Page 23 of Fritillaria

Besides, I have never slept better than I do wrapped in my Alpha’s arms. Aspis has even grown accustomed to my alarm clock, loving to wake up with the birds and sunlight. We spend the evenings chatting while I quilt and he does work on his laptop.

One thing is for certain, my mate works far too much. I mean, I get it, I have a very hands on job with irregular hours. But Aspis justnever stops. There are always some documents that he needs to review, or someone that needs legal assistance. He has a team of people working under him at the label, and they look after the heavy admin, but no one is as good as he is.

We’ve also been spending a lot of time getting to know each other’s bodies. Aspis makes sure that I fall asleep satisfied every evening. Which is good, because I have been a horny mess.

Everything feels a little false, though. Like something is missing.

Obviously, something very important is missing.

I worry that we will never be entirely happy, entirely whole. That Ivy will never come around. Aspis has more faith than I do, but he doesn’t know firsthand how stubborn she can be.

I’ve been trying to distract myself from the negative thoughts by making Ivy a quilt. I am trying to reference all of the things I know that she likes. Her favorite albums, I’ve even used the merch t-shirts from her own albums, and of course it’s all green and black. I hope that I can give it to her soon. That she’ll happily receive it.

Chapter 20

Aspis

My meetings have been particularly mind numbing today. I’m wishing the time away so that I can go home with Matilda and spend the evening with her.

We have been enjoying each other’s bodies, but I look forward to our conversation just as much. She is so pretty, sitting in her bed and working on her crafts while I do my work at the counter. That is, until I can no longer stand not touching her and bring my laptop to the bed.

I would normally just work in the office until late and only go home to sleep. So it’s been nice to do my work with my mate instead.

Ivy has been missing from the studio all week. I’ve avoided the temptation to go to her usual studio space to see her. But I’ve asked around, and no one has seen her at all. It makes me worry, but Matilda has checked and she has been active on her social media. Ivy normally spends all her time in the studio, so this is probably her just trying to get some space from us.

That’s a tough pill to swallow.

What if she never comes back in? She’s technically not signed up to a new contract with the label, so she could do anything. She would even be well within her rights to pitch an album concept to another label.

“Aspis?” Rosie barely knocks, double checking that I’m not in a meeting before striding into my office and breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Hi Rosie, it’s good to see you.” I smile warmly, getting up from my seat and moving to meet her.

“You’re going to think it’sreallygood to see me in a minute…” She teases.

“Is that so?” I have fun hanging out with my best friend’s mate. Rosie is always down for a laugh and a tease.

“I just spoke with Ivy…” I’m not sure if I should still be smiling, but Rosie’s bright eyes sparkle with mirth. “…and I might have convinced her that going to Sebastian’s dinner on Friday with you and Matilda was a good idea.”

I freeze.

She better not be joking with me.

Rosie laughs, but more so at my reaction than anything.

“I’m serious.” She says. “So you better be on your best behavior. She’s going to come and see what some happily mated groups look like. Who knows, maybe that will be the spark that she needs.”

A knock sounds at the door, making us both jump. I didn’t realize that we had been speaking in low tones.

“Come on in,” I call out, smelling the crisp scent of my mate.

Matilda peeps her head in slowly before smiling broadly at Rosie. They’ve only met a couple times, but they seem to enjoy each other’s company. Which is good, I want my friends to like my mates.

“I’ll leave you both to it.” Rosie says as she leaves in a flash.

“What was that all about?” Matilda asks, running her hands up my chest and pulling me in for a brief kiss.

“Something pretty exciting actually.” I lift Matilda into my arms, earning a giggle as I sit in my chair with her straddling my lap. “Rosie was speaking with Ivy, and she is going to join us for dinner on Friday night with a big group of mated friends. She’s hoping that seeing everyone happy and together might assuage any doubts that Ivy has.”

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