Page 69 of Bullied Mate

Leo brightened when I reached for the bread. “Who taught you to bake?”

“We learned in the field,” I explained. “Soldiers pick up basic cooking skills to survive if we’re ever separated from our units.”

“Did you fight a lot?”

Xavier chuckled nervously. “Leo, I don’t think that’s a good question to ask—”

“It’s quite alright,” I interjected. “I believe it’s necessary to discuss war to a certain degree.” I turned to Leo. “We fought a great deal, dear boy. And I hope to never encounter such a thing again.”

“I see soldiers on the TV,” Leo told me.

I nodded. “In movies?”

“Yes, and sometimes, on the news.”

Xavier reached for his glass that was empty. With a reserved grin, he stood up and collected a pitcher from the fridge. “Sorry, I forgot the drinks.”

Bashfulness was delightfully cute on him. For a man who was often sure of himself, he seemed baffled and skittish tonight. I hoped it wasn’t entirely on my behalf. But I knew that we each shared feelings of unease about everything unfolding. The way I held myself back with him directly reflected our childhood.

One reassuring smile from me quelled his shivering hands. “At ease, Avi. I’m having a lovely time.”

“You haven’t tried your lasagna yet.”

Indeed, he was correct. How rude of me to ignore what the host had offered. I lifted my fork, used it to cut a piece, and brought it carefully to my lips. Delicious herbs, mainly oregano and rosemary, dashed over my tongue and satisfied my senses. When I hummed with agreement, the rest of Xavier’s anxiety seemed to fade.

He poured me lemonade. “It’s fresh from the garden. We grow our lemons out back, and we grow strawberries at my mother’s when they’re in season.”

“Do you like strawberries?” Leo asked with a mouth of lasagna.

Xavier started to chide him until I laughed.

“He’s eager,” I said. “He’s so much like you, Avi.”

The wolf man relaxed into his seat. Everyone received a serving of fresh lemonade and we were encouraged to dig back into our meals. Leo made a mess of himself, to my amusement. When I offered him my napkin, he leaned expectantly toward me. As before, Xavier wanted to chastise Leo for being a child. A long glance put out that urge as rapidly as I had intended.

With gusto, I cleaned Leo’s face. His grin never wavered as I got every last bit of sauce from his cheeks and mouth, contented sighs rising from him that fulfilled in me a duty I had always wanted. The moment he was clean, he slid from his chair and crawled into my lap, wrapping his arms around my waist.

His ear met my chest. “Wow, your heart is so loud.”

“Hearts tend to be that way when you listen closely.”

“And I can hear your voice. It sounds loud too.”

When I chuckled, he giggled. “It tickles my ear.”

Emotion surged swiftly across the table, stealing my attention, or splitting it somehow to be shared with this dear boy and his father. Such crushing fear dropped on my shoulders when I looked at Xavier, alarmed by the affectionate gaze he spared.

No one had ever looked at me like that.

My hand instinctively went to Leo’s head, cradling him, embracing him like any mother would. How any person could toss their family aside like they were nothing disturbed me. Never would that be a consideration of mine. Sheer disregard of my duties would have slumped the war in favor of the enemy—and I had no desire to do that in this case.

The enemy, in this case, being loneliness and heartbreak. As I met Xavier in every fashion possible through visual cues, I recognized in him that desire that burned within me, the longing that could disrupt the sternest of facades. I held Leo like he was my own, and it appeared that Xavier quite liked the look of it.

“Alright, it’s bedtime,” I whispered, but Leo protested. I chuckled. “Shall I read you something?”

Off he dashed at the sound of that offer. He babbled the entire way to the bathroom and then proceeded to inform me of each of his favorite stories while attempting to brush his teeth. Bubbles foamed at his mouth as he insisted that the greatest fantasies were those based on reality.

I listened diligently to every word, for everything he told me must have been important if he found it suitable to share. Xavier guffawed a few times from the kitchen where the sound of the faucet and the clatter of dishes created a familial orchestra. Between Leo practically sputtering his toothpaste everywhere and Xavier singing low, I felt that I had found a sort of forbidden paradise.

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