Page 140 of Gift from the Tree

“Not gonna lie, I thought Oakly was being a little dramatic. I even told her that and she threw her cup of coffee at me, but this shit is intense. I feel like I want to rip someone’s head off,” he tells me, grimacing.

“You told her you thought her Primary hormones were dramatic?” I ask, staring at him like the fucking idiot he is.

“I thought she was exaggerating this shit. I haven’t felt like this the entire time.” He throws his hands up like he can’t believe I’m not on his side.

“Dude, you’re seriously a fucking dud. Their hormones are ten times stronger than ours, according to Gaster, and you telling her you thought she was being dramatic more than likely did nothing but make her feel ten times shittier,” I tell him, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I’m fucking this all up. She’s the least open and affectionate with me than the other three, and I get so jealous I run my mouth. How the fuck do I fix this?”

I’ve never seen Ry so out of sorts. As my second-in-command, he’s usually just as composed as I am, but being away from Willow and Oakly has us both fucking out of it.

“You should talk with Jamie. I’m just now getting on Willow’s good side. Yesterday was the first day she openly showed more affection with more than just Draken since she got here. When she came back, she let us know she expected respect and for us to be open and honest with her and that’s what we’ve been trying to do.” I’m not going to go into all the details of things that happen within my Nexus, but I’ll give him a little piece of advice. “Willow and Oakly may be Perfecta Anima’s, but they’re two totally different women and will want different things from the members of their Nexus.”

“You’re right. I didn’t bring it up to him or the other two because I didn’t want them to know I was struggling so bad with getting to know her.” He drops his tone, only wanting me to hear him admit that.

I give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “They’re your brothers. They’ll help you. You’ve got to learn how to keep your damn mouth shut, though,” I tease, but seriously, I know they’ll help him. All Nexuses are wired to be there for each other no matter what.

“Time,” he bellows out, cutting class short ten minutes. I’m all for it today. I’m ready to go. Patting him on his back, I take a couple steps, then transport to Corentin’s office.

Walking in without knocking, Corentin stands quickly, then drops his shoulders in disappointment. “You too, huh? Sorry I wasn’t the pretty face you were looking for,” I joke, making my way to his sitting area.

“I’m fine. It’s bothering me more today than normal, but it’s bearable,” he says unconvincingly.

I raise my eyebrow at him, not calling him out verbally, but letting him know I know he’s full of shit.

“What about you?” he asks.

“There’s a constant nagging to go find her and punch anyone who looks at her.” I don’t see the point in lying. Possessiveness is the strongest emotion coming through currently and I won’t hide that fact from him.

He blows out a long exhale, nodding. “Yeah, I’m torn between following her around all day or locking her in here with me.” I let out a loud laugh at him, but I wholeheartedly agree. At least we aren’t crying. We might get away with hitting a few people and stalking our Primary, but crying is something we’d never hear the end of.

“I come bearing a gift, brothers,” Draken announces loudly as he busts into the room, dragging Willow behind him.

“I’m not a gift, Draken. I’m a person.” She laughs as she tries to keep up with him.

I shoot Corentin a look. She may not believe it, but she’s the greatest gift we’ll ever receive.

“How have your mornings been?” she asks as she approaches Corentin willingly and plants a kiss on his cheek. Making her way to me, I pull her down to my lap and wrap my arms around her.

“That bad, huh?” She laughs as she gets comfortable on my legs.

“I’m feeling quite possessive today,” I tell her, nuzzling my face into her neck, breathing in her sweet coffee scent.

“I know. I felt all of you. I could feel Draken standing outside my classroom for thirty minutes before I was due to get out and the both of you as soon as I hit the stairs in the admin building.”

“What about Caspian?” Corentin asks, studying her closely.

“Hmm,” she hums, concentrating for a minute. “He’s somewhere in here. I can feel his curiosity,” she says with a smirk.

“Impressive, little Primary. Looks like your bond is growing tenfold compared to how others grow,” Caspian says as he steps out of the shadows, taking a seat.

“How can she do that already? And why can’t we?” Draken whines.

None of us answer because none of us know. It isn’t like she’s doing something unheard of, per se. It’s just that this ability is manifesting far quicker than it should be.

“Does it bother any of you? I mean, I don’t purposely try to feel what you are feeling or where you are. It just happens, and I can’t really ignore it,” she says, but I think she’s mostly asking Caspian without singling him out.

“Not me, little wanderer. I hope you can feel everything I can feel,” Draken jokes, wiggling his eyebrows at her. We don’t need an explanation; we understand what he means.

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