“Never have, never will. It’s all in the past. You don’t have to apologize anymore.” Dex pulled back and smiled at him. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Cael nodded. “You know you can.”
“He may be far from perfect, with many, many faults, but I know deep down, Ash will treat you right.”
Cael couldn’t help his big grin. “You really believe that?”
“I do.”
“Thanks, Dex.”
Cael hugged his brother once more when their dad called out from somewhere upstairs.
“I don’t hear cooking down there.”
Dex huffed. “Because we were having a moment, Dad.”
“Well, finish your moment, get back to cooking, and stay away from the cookies. That means you, Dex.”
With a chuckle, Cael pulled back when it hit him. An odd yet familiar scent. He sniffed the air, catching a whiff of it among the smell of freshly baked cookies and the turkeys roasting in the ovens. He kept running into that scent but could never quite place it. Following his nose, he realized it was coming from his brother. That was weird. “Dex?”
“Yeah?” Dex removed a bowl from the cabinet and the ingredients for their dad’s super awesome green bean casserole.
“There’s something… off about you.”
Dex pointed to his head. “Too much hair gel? It’s a new brand. Thought I’d try something that wasn’t citrus. Therian agents can smell me coming from a mile away at work. I needed to shake things up.”
“No. It’s your scent. Your scent. Not your various manscaping products.” He leaned into Dex and sniffed.
“First of all, I do not manscape. I’m not even hairy. I also happen to use an average amount of men’s products. Second of all, don’t sniff me. That’s just weird.”
“Sorry, it’s just bugging me. You smell like you but not you. You smell like Sloane too.”
“Maybe because we’re always around each other?” Dex rubbed his chest sensually and thrust his hips. “And I do mean all up in each other. Ooh yeah.”
“Ew, perv. No. That’s not what I meant. Stop humping the air!”
Dex laughed. “What? You don’t like my sweet moves?”
“Keep your sweet moves away from me and my baked goods.” Cael shoved him again, ignoring his brother’s laughter. “Dork.” What was his brother hiding from him? And why? “This is different. Like you’ve been permanently—” Cael gasped. “Oh my God, Dex! Did Sloane mark you?”
“Um… I was going to say something, but I’m still trying to figure out how to tell Dad.” Dex hesitated before pulling up his T-shirt’s sleeve, revealing a white bandage around his forearm.
“You bonded?” Cael couldn’t believe it. His brother had been marked as a Therian mate.
“You what?”
Cael and Dex both gave a start. They spun to face their dad, and Dex hid his arm behind his back.
“Dad, hey. Sloane and I had a bonding moment. You know, heart-to-heart.”
Their dad’s laser-beam stare bore into them. “Boy, you must think I was born yesterday.”
Dex shook his head. “No, not at all. I think you were born way back when. What were the dinosaurs like?”
“You’re looking for a grounding.”
Cael held back a laugh at Dex’s scandalized expression.