Chapter thirty-four
Kind of Icky
*AURELIA*
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach as I watch Marilou cry. Terry has tears in his eyes, too, his lips quivering slightly. However, much to my shock, Marilou lets out a scream of excitement, jumping right into Terry’s arm.
I can hear a guttural growl coming out of Terry’s mouth, his eyes darkening. “Mine,” he exclaims.
“You two just gave me the heart attack of the century,” Nox mutters.
“No kidding,” Lion says. “I was terrified for a moment.”
The other girls come piling into the room, immediately catching on to what’s going on, which is quite the no-brainer considering how Terry is basically glued to Marilou’s lips.She has her legs and arms wrapped around him like a cute chimpanzee, still laughing and crying at the same time.
Everyone basically bursts into screams and claps. Jazz and Val take each other’s hands and twirl around together. Meanwhile, Tori and Lion toss each other careful gazes. It looks like Tori has cried a lot, and once again, I can see the guilt in Lion’s eyes.
Before I can link him to tell him to stop freaking out, and to just do or say anything, Nox elbows him and whispers something to him. Lion and he discuss something, with Lion looking flustered and Nox seemingly annoyed, but eventually, Lion drags his feet towards Tori.
It literally looks like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
Tori stares at him wide-eyed, the shock clear on her face.
He is approaching me,she links me all of a sudden.Goddess, what am I going to do!? Auri, save me!
Why? Don’t you want to talk to him?
Of course I want to! But I don’t know what to say. He looked so disappointed when we found out we were mates that I suggested we keep it a secret. He was immediately on board with it. I thought he would at least try to fight me a bit…
She was testing him, but as usual, tests like these barely ever work out well.He was on board with it because he thought you were disappointed,I point out.
I guess that’s true, too,she admits.I don’t know what to do, Auri!
He is your mate,I say.You can figure it out together. But goodness, Tori, you have to talk with each other.
I know,she admits.I… are you mad that I hid it from you?
No, but only if you give it a real shot, now, instead of running away.
“Hey,” Lion says, finally having walked over to her and pulling her out of our little chat. “Uh.” He looks to the ground, completely flustered. “You okay?”
Nox stares at him from the other side of the room before gazing at me and rolling his eyes. I can feel Arden wrapping his arms around me and chuckling slightly. “Your friends are fun,” he whispers towards me.
“Do you like them?”
“Yes,” he says. “I’m not too social, but it’s easy to get along with them.”
I feel happy at that, so happy that I almost forget to do something important. “Stay like this with me,” I mutter, grabbing my phone and turning my head slightly for my mark to be seen. Arden’s is on display anyway, so I take a selfie and send it to Mom while wishing her a happy new year.
I take another, not-so-juicy photo, and send it to my brothers and dad.
When I put my phone away, I notice Nox staring at me, his eyes wide open. He walks over to us, Jazz and Val following him in a beeline. “How did I not notice?” he exclaims.
“Me neither,” Val says.
“Same,” Jazz smacks her forehead.
“Well.” I grin. “We had some drama to resolve, so it gave Arden and me a good opportunity to fly under the radar.”