Page 3

Let It Be

Delores

We spent the rest of the night chatting about the trip.

Chessie did his damndest to get Fitz and Rennie to behave, while Aubrey and Felix stubbornly set limits on every wild ass idea the two threw out.

I, however, let them squabble affectionately so I could have a minor freak out about something I’ve never had to do before: pack for a ‘vacation’.

Lucille and Bruno went off together, on their own, and with others, but I was always left at home with Mattie.

While my friends and my men have taken me on dates or out to concerts, outside of packing up to come to the different schools, I don’t have a damn bit of knowledge about how this works.

At least, none that isn’t from books or movies.

By the next morning, I was on edge. I ate with the guys and we all split up to do various chores to prepare for our train ride—which seems a lot less sexy now.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m still going to have a blast with that, but I’m stressing out over the logistics.

I just have to figure out what the hell I’m doing or I won’t be able to relax enough to enjoy anything.

Sighing, I look at Jinx as my eyes coast over the shit strewn about my room.

“I’m a bit of a mess, aren’t I?” The small mew makes me smile, and I pick up my sand cat to rub my nose against its cold one.

“You’re going to stay with Auntie Clarice while I’m gone.

She and her friends assured me you’ll be lavished with attention.

But you have to be good, or Argyle will be grumpy. Got it?”

Raina arranged the short-term kitty care for me without being asked, and I was grateful as hell when she told me.

I didn’t even consider it, which probably makes me a bad mama, but that’s also why I’m definitely not in the place to even consider babies.

I haven’t had enough life experiences to be responsible for anyone but myself yet, and no matter what the guys tell me about how good I’d be…

I have doubts. Not a single one of us had stable, consistent parenting that we could emulate.

In fact, we all had shitty examples or none at all.

“But a kitty is enough for me, and you’re perfect,” I tell Jinx before placing her on the ground. “Besides, I have five damn men to keep in line—that’s more than a handful, even when they’re being docile.”

As she trots away to her tree, I rake my hands over my hair and blow out a long breath.

I don’t want to admit that I feel a bit overwhelmed by trying to pack a suitcase.

That’s ridiculous, right? I have blue magic.

I’m a shifter. People are trying to kill me…

but I’m crashing out over folding clothes.

It feels silly as fuck, and even though I’m struggling, I can’t bring myself to tell anyone.

My eyes drift over the piles of stuff again and the anxiety of fucking up fills my veins.

Damn it. Why can’t I be normal just once?

“Okay, Dolly,” I mutter as I drop on the bed with a huff. “Get it together. There has to be stuff online about this. You can use the Pred-Net, right? You can learn to do anything if you just look for tutorials.”

I unlock my screen, heading straight for SnootTube to find videos.

As I scroll through the insane amount of titles, my stomach knots more and more.

Not only is there a fuck ton of videos about how to pack, but also ones on what to pack, what travel accessories I need, and all the emergency crap I should be bringing.

This might be worse than knowing diddly shit—now I’ve seen how much the world thinks I should know about travel.

At times like this, I want to travel back in time and murder both of my bio donors before classes even started at Apex.

“Bite size?” The quiet knock on the doorframe followed by Aubrey’s deep rumble makes my head snap up and my face heat with shame. He’s looking at the mess that was once my neat bedroom in surprise. “What is going on here?”

“Um… nothing.” My cheery response doesn’t fool him, so I stand, brushing off my pants. “I’m just, uh, deciding what I’m taking. You know, girl stuff.”

The dragon arches a brow, glancing at the chaos again before he says, “I see. Are you planning on packing the entire closet or…?”

“No!” I huff, crossing my arms over my chest as I stomp over to him. “Of course not.”

“Then why does this place look like a tornado hit it?”

“Because… because…” I frown as I struggle to find the right answer that will allow me to keep my inexperience a secret. “You shouldn’t give a woman shit about what she’s packing. It’s a rule; I’m sure of it.”

“I don’t think so,” he chuckles, stepping into the room and shutting the door quietly. “Why don’t you tell me what’s really wrong, mm?”

Deflated, I let my shoulders fall as I kick a shoe.

“I don’t know how to pack for a vacation.

I mean, I know how to pack up for school, obviously, but that’s different.

My stupid parents never took me with them out of town or across the world, so I just…

I can’t seem to get a grip on what I should do. ”

I feel him move closer, even though I’m looking at the carpet. His large hands land on my shoulders right before his lips brush my ear. “Delores Drew, you have an entire house full of mates who would be happy to help. Why didn’t you come find any of us?”

“Because I hate all this normal stuff I don’t know about; you know that.” I sniff haughtily, but lean back into his touch to let it soothe my jagged edges. “I know you guys don’t think less of me—how could I help not being taught—but my brain won’t listen to logic. It makes me feel stupid.”

Aubrey spins me in his arms, his eyes gentle as he looks down at me. “I know how that is, actually.”

“You do?”

He nods, his lips curving up. “I am aware of how intelligent I am. However, I struggle like hell with technology, and every time I have to get Fitz to help, it makes me want to stab myself in the eye. Of course, some of that is because it’s Fitz…”

Laughing softly, I reach up to cup his jaw. “He teases you because he loves you. You know that, right?”

“Perhaps,” he grumbles, making me giggle again.

“But it’s difficult for me to admit I don’t know things or can’t teach myself some things.

Until Rennie, I was on my own for a very long time and because I was so smart, I could survive.

Admitting things are out of my wheelhouse rankles my dragon and my pride. ”

“Same,” I say. “I mean, Mattie helped me a lot, but there were limits to what she could get away with teaching me. My friends… Well, you’ve met them.

They weren’t exactly eager to help me come out of my na?ve bubble.

So I also got used to figuring things out by myself because no one else was there to help. ”

“I shouldn’t ask; it’s going to piss me off.” I arch a brow at him, and Aubrey sighs. “You probably got in trouble for asking questions, and punished if you did things wrong, too, right?”

My eyes widen, and I pull back to stare at him. “Yes.”

The fire flickers in his gaze for a second, then fades. “Well, that’s not how it is with us, snack size. All of us… including that psycho tiger… love to help you. In fact, doing things for our mate, even when not fully mated yet, makes our animals extremely happy.”

“So if I ask you to teach me this, would it be a good thing? ‘Cause the internet actually made me feel worse.”

Smoke rings escape his nose as he snorts. “I believe that there isn’t a damn thing the internet doesn’t make worse, but yes. I’m probably not the most skilled in this arena—that would be Chess, I believe—but I would be honored to teach you.”

“Honored is a bit much, isn’t it?” I wrinkle my nose as my flush grows for a different reason. “I’m just a sheltered bunny who needs to fold clothes, Aubrey.”

“No, you’re my mate, and I get to share things with you I never thought I would. Honored is right, no matter what we’re doing.” He steps back, his smile making my insides melt. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” I tease and he rolls his eyes.

If I’m going to admit I’m clueless about something and let him teach me, I might as well have fun doing it.

After Aubrey leads me through the process of organizing my daily needs, the packing goes faster than I would have expected.

I just didn’t know where to start or how to decide what was necessary.

The dragon said he wasn’t the best teacher for this, but he actually did a perfect job.

He was patient but playful, letting me make mistakes without criticizing.

He even let me figure out what I’d done wrong and find a solution on my own.

It’s a shame he never gets to be in a classroom; he has a way of guiding you without it feeling like he’s breathing down your neck that’s very reassuring.

“Okay, so I have enough outfit pieces to mix and match for at least two weeks. I whittled down the shoes to one pair of a few styles that will cover a bunch of situations. Now, I have to accessorize.”

He blinks, tilting his head. “What kind of accessories?”

Chuckling, I shrug at him. “I need toiletries to keep me looking and smelling good. Probably some jewelry and stuff, in case I have to look less casual. And I’ll need stuff that is more functional, too. Books, my tech, cords… you know. The backpack type stuff is what I saw when I peeked online.”

“Ohhh. You need girly shit.”

I give him an unimpressed look. “Are you telling me you didn’t pack ties or socks or books or glasses cleaner or that fussy hair stuff you use?”

This time, he turns red. “Well, I…”

“Exactly, big guy. We all have our little quirks. Rennie will want his Frenchie cologne, Felix and Fitz will have Chess pack a ton of hair ties for them all…”

Aubrey grins broadly. “I love that you know poor Chester is doing it all while the Raj barks commands and Fitz bounces off the damn walls.”

“And probably tosses weapons and sex toys in,” I mutter.

His laugh echoes off the walls as he strides closer to tug me into his arms again. “You’re definitely right, lunchable. And I don’t hear you complaining, either.”

I make a face at him, and he laughs again. “It would be stupid to complain about things that will make our big train voyage infinitely more fun.”

“And we’ve established that neither of us is stupid, so we’ll finish up your packing, then go check in on our mate. He’s chaotic as fuck when he’s doing shit like this, which is why I came to see you.”

“Rennie chaotic? Never,” I reply snarkily. “I don’t believe you.”

Aubrey harrumphs and points his finger at the bathroom sternly. “Go. If you don’t bring out everything you think you need so we can pare it down, we’ll never get done.”

“This might be frustrating,” I sing-song as I head in the direction he ordered. “I won’t be able to live without my industrial strength hair dryer.”

“We have got to limit the amount of TV you watch with that tiger.”

He can say that all he wants, but I’m hysterical and he knew exactly what I was talking about.