Page 69 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

I let my fingers drive through her soft hair. “I don’t have a kind side.”

“But you are kind to me, and to Tony, and to your friends.”

“It’s different when it’s you guys,” I point out.

“You are afraid of failure,” she mutters. “But you don’t need to be. It’s not making you look weak to be more approachable.”

I sigh, allowing her words to sink in. I know I have issues with letting anyone in. I thought as an alpha it wouldn’t be an issue that I wasn’t approachable, but seeing how Tony works with the teens and how the pack responds to him… it’s so different. They still respect him.

My head hurts a bit as my thoughts are going wild.

“One step after another,” I mutter.

Elodie’s lips tug into a smile. “And what’s the first step going to be?”

“I will talk to my father and tell him how shitty I was as a teen. I can’t stomach hearing his praise without him knowing what truly happened.”

She blinks her eyes open, obviously fighting against sleep. “That’s brave,” she says. “It’s going to be difficult, but it’s the right thing to do.” Her fingers brush over my skin. “If you need me, I’ll have your back.”

That’s what surprises me the most. To have this woman here with me, who accepts me despite the way we met, despite me being such a jerk at first. She was bullied, yet is able to see more in me than a former bully.

It’s a truly humbling experience.

I will make sure not to disappoint her.

25

The Bond

*ANTHONY*

Therainslowsfora few hours, just to start with full force again. I wake up to the thunder growling outside, turning to my back and sighing slightly. Well, with Dalila sleeping in my room—in my bed, to be more precise—sleep doesn’t come easily.

I offered her the bed and took the couch, but it was torture to know she was sleeping a few steps away from me and tucked into my blanket. Her scent is all over the room by now. It’s heaven and hell at once, but I don’t mind.

Lysander stirs in my mind again, and I can see the hint of his face pop up, but I ignore him. It’s his turn now to talk to a fucking wall.

When a lightning strike lights up the sky, the rain seems to pick up again, and thunder after thunder follows. I normally like the rain, but this here is a bit extreme. With a sigh, I sit up, my eyes widening when I see Dalila sitting straight in the bed.

“Dalila?” I whisper. “Is everything alright?”

Another lightning strike and thunder follow, and through the light, I can see her wide-open eyes. Her frame trembles.

Goddess, she is scared of the thunderstorm! I don’t want to scare her by jumping to her side, but I don’t want her to sit there and be afraid, either. For a moment, I contemplate what to do before kicking my blanket aside and getting up. She is my mate. She might be human, but she is still my mate.

“Hey,” I say softly when I’ve approached the bed. “You know… I-I feel a bit uncomfortable with thunderstorms. Do you mind if I—”

Another thunder rumbles right before a bolt of lightning strikes. Dalila grabs my hand and pulls me into the bed. “Of course,” she blurts out. “I don’t want you to be scared.”

The moment my back hits the bed, my beautiful mate clings to me like a little monkey, her legs and arms wrapped around my body. I make sure to pull her close, her scent covering me like a blanket. This is heaven.

“I’m so sorry,” she blurts out. “But…”

“It’s okay,” I mutter. “I hate thunderstorms, too.”

“When my mom got killed, it was a night like this,” she says quietly. Her fingers almost dig into my flesh as she remembers her painful memory, but I don’t mind. Instead, I keep brushing over her back, feeling the tingles from every touch.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” I whisper.

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