Page 12 of Hunting for Acceptance

I turn my hand around so I can properly hold his. “For the record, it’s okay that you have these walls up to protect yourself. I understand. But you don’t have to keep them up around me.”

Martin squeezes my hand before taking his hand away. I instantly miss the feel of it. I know he’s retreating because he needs to internalize all of this, think it out, overanalyze the entire thing. So I let him.

“Good night,” he whispers as I turn over onto my other side.

“Good night, Martin.”

CHAPTER SIX

DORIAN

I wake up slowly,trying to remember where the fuck I am. I sit up with a start. Shit. I’m in Cooper and Martin’s camper.

I run my hands over my face, wondering how in the fuck I ended up here. I can’t believe I spilled my guts to them. I can’t believe I confessed my crimes to a group ofhunters. What was I thinking?

If I was smart I would get up and slip out of here. I would warn Stewart that we have hunters on our tails and need to get the fuck out of here.

I’m not gonna do that though.

These people might be hunters but I don’t feel in danger around them. Their leader is a fuckingvampire. They’re different. They’re a weird found family that hunt to keep humans safe. I can trust them.

Even as I think it, I know the words to be true. I can trust them to keep me safe. I can trust them to help me get my sister’s remains back. I trust them to finally set me free.

I stand up, looking around the camper. I can hear some snoring and my curiosity gets the better of me. With silent steps I walk over to the partition, slowly pulling it back so I can peek inside.

My insides turn warm at the sight. Martin and Cooper are fast asleep, spooned together. Martin’s big arms are wrapped around Cooper’s middle, holding him tight. I can’t stop my smile from spreading. I had a feeling there was something between these two, or maybe that was just me being hopeful.

I can’t sit here and deny what’s happening here any longer. Jeff was right last night, there’s a reason I’m here and I think that reason is right in front of me. Lady Fate might not have been able to intervene and save me from Stewart but she gave me the means of taking my power back while also hand delivering me my true mates.

Now I have to convince them the three of us belong together before they decide to start bickering again.

Stepping back, I decide to give them their space. Hopefully Martin won’t be too upset to wake up spooning Cooper.

Lady Fate, if you’re listening in, please make those two fuck their feelings out. Amen.

With that out of the way, I step out of the RV. Taking a deep breath, I let the cool, fresh air wake me up fully. It’s beautiful out here in nature and I wonder why I haven’t tried this whole camping thing sooner. Probably because sleeping in a tent isn’t really my thing, but with a camper it seems really nice.

“Morning,” someone says and I startle slightly, playing it off like I didn’t forget that a bunch of other hunters lived here too. I look over to the fire, finding a man sitting with a baby in his lap, another starting up a fire. I take a deep breath, scenting the air and realizing one of them is a vampire and the other smells like a wet dog.

“Good morning,” I say brightly, waving at the men and walking over to the fire. “I’m not sure what you’ve heard about me, but I swear it was okay’ed that I’m here.”

The one holding the baby smiles at me, nodding. “Jeff already filled us in. I’m Axel, Jeff’s mate. And that’s Carlos.”

“It’s a pleasure. I’m Dorian.”

“Nice to meet you,” Carlos says with a nod. “I’m just starting up a fire so we can make breakfast before everyone’s up.”

“Sweet,” I murmur, turning my eyes towards the littlest vampire I’ve ever met. “And who’s this?”

“This is Lily,” Axel says with a wide smile. “She’s just about six months. Vampire children age faster than human children, that’s why she looks like she’s closer to one.”

“That’s fascinating,” I tell him, making a silly face just to see Lily giggle. Gods, she’s adorable. My chest softens at the sight, wondering if I could have that too. I’ll have to wait and see what Lady Fate, and the two men spooning think about that.

“Do you have any family around here?” Carlos asks, putting a bunch of twigs into the fire, letting it grow slowly.

“Umm, no. It was just me and my sister for a while, but she recently passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Axel says, reaching over and touching my arm. “We’ve all had our share of hurt. If you need anything, please let us know, okay?”

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