Chapter 103: Buttered Toast
"Regrettably, yes," I grumbled underneath my breath, determinedly squirming out of his arms like a worm on a fishhook. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him while his mark still existed on my shoulder, throbbing like an unhealed wound that made it even more impossible to ignore the effect Rowan had on me.
Rowan reluctantly put me down with surprising gentleness. I made sure that the shirt covered everything that it was supposed to, before planting my hands on my waist and glaring up at him.
"So, why did you wake me up?" I asked. If they woke me up to get me to make some breakfast for them, I would eagerly spit in their food, consequences be damned.
"We’re sending Violet back to the pack," Rowan said.
"How is that my business?" I asked, confused. "You can’t honestly be waking me up to tell me that only, right?"
They could have simply left a note, and I would have done my best to escape until they came back. My heart sank as I realized why I was woken up as well.
"I’m coming with you, aren’t I?" I asked grimly. One might think that they were going to let me rejoin the pack, but I doubted it, since Lucien had already successfully invaded the pack once to snatch me away. "You’re just going to make me accompany her there and then bring me back here."
What a colossal waste of time!
"Oh wow, she has a working brain after all," Cassian chimed in, his voice heavy with sarcasm as he slowly clapped. "Now let’s go! We’re wasting time. Violet has been waiting for you to get up since an hour ago."
I snorted. I highly doubted that. It was more likely that Violet purposely woke herself up early so that I would be forced to wake early as well, or look like a lazy slob in comparison. But if so, why was I allowed to sleep in?
"Then why didn’t you wake me up an hour ago?" I asked, rubbing my face to wake myself up.
"Because you need to rest," Rowan said firmly, causing me to stare up at him in disbelief, wondering if I had misheard. "You had a late night yesterday."
Cassian scowled. "So did Violet. She didn’t sleep until quite late, because you scolded her so badly last night. Yet she still woke up early!"
Rowan’s nostrils flared. "She’s not a child. And we also told her we would be leaving later. If she were tired, she could have taken a nap."
Cassian’s scowl darkened further as he glared at his older brother, but to my surprise, he held his tongue, merely choosing to direct his ire at me with a huffy snarl, before storming out of the room. I wasn’t fazed; compared to the random acts of violence Cassian had inflicted on me before, this was literally nothing in comparison.
We stood there in a brief silence as I tried to banish the last remnants of sleep from my eyes.
"...Did you sleep well?" Rowan asked, his voice surprisingly soft. I raised my head and stared at him suspiciously. Why would he care if I slept well or not?
Or was this his way of checking if I was ready to make another escape attempt while we were outside?
"That’s none of your business," I said crossly instead. I would never tell him how his scent helped me rest better than I thought it would. "Aren’t we in a hurry? Let’s not make dear Violet wait."
I walked out of my own room, feeling Rowan’s eyes at the back of my head.
"Briar, good morning," Soren said, greeting me cautiously the moment he saw me emerge from my room.
"This is for you," he said. "I got you breakfast."
He handed me a plate of toast, and I stared at it as though it were a bomb. I wondered if Soren was fooling me, and he had actually handed me his leftovers to throw. But the toast on the plate looked picture perfect, the fluffy bread looked toasted to perfection, and I could smell the butter melting within the slices.
This looked too good to be true.
Was I still asleep?
"You... got me... breakfast," I said, repeating his words slowly in disbelief. I knew what these words meant separately, but when put together, they did not make sense.
"For you, in case you are hungry. We have a long journey ahead of us," Soren said quickly. He glanced at my eyes hopefully, but the light in his eyes dimmed slightly when he saw that I wasn’t reacting as he liked. "Do you not like it? I could make―"
"Pack it up for her," Rowan ordered, coming up behind me to take the plate from my hands. One of his hands drifted against the small of my back, and I felt myself tense up as I got another whiff of his minty scent. Rowan handed the plate back to his brother, who stared at him, nonplussed. "We’ll need something to eat later. We can’t risk her getting sick and vomiting it up later."
Soren seemed to bristle at being ordered around like he was a servant and not an Alpha in his own right. Just as I hoped that he would throw the plate back in Rowan’s face, he merely nodded and proceeded to do as Rowan said.
Meanwhile, I was still standing there in disbelief, staring at my now-empty hands. Soren made breakfast for me? As an apology?
Well. It was better than nothing. But he was utterly delusional if he believed two pieces of bread and a slab of butter would be enough to worm him back into my good graces. I felt a small wellspring of anger curl up within me. Did he believe that I was so easily won over?
In the past, this would have meant the world to me. The very memory of it would have been able to give me strength when I felt despair.
But after the events of last night, I didn’t want anything to do with him. After Lucien’s unfathomable love, I wasn’t content, nor was I willing to settle for anything less in my lifetime. I had spent merely hours with Lucien compared to years with the three Alphas, and yet, everything Lucien had done for me in that short span of time meant so much more than what these three had done combined.
"Leave it," I said, my voice cold. "Let’s just go and get this over with."
***
Violet was dressed impeccably, waiting in front of the compound with her arm looped around Cassian’s own. Somehow, they had managed to procure a proper set of clothes for her, and she wasn’t shoved in one of the Alphas’ ratty old t-shirts like I was.
When she saw me appear, she let out a sigh. "Good morning, Briar. I was starting to grow worried," she said. "You were taking so long."
She scanned me up and down, and when she realized I was wearing Cassian’s shirt, her lips twitched. I could tell she wanted to make a comment about my choice of attire, but she smartly kept her mouth shut.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked instead.
"Hard not to in the Alpha’s bed," I said, smiling brightly. "His mattress is certainly softer than mine ever was."
Violet’s lips twitched once more. If the Alphas weren’t present, I was sure she would delight in throwing a couple of punches my way. Unfortunately for her, Cassian was holding onto her arm, while Soren and Rowan practically flanked me like a pair of bodyguards.
If Violet did anything out of line, she would immediately shatter whatever kindly, goddess-like image she had created for herself in front of the Alphas after all these years. Hence, she couldn’t do anything but stare me down with daggers in her eyes.
I, on the other hand, was absolutely thrilled. On any other occasion, I would’ve already gotten slapped for talking back to Violet like that. However, this time, Cassian merely shot me a look of warning. Rowan and Soren straight up pretended as though they hadn’t heard me snub Violet underhandedly.
The current situation and their combined reactions almost made the lack of sleep worth it.
Almost.
"Come on," Rowan commanded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me forward with him. "Let’s get moving. We don’t have all day."
Without saying anything else, all three men began to strip. My eyes widened with horror as they began to undo the buckles of their pants, my eyes darting in any and every direction so long as I didn’t need to view their birthday suits. It would’ve been a treat, but at the same time, my face heated up at the thought of seeing the three of them naked as the day they were born.
"What are you guys doing?!" I squeaked, straight-up turning around when I realized that looking away wasn’t going to cut it any longer. I could feel my body heating up just knowing that they were in the nude.
I could hear Cassian’s scoff, and instantly, my head supplemented the mental image of him rolling his eyes.
"Stripping, obviously," he said.
"I can see that!" I hissed. "I meant why!"
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