“Adrian?”
Adrian was startled. Had Ava just called out to him? “Yes?” He answered cautiously. Did she want him to join her? No. That would only happen if her body had gotten hijacked.
“Could you please pass me a towel and a change of clothes?”
Oh. Right. That made more sense.
The towel part was easy but the clothes required more strategizing. Gabrielle had moved some of her clothes over and he’d had them transferred to the connecting room this morning, they would be close to Ava’s size but something told him that she wouldn’t want to wear her sister’s clothes at this time with things the way they were.
So instead he grabbed one of his round necks and shorts to go with it then he went to hand it over to her.
“Ava?” The bathroom door opened slightly and Ava’s outstretched hand took the clothes and the towel.
“Thanks.”
In minutes, she was out and Adrian couldn’t breathe properly once he saw her. The shirt hung past mid-thigh on her and she held the shorts in her hand. Her hair was damp and was wrapped up in a loose bun with some tendrils escaping to frame her face.
Adrian had been with so many women in the past two years that their faces and names blurred together but somehow the sight of Ava in his shirt and her bare legs were what unmanned him.
How the hell was he supposed to fall asleep with her beside him? Maybe it wasn’t too late to tell her about the other room.
“Your waist is way bigger than mine so.” Ava indicated with the shorts clearly trying to explain why she wasn’t wearing them.
All Adrian could think about was how good it would feel if Ava were to wrap those beautiful thighs around him.
“Yeah. Sure.” Adrian hurriedly grabbed the shorts out of her hand making sure to avoid touching her before he did something he would regret.
Or not regret.
Ava claimed the right side of the bed and sank into the sheets with a moan that had all of Adrian’s nerves tingling with excitement and anticipation. Adrian followed shortly, taking the left side and facing the other side of the bed away from her side.
The room was silent for a bit then Adrian heard the sounds of sheets shuffling then Ava spoke.
“You were right. I… I always blame you for stuff that isn’t your fault.”
“Ava…”
“Just let me finish okay? My family pretty much cut me off today and it’s not your fault or even mine, at least not completely. It’s just a really shitty situation.”
Adrian turned around to see Ava looking at him, tears on her cheeks.
Goddess.
“Ava.” Adrian crossed the space between them and embraced her as she cried so silently that if he didn’t feel her shoulders shake he wouldn’t have known that she was crying.
Adrian pulled away once he felt her tremors reduce and looked at his mate’s eyes and her tear-stained cheeks. He wiped away her tears with his fingers and kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered shut for that instant then she pulled away from his embrace.
Her voice was hoarse and choppy but he’d never heard a more beautiful sound even as she dealt him a harsh blow.
“I just want to tell you that we might be marked and all but mated in front of the pack and everyone but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to accept this relationship.”
Couldn’t she feel this thing between them? It wasn’t even just about the mate bond anymore. It was the way they would find any topic to argue about ever since they were kids. The fights, the teasing and the pranks that he always looked forward to. The way she seemed to know him more than he knew himself, the way his life had been without colour for those two years without her.
“Ava, look–”
“Good night, Adrian.” Ava turned away from him and closed her eyes.
Adrian reached out to touch her but stopped himself. She had been through a lot today. Now wasn’t the time to push her. He could wait. He had been waiting for so long now even when he had been unaware that he was waiting for her, what was another day or month?
At least she was here now. Home, in his bed where she belonged.
*********
Gabrielle let her mother bandage her arm without saying a word. Her mother didn’t question her either. She understood that Gabrielle would not speak now. Gabrielle was too consumed with pain and rage to speak.
Adrian and Ava would be consummating their mate bond now while she was in pain.
True mates. They were true mates. Ha. Fate sure had a sense of humour. In a matter of hours, she had become the other woman in her relationship of over four years and the man she had loved almost her entire life was now mated to her younger sister.
When she had thought Adrian cheated on her with Ava, it was painful but somehow this was even more painful. So painful that when she left the clearing that she tried something she had sworn off. Self-harm. She tried to end her life but her mother caught her in time and slapped sense back into her.
Gabrielle was thankful for her intervention, for stopping her from making a colossal mistake in her pain. Someone would be hurt alright but it wouldn’t be her. She had suffered enough already.
If she couldn’t have Adrian, Ava wouldn’t either.
*****
Ava woke up alone on the bed tangled up in the duvet. Where did Adrian go?
How long had she been asleep?
The sound of running water told her what she needed to know and she relaxed back in the sheets.
Adrian hadn’t said anything about the declaration nor had he touched her inappropriately all through the night. While she on the other hand had extremely detailed and erotic dreams where Adrian took her and ravished her regardless of her objections.
She was surprised that the entire room didn’t reek of her arousal when she awoke. She needed a shower now but Adrian was in there and after she got a shower then what next?