The smiles on the faces of the girls widened when Yodah stepped into the room with Aiden and Julius. Yodah had of course let them know about the presence of the morning visitors, so they hadn’t been surprised seeing them lounging and smiling on the sofa, and for one, Julius had already known of Ava’s presence, even whilst beneath the ground.
“Good morning girls…” The trio greeted, and the girls replied their greetings.
Eva’s confusion increased the more. She was wondering who these guys were now. She hoped that one of them had no thing already for Emma. The likelihood had her thinning her eyebrows and folding her arms across her chest, her face devoid of a smile. No guy was having Emma apart from her brother. No, not on her watch.
“Hello, little one..” Yodah greeted, squatting to the height of Eva when he noticed the slight scowl on her face. She hadn’t spoken to him either, or responded to their greetings, rather she was glaring at them. He thought that it was because they were strangers to her.
“Hi..” Eva muttered tentatively, not trusting the handsome boy right in front of him. She didn’t even want to answer him at first, but his voice had an enthralling quality that even a little girl couldn’t resist.
“What is your name? Mine is Yodah.” Yodah queried, and Eva shrugged.
“I am Eva.” She replied, before shifting her gaze from him to Aiden and Julius who had been watching the communication between her and Yodah.
“What are your names?” she asked. “.. and what are you guys doing here?” she questioned, not believing that they were Emma’s brothers; there was no resemblance, and her guts didn’t say so.
“I am Aiden. He is Julius. We are Freya’s friends. We came from a far place for the party.” Aiden replied, not sure that the little girl would understand if he had referred to Freya as his lifemate.
“Oh, okay. I see.” Eva muttered, but she still went ahead in laying a claim on Emma, in case any of the guys wanted the latter for herself.
“Emma is taken. She is for my brother. I’m just saying, in case any of you would want to feel something for her.” She stated, shrugging her shoulders the next minute when Maya shouted her name.
“Tame your lips, Eva, or I won’t bring you here anymore.” Maya threatened, even though a smile impeded over her lips.
The little girl’s statement had all taken them unawares. She could see the amusement on the faces of the others, except Emma’s.
The latter was annoyed, but kept mute, not refuting Eva’s statement, perhaps not wanting to crush the girl’s hopes or make her sad. Again, she felt proud of Emma. The latter always had a way around her. She was strong too, emotionally of course. She hadn’t seen her fight before, even though Shane had recapped the tale whereby Emma had successfully thrown down her cousin with some acrobatics.
“I’m sorry, Maya. I won’t talk anymore.” Eva pleaded, and Maya nodded, even though she knew that Eva’s promise wouldn’t hold, especially if it had anything to do with talking. The girl was so loquacious and mature for her age. She wasn’t sure if it came with being an Alpha’s child.
Aiden, still amused with Eva’s outburst, walked up to Freya and placed a short kiss on her forehead, even though what he actually wanted to do was to take her right there, but for their audience. A soft kiss would do for now, till this issue of Emma’s journey was settled. He wanted them alone in privacy.
“How was your sleep last night, siavet..” He asked her telepathically.
“Beautiful.. though I missed being with you.” Freya replied, aware that Julius was now walking toward a nervous Ava whose hands were still tucked within her laps to curb their shaking motions. They needed to talk about that, about Julius and Ava. What happens when the both mate or bond? Would any of them lose their inherent gifting and beings?
“A step at a time, my love. I’m sure we will sort it all out in time.” He said, sitting very close to her, under the watchful eyes of Eva. The little girl must be wondering if their friendships had any boundaries. He thought in amusement.
“I see, you’ve had something to eat, Emma. That is an improvement.” Aiden stated, after noticing the flask which was still in a firm hold on Emma’s laps.
Emma just shrugged, not saying anything to accept or refute that statement.
Eva’s earlier statement about her belonging to Derek had unsettled her so greatly, more than she had thought it would.
Right now, she was actually angry at Eva, but releasing it on the little girl would make her a jerk. The little girl knew nothing about the pain that Derek had caused her, she hadn’t heard Derek’s insulting words or seen his cold indifference towards her.
So, yes, she wouldn’t take out her anger on Eva. The girl had spoken out of ignorance, love and loyalty. So, as the time passed, the annoyance gave way to pride. Eva would be a great lady.
Compassionate too. She thought, letting her eyes cut across every member of the room. They had all stood by her in this trying time, and for that she was grateful, even to the vampires whom she had come to trust.
They were even more trustworthy than the werewolves that had thrown her away, more compassionate than even the mutt that had claimed to be her mate.
Perhaps they weren’t even mates. She thought, cocking her head to one side. After all, how was she to know? She just loved him, perhaps like the Casey girl had. She hadn’t a wolf that would perhaps feel the mate pull. So, perhaps, there was nothing. Perhaps, Claire was really his mate.
But even as she thought that, her heart negated it, especially as the memory of the heated sex that they had had last night replayed in her mind.
That wasn’t just love she thought, something else had been at play there. But it didn’t matter now. She was done with him. She hoped that she wouldn’t see again ever, because if she did, she wasn’t sure what she would do to hurt him. Because she surely will hurt him.