Page 86 of Shrouded in the Dark

Fighting a yawn, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. I, err, well, I talked to my animal. It was,” I tried to think of the words that could describe it. Anything I said wouldn’t do it justice. “Amazing.”

Axel chuckled. He pulled me into his lap, hugging me tightly. “Our animals are pretty great. I’m glad you’re handling this well.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. Being in his arms felt safe. “Surprising, isn’t it? Normally by now, I’d be a mess of nerves.”

The smell of cooking spices and meat distracted me again. My stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry. Like, really hungry.” My animal grumbled. She was, too.

“Well, then it is a good thing that you’ll finally get to taste my cooking!” Cody appeared at the top of the staircase. He had an apron on that was decorated with cacti. “I made meatloaf, greens, and cornbread.”

He had circles under his eyes and he looked exhausted. I was up, across the room, and had my arms wrapped around his middle before I thought about it. I just knew he needed touch.

He pressed into me as we hugged. His nose went to the curve of my neck and he took a deep breath.

“I’m glad you’re awake.” Cody pressed his lips to the skin peeking through the oversized shirt that I was in.

Now that I thought about it, it wasn’t mine.

“Me too. Um. Whose shirt is this?” We stepped back from each other as I raised my arms up. The shirt fell just below my ass. I just about flashed the two of them before I hurriedly moved my arms back down. I was not wearing any underwear.

“That would be Axel’s shirt.” Cody grabbed my hand. “We didn’t want to put anything on under it, in case your animal got annoyed. You transforming for the first time unconscious would probably be a bad thing since she doesn’t know any of us, yet.”

My animal huffed. She knew them.

Cody led me down the stairs with Axel right behind us. The smell of dinner got stronger and I got even more ravenous. Instead of my stomach making its usual grumble, a loud growl came out of my mouth.

I paused in mid-step. What the heck? I slapped my hand over my mouth. My canines had grown longer.

“Guys?!” My voice came out funny, as if I had a lisp. “What happened to my teeth?”

“You and your animal are hungry. She’s probably famished after all the energy she’s used to heal your body.” Seth met us at the end of the staircase and held out his hand to me. “If you eat something, your teeth should go back to normal on their own.” His expression tender, he squeezed my hand. A feeling of calm washed through me.

Jasper and Wyn were already seated at the large table. Seth held out the chair in the middle for me that was next to Jasper. He slid it in after I settled on it. He sat next to me while Axel and Cody sat on the other side of the table, facing us with Wyn.

The food was in front of me. It was all I could concentrate on for the moment as my hands reached out rapidly grabbing various pieces of food.

I didn’t even bother with utensils as the food just got shoved into my mouth. A deep rumble was coming from my chest, but it was in satisfaction rather than anger.

I wasn’t sure how long I ate like a crazy woman, but when I finally slowed down as I started to feel satisfied, I looked up and froze. All of the guy's eyes were zeroed in on me as I licked the juice from the meatloaf from my fingers.

Cody gave a soft moan. A small thrill raced through me and my tongue flicked out on my lower lip. I watched, fascinated, that all of them, even Wyn, followed my movements. My animal purred in confidence. She liked having all of her mates captivated by us.

My head cleared. What was I doing? All of our mates? She’d included Wyn in that. I didn’t even know him!

She flicked her ears at me. She didn’t care. He was ours, whether he or I, cared, apparently.

My hands rested on the table as I mentally glared at her.

“Becca? Do you want anymore? I made plenty of everything.” Cody’s question distracted me from lecturing my animal.

Lecturing my animal. I gave a soft laugh. What was my life now?

“No, I’m full. It was delicious.” And it was, I just inhaled most of it without tasting it until the very last few mouthfuls.

Cody ate a bite of his dinner and smiled. “Good. I’ll cook for you all the time.”

That was really sweet of him.

Wyn cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. He really was a handsome man, in that scary way.