16. NATE

My beast was clawing at my skin. It was a struggle to keep my human form with Angel so close. She had moved away after Mason cleaned her. A thick blanket was wrapped tightly around her body as she sat a few feet away from the fire. Her petite body still trembled from the cold, but she refused to let me keep her warm. I was trying my best to respect her boundaries. “Your bed is ready,” Lucas called softly. Angel turned her head to look at him and then stumbled to her feet. She hesitated a moment and then hurried over to the makeshift bed. Once she was settled, Lucas tugged her in and then moved away from her. Our little cabin wasn’t set up for staying in for more than a day. It was just a place to stop for a quick rest. “If we’re going to stay here until the storm dies down, we need to go hunting for food,” Mason said as he entered the room again. “We still have power and water, but…” He left the unfinished sentence hanging in the air but we both knew what he meant. If the storm got any worse, we would be stuck without power and water. Getting to my feet, I wrapped the blanket around my waist and turned towards my brothers. “We need to prepare,” I told them. “We might be able to go a few weeks without food, but our mate can’t.” “Mate?” Angel sat up and glanced between us. “Your mate?” I glanced at my brothers. She wasn’t supposed to learn about that part yet. “It’s Earth slang for friend,” Mason jumped in before I could utter a word. “Isn’t it? Or did we use it wrong?” Angel shook her head. “I didn’t think you were familiar with earth language.” “We came from Earth,” Lucas muttered. “You make it sound like we are from a completely different planet.” Her lips twitched but she didn’t smile. Settling back down, she turned her back to us as she snuggled back underneath the blankets. Lucas gave me a glare which I ignored. “Start filling the buckets with water.” Mason nodded and walked off. My eyes locked on the pile of wood next to the door. It was stacked the last time we were here which was a few months ago. If we stayed for more than a week, it would be enough. The cabin was well isolated but not fit for the cold that was to come. We had blankets and if it came to it, we could use our body heat to keep Angel warm. While my brothers were getting everything ready, I squeezed the excess water from our clothes and hung them up on the backs of the chairs I had moved closer to the fire. The low grumble of a stomach made my eyes snap over to Angel. “I missed lunch,” she said softly. I bit back a growl. “How long were you locked in the shack?” Angel shrugged. “I’ll get you something to eat,” I told her. Hurrying out of the room, I searched the small kitchen. The cabinets were stacked with canned food. I checked the dates on them before I grabbed a can of meatballs. Pulling a fork out of the drawer, I used a claw to open the can and then made my way back to Angel. “I can heat this for you if you want to.” Angel sat up and glanced down at the can in my hand. “You don’t have to.” The blanket had slipped down her shoulder on one side, exposing one firm breast, a little stomach and toned thigh. “I’m starting to get hot,” she said softly, almost shyly. “Are you uncomfortable being naked?” I asked her softly. She frowned. “You have all probably seen a lot of women naked before. I don’t I can compare to them.” I took a seat on the edge of the bed and reached out to tug a strand of hair behind her ear. We should have dried it more. “I’m certain that everyone has seen someone naked once in their life,” I muttered. “It shouldn’t matter what others think about you, honeybee. You need to love yourself and once you learn to do that, you stop caring about what others think of you.” “Arabella is very beautiful.” I pulled a face which earned me a giggle. “You are beautiful,” I told her. “Do you love yourself?” She hesitated and then nodded. “Good.” Reaching out, I tugged the other side of the blanket down. “Will you feel more comfortable if we all walk around naked?” I asked her. Angel didn’t answer me immediately which gave me the opportunity to feed her a meatball. While she chewed it, I studied her. There was no reason for her to feel insecure about herself. She looked beautiful. Angel was absolutely perfect. When her eyes locked with mine, color flooded her cheeks. “I like looking at you.” I smiled. “Good because you signed the papers so you’re officially our submissive which means that you need to get used to being naked around us and seeing us naked.” “Okay.” She continued to eat in silence. Once she was done, I offered her another can, but she declined. “Is your blood supposed to make me feel shaky and hot?” She sucked in the breath and blew it out. “My skin feel kind of weird.” I was instantly on alert. “Weird how?” Angel swallowed. “Very sensitive.” “Lucas!” I called. He appeared almost instantly. “Arabella drinks from you. Has she ever complained about your blood making her feel strange?” “Why does she drink your blood?” Angel questioned. Lucas frowned. “She’s a vampire. I thought you knew that since you met her this morning.” She licked her lips, her eyes darting away from his. “Angel?” “I wasn’t really paying attention to her,” she whispered. “I messed up when I was cleaning one of her dresses and I was too busy trying to fix it.” “So that’s why she punished you,” Lucas growled. “We can talk about it later. Back to your blood.” “She’s been drinking blood all her life,” he muttered. “My blood doesn’t taste any different than the other blood she’s been drinking. Why?” My eyes darted over Angel’s face. “She’s having an unusual reaction to my blood.”