The unworthiness I felt for being a leader of Sanguis.
Everything was laid bare for him to see for the very first time.
He silently took in the moment, a smile growing on his handsome face as he stared deeply into my eyes. His hands reached for me, drawing me close and pressing me against his chest. The warmth of his lips on my forehead felt like coming home.
Thank you, baby girl, for letting me in. I know actions matter more than words, but I’m going to prove to you that I will never betray your trust or heart again.
Snuggling into his side further, I felt the sincerity echoing through every part of him.
Maybe, just maybe with all of my mates by my side finally, that we could face everything Fate had to give us now.
Give me everything you’ve got, Fate. I’m not backing down.
Chapter12
ALINA
Icracked an eye open as my name was called, rousing me from the lovely nap I’d been having. Andrei’s warmth had me curling around him like a contented house cat as I stretched my limbs on top of him. A small moan slipped through my lips as my back hit a perfect angle, flooding me with euphoria. There was just something about a good stretch after a nap that hit right.
I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was from the party, my long night with Drake, and then waking up early enough to get back here in time for classes that weren’t even happening. Andrei and I had played twenty questions, going back to the basics to learn about each other, and somewhere after learning his zodiac sign was Gemini and before I heard his answer to what his favorite animal was, sleep claimed me.
Princess, if you don’t disentangle yourself from him and stop moaning while inmybed, I’m going to fuck you while you lay on him.
Lincoln’s words caused me to jolt up, my heart racing as I frantically looked around trying to recall where I was. Disoriented, I felt like I was still somewhere in that weird part of waking up where I could either be awake or still in a very vivid dream. Honestly, I was all for this being a dream where I sassed Lincoln back and he followed through on his threat, fucking me while I cuddled Andrei.
But when I felt the hair stuck to the edge of my mouth, cemented by drool that had pooled beneath my cheek and noticed the dark mark of my drool on Andrei’s shirt beneath me, it hit me that this was reality, and there was no way I’d be getting what dream me wanted.
He’s been staring at me and smirking the entire time I’ve been in the room.
Glancing between a fuming Lincoln, who had his legs spread in a wide stance with his arms crossed against his chest, to Andrei, who had his hands behind his head and propped up against the headboard with a pillow, all I could do was laugh. They were so opposite, and I was fairly certain there was no way they’d ever lose the goading tension between them. I wasn’t mad about that fact.
Somehow, though, the vibe that I was getting between them had shifted. There was a palpable animosity between them before, but now what I felt was almost…brotherly in their rivalry?
“Rise and shine, baby girl,” Andrei murmured, reaching out to pull the hair from my cheek before tucking it behind my ear. A smirk tugged a corner of his lip up as he added, “Sorry to wake you, but we have a guest.”
Oh my. Did he seriously just refer to Lincoln as a guest? This was going to be interesting.
“A guest?” Lincoln bellowed right on cue, flinging his arms out and turning around in a circle dramatically. “Last time I checked, this was my fucking room!”
It’s just too fucking easy to rile him, baby girl. Don’t be mad at me.
Rolling my eyes and laughing at Andrei’s words, I took a deep breath and pinned Lincoln with a look. “If you wouldn’t have such big reactions, it wouldn’t be so fun to rile you, ya know?”
This reminded me so much of the way Andrei and I actively tried to annoy Lincoln during class in the beginning, and the moment of levity was exactly what I needed in a moment where everything else we were facing felt so fucking overwhelming. It gave me hope that our little group could somehow find a way to amicably coexist.
Lincoln’s hazel eyes bore into mine as his lips flattened into a thin line. The veins in his forearms bulged as his jaw tightened. A growl emanated from him before he took a deep breath and blew it out, tossing his hands out. “Youths. Fucking youths.”
I couldn’t contain my cackle of laughter at that. “What are you, a grandpa wanting to yell at kids to get off your lawn?”
Between all of us, Drake was without a doubt the oldest, but Lincoln just had this…dad energy to him that was honestly hilarious once you got to know him. At first, he just seemed like a douchebag who didn’t like when anyone had fun or laughed, but now, his attitude just made me laugh.
“I caught him up on Drake’s plan to meet in the training room at 6:00,” Andrei said, smoothly changing the subject, making my brow tug up.
I hadn’t heard them talking. I knew I was getting that good, good sleep just now, but I wasn’t a heavy sleeper—if they were speaking, it would have woken me up.
“Wait,” I said, glancing back and forth between them as I tried to figure out when and how that had happened. “Were you talking through your bond?”
Earlier, Lincoln mentioned Andrei put a wall up with him when he left us, but had that changed?
