“Flatterer,” I whispered and turned my face down to hide my blush.
“Do you know how hard it is to find someone who doesn’t care that you shift into a wolf and that you spend a lot of time playing video games? Girls generally hate playing games and that their guys ignore them to play games.”
I hated that. I wished girls would just get online and play the games with their guys. If he spends a lot of time on a game, talk to him about you joining him online. There was always room for a healer on the team.
“Maybe you set your bar too high,” I said, but didn’t really mean it. Ezio was amazing and any girl would be lucky to have him.
“Thank you,” he said and hugged me. “Hearing you say that means a lot to me.”
“Say what?” I asked.
“That anyone would be lucky to have me,” he chuckled. “You didn’t mean to say that out loud, did you?”
“No,” I mumbled, but leaned back into his hold. “But, I meant it. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a mate. You’re handsome, kind, and a fierce protector. Though, you are a shitty tank.”
“Hey! I had just learned to play the game that week. I was a newbie.”
“Still are,” I teased.
He growled in my ear, but didn’t say anything else.
“How long are we going to be stuck here?” I asked with a sigh. “I’m hungry.”
“Rhys!” Ezio called. “Wrap it up, yeah?”
Rhys put an arm behind his back to flip Ezio off and I burst out into a fit of laughter. Rhys looked like the prim and proper prince he was, but behind his back he had his middle finger up to Ezio to tell him to shove it. It was hilarious.
“Is that the princess?” someone asked.
“Princess Jolie!” someone else called.
“Crap,” I snapped and sat on my butt behind Martin’s legs so they couldn’t see me.
“You’ve never been good at hiding,” Martin whispered to me. “Somehow you always ended up making noise and would get caught.”
“Shut up,” I growled. “I’m not ten anymore.”
“You sure about that?” he asked and chuckled.
“We have answered your questions,” Rhys said. “So, please let us pass and continue on with our day.”
Nico took my hand and pulled me up to stand. “I’m going to make you invisible.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because if they see you, they’re going to follow us and yell questions at you,” he explained. A sphere wrapped around us and I couldn’t see him anymore.
“Nico?” I asked.
He grabbed my hand and said, “It’s okay. I’m here. We’re both invisible to everyone else now. Just follow the others.”
“You still there?” Ezio asked. “I can smell you, but I want to make sure that it’s not a lingering scent and you’ve been kidnapped again.”
“You’re so rude,” I grumbled.
“She’s here,” Nico assured Ezio with a chuckle.
Ezio nodded and followed just behind us, giving us enough space that he wouldn’t step on our heels, but also kept the media from following us too closely. Rhys walked into a building that had delicious scents wafting from it.
“Meat,” I whispered and followed everyone inside.
Thankfully, there was a huge table available, one that could seat us all. Nico released his spell and pulled out a chair for me, to sit beside him. I sat down and Deryn sat on my other side, leaning over to rub his cheek against mine.
I kissed his cheek and rubbed mine against his. “Hello.”
“Hello, beautiful,” he whispered. “Did you get all of your presents?”
I nodded and set my backpack on the ground between my legs, under the table. “Yep! Now, I just need to get them all wrapped and ready to give you guys when we get back.”
“Where are you living these days?” Yukio asked.
“With us,” Fox answered. “She has an apartment in our building.”
“You let her sleep in a separate apartment?” Declan asked. “I would have assumed you all kept her in your apartments.”
“We usually stay in the same apartment together, but it varies which one we stay in,” Rhys told them.
“And, we give her her space when she wants it. As long as she’s in the building with us, we’re fine,” Deryn said.
“Except when she sneaks out to get donuts,” Rhys growled.
“They were a gift for you guys, remember?” I said and scowled at them.
“You went out, unprotected, to get them donuts and coffee?” Ezio asked. “I’m not surprised in the least, to be honest. That sounds like something you would do.”
“Yes, I would do something nice like that,” I said and picked up my menu. The menu was huge and I couldn’t even begin to make a decision.
“Deryn,” I said to get his attention.
He just nodded and said, “I’ll order something for you, baby.”
I set my menu down and leaned my head on his shoulder. “You’re awesome.”
“Don’t forget it,” he whispered and then chuckled. “What do you want to drink?” he asked.
“Strawberry daiquiri, please.”
“Okay,” he agreed and returned to looking at the menu.
It was weird to think about the fact that I had just been on my first date with Deryn less than a year ago. Things had moved so quickly between us all, but I didn’t regret it.
“So, what did you get me?” Fox asked, sitting across the table from me.
“I’m not telling you,” I scoffed.
“It was worth a try, right?” he asked and laughed, his infectious smile spreading to my face immediately.
“Jo,” Thor called, “did you get the items you were searching for?”
I nodded. “The last vendor had them. So, my shopping is done.”
“Great, then after we eat, why don’t we go back to the coliseum for some fun?” Ezio asked.
“Sparring?” Deryn asked, obviously intrigued by that prospect.
Ezio nodded. “No weapons or shifting. Just some hand to hand fun.”
“Sounds great,” Rhys said with a wide smile.
“When do we return home again?” I asked, a bit anxious to get back.
“Next week. We’ve only been here, what, less than a week?” Rhys said.
Everyone nodded.
“It feels like it’s been an eternity,” I mumbled.
The waiter brought out bread and took our orders. I ate a piece of the bread, which was unlike anything we had in Jinla, loving the strange, but delicious taste.
“Don’t you just love watching her enjoying foods?” Ezio asked everyone.
“She gets such enjoyment out of good tasting food,” Deryn agreed.
“Her blissful expression makes you feel happy, even if you weren’t the one to make it,” Nico said.
Everyone nodded.
I was blushing, bright as a tomato, I was sure. “You guys,” I whispered.
“You ever see her eat beef bone broth soup?” Declan asked.
Everyone smiled.
“She sips it with her eyes closed, a small smile on her face, in supreme contentment,” Fox said. “It’s glorious.”
“I like food,” I said and shrugged. “I can’t help it.”
“We enjoy watching you eat,” Nico said and patted my leg. “It’s one of the few moments where you will drop your guard completely and you’re just you.”
“I don’t wear masks,” I argued. “I’m me all the time.”
“Most of the time,” Deryn corrected me. “There are often times where you put a mask on. Mostly in public places, especially if they are crowded.”
“I don’t like crowds,” I said. “So, what?”
“No one is saying it’s a problem, Jo,” Martin said. “They’re just telling you that in situations you are uncomfortable with, you wear a mask. But, when you’re eating yummy food, you are completely defenseless. It’s refreshing to see.”
Males were so weird.
>
“Whatever,” I mumbled and then smiled happily at the waiter as he set my drink down. “Thank you,” I said to him and took a big drink. Strawberries and rum, a wonderful combination.
“Euphoria, that’s what that face is,” Ezio said. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that, especially not with something as trivial as food and drink.”
“I need to make her open the bond next time she is about to experience something like that,” Rhys said. “Then, I’ll know what she’s feeling and get to experience it myself.”
“Wait until you get a mating bond with her,” Martin said. “It’s ten times better!”
“Are you mating with them?” Ezio asked, a slight frown marking his handsome face.
“No serious talk,” I whispered, closed my eyes, and took another drink. Paradise! Give me non-stop daiquiris, the males in swimsuits, warm sun, and cool water, and I would be set.
“What are you thinking about?” Deryn purred into my ear.
“We should go on a beach vacation this summer,” I whispered, feeling my lips tug up in a smirk.
“Oh, are you thinking about me in a banana hammock?” Deryn whispered even quieter.
I burst into laughter, setting down my drink as I bent over and clutched my stomach. “Now I am!” I shouted over my laughter.
“I look good in one,” he said and folded his arms across his chest.
“I’m sure you do.” I gasped as I tried to calm back down and wiped my teary eyes.
“Your salad,” the waiter said, drawing my attention. I was sitting forward, so he couldn’t set my salad down.
“Sorry,” I said and leaned back. Everyone at the table apparently ordered salad, which I found strange. Most of the time, the shifters didn’t eat salads.
“They’re part of the meals,” Martin said and smiled at me.
“What?” Deryn asked him.
“She was shocked to see shifters eating salads,” Martin explained. “So, I explained that they are part of the meal, which is why we are eating them.”
“How’d you know that’s what she was thinking?” Deryn asked.
“Was that what you were thinking?” Nico asked me.
“I’ve known her a long time,” Martin reminded them. “She learned about shifters from me and my pack. So, I can read her pretty easily.”
“Yes, that was what I was thinking,” I told Nico. “I know shifters eat healthy, but normally, they don’t eat salads. They’ll eat a vegetable with their steak dinner, but not a salad.”
“Sometimes we eat salads,” Rhys countered.
“Yeah, if they are full of meat or other protein like eggs,” I replied.
“She does know an awful lot about shifters,” Yukio commented.
“Yes, I do. I grew up with them. I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions. Even after Martin and I broke up, I still studied as much as I could.”
“Why?” Declan asked.
“I wanted to know as much as I could about them. I wanted to make sure that when I interacted with them I didn’t do anything offensive on accident. I wanted to make sure I was as respectful as possible. I really wanted to make sure if I touched a male, in front of his female, I didn’t do anything to make her want to rip out my throat,” I explained.
“She wouldn’t have ripped out your throat,” Martin said and rolled his eyes. “It was my fault for letting you come over during the mating week. She apologized to you and you are best friends now, so it’s old history.”
“She still tried,” I reminded him. “And, I wanted to make sure nothing like that happened again. I didn’t want it to be my own fault that a shifter lost control.”
“That’s not just because of Sharla, is it?” Rhys asked.
I blushed and shoveled a huge bite of salad into my mouth, giving him a small shake of my head.
“That’s my fault,” Ezio said.
“What?” Deryn asked.
“I lost control one night. She blames herself for it. No matter how many times I tell her it was completely my fault, that a shifter should be able to control their beast no matter what, she still won’t forgive herself,” Ezio explained.
“They were going to kill you,” I snapped, slamming my fork down. “You were almost killed by them because of me.”
“Whoa,” Deryn said and rested his hand around the back of my neck. “Calm down, baby.”
“I think we should hear this story,” Rhys said softly, then looked at Ezio. “If, you’re willing to share it? We can discuss it privately later, if you wish.”
Ezio waved his hand. “It’s fine. I was young and violent. It is something I’ve made certain can never happen again.”
“Only because I’m not there to provoke you,” I muttered, feeling as small as a mouse.
“About a week into our dating, during, um, fun time, she went for my neck,” Ezio explained, fumbling over his words as he looked at Rhys and Deryn. “I hadn’t had a female do that before. I overreacted, tossing her off of me and immediately shifted. She’d told me she had been with werewolves before, but I didn’t realize she wouldn’t know that for how early we were in our relationship, she couldn’t do something like that. I was out of control, but to make matters worse, someone had called the cops on us because they’d heard her screaming. Pleasure screams are apparently the same to whoever called. So, the cops burst into the room.”
“They saw her naked and terrified on the floor and you, in wolf form, on the bed and flipped?” Deryn guessed.
“Bingo,” Ezio said. “They moved towards her and that made me more protective, I deemed them a threat and charged to attack them. Several drew their guns immediately.”
“So, who died?” Fox asked.
“No one. She leapt between me and the officer I had charged at, and stood, buck-ass naked, arms spread wide, in front of me so the officers who had drawn their guns couldn’t shoot me. They were yelling at her to get down and she refused, telling them to get out and taking steps towards them.”
“What did you do?” Deryn asked.
“Nothing. I sat there and stared at her in disbelief. I’d hurt her, growled at her, tossed her off the bed, and she’d thrown herself in front of the humans to protect me without a second’s hesitation,” Ezio said. He looked over at me and smiled. “That was the night I fell in love with her.”
I’d been terrified of Ezio in that moment. I had never had a wolf growl at me so viciously before and he was a huge wolf when shifted. But, I couldn’t let him get hurt because of a misunderstanding. Those cops would have killed him first and asked questions later. I could see that Ezio had wanted to protect me when the cops moved towards me and I did the only thing I could think of. I stood up to protect him. In his wolf form, he couldn’t communicate with them. He had no way of telling them to back off, except to snap his teeth at them. Had I known that putting my mouth over his neck so early in relationship would make him react that way, I would never have done it. I hadn’t realized he would think I was being aggressive towards him or trying to hurt him. I was ignorant and there was no reason for it. So, I started researching their behaviors and laws.
“Is that why you only date alphas?” Zelphar asked. “Because you know we have the highest levels of control?”
Shit.
“Maybe,” I mumbled, shoveling more salad into my mouth.
“It’s also because she has an alpha personality,” Martin said. “She doesn’t see it, but I’m sure you all do.”
Everyone nodded.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re essentially, a human alpha,” Rhys said. “You may let others take charge in certain situations, but you are an alpha, through and through.”
I didn’t believe that for a moment. I was terrified and indecisive a lot of the time. I had panic and anxiety attacks. I was not alpha material, at all.
“She hasn’t realized that eventually, she’s going to be Queen of the Four Clans, has she?” Kylan asked softly.
Fuc
king casuals! He was right! Oh, god. Oh, goddess. No. No. No.
“She’s freaking out,” Nico whispered.
Queen of the Four Clans. Queen of the Dragons. Queen of the Mages. Queen of the Werewolves. Queen of the Elves. I wasn’t any of those things. I was human! I wasn’t capable of being queen to one of the clans, let alone all four.
“Baby, come back to us,” Deryn whispered from what sounded like far away.
“Someone cradle her in your lap and hold her tightly,” Martin snapped. It sounded like he was underwater. Wasn’t he just across the table from me?
Wouldn’t it be better if they had queens of their races? The werewolves didn’t have a queen, but only because she had died a few years ago. I couldn’t hold a candle to someone like Adelaide. She could rule with fangs and claws. I could shift, thanks to being Rhys’s queen, but I wasn’t vicious. I wasn’t a ruler.
Warmth surrounded me. My cold, numb body slowly came back into feeling and heat radiated from my side. What was the warmth coming from?
“It’s working,” Martin said, still under water.
There wasn’t warmth from one spot. No, there was warmth from my side, my cheek, my neck, and my legs. Four places. Four. That was the number of my guards. Four. Four males. Four princes.
“We’re here, my queen,” Deryn whispered in my ear. “We’ve got you. You’re safe. You’re fine. Come back to us.”
Back? From where? Where was I? Hadn’t we just been at the restaurant? The restaurant. Yes. Then, someone had said something and I spaced out. Right. Attack. This was a panic attack. Okay.
“One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.”
“Why is she counting?” someone asked from the same under water place Martin was.
“Shush,” Rhys ordered them. His voice sounded closer.
I was alive. I was not hurt. I was not bleeding. I was protected. I was free.
The feeling, sounds, and surroundings came rushing back at once and I buried my face into Deryn’s neck, the source of the heat on my side.
“You okay, baby?” Deryn asked.
I nodded. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You have no reason to apologize,” Fox told me, his hand running up and down my leg.
“Sorry,” Kylan said.
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