Page 19 of The Wolves At My Sides

“You’re no fun! They’re our mates! Our true-mates! If you can’t trust them, you can’t trust anyone!”

Ignoring him, I opened the door and peeked out. The hallway was empty, but the low voices of my mates drifted down to my ears. I almost didn’t want to interrupt their little family.

“They’re our family too! You’re killing me!”My wolf chimed into my thoughts being dramatic, as usual.

I dusted off my shirt, though there was nothing on it, and made my way into the kitchen. I stopped in the doorway a second before Irwin and Marcus noticed me. Marcus held the baby in the crook of his arm and his coffee cup in his other hand. All Irwin’s attention was on the pair. I couldn’t see the baby well, but it gurgled happy little sounds. Marcus bent down and rubbed noses and the baby laughed, flailing his little arms up on either side of his daddy’s head.

“Good morning again,” Irwin was the first to notice me.

“Morning,” I said and stifled a yawn.

“Act normal. Just act normal,”my wolf repeated into my thoughts.

I crossed the kitchen and joined them at the table leaving a chair between me and Marcus in case they didn’t want me too close to the baby. New parents were sometimes oddly protective.

“Do you want to hold him?” Marcus offered and I blinked.

I’d explained to Irwin the day before how fragile babies were and how afraid of breaking one I was. Everyone thought kids were tough, but I knew better. Kids knew how to act tough, but they were fragile.

“Uummmm….”

“Let him eat first, Marcus,” Irwin saved me.

“Sorry,” Marcus flashed me a sheepish grin. “I always want to hold him every time I see him.”

“I’ll grab your food from the oven,” Irwin said.

I almost said I could do it myself, but he was already scooting his chair back.

“Thanks,” I said instead.

I ate the eggs, bacon, and toast slowly, because it gave me a reason not to talk when I wasn’t sure what to say. Every few minutes, Marcus and Irwin passed the baby back and forth. He giggled each time he was passed off and then cuddled up close to whoever held him. Eventually, Marcus lifted Irwin from his chair and into his lap so he could hold onto both of them. For a second, I thought they forgot I was there, and I wouldn’t blame them. If my brain would’ve let me live that normally I might’ve forgotten everyone else too.

“His name is Faran, right?” I asked, my chest aching to be closer to them.

“Yep,” Irwin nodded.

“Named after my twin sister,” Marcus added.

“You’re a twin?” I asked, if only to keep the conversation going.

“He comes from a huge family,” Irwin nodded. “Besides Daniel and Fara none of them know we met you yet. They like to swoop in with huge celebrations and we figured you’d want some time to decompress and settle in before that happened.”

“They’re going to love you, though,” Marcus added as I finished the last bite of my buttered toast.

“Can I come closer?” I said, having found courage in my breakfast.

“Of course,” Marcus nodded, but tightened his grip around Irwin’s side.

“He’s nervous, not territorial,” Irwin said.

“I’d be nervous too. Babies are so breakable,” I said.

“I’m not afraid you’ll hurt the baby,” Marcus said.

“Oh!” I blinked.

I wasn’t sure what I did to make Marcus nervous, but I decided that at least leveled the playing field a bit. Outside of sleeping, I hadn’t relaxed since the airport in Europe. I scooted my chair closer to them and turned it to face them. My knee rubbed against the side of Marcus’s thigh, but he didn’t jerk away.

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