Page 9 of Delivered to My Shadow Unicorn Alphas

Then the message came.Absolutely. He’ll be sorry that he missed your reply. He’s out on a gallop, but he’ll want to join as soon as he gets back. Want to video chat?

Panic. I’d been hunched over books and screens all day and hadn’t even done my hair or put on makeup this morning. The picture I used for the app was a rare good one. The camera ingeneral did not love me, and I suspected video chat would be no better.

Amber?

I’m sorry. Yes, I’d love to video with you, but I just got home. Can you give me a few minutes to freshen up and get a cold drink first?

And eat.He sounded like one of those protective alphas in my books.

I skipped lunch.Why was I telling him that?

Promise me you’ll have some dinner before you come back on to talk with us?Why was it so sexy that he said that? I read too many novels!

Still,I will. Give me a half hour.I could throw a frozen dinner in the microwave while I did something with my hair, which I had pulled up into a messy ponytail at some point during the afternoon.

Take as long as you need.

I will.

Thirty minutes later, I’d flat-ironed my hair and put on some eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss, wishing I had foundation or something, but I so rarely dated, I hadn’t worn any makeup at all in a bit. I used the last five minutes to gobble the ramen I made when I didn’t find anything better in the freezer.

Then I tried to find the best place to sit so I was lit decently, something I’d proven really bad at with work calls, and dialed the number he’d sent me while I was primping.

Chapter Nine

Juven

When I got back to the house from my run, Shaman was in the living room on the phone with someone. On a video call.

“Hey, Juven. We got a call from Amber.”

I stopped in my tracks. Shaman’s smile told me he was sincere, but he sounded so nonchalant about it.Oh, by the way, our mate is on the phone.

“She is?” I asked. “I mean, we did?”

“Hello, Juven.” Her voice slipped through my consciousness and settled right in my heart. More than ever, I knew she was ours. We’d never considered sharing a mate, but now that Amber was on our radar, I had no second thoughts about it. Okay, I did, but there was no denying how she affected me and my animal.

“Hello.” I went over and sat next to Shaman. “You didn’t answer before.”

Her black hair had some silver streaks in it. I could see them now. And no matter how beautiful she was in her pictures, it was nothing compared to how gorgeous she was in person.

“I was at work. The night shift is the worst but when I got on to answer, I saw Shaman was online. I was…disappointed to hear you weren’t there.”

My chest warmed. She liked us too. Of course she did. It was fated. Or she was the first female we’d interacted with in a while and we were horny.

My human brain doubted everything.

“I was running.”

“As your unicorn? That must be incredible.”

“It’s one of my favorite things,” I answered. She sighed and covered her mouth to yawn. We were keeping her up. “You’re tired,” I commented.

“I am. I arrived at work, buried myself in research, and before I knew it, the library was closing. I have a mountain of notes to get through, but I don’t have the energy to look at it anymore.”

I felt awful. All day, I’d wondered if she was rejecting us with failing to answer our messages, but it was just like Shaman told me. She was working and busy. How silly of me. She was human and wasn’t blessed with a trust fund like we were. She had to work to live, while we worked because we wanted to and none of it for pay.

“I’m sorry we’re keeping you up,” Shaman commented. I didn’t want to end the video chat with her, but my animal didn’t want her to be tired. He already cared about her well-being.

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