Page 51 of Nicolette

“Two are women, and the other is a male,” Circus shared. “The two ladies are incredibly sweet, a pair of sisters who were attacked while hiking. The male was just in the wrong bar at the wrong time, but he doesn’t hold a grudge against his friend who got drunk and fucked up. Those three will be able to help you navigate your thoughts and feelings without spite and self-loathing tainting their hearts.”

“I take it the other seven are a real treat to be around,” I guessed.

“If you ever find yourself alone around Mad Max or One Eye, never turn your back on them,” Dice warned. “Personally, I would say just kill, but I’ve been forbidden from putting them both down.”

“That’s right, and if they don’t stay that way, I’ll know who to come to first,” Nine said, giving Dice a warning look before he shifted his attention to me. “Both men experienced horrific situations, and two other prides chased them out due to their aggressive tendencies. I put them with Dice and the other enforcers so we can channel their anger in a way that helps us. They are not a danger to the pride. If they were, I’d have taken care of it myself.”

I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table, meeting his gaze. “So you’d be fine with me alone in a room with both of them?”

“That’s not really a fair question because I don’t want you alone in a room with any man that isn’t one of us. But to answer your real question… yes, only because I know you can defend yourself if anything were to happen,” Nine answered.

“Yeah, I can’t say that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside,” I admitted. “Personally, I’m going to avoid spending time with them ever, but if the situation arises, then I’m taking Dice’s advice.”

“When it comes to your safety, I’m never going to stop you from protecting yourself as long as it doesn’t lead to the death of a pride member. You’re a good enough fighter to avoid getting to that point,” Nine commented, then shoved to his feet. “I’m beat, so I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

Gathering his trash, he cleaned up after himself, then whistled, catching my attention at which point he tossed something my way. Snatching the object out of the air, I opened my hand to find a key attached to a keyring with a little cat face dangling off it.

“So you can let yourself in whenever you’re ready for bed,” Nine explained.

“Ah…” was about all I could manage as I looked from him to the key and back again. “You gave me a key to your place,” I pointed out like an idiot.

“Yes, I did, and it’s our place now, mate,” he said with a little added growl on the mate part.

Without having anything further to say on the matter, he left the apartment with me still stunned at the action. Out of all the things that could have thrown me for a loop, I’m not sure why this was a big deal, but it was. I’d never had a boyfriend before, let alone someone I lived with. For some reason, this made me almost panic.

I didn’t know how to cohabitate with someone. My mother was the last person I lived with, but it didn’t count because she loved me unconditionally. These men might be my mates, but what if they hated living with me? Sure, we’d spent roughly a week together, but that was a heat, full of sex and hormones that blinded everyone to the truth.

This was real, and I was freaking out.

“Nic,” Rambler said softly, reaching out and placing his hand over the key, so it was blocked from my vision. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath before you end up passing out from holding it.”

Hearing him say that, I realized I had indeed stopped breathing. Doing as he instructed, I closed my eyes and slowly inhaled, then let it out, sounding rather shaky. What the fuck was wrong with me that this was my undoing? It was a fucking tiny piece of metal that opened a door. How the hell could it be so intimidating?

“Talk to us,” Polo urged.

I licked my lips and took one more breath that felt stronger than the first before opening my eyes. “He said our place…”

When I didn’t say more than that, Polo looked to Marco, unsure how to handle me right now. Abruptly, my chair was pulled away from the table and shifted to the side so I was facing the living room. Dice stepped in front of me and grabbed my face in both hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. He took a second to search my face then I saw a flash of sympathy and understanding.

“Moja dusza, you deserve this,” he decreed, his tone firm in his conviction on the matter. “I can see the fear in your eyes. This isn’t a fight you can win through force or tactics. What you’ve been offered has no conditions, and for that reason, you don’t know how to handle it. It will take time for trust to build between us. But understand this…” Dice paused for a moment to make sure he had my full attention.

“We are not the leprechaun who’s going to trap you in a contract you can’t get out of. If we all end up being your mates, that doesn’t make us your keeper or jailer, trapping you with us. From what we understand, we are each supposed to be connected at a soul level, completing what was missing. To me, it doesn’t matter if you’re my fated mate or not. If you don’t want to be with me, I’m not going to force that on you. I don’t give a fuck how our felines feel about it, either. It’s your choice to make.”

Fuck, I really didn’t want to cry, but it was like Dice reached into my head and heart, grasping what the real fear and trauma were that I was dealing with right now. He was a hundred percent right. I didn’t want to be trapped in yet another contract that I couldn’t get out of. Mates to me seemed to be just that, a trap. Yet here was Dice, one of the most unstable and seemingly emotionless men I’d ever met, telling me fuck instincts and fate. If I didn’t want to be mated to him, then he would respect it, and fuck if that didn’t heal a small part of me.

“That means everything to me,” I whispered.

He leaned down and pressed his forehead against mine. “You and I are more similar than anyone realizes. I speak to you because you will hear me and understand. People who have not lived a life such as ours can’t speak into our lives. This is the piece we were both missing, which we’ve found in each other, mated or not, that won’t change.”

Cupping the back of his neck, I pulled him to me, pressing our lips together in a kiss so full of broken emotion that I didn’t know how to process it. When I released him, there was a small smile on his face that was so natural and sweet, making his whole face soften from its natural state of stony disinterest. Then he was gone, but a trill had me looking down to see him in his feline form before he hopped up onto my lap. Taking a moment to knead at my legs, he curled up and started to purr, making me smile as I set the key down and started to pet him.

“Yeah… shit like that is never going to be normal for me,” Marco commented, drawing me back to the fact the guys were all still here.

“What do you say we clean up and watch a movie or show?” Rambler asked. “Unless you’re tired, Nic?”

“No, with the nap I took this afternoon, I’m feeling pretty good,” I shared. “A movie sounds good. I didn’t get to do that often, so I’m sure I’m behind on a lot of movies.”

“Twins, you’re on clean-up duty tonight,” Rambler directed. “The rest of us will figure out what we want to watch.”