Page 16 of Found: Denver Alpha

“Seems the honeymoon phase of my return is gone and you feel free to once again be your asshole self,” he mumbles under his breath but he knows I can hear him.

Instead of upsetting me though it just makes me chuckle as the oven dings and I load the pans into it. This banter is what I’m used to from my best friend, not the sad man that couldn’t even stand to look at himself in the mirror.

“Well, it seems like tough love is what you need right now and not me treating you like you’re made of glass. So buckle in because things are about to get rough,” I tease, turning and leaning on my elbows on the counter across from him.

“What are you making me?” he asks, sniffing the air as the food starts to fill the air with its delicious scent. I smile at him for a moment knowing that he’s going to love his go to comfort food.

“Dino nuggets, of course.”

Chapter Eight

JADE

The next morning when I wake instead of feeling happily mated like I should, dread fills me, but it’s not my own. Looking over at Dar I can see that he’s dead to the world but unlike his normal peaceful sleep he looks tormented. His face is scrunched up and his body keeps twitching. Even his fists are balled up, and look ready for battle.

I search the new bond but all I get are vague feelings of anxiety and stress. Neither of those are helpful in finding out what’s going on with him, in fact they make my stomach turn to the point I jump out of bed and sprint to the bathroom. My hand over my mouth barely helps me make it to the toilet before I’m expelling whatever I might have had inside.

When my stomach is finally empty, I step over to the sink and rinse my mouth to get the awful taste to go away. Throwing up is the worst, but now that I’ve done it my stomach is actually starting to feel a bit better. My feet are silent as I make my way back into our room and grab a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. I don’t plan on leaving the house today either so I might as well be comfortable.

“Finally! I thought you were going to leave me alone for the whole damn day,” Mila says as soon as I walk out into the living room, shutting the door behind me. It’s a silly thing to do since Dar won’t wake up until closer to nightfall but I still do it every time out of habit.

“Sorry. Did you eat?” I ask plopping myself down on the couch next to her, and snuggling up to her warm side.

“Oh yeah vamp daddy has you all hooked up, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fridge so full of food,” she jokes, calling him by the nickname she made up the other night. Instead of scolding her I just roll my eyes. If it doesn’t bother Dar then it shouldn’t bother me and frankly it’s just part of Mila’s crazy personality.

“He’s kind of perfect, isn’t he,” I say, smiling to myself even as I feel my cheeks heat.

“Yeah, and apparently he fucks like a champ too. I’m surprised you guys haven’t been evicted yet with how damn loud you moan,” she says, making my cheeks heat up even more.

Her hazel eyes sparkle with mischief as I shake my head in disbelief once again at the crazy words coming out of her mouth. After being in close proximity to her for a week you’d think I’d be used to her abrasive manner but she still manages to shock me.

“We sealed our bond last night,” I inform her, feeling proud of the fact that I finally made Darius my mate.

“I think everyone in the city knows that,” she snarks, getting up from the couch and disappearing into the kitchen only to come back moments later with a sleeve of saltine crackers and a glass of water. She hands them to me before she sits back down but when I go to hand them back she just shakes her head.

“Those are for you, I definitely heard you get up, if you know what I mean,” she says, her face scrunching up a bit in disgust. Rolling my eyes at her I open the crackers and start munching on a few with a bit of water. My stomach is a little resistant at first churning uncomfortably but it soon settles.

“Thank you—”

A knock at the door interrupts me, and both of us freeze in place. Visitors two days in a row is new and it can’t possibly be Vikram because he’s been crashing with Ruby and should be dead to the world like Darius right now.

“Ana,” I hear a voice from my past call through the door and suddenly the crackers aren’t sitting so well. I should’ve known that she’d try and find me. Why didn’t I leave when I had the chance.

“I know you’re in there Ana and I know that you're scared and confused but you don’t have to be. The man that threatened you all those years ago is dead and he can’t hurt you now. Please let me in, I just want to see you,” Delly pleads as silent tears make tracks down my cheeks.

“Well I can’t watch this,” Mila says, getting up from the couch and walking over to the door. “This is for your own good, you need to live again,” she comments before pulling it open.

Standing in the doorway with tears that match my own is Delly. Her hair may be black now and her skin across her chest covered in tattoos but there’s no denying those eyes. The same lavender eyes that cried the first month in the orphanage after her parents died and the same ones that sparkled in the sunlight when we met at our spot on the swings.

I want to run to her and pull her small frame into my arms but I’m afraid that my legs won’t hold up. Apparently I don’t have to even try because she rushes around the couch and throws herself into my arms. Our bodies shake as we both sob. Burying my face in her hair I breathe in her lavender mint smell remembering all the times that the two of us shared a bed so that we could keep the scary things from getting us. We always thought that as long as the two of us were together nothing could touch us.

Boy were we wrong.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” I cry, pulling back from the hug to look at her.

“I know what Wren did to you and I understand, that man was an evil bastard,” she tells me rubbing her face on her long sleeve v-neck shirt. Even with her eyes bloodshot from crying she’s gorgeous as ever.

“I missed you every day Delly,” I tell her and her cheeks pinken as a masculine voice chuckles.

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