Page 74 of Third Offense

“How are they fitting in?” my mother asked, interrupting my musings again.

“How are they fitting in?” I parroted back at her.

Well, let’s see. Novak purposefully acts like he has no idea how to use a fork half the time, and the other half, he’s showing me all the things he can do to me with his tongue.

“Novak isn’t built for court life,” I admitted. “But he’d do anything for me, though.”

“And the other one?” my mother asked. “The Nora?”

I frowned. “I think he’s having a hard time adjusting.” And not just because of his behavior today, but his demeanor in general. He rarely released his wings, while Novak often had his on full display.

Is it because he feels out of place with his white wings?

It would be something I could understand. The shame of being the only one with black wings in the Nora Court still stung somewhere deep within my heart. It was a wound that would likely never fully heal.

I’d hated my wings.

Did Auric hate his right now?

Did he hate it here because now he was the odd one out?

Is that what my mates are discussing outside?

“He probably doesn’t feel very welcome,” my mother surmised, her tone contemplative. “I’ll see if I can find a way to help him. He’s your mate, and that makes him important to all of us.”

A wave of relief settled over me, my lips parting to express my gratitude when the nearby door slammed open.

My eyes widened at finding a bloody Novak growling in the doorway like a mad animal.

Oh, crap.

I stood, alarmed, as my mother sighed in clear disapproval.

Because he was not only disheveled but also bleeding on her floor.

“Novak,” I breathed, walking toward him and taking in the gashes and bruises blossoming all over his body. “What’s wrong? What happened?”Did Auric do this to you? Why?

Novak’s dark gaze seemed to soften when I reached him. Although, it took him a moment to seem to remember how to form words. “I suggest we retire to prepare for dinner.”

Dinner? Right.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I turned to give my mother a weak smile. “We’ll, uh, see you at supper, then?”

My mother’s expression had gone flat. While she clearly wished to make my mates feel welcome, they had to at least makesomeeffort.

And whatever the hell had happened to Novak was a story he didn’t seem keen on sharing in front of my mother.

Fine by me. I wanted nothing more than to run out of here as fast as I could before my mother threw us out.

“Of course, dear,” she said with a tight smile.

Novak offered her a nod—at least he had the decency to do that—before he turned on his heel, not even bothering to make sure I was following him.

I balled my fists and stormed out of the room.

Because he was clearly fine, just pissed off.

Novak had better have a good reason why he just embarrassed me like that.