Page 21 of Anaki

You’re weak. What do you mean, you’re tired? Can’t you do anything?

“Mija, come back to me. These people are not bad. Emm is safe. She’s with her soul mate—”

I blocked her out. I tightened my jaw, and my body tensed. The ache in my hips came back in full force. There she goes on about hersoul mateagain.

She always rambled on about that. She wasinsane.

The seat belt popped, and I was suddenly lifted. I tried to steady myself with my arms, and my eyes opened wide, but I was seeing double.

“Hey, hey, easy there, love. I’ve got you.”

That voice.Anaki had me on his lap, his arms wrapped around me, tightly, almost too tightly, but it was an embrace that caused instant ease.

“I don’t need your help,” I hissed. “I’m fine, I was just having a moment of clarity—”

“Yeah, that there are a bunch of scary monsters in the car, and now you are sitting on a dragon's lap.”

My face turned six shades of red.

Anaki’s hand went up to pet my hair. My eyes focused more clearly. I was damn embarrassed sitting on his lap, but when I looked around the car noone was paying attention to us. Abuela gazed out the window, Nadia held Bear’s hand, and Luis?

“Luis is fine, Mama. He’s reading,” Anaki whispered in my ear.

My eyes went wide, and I nestled further into his hold.

He did not just call me that.

“You can let go now,” I muttered and tried to pull away. “I’m fine.”

Anaki hummed, and I felt his head bob back and forth. “Don’t think you are, and that’s okay. I’m here for you. You aren’t alone anymore. No one in your family is. And you can say you don’t need a good hug right now. That’s fine, but really, I’m the one who needs a hug.” He sighed dramatically.

His tight hold loosened enough so I could get a good look at his face. His eyes weren’t glowing or shape-shifting into strange slits like a reptile. He appeared to be a regular man with that pantie-dropping smile.

I still didn’t know if I wanted to trust it or not, but I wouldn’t lie to myself and say being held by him wasn’t nice.

“Why would you need a hug?”

Anaki frowned and placed his hand on Nadia’s chair. “Nadia knows all about it. It's a terrible condition I have, really.” Nadia looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.

“Here we go,” she said.

Anaki held his head in shame. “I am… a cuddle slut.”

The car erupted into a fit of laughter, and automatically, I did the same. By the time the laughter was over, I didn’t feel the pain in my hips anymore, just the warmth where he held me.

“A cuddle slut?” I asked incredulously.

Anaki leaned back into the seat, getting comfortable. “When Nadia first came to the club, she was pretty sick. I’m Bear’s bestie, so of course we had movie nights, andof course,I was invited.”

Bear scoffed, and I saw he shook his enormous head in front of me as he drove. “More like inserted himself, but it was welcomed.”

Anaki smirked. “Anyway, I like my cuddles. And Bear, being a bear, he was fun to curl up to, and Nadia, needing the warmth because at the time she was human and so small and fragile—”

“Hey!” Nadia glared at Anaki. They both stared-off at each other. “I liked it. I’m not gonna argue.”

I held back my laughter with a smile.

“As you see, I am a cuddle slut. Now that they are official, I don’t get the cuddles much anymore. I don’t need to piss off Bear’s bear.”