68. DEVRIM: TOGETHER

My hold on Ezra eased, but not enough for him to get up.
Obsidian was speaking again but my eyes were glued to Vanya. His words made her shiver and had her eyes darkening. She wanted it as much as we did, but Vanya wasn’t in a state to take the three of us. My eyes darted over her, taking in the fading bruises on her skin and the healing wounds from surgery. I could clearly make out every one of her ribs and her hip bones. She was too thin.
I swallowed and looked at Obsidian.
Our eyes instantly locked. His lips curled up on one side into a half-smile. He gave me a nod. The air left my lungs as relief flooded me. He fixed things, everything was going to be okay.
I was caught off guard when Ezra moved. He moved so suddenly that I lost my balance and fell off the bed. Letting out a chuckle, Ezra climbed stood, and walked over to them.
Shaking my head, I got up and rubbed my ass where it was throbbing. When I looked up again, it was to find Ezra on his knees in front of Vanya. She blinked down at him as if unsure whether he was real or not.
“My sugarplum,” Ezra said. “I’m sorry for attacking you. I didn’t mean to hurt you but I just missed you so much. I hadn’t seen you in weeks and you never opened the door for me.”
Vanya swallowed loudly. “I-I wasn’t ready to see you. . .any of you. I needed space to think.”
“And now?” I asked as I moved closer. “How do you feel now?”
My eyes dropped to her mouth when she licked her lips. She’s not in a condition to be having sex, I reminded myself as desire shot through me. Ignoring Ezra, I moved closer and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.
“I’m okay now,” Vanya whispered. “I missed you, all of you.”
I gave her a small smile. “We missed you too.”
I pressed my body against hers as I wrapped my arms around both Vanya and Obsidian. My eyes darted over to Ezra when he stood. He hesitated for a few seconds before he took a step closer and joined in on the hug.
Vanya’s warm breath fanned my chest when she sighed.
But even though Vanya was with us again, there was still something. . .wrong. Guilt was slowly eating away at me. Vanya deserved to know the truth and before we could take things further and talk about mating, I needed to tell her everything.
It might make her hate us.
Giving them one last squeeze, I took a step back. Obsidian frowned at me as if he knew what I was about to do. His eyes told me to let it go, but I couldn’t. We were about to make a new beginning and in order for us to do that, we all needed to go in with clear heads.
One of Ezra’s books I borrowed made it clear how important communication and trust was.
What if some of the pride members accidentally mentioned her mother?
But where to start? I turned and my eyes fell on the soup I had gotten from the main house. It was still untouched which gave me the answer I needed.
“I’ll go heat the soup then we can eat,” I said, but Obsidian stopped me.
“I’ll do that,” he muttered. “You’re going to burn the house down.”
“I won’t.”
He raised an eyebrow as he stepped away from Vanya and towards his closet. Turning his back on us, he searched through it and pulled out sweatpants for us and a long-sleeved shirt for Vanya.
Once we were all dressed, I grabbed the soup and led the way upstairs and into the kitchen. Instead of reheating the soup like he said he would, Obsidian ended up making something else. Within minutes the delicious smell of fried chicken filled the cabin.
It made my stomach grumble in hunger.
I sat at the island next to Vanya and Ezra on the other side of her, watching Obsidian as he moved around.
He was still a bit unsteady on his feet, and his skin was still flushed with fever, but he looked a lot better. I turned my head and looked at Vanya. She had some color in her cheeks but she still looked tired.
“My father is in jail,” she suddenly said. “He was the one who had it all planned.”
“We know, sweets.” Obsidian glanced at her over his shoulder.
“Oh.” Vanya’s head lowered. “I just wanted to let you know and apologize—”
“Don’t,” Ezra hissed. “You don’t need to apologize for what that bastard had done.”
“I know.”
I reached out and took hold of her shaky hand. Raising it to my lips, I pressed a kiss to her knuckles before I gripped her chin and turned her head towards me. Vanya avoided eye contact but when I stayed silent she finally lifted her eyes.
“You had nothing to do with what he did,” I told her. “He wanted to involve you but you never did as he ordered. You had a choice and you chose not to get involved.” I stroked a finger across her cheek. “We don’t have a family like you so we don’t understand what you’re going through, but Reeves deserves it. He deserves the punishment he’s getting for what he had done.”
“I feel like it’s partly my fault. I knew about his plans and I should’ve said something.”
“Let’s not talk about this anymore.”
I nodded. “It’s over and done with.”
The kitchen fell silent again except for the sounds Obsidian made as he cooked. Ten minutes later we each had a plate with a piece of fried chicken and some tiny white stuff and a sauce.
I blinked at it and used a fork to touch it.
“It’s called rice.” Vanya laughed. “It tastes good, I promise.”
I was still a bit skeptical but I took a bite like Vanya ordered. It didn’t taste too bad, but it wasn’t something I loved. The chicken on the other hand was something I’d eat every day if he cooked it for me.
Obsidian stood across from us, staring down at his plate, but not eating. He picked at his food with his brows dipped into a frown.
Glancing down at my plate, I hesitated before I started cutting the chicken into tiny pieces and mixed it with the rice. I slid from the chair and pushed my plate across the island before I grabbed the chair and walked around the island to take a seat next to him.
Obsidian’s body tensed, but he didn’t look at me.
Taking a seat, I reached out to wrap an arm around his waist and pull him closer so he stood between my spread legs. The moment he raised his head and opened his mouth, I shoved a fork full of food into his mouth.
“Eat,” I ordered when his lips parted again. “I’ll hold you down like I’ve seen in the movies and force you to eat.”
His eyes narrowed as he growled, but he started chewing.
I smirked at him. “I’m a lot stronger than you at the moment, baby, and I can prove it.”
He rolled his eyes and swallowed. When his lips parted to speak, I shoved some more food into his mouth. His hands curled into fists and anger flashed through his eyes, but he made no move to step away from me.
Obsidian growled at me, but every time he wanted to say something, I shoved food into his mouth. When I did it for the fifth time, his hand shot down to grip my thigh. I jerked but stayed in place, my eyes challenging his silently, as he squeezed my leg.
“Stop,” Obsidian growled, instantly slamming his mouth shut and turning his head away.
Vanya’s laughter made me smile. I winked at her before I focused my attention on him again.
Maybe everything was going to be just fine.