Page 33 of The Marked and the Broken
“What are you doing in bed? It’s not even ten there,” I ask as I pick at the bark on the tree I’m sitting on.
“It’s been a long couple of days. I miss you. When are you coming back?” she asks me.
I sigh. “I don’t know. Training is coming along pretty well actually, which is a massive relief, but the paladin are still tracking the lamia and trying to figure out where Lachlan and Keegan might be. So far, they’ve got nothing, and the rest of us are just waiting.”
I look out toward the barn, and surprisingly, I can see a light on inside through the trees. Aydin, Evrin and Silva must have gotten home after we went to bed.
“Are they still trying to rip each other apart?” Mave asks.
I look back toward the houses. “It comes and goes. They’ll be good for a couple days, and then something will set one of them off.” I shrug and then realize that Mave can’t see it. “Oh by the way, you’re fired from Best Friend status,” I tell her casually.
“What? No, what did I do?”
“How the hell did you not tell me that Torrez was going to bite the shit out of me when we mated? As a shifter and my bestie, you should have fucking warned me or something,” I scold.
Mave screams with excitement, and I can’t help but laugh. “You finally mated Torrez! I need details! Was it good? What am I saying, of course it was good, have you seen that body? What did your harem say? Any Bitter Bettys about it?”
I laugh even harder as she shoots one question after another at me. “No Bitter Bettys, they were actually encouraging it, believe it or not.” I chuckle, and Mave releases a dreamy sigh.
“Man, you’re one lucky girl, Vin. If I didn’t like you so much, I’d have to hate you on principle. So…how many times, what orifices were explored, are you covered in bites?”
I sputter out a laugh and clench my thighs against the heat building at their apex. “Please, you think I’m going to tell you shit when I’m still waiting for you to spill the tea about Pebble?”
Mave groans, and I can hear her throw herself back onto her pillow in exasperation. “That is complicated.”
“How so?”
“Well, you sleep with a dude once and they think they own you. It’s like sorry, bro, but a couple orgasms does not a mate make.”
“Oh, only a couple orgasms?” a gravelly male voice asks on her end of the phone.
My smile turns into an open-mouthedOof shock.
“Mave, are you in bed with Pebble right now?” I whisper shout, my voice getting all kinds of high-pitched and squeaky.
“I told you—I like your dick, not you,” she chastises Pebble, ignoring me.
“Anyway,” Mave redirects. “So that means you have four mates down and two to go, right?”
“Um,” I giggle. “No more to go; I’m officially six for six, but if you think I’m going to be distracted that easily, then you have another thing coming, young lady.”
“By the moons, Vinna, you’re not wasting any time with those boys, are you? I’m seriously so fucking proud of you right now. Makes me want to go out there and find my own harem.” Mave yells out an objection, and I hear noise over the phone that tells me someone has taken it away.
“Vinna,” Pebble’s clear voice rings out over the line. “You’re a bad influence. Now Mave needs to go and be reminded of why one mate is plenty for her.”
I can hear Mave fighting for the phone in the background, and then a feminine moan reaches me through the phone. I snicker.
“Mave, you follow your harem hunting heart,” I yell through the phone.
She laughs. “I’ll call you later, Vin, miss you and love you!” She squeals, and the line disconnects. I shake my head, smiling, and push off of the tree trunk to head back inside. I jump when, out of nowhere, Enoch steps out of the darkness between the trees across from me.
“Fuck, you scared me,” I accuse, and I slam a palm over my chest and try to slow my rapidly beating heart.
Enoch chuckles and starts walking toward me. “Sorry. Try yelling about harem hunting a little quieter next time, and you’ll hear me coming,” he teases.
I snort and shake my head. It’s annoying, but he’s right, I should have been more on guard and alert than I just was.
“What are you doing out here?” I ask, looking around to see if there’s anyone else with him.
