Page 178 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I already asked Chris, but clearly you’re the one in charge,” Dad chuckled, but it was interrupted when I heard what sounded like a whack on the arm. “Ow, Tuli!” Dad whined.

“It’s as it should be, and if you try to tease that boy about it, I’ll tell a bunch of stories about you,” Mom scolded him.

Chris bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud, but I didn’t even try to rein it in. I cackled at Dad, knowing Mom would make good on that threat. She was awesome that way.

“Can I please keep my macho bravado intact at least until after they mark each other?” Dad continued to whine.

“Bravado? Please, you, Cory and Lucien are all suckers for their mates. It’s only right Chris is, too.”

“Anyway...” Dad trailed off, clearing his throat and with what I was sure was an epic blush on his face. “I asked Chris and I’m asking you, too. Don’t mark each other just yet. Wait until the next full moon.”

“What, why?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“For one, so you can be sure. Also, because I’d like us to have a proper sit-down dinner with you both, and his parents to celebrate when you get back.” When I didn’t answer, he sighed. “It’s three weeks, Vi. You can wait three weeks to make your old man happy. Please?”

Chris nodded down at me, one of his fingers twirling a piece of my hair.

“You got it, old man,” I conceded.

“Have you told Cory, yet?” Mom asked.

“No. I was hoping you would?” I asked hopefully.

“Oh, no,” Dad said before he and Mom laughed at the hopeful tone in my voice. “Miss it’s-my-life-and-no one-gets-a-say can tell her big brother and alpha by herself.”

I groaned. I kind of deserved that.

“Alright, we’ll let you go so you can call your brother, sweetie,” Mom said, then before they hung up, I heard her squeal in the background. “Do you realize what this means? Gabriel and Brenda are finally going to be family.”

Chris and I sat there in silence for a few minutes after the call ended.

“That went well,” I finally said, still looking at my blank phone.

“I can’t believe you told off your dad that way.”

I looked up at him, wondering if he was going to start teasing me, but instead, I found his face full of emotion.

“I told you I was in all the way,” I whispered.

Chris leaned me back until I was lying on the bed.

“I don’t deserve you, but I’m the luckiest son of a bitch to have you love me,” he told me, his voice choked up and his eyes shining with unshed tears.

I didn’t get to respond because the next moment, he was kissing me. I dropped the phone, and wrapped my arms around him, moaning when he covered my body with his. It felt like eons before we came up for air. Chris leaned down and kissed me one more time, before he reached over the side and picked up my phone. “Call your brother, and then I’ll call my parents. I’m ready for everyone to know how much I love you.”

I dialed Cory, nerves rising again. It wasn’t that I was afraid of Cory, but he had a tendency to go big brother on people who dated his sisters. I never dated, so it never happened to me, but Bells dated a bit when we were younger, and so did Areli before she met her mate. It was amusing watching them go through it, but I didn’t want it to happen now that it was my turn.

“Hey, Bug. How are you doing?” Cory finally answered.

“Good! How’s your day going?”

“Not bad. Hectic with all the new and temporary people coming to the pack. I was ready for a hundred, didn’t expect a sudden four hundred in addition to the two hundred already here.”

“Well, maybe I can call back la—”

“Nonsense. I could use a break. What’s up, Vi?”

“Umm, so I just wanted to give you a little heads up. I... umm... I sort of started dating.”

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