As the girls’ perfume filled the space, running over my mates, I frowned, not liking the idea of their scent lingering on them. I intertwined my fingers with Henry’s as the elevator began traveling downwards, Marco pressing a kiss to my temple while tucking me further against him. I wasn’t positive if it was just how obvious my emotions were or if it was our bond and Henry’s abilities, but they could clearly tell I was uncomfortable with the women in the elevator.
They hadn’t done anything yet, so I suppose I was overreacting, but my phoenix was fluttering in my chest, annoyed every time they laughed or talked in whispers that were faint enough that I had to strain to hear them. Honestly, I was glad for it because I had a feeling I wouldn’t love what they were saying.
“Um, excuse me?” One of the feminine voices from behind us filled the space and echoed. Instantly, Henry stiffened, his hand tightening around mine as he offered them a brief look over his shoulder, being the closest to them. Unfortunately.
His expression was cold and made my skin break out into shivers with the reality of how different Henry treated me compared to others. Was it wrong that I liked his indifference and coolness towards these other women? That was horrible of me. I knew it was. Still, there was a strong sense of possessiveness and territorialism that came with other women around my mates. It wasn’t them… it was me. Also them though.
“Yes?” His tone was disgruntled and annoyed.
“We were wondering if you guys were familiar with the area. We are here from New York, and we are looking for someone to show us around,” the other friend hedged as I felt frustration creep over me. Okay, I wasn’t being difficult, right? This seemed very direct. I wasn’t good at reading people, but the way they were smiling and talking to Henry and indirectly to Marco felt very flirtatious. It was pretty clear what they were interested in.
“Sorry, we have plans with our ma-girlfriend.” Henry paused on the word ‘mate’ before hedging out ‘girlfriend.’ I honestly didn’t feel like that was the right word at all, but what would be a good human analogy for ‘mate’? I honestly didn’t know.
“Yourgirlfriend?” The first girl looked at me, noticing the way I was still leaning into Marco while holding Henry’s hand. I knew humans looked down on being with multiple people—well, most humans, anyway—but I didn’t feel an ounce of shame or embarrassment. How could I ever not want to shout to the world how amazing my mates were? I was beyond lucky to have them.
I also noticed the way her eyes trailed to where my mating marks, Marco’s and Atlas’s, on my neck and shoulder were extremely visible. The human media had made comments on them as well, one source even mentioning that they were a bit ‘trashy,’ but I didn’t agree. It just made me want to show them off more. If Henry’s hadn’t been on my thigh, I would have probably found a way to show that off as well, to be honest.
“Our girlfriend,” Marco corrected.
Both stared in a bit of shock before the other gasped. “Holy crap. You’re the girl from the news! Maya something, right?”
“And Vogue's Insta post.” The other slapped her friend’s arm, looking very excited. My eyes widened at the sudden tone change as I tried to keep up.Insta post?Why did that term seem familiar… my eyes widened in realization that Jordan had used that in reference to Instagram.
That was a social media account. I knew that.
I didn’t know how it worked, but I was aware of the platform. Vogue must have put a photo of me up when I’d been there? Or something to that effect? Interesting.
Should I have an Instagram? I could put pictures up of my mates and I, then no one would question who they were with, right? I felt excitement surge through me at that notion.This was a great idea.
My cheeks flushed at their attention, Marco letting out a low defensive sound at my clear embarrassment. It was different getting attention for my mates than myself. I did feel a bit bad because the girls both paled, clearly recognizing the danger Marco posed even if they were human and didn’t fully understand why.
“I am.” There, that would solve it. Right?
“Can we get a picture with you? No way will people believe this.” The first jumped slightly, clapping her hands in true excitement.
Luckily, I never had to give a sure answer.
Before I could form a response, the elevator doors opened and we were suddenly bombarded with a far larger issue than the two women. I frowned, shielding my face as cameras began to go off in bright flashes. I was extremely confused about what was happening until Marco wrapped an arm around me, tucking me against his chest as Henry’s snarl filled the space and made me feel somewhat safer. I still kept my face down, his words about keeping my head down not completely blocking out the voices that seemed to fill the foyer that we spilled out into. Voices that were asking me invasive questions.
About what had happened with my mother and Jed.
My relationship with my mates.
Why I wasn’t in school anymore.
All of them felt almost rude, and I didn’t answer. As we seemed to make it through the crowd, a sudden surge of magic let me know that Atlas’s security team had shown up. I didn’t interact with them very often, couldn’t tell you what most of them looked like, but their energy was very familiar. Like most of the shifters I knew. I was nearly out of the heavy grouping of people when one of the questions stood out to me the most. It had me looking up and meeting the gaze of the reporter that seemed extremely eager and curious.
“Are you knocked up? Is that why the Morettis have taken you in—”
“I am going to fucking kill them.” Marco’s growl against my ear was dangerous, making me realize how worked up he was, as Henry leaned in and said something blunt and sharp to the man, making him pale. I looked up at Marco, confused in part by his question. I obviously knew what he meant by being ‘knocked up,’ but I didn’t get what they meant by ‘taken me in’? Why would me being pregnant change anything between my mates and I? Maybe it was because the man was human and he didn’t fully understand the situation at hand? I nibbled my lip, looking back at him one more time before we finally broke through the crowd, security forming a line behind us. I let out an exhale of relief as we made our way down the hall towards the restaurant.
Thank god.
“Atlas is livid,” Henry mumbled, looking down at his phone.
“Someone tipped them off,” Marco growled. “Probably the council.”
Would they really have done that? Why?