Page 83 of Outnumbered

Once everyone was finally ready, and in the SUVs, we headed out to our surprise destination.

We had to take two due to how many of us there were, but instead of Ezio or Martin driving, Deryn drove us.

“What’s it like being a prince and second to someone like Dan?” Branson asked Deryn.

“Taxing,” Deryn said with a laugh. “Dad is great. He is a fantastic alpha and does everything he can to keep his people happy and safe. He has amazing ideas and like a dozen different businesses that make him money with little involvement from him. It ends up requiring me to manage it, but it’s good experience so I am prepared to take over.”

“Has he ever overreacted so strongly you thought he might go rogue?” Branson asked.

Deryn nodded. “He thought Jolie was dead one time and destroyed his house.”

“What?” I gasped.

“Yeah, we’ve had to rebuild that house at least six times. Three of them because of Jolie. He loves her like his own.”

“Do you ever disagree with his decisions?” Branson asked.

Why was Branson asking so many questions like this? Was it from spending time with Dan or was he trying to find a way to say something to Caleb? Did he not agree with Caleb about something? Was it … me? Did he not agree with taking me as a mate?

Riddick set his hand on my leg and turned to face me. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head, not able to say anything.

He stroked his hand down my face and said, “Whatever you are thinking about, stop. We are here, you are safe, we are safe, and we are going to go have a fun day. Okay?”

Right. I needed to think about the here and now. Not what might or might not happen.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

He kissed the side of my head and stroked his thumb over my thigh. “Don’t apologize for having feelings.”

Two hours later, we finally stopped … at a skating rink.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Ta da!” Jolie shouted. “We rented the entire rink so that we could take you skating.”

“Really, Mom?” Caleb grumbled. “This is something you do as child?—”

“I’ve always wanted to go skating!” I shouted and clapped my hands together.

Jolie poked Caleb in the side. “See?”

“You’ve never been skating?” Triston asked.

I shook my head. “We didn’t do outings at the academy I went to. There weren’t birthday parties or events like this. I thought it was something only humans did.”

“Boys, carry the boxes inside,” Jolie ordered them, slung her arm through mine, and pulled me inside.

A balding man in a polo shirt bowed when we entered. “Greetings.”

“Is everything ready?”

He nodded. “The DJ is ready and waiting.”

“Great!” she chirped. “Let’s go get our skates on.”

After finding skates in our size, we put them on and tied them. When she helped me get to my feet, I yelped as one skate went one way and the other went the other way, trying to make me do the splits.

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