Ranieri shrugged as he took the cup of tea from me, taking a sip before grimacing. “Uhg, chamomile. Are you trying to seduce her or put her to sleep?”
I ignored him, turning to pour another cup.
“Oh come on, Nicky, you should share with your big brother,” Ranieri said, trying to cajole a reaction out of me.
“You are not my big brother,” I told him pertly as I tipped the teabag into the water. “And why should I tell you anything? You’ll find out for yourself soon enough.”
Cini had always looked at the four of us similarly, so I was sure the two would get closer than ever once she started giving him her attention.
But for tonight, I was going to hog her all to myself.
Surprisingly, Ranieri let out a snort. “No, I think I’ll leave that to you three.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ranieri scrubbed a hand through his dark blond hair. “I mean that you and Elio and Dante can handle that part of the marriage.”
What the hell was he talking about?
I had seen the hunger on his face the day we’d rescued Cini and her new perfume had billowed out around us.
Ranieri continued, oblivious to my incredulous look. “There are lots of packs where one member is platonic, Nicky, don’t act so surprised.”
Back before Alesso had died Ranieri had been different. Happier and more carefree. Now he was a shell of his former self and I couldn’t help but think his avoidance of Cini or confronting the apparent scent match between us all was a way he was punishing himself.
“Is…” I trailed off trying to find the words to the unspoken taboo that Dante and Elio had warned me against speaking about. “Is it because of Alesso?”
Ranieri’s green eyes narrowed as he shook his head, slamming the mug of tea onto the counter and spilling its contents all over his hand. The hot water had to have hurt, but Ranieri was too busy glaring at me to care.
“Nicolo. Don’t speak about what you don’t know,” he growled low enough to send a shudder down my spine. Usually, my inner-alpha would rise to the occasion of any threat, ready to fight back at the drop of a hat, but even my instincts were cowed by the ferocity of Ranieri’s words.
Then the angry alpha was gone and Ranieri was drawing himself up straight with a sigh, all of the anger on his face seemingly disappearing as he began to pull paper towels off of the holder. “Go get your girl, Nicky, I’m sure she’s a prune by now.”
With that, Ranieri left the kitchen and left me with more questions than answers.
Sixteen
Soft hands woke me up the next morning, nearly making me jump out of my skin until I smelled the distinct watermelon scent and felt the gentle tug on the half-bond we now shared.
That had been a moment of impulsivity on my part yesterday and I didn’t regret it. When Elio had asked me about it after dinner I tried my best to explain to him that something about the moment made my teeth ache with the need to bite Nico and understand how he was feeling. It was like I couldn’t even control it.
He then explained that my reaction was probably the alpha part of my brain taking over and that it happened to a lot of new alphas.
Alphas like me, well, sort-of.
It was all a confusing jumble that I was trying to figure out and now that I had stopped feeling constantly exhausted all of the time, it was like I finally had the time to learn how I ticked.
Opening my eyes, I found Nico hovering over me with his finger to his lips.
I frowned, glancing over at the window, wondering what time it was. The sun wasn’t out yet, so it was either really late at night or very early in the morning.
‘Come with me,’he signed, pulling me up into a sitting position and dislodging Elio’s arm from around my waist.
The alpha had taken one look at the floor last night as the rest of the pack settled in and climbed into bed with me.
‘Where are we going?’I asked as he handed me a bag and we left the room together.
He just grinned at me and held both of his hands up by his eyes before opening his fingers up wide.
