“After?” Ethan perked up. “What after? What happened up there?”
“He started the mating process,” Alex chimed in.
I dropped the spatula and sighed. “Does no one believe in privacy?”
“Course not.” Ethan shrugged. “Just like apparently no one believes in t-shirts around here.”
Cassius looked down. “I’m fully clothed.”
“Except him…” Ethan sighed. “…and myself. It’s like we’re the only ones who understand that clothing is necessary to fit in.”
“I fit in just fine,” I pointed out.
Ethan’s green eyes raked over me from my worn flip-flops all the way up to my naked chest. “Sure, whatever you say, Mason. Hey, going shopping for pinecones later?”
“Bite me,” I snapped.
“You taste foul,” he countered. “Not at all like Genesis’ sweet blood with—”
“Stop.” Alex held up his hand. “Some of us want to sleep without nightmares.”
“I am the nightmare,” Ethan joked.
Alex gave him a slow clap while Cassius rolled his eyes. I returned my focus to the sizzle of the meat on the stove. If I focused on solitary things, then I didn’t think about Serenity — the way she tasted, the way her body had responded to mine so perfectly, so effortlessly.
Damn it. I was such a fool.
I’d loved once.
I’d mated once.
And now I was alone.
I scratched the back of my head and turned off the stove, not realizing that the room had fallen silent behind me.
I quickly turned.
All three men were staring at me as if I’d just announced I was going to sprout wings.
“What?”
Alex’s eyes went black as he stood near Ethan, as if he was protecting him, which was insane. Ethan could hold his own against any of us. Cassius’ wings sprouted from his back, the tiny feathers completely erect, ready to shoot like arrows into my naked chest. His eyes were white, his skin marble.
“Guys?” I sensed no danger. But I did sense fear. From everyone but Cassius.
His head tilted, and he sniffed the air, his eyes rolling to the back of his head before his eyes returned normal.
The air froze as Stephanie, Cassius’ mate and the last remaining Dark One, made her way into the kitchen. She arched her brows and whistled. “Freaky, Mason. Seriously freaky.”
Alex gave his head a shake then slowly returned to normal while Ethan’s eyes searched mine.
“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“Lie to me, and I impale you,” Cassius said in a threatening voice.
Good to know I was still on his good side.
“How many years?”