When I look up again, I see everyone staring at us wide-eyed. Only Elden and Finn seem to be completely unfazed. I’m taking a wild guess, but I bet Elden knows the mate bond all too well. The others, however... I swear, Felix’s mouth even dropped open a bit.
Meanwhile, Flora looks like she will burst into little oohs and awwwwws any second.
Finn, totally unbothered, asks “Can someone pass me the bread, please?” When Aurelia turns to look at him and raises her eyebrows, he just shrugs. “What!? I’m friends with her. I was there when they met for the first time. They are always like this. Better suck it up and get used to it.”
Elden’s lips tug at his words while Flora claps her hands together in excitement. “They are almost like us when we first met,” she snuggles against Elden.
Elden smirks. “We were even bolder, though.”
She beams at him. “Don’t give me ideas, Alpha Elden…”
“Oh goddess, no, have mercy,” Felix groans.
Dario nods. There is a glint of humor in his normally shy eyes for a moment. When he looks at me I smile, happy that he returns it.
Marius arrives later than the others. I notice the glare Elden throws at him, but he doesn’t comment on it. He just probably wants to maintain a peaceful atmosphere and not alienate me in any way. Shortly after him, Aryanna and Dante join us as well, together with Aurel and that young warrior, Edward, who is also one of Flora’s protectors, and Elden’s Betas Calvin and Vincent.
Ari has changed her look once again. Her hair is dark red ombre now, and is wearing stylish ripped jeans. “Hey Ari,” Liam teases. “Where are the rest of your pants?”
“Oh man,” Finn rolls his eyes. “That’s exactly what Dad asked me today.”
“Yeah, it’s such a Dad comment,” Aurelia giggles.
I decide to help him with their teasing, well aware he doesn’t handle it well. “Who knows?” I shrug nonchalantly, allowing a hint of suggestion to drip into my voice. “Maybe he is just practicing-”
“No,” Finn whines. “I don’t want to imagine my brother practicing anything that leads to children.”
“Stop elaborating even further, Finn,” Felix huffs.
Liam just smirks and drapes an arm around my shoulders.
Elden looks at me and laughs slightly. “You know how to handle them,” he whispers lowly.
“What can I say?” I chuckle, whispering back. “I have an overprotective younger brother and father; but also a very confident mom and older sister. I learned from the best.”
Liam has pack business to attend to, so I have decided to stroll through the pack grounds for a while. The original plan was to take me back to the town, but I just want to stay where Liam is. Luckily, Liam didn’t push further.
The kids at the nursery are playing outside, and I decide to join them. Little Emily is not playing with the others, though. She sits on one of the benches, looking at the flowers in the meadow.
“Hi, Emily,” I smile as I approach her.
She stops sucking at her thumb for a moment. “Annie,” she whispers.
“You like flowers?”
For a moment, she seems to contemplate, and then she nods shyly. An idea strikes me. “Emily,” I smile. “How about we craft something out of these flowers?”
She seems to be curious. “What?”
“It’s a surprise.” I smile.
I’m in the midst of working on my little surprise when I realize a shadow is approaching me. To my utmost surprise, it’s Marius. He is pretty much the last person I expected to see here. “Hi,” he says shortly.
“Hello,” I smile slightly while my mind processes what he might want from me.
He seems to be uncomfortable being here. “You know why I’m here,” he finally says evenly.
I blink. No, I don’t. “I have no idea.”