Page 72 of Tangled Fates

“Always us,” I said against his lips, before kissing him with everything I had in me.

“You don’t have to leave,” Soren said, looking over my shoulder.

I looked back, feeling guilty that I forgot he was in the room with us.

“You guys need this,” Gray said, buttoning up his pants. “Enjoy your mate, brother.”

I felt uneasy about him leaving. Was this hard for him? Should I tell him we should mate right now too?

Don’t do that. You will mate when the time is right.

I looked back at Soren.

You can tell him to stay. I don’t mind.

“Stay,” I said, before he opened the door.

He paused as we looked at each other.

“You need this time together,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll get you some food, Sunshine.”

I felt conflicted, like I had done something wrong.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Soren said, running his hands up and down my arms. “He’s just being polite and feeling a little sad he didn’t claim you first.”

“I—”

“He doesn't want to be told to claim you, he wants it to happen in the moment,” he said, cupping my face. “He doesn’t want it to be so technical. Gray wants the passion, the romance and the spontaneity of a mate bond. He would also take it like a pity mating instead of what you were really offering, which was to comfort him.”

I observed Soren and the way he talked about Gray. I loved that they advocated for each other, that their bond was strong, and they cared for each other so much.

“I didn’t want him to feel left out,” I said, running my hands down his chest and abs. “I wanted him to be happy too.”

“I know, but I knew he would have felt like that,” Soren said, adjusting himself.

“I don’t want him to feel like that, he's as much mine as you are.” I laid down on his chest feeling like I needed as much of us to touch each other as possible.

His touch soothed my worries about Gray.

“He knows, Sunshine, we aren’t going anywhere without you,” he said, kissing my forehead. “You’re stuck with us, and we would have it any other way.”

26

SOREN

Oria was mine. This beautiful woman was too good for me. She laid on my chest as I ran my hand up and down her back as I felt our bond settle. It was warm, just like she was, and for once in my entire life I felt settled, safe and truly loved. I knew we hadn’t said those words to each other, but if this wasn’t love I don’t know how it could feel much better than this.

I felt like shards of glass, mismatched, sharp and rough, until she came into my life with her colorful pieces, and we fit together like gorgeous stained glass that brought so much color into my dull life.

Meow.

I rolled my eyes at the stupid cat outside of the door wondering if we would bring him with us. My smile grew when I thought about life after we got out of this mess until I realized we lived with Ryder. Our whole life was so intertwined with him that I didn’t know how he would react to our mate. She had already said he wasn’t going to mate her, but I didn’t see how he could stay away from her.

Oria was addictive, and I was hoping that once he got a taste of her, he wouldn’t be able to let her go.

“Penny for your thoughts.” She broke our silence. “I feel your worry.”

I bit my bottom lip wondering if this was the time to bring up that we lived with Ryder, but I figured we would cross that bridge when we got there.

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