Page 91 of Shaped By Discovery

“A girl can dream,” she says, giving up on the stare-off to stick her tongue out at Storm despite the fact that he won’t see it.

If possible, Lyle looks more annoyed that she gave in than he did a moment ago.

I don’t understand him at all.

“Little Rabbit.”

Serena’s head snaps up at the name, and I watch her cheeks heat slightly. The same way they do when I call her Tiny or any of them uses a cute little nickname for her. I expect to feel jealousy, but warmth fills my chest instead, and I can’t help the smile that turns my lips up.

“I’m fine, Blair. I told you I was fine more than a dozen times yesterday. Please, stop worrying,” Serena tells him, offering him a smile that I’m sure is meant to be reassuring. Too bad, I don’t think a single one of us believes her.

How can we after whatever the hell that was? No, she can say she’s fine until she’s blue in the face, but it’s going to take a lot more than that for us to believe her.

“So, are we just going to ignore the fact that she went down to the dungeons and let Storm out without any of us? That she once again put herself in danger?” Lyle's demand cuts through the room, and any warmth I feel is stripped away with it.

“Storm wouldn’t hurt me!” Serena shouts, quick to defend him, reaching out to rest her hand on his arm. Even from here, I see his body tense, though I’m unsure if it’s from Lyle’s words or hers.

“He could have! You didn’t see him, Serena! Do you think we chose to lock him away because it was easy? Because we just thought it would be fun?”

Serena’s brows pinch in annoyance, but she doesn’t respond; she knows they wouldn’t. These guys are close, and putting him down there is something they would only do if it were necessary, and it was. We had no choice, and while I know Storm understands that the same way we do, I’m not sure Serena can.

She wasn’t awake to see him like that, and there's only so much we can explain without her seeing it firsthand.

“He wouldn’t hurt me.” Serena’s voice isn’t as loud this time, but she’s no less sure. I can see this isn’t something she’s willing to let go.

“Of course he wouldn’t, dear. It’s impossible,” Mother says as she walks into the room with a smile, and we all turn to look at her.

I will have to remind her that this is my room and we’re all adults. It might not be the case now, but gods forbid she walks in on something. It was bad enough she had to see all the guys naked, and I had to hear about that. I know she loves Dad, and she’s grown, but, man, I can only handle so much of her talking about them being naked, and I hit that limit in the first five minutes of them being here.

“What?”

Serena, Lyle, Blair, and Storm ask simultaneously, their question echoing around the room.

Mother stops halfway to the bed to turn and look at me, and I know what she’s going to say just by the look in her eyes.

“You didn’t tell them?”

“I didn’t have a chance yet,” I say in defense, and her hard look softens. My mother isn’t weak, despite what people might like to think. She’s gentle when she can be; she prefers it if possible, but she has no problem being stern when she feels it’s necessary. My father was usually strict, but he didn’t grow up in the kingdom. He was a farmer's son when they bonded. I’ve heard the story a million times. It was the first time the next in line for the throne married outside of royal status. It was bound to happen as the years passed and the other kingdoms fell, but that didn’t stop everyone from acting like it was a scandal.

That’s why I was so adamant about people respecting Serena. I demanded it because I didn’t want her to face the same criticism and doubt that my father did.

“You're right, dear, but no worries, we have much to discuss.” She moves to the table where Lyle placed the food tray and grabs a piece of fruit. I expect her to eat it, but instead, she turns and throws it. It flies through the air, and a second before it hits her, Serena catches it in her mouth.

“Good, you seem better already,” she says with a smile that Serena returns as she chews up the fruit.

“I tried to tell them that already, but they won’t listen,” Serena sighs. Even though I know she’s also talking about me, I can’t help but huff a laugh. She sure sounds like her usual self.

“Yes, well, that never stops. It's been almost seven hundred years, and Darian is still just as possessive as ever. They can’t help it. Something about the bond makes them even more growly and broody.” She glances at Lyle before quickly looking away, and while I’m sure he doesn’t understand, I know my mother well enough to know what that means.

I’d guessed they were all destined to her from the second Storm started the bond. He’d been more standoffish than the rest of them, quieter, but I saw how he looked at her, and if he started a bond without even trying, the others were as good as bonded. All she did was confirm it and give them a hint, not that any of them seemed to catch it. Well, that's not true. I’d be shocked if Blair didn’t pick up on it. He seems to understand things even before they’re said, most of the time.

“So let’s talk while you eat. We have much to get through, and I don’t want to hold you up from breakfast.”

Serena makes to get up, and every one of us turns to look at her. She does a fantastic job ignoring us until Blair holds up a hand to stop her. Pulling a face, she huffs but sits back, crossing her arms in annoyance. I know she’s annoyed, but honestly, it’s adorable. Not that I would ever tell her that. She’d have my ass for sure.

“Let’s start with Storm. While I understand your need to keep Serena safe and appreciate the effort, she was never in danger with him. Mates can’t harm one another.”

“Even before the bond is completed,” I add, knowing that one of them will point out that the bond wasn’t fully formed prior to her visiting him. I know because I would have done the same. Hell, I was nervous when I saw she was missing last night, and I knew she wasn’t in danger.

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