Page 129 of Heart of the High King
“Why do you only listen when Sander tells you shit?”
Aleksander led his mate and his wolf into the house, which was already teeming with people grabbing their morning meal.
“Does Mortis want yummies?” Noirin asked in a singsong voice that had Aleksander lifting a brow at his cousin, but she ignored him as she baby-talked to the wolf as she fed him breakfast. “Who’s a good wolf? Who’s a good boy?”
“I guess I don’t have to wonder if he was taken care of while I was healing,” Rafe murmured. Aleksander tugged him to the buffet spread across the long island.
“Oh, good, you’re feeling better,” Trystan said, walking into the kitchen with his other half, Blodwen. “My parents keep asking if you’re out of your room yet, so they can talk to you.”
“Did something happen?” Aleksander asked.
“I have no clue; they just want to speak with Rafe.”
“Thank you. I’ll text Conley after breakfast and let him know he can contact me whenever he has time,” Rafe commented.
“You have my eternal gratitude. Between Dad-mate asking about you and wondering when we’re going to have another D’Vaire weekend, I’m wondering how Dad puts up with him when he gets this annoying.”
“D’Vaire weekend?” Rafe asked.
“Yeah, we usually have the entire extended family together once a month,” Trystan supplied.
“We can discuss it tonight,” Aleksander told the hybrid, who nodded with a smile. Kissing the top of Rafe’s ear, he couldn’t miss the confusion in his mate’s gaze. “We’ll talk about it before then, okay?”
His hair was a tangled mess of curls he’d neglected to comb, and Aleksander was ridiculously pleased by it, because he had vivid memories of how it got to be such a mess. It was all his fault, and he was especially proud of that fact. “Okay.”
“You’re beautiful. Now fill up your plate because you have weight to gain.”
“Yeah.”
∞∞∞
Since Aleksander was on the phone and they had a meeting with Drystan and Conley in short measure, Rafe left their office to take Mortis outside alone.
“Happy,” Mortis said. Rafe threw the ball for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Although he’d missed his wolf, he was pretty sure if he kept going, his arm would fall off.
“Me too. Are you going to sleep in our room tonight or go make kissy face with Noir?”
“Noir goddess is wonderful but Rafe my person.”
“I love you too. Your bed is in the living area, okay? Sometimes Sander and I need to be alone.”
“Dragons hump too?”
Rafe laughed so hard he bent over. “Yeah, buddy. Dragons hump too,” he managed when he caught his breath.
“You like humping with Aleksander?”
“Yep. Okay, last throw. I need to get to my meeting.”
“Throw.”
After Mortis retrieved his toy, Rafe stalked up the steps of the deck and put the ball into the little bin Noirin had placed outside for him. Pulling open the back door, Rafe found his brother in the kitchen by himself. His glare killed any greeting Rafe might’ve had, and his attitude was the very reason Rafe was uncomfortable being affectionate with Aleksander outside of their bedroom. The last thing Rafe needed was people judging him; he already knew he wasn’t worthy of his mate.
“Interesting that a man with such a long history with women is suddenly gay,” Kendrick drawled.
“What?”
“I don’t know how you live with yourself.”
