Mathlin slid out the stack of spell sheets and flipped through them. His eyes widened. “I think I can use some of these.”
“Any for protection? ‘Cuz that’s my biggest concern. Your safety.”
Mathlin frowned. “I wantyouto be safe too.”
Titan narrowed his eyes. “My omega. I’m protecting you.”
He hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but... There it was.
Mathlin’s eyes widened. Then he grabbed the front of Titan’s shirt and yanked him down, kissing him fiercely.
Titan’s heart could’ve burst; it was so full.
“Mine,” Mathlin growled.
I’ll do everything in my power to protect you,Titan thought.
He grasped Mathlin by his arms and began herding him to the office, the safest part of the building.
Mathlin wriggled free. “I need to secure the building.”
Titan’s first instinct was to protest. But Mathlin was right. They needed to keep the pups safe, too.
When Titan didn’t respond quickly enough, Mathlin hissed, “I want an alpha to come back to, which means I’m keeping you safe!”
“Marry me,” Titan blurted.
Mathlin stared incredulously at him. “Now? Of all the times you could’ve asked, you choose now?”
“Well, if we want to get pedantic about it, this isn’t the first time I’ve asked.” Titan touched the stainless steel ring that Mathlin was wearing, in place of the twisted foil ring from their fake proposal.
“That doesn’t count!” Mathlin spluttered. He unclipped Jannie from his chest and shoved her at Titan. It was such an unexpected move that Titan almost fumbled, cradling Jannie protectively.
“Hold her,” Mathlin said. “I’m securing the bakery.”
Titan held Jannie. He wanted to shift and get out there; he wanted to snarl at whoever dared to threaten his mate and their pups. But that was crazy. He needed to find the least risky solution to this mess. Making himself a target wasnotthat.
Mathlin hurried through the bakery, pressing spell sheets to the external walls and smearing his bloody thumb across them. The runes glowed and sank through the paper, disappearing into the walls.
Ever so faintly, the building began to hum.
Jannie felt the magic somehow. She scrunched up her face and whimpered.
“Shh. It’s going to be okay,” Titan murmured, rocking her against his chest.
Mathlin glanced over. For a second, his frown softened.
“Tell me how I can help,” Titan said.
Mathlin pulled out some spell sheets from the stack and quickly read them. “These are attack spells. Hang on, I’ll translate them for you.”
He hurried to the checkout stand and grabbed a pencil, scribbling painstakingly on the back of a spell sheet. “This is a shield-piercing spell, and it shoots a jet of flame at the target.”
He wrote a long string of words on the back of the spell sheet.
“Math, I don’t have time to read whole sentences in the middle of dodging attacks,” Titan said. “As much as I appreciate you doing this.”
“Oh.” Mathlin thought for a bit. “I’ll draw. A picture speaks a thousand words, right?”
