’s get you cleaned up and then we’ll figure out all the rest, okay?” Kai grunted as I surged forward and wound my arms tightly around his waist. The purring started right away, soothing me. It did the job, too. I felt myself calming. He was my Alpha and he’d always take care of me.
I’d been scrubbedand massaged in the shower. My skin felt raw, but in a good way. Like I’d shed away something dark that had been plaguing me, slowly infecting my mind and consuming me. It was a small step, but taking a shower, letting Kai shave my legs and clean me—it was everything I’d needed. The man even combed and used the blow dryer on my hair afterward. I felt cherished, and like a woman who was deeply loved.
“Ready?” he asked, extending his hand.
I swallowed. This was ridiculous. This was my cottage, my home. It wasn’t a big deal to actually leave my room, but damn if my heart wasn’t racing. I reached for him. My love, my mate. Together, we descended the stairs and I could already hear the low timbre of conversation coming from the living room. I hoped Bram was back.
When I reached the living room, my mouth fell open. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough as I took in the space that had been completely transformed.
“What is this?” I whispered.
The couch had been pushed back into a corner of the room, the other furniture pushed out of the way. The center of the room had a huge bed and around it, soft white tulle draped from the ceiling over the entire thing, enclosing it. Pillows and blankets were arranged neatly, and I felt my feet carrying me closer.
Tears blurred my vision as I ran my fingers over the canopy.
“Do you like it?” Bram rumbled, startling me from my haze. I searched the room, finally finding him standing tall next to Sloane.
“You made me... a nest?”
Bram was in front of me so quickly, his amber eyes pinning me to the spot. “Wemade you a nest, Goldie.” He lifted his hand and slid it through my hair. “It was a recommendation from an elder in Besmet. It’s been so long since we’ve had any births there, but he remembered his mother speaking about a friend of hers who was suffering after delivery. Much like you are. Her mates made her a family nest, not knowing what else to do. It soothed her, and greatly helped with her worries and depression.”
I processed his words and let my gaze take in more of what they’d done. When had they done all this? It must’ve taken a lot of work. There were soft robes and fuzzy socks laid over the end of the bed, just waiting for me to use them.
“This is... This is so thoughtful,” I said quietly, trying to keep it together. It was hard to do when you had the best six men in creation doing stuff like this.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner, Goldie. Please forgive me,” Bram pleaded, and the guilt in his eyes was clear as day.
I shook my head. “No, no. You don’t do that. You did nothing to be sorry about.” That was the last thing I wanted—for them to blame themselves over this.
Faris came into the room, carrying a tray piled high with food and a big ass smile on his handsome face. “I apologize, Firefly. I know how much you love my toast, but it appears the toaster grew legs and ran away.” He narrowed his eyes, looking suspiciously at each of my other mates.
“Aww, man,” I whined, pretending to be upset. A snort came from behind me, and I shot Guppy a glare that quickly dropped away when I saw him in the recliner with a baby in each arm. I’d never seen anything more appealing than these big, dangerous, scary ass males holding their pretty babies. Gah.
“Come sit by me and eat some food, Red,” Sloane ordered. He’d tried to make it sound like a request but we both knew it wasn’t. His jaw ticked as I approached him where he’d made himself comfortable on the sectional in the corner of the room.
“Here?” I pointed at the spot next to him, and he grumbled something that was impossible to decipher. Guess that was a yes.
As I went to lower myself down, his hands landed on my hips and he guided me onto his lap, my back to his front. He buried his face against my shoulder and took several shuddering breaths, nearly wrecking me all over again. My mates were hurting. I thought I’d been on my own, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Everyone else crept over, joining us on the couch. It was quiet, but not awkward. I knew I needed to be honest with them about how I’d been feeling, but the thought of going over all of that again sounded like hell.
Sensing my predicament, Guppy spoke up just as I opened my mouth. “Cam filled us in, sweetheart. We don’t need to talk about any of that tonight. We just want to be near you, okay?”
Relieved, I nodded. I was too emotional to speak.
“Alright, Sloane, release our woman so she can eat. The little piglets are going to be up any time, and I want to make sure she eats first for once,” Cam said, leaning back against the couch and propping his ankle on his knee. Reluctantly, Sloane slid me off of his lap, but kept me tucked closely next to him.
Faris grinned as he placed the dinner tray over my legs. I took in the food options, and holy shit. I felt like I was in the movieElf. Things that had no business being together were piled up in some kind of sick food orgy. Tortilla chips and peanut butter. Taco shells filled with marshmallows and drizzled with—I took a closer look—mustard?
“Viper… I uh, my stomach is a little off right now. Someone mentioned soup earlier? Do you have any of that?”
“Ah… no,” he replied, dragging out the end of the word no.
“What do you mean no?” Kai jumped up, heading for the kitchen. “We had a whole pot!”
