Page 76 of Fated to Them

I roll over, snuggling beneath the comforter, my eyes closing as soon as my head hits the pillow, and I feel the bed dip to the other side.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Adeline

Waking in the morning, I find myself half-lying on Eli’s chest. I sit up, looking down at him. Cyrus moves beside me before tugging me toward him as he snuggles himself against my back.

“Morning, love,” he whispers, kissing below my ear.

“Morning,” I reply, yawning.

I had the best sleep last night, and their bed was so much bigger than being squished in mine back home.

“What do you want to do this morning?” Cyrus asks.

“Don’t we need to go to work?”

“Yes, eventually, but one plus side to being the company owner is that we can choose when we do and don’t want to work,” Cyrus tells me, and I nod.

My thoughts go to Maya. Did Taylor get her ready for school and pack her lunch? My morning routine feels strange now that it is no longer mine. Sitting up, I go to climb over Cyrus and hop out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to message Taylor to check on Maya,” I tell him, but he doesn’t let go of my hip. He turns slightly, reaching for the bedside table, and I see my phone. He grabs it and hands it to me.

“I already messaged her off your phone. Maya is at school already,” Cyrus says, and I flick my phone screen on.

It is nearly 10AM. I go to my messages and see he did, in fact, message Taylor and that all is well back home. Taylor even sent what she’d packed for her lunch and a picture of Maya eating her cereal.

“Happy? Now, lie back down,” he says, pulling me onto his chest.

His fingers run up and down my spine, and the familiar tingles spreading over my flesh make me shiver. Eli is snoring loudly, making me wonder how I have never noticed it before.

“Does he always snore like a bloody chainsaw?” I ask.

“Only when he sleeps on his back. Sounds like a freight train. I have often thought of smothering him in his sleep,” Cyrus answers before laughing.

I reach over, pegging his nose. Eli’s eyes fly open, a growl escaping him before he rolls on his side.

“Morning,” he says, his eyes fluttering shut again, and his hand going to Cyrus’s chest.

I rest my chin on it, not wanting to move now. I am warm here and snuggled up with them.

Reluctantly, I hop up. Walking over to my bag, I grab my toothbrush and walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Looking in the mirror, I notice my mark is slightly different, almost silver in color. Cyrus walks into the bathroom behind me and turns the shower on. He looks over at me, and I catch his eyes in the mirror.

“Why does my mark look different? It was red before. Now it’s turning silver like Eli’s,” I tell him.

“Because we had sex. Once I mark you and Eli has sex with you, it will change again and become darker. After you go into heat and we mate you, it will turn gold.”

“Why gold? Yours is a gray-silver color.”

“Because you’re female. Until it turns gold, you can still break the bond.”

“I thought it couldn’t be broken if both of you mark me.”

“Yes, true, but to fully mark you, we have to mate you and remark you. The process isn’t complete unless we mark you during sex. Make sense?”

“Not at all,” I tell him, resuming brushing my teeth. “Doesn’t mating mean I have to become pregnant?”