Page 103 of Hidden Fates

“Apparently,” Em shrugs, crawling onto the couch beside me. He lays his head on my thigh and grabs one of my hands, dropping it onto his hair. “I guess it’s the most accurate one she’s seen clips of. And the tension between the two main doctors is impossible to pass up.”

Carding my fingers through his auburn hair, I glance at Bellamy. “Let’s see what the fuss is about.”

The rest of my mates join us as we get it queued onto the TV. We cuddle and eat cookies, ending a stressful day in the best way possible.

I wake in the middle of the night shivering. The house is freezing. Crawling from between Emmett and Quentin, I head into the hallway and immediately notice the small light above Mochi’s cage is off.

A quick check confirms it is plugged in, so I step into Bellamy’s room and flip on his light. Nothing happens. The power must be out.

Tiptoeing back to my bed, I gently shake Quentin. He wakes instantly, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s no power. Or heat.”

He reaches over and thumps Emmett, who glares until he sees me standing beside the bed.

“Come on, we have to move to the sitting room.”

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Emmett whines when his bare feet hit the floor. “C’mere, sweetheart, I’ll give you a piggy back ride downstairs.”

Quentin stops to grab a bunch of spare blankets to bring with us. “Let’s get you settled, then I’ll wake the others. We’ll have a pack puppy pile by the fireplace. There should be enough wood to last the night.”

As he drops the blankets and spreads them out, I jump from Emmett’s back and cross to the window to peek outside. “We should check on Mama Aisha.”

I can’t see the apartment from here, but I know it has to be as cold as the main house, if not colder.

“Don’t worry, darling. She has an oil heater to use if the apartment gets cold. I doubt she’ll agree to let us drag her up here in the middle of the night.”

True, she’s too stubborn to leave her place because of cold weather. Still, I’ll feel better after one of us has at least spoken to her.

Quentin disappears, returning several minutes later with the rest of my mates. Sterling already has his phone pressed to his ear, his mother’s voice filling the line.

“Come on, bunny. Cuddle and try to get some more sleep.” Caleb beckons me to the blanket pile where he’s already curled up and waiting. I tuck myself into his arms, snickering when Bellamy presses himself to my back and immediately starts snoring into my hair.

“Can we play outside in the morning?”

“Only if the power is back on,” Onyx agrees.

The fire crackles, slowly heating the room. I’m nice and warm between my mates, and I drift back to sleep to their steady breaths.

Light shines through the large window that runs along one side of the sitting room, blinding me when I wake again. The fire is smaller but still burning, keeping the cold air at bay.

My mates are still sleeping around me. The symphony of their snoring provides the best soundtrack to my morning.

I have to pee, though, so I shuffle from beneath Caleb’s arm, biting back a giggle when Bellamy instantly rolls into my spot and cuddles with our Alpha.

The floors are ice cold, so I dart upstairs to use my bathroom and grab a pair of slippers from my closet. I throw on a pair of thick wool leggings under my sweatpants for added warmth. A quick flip of the light switch shows we still don’t have power, so I’ll need the extra layers to stay warm until it is restored.

Pausing in the hallway, I greet Mochi, petting her soft little head. “Good morning, little sidekick. Are you warm enough there? Want to come cuddle?” She climbs right into my hands when I hold them out, squeaking cheerily when I slide her into my hoodie pocket.

“Let’s go set up a zoomie corner in the sitting room until the heat is back on.” Grabbing a few of the extra panels from her cage and some climbing toys, I quietly head downstairs.

My noise wakes Quentin, who blinks several times before he sits up and pulls his phone out. He’s likely checking with the electric company for an estimate to when the power will be back on. Catching him grimacing at the screen, I assume we aren’t going to like the answer.

“Morning, darling,” he whispers, leaning down to kiss my temple. He winces when he steps from the rug onto the floor, the cold seeping into his feet. “I see you brought Mochi down to join us. Good thinking. They say we should have power by eight tonight, so she will need the heat of the fire to stay warm.”

Smiling up at him, I scoop my sidekick out of my pocket and let her run around the new mini-cage. “I was worried she would be cold.”

“I’m going to grab slippers and see what we can do for breakfast.”