Chapter 24

The sudden coolness that attacked one side of my body had me slightly shivering in my sleepy state.

Why was I comfortably warm on one side and cold on the other?

The almost nonexistent sound of snoring as warm air tickled my face had me furrowing my eyebrows and slowly opening my eyes. There in front of me laid a very much fast asleep Nolan with his very messy locks tickling his forehead while being sprawled all over his face. His lips were slightly parted to let out the quiet sound while his arm was lazily thrown over my waist. His other acted as an extra pillow under his head. His always soft features were even softer and more innocent as they relaxed and made him look at peace.

I gently threw my head over my shoulder to be greeted by an empty space. I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows in confusion but luckily, the confusion was cleared in seconds when I heard the toilet being flushed in the bathroom.

A few seconds later, the door that led to the bathroom opened to reveal a very handsome, but equally rugged Zane. A sleepy yawn broke from his lips as he made his way back to his side of the bed which was behind me this time. He pulled down the blankets and got in and wrapped his arms around my abdominal section before gently tug me into his chest.

"Why are you awake?" He whispered as he planted a gentle, featherlight kiss on my bare shoulder.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered from the sensual sensation. "I felt cold."

He let out a warm breath, "Sleep, Baby." He coaxed.

I could only nod in response as I enjoyed the warmth surrounding my body as they emitted from the two men on either side of me. Before long, I was a goner.

~~~~~

"Bye Meli," A sweet, enthusiastic voice chirped before I felt a small pair of lips sloppily caress my cheek. "I'll miss you."

I lazily smiled and opened my eyes to the sight of Grace as she smiled at me from her father's arms.

"Bye Baby," I groggily replied," I'll miss you too." I sluggishly responded before everything turned back to a blur.

~~~~~

The sudden feeling of loneliness and coldness attacked my sleeping body, making me visibly let out a shiver as I came to. I slowly opened my eyes to find a now bright room thanks to the light that peeked from between the gap between the curtains on each side of the bed. My eyes shot to the now vacant space on each side of the bed beside me, instantly making me want to whine as I let out a sigh and got on my back so I was facing the ceiling. I stretched my arms to both sides of the bed as a yawn broke through my lips in mid-stretch. My arms gently brushed both sides of the sheets to find them cold. They must have left a while ago.

I groggily rolled myself off the bed in time to spot the toothbrush on the nightstand, the clothes from last night and some two face cloths with a note.

Feel free to freshen up. When you're ready, you'll find us downstairs.

~ Your mates

I quickly fixed the bed with some effort as compared to the effortlessly of fixing my lower one back at home. When that was neatly made, I opened the curtains and windows to allow some much needed sunrays and fresh air into the stuffy room before grabbing my cellphone on my way to grab the clothes and toiletries on the nightstand.

I then trudged towards the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind me. I opened my cellphone and chose one of my currently favourite playlists and pressed on the first song which happened to be Idina Menzel's 'Gravity'.

I hummed to the tune as I grabbed the tooth brush and applied some of the toothpaste from the the basin and started brushing my teeth. I then washed my face and washed my underwear with the bar of soap that was there. It completely slipped my mind that I wasn't home and that I didn't have a pair of clean underwear here until I had already started washing the underwear. I blew out a ball of air at the unappealing thought of having to go commando.

Nevertheless, I pulled off the T-shirt and neatly placed it on the toilet seat lid. I then grabbed the two face cloths and made my way to the shower and turned on the water. Before long, the water was warm enough for me to jump in which I did without hesitation. I quickly washed away the grime and sweat collected throughout the night from my body with the fairly manly shower gel that was in the shower space. Not even 10 minutes later, I was wiping my body dry and stepping out into the foggy room.

The warmth of the steam felt both welcoming and scornful as I fought with the heat in the room. I quickly grabbed the lotion on the basin and squeezed some onto my hand and started the short, but sometimes tedious task of lathering lotion onto my damp, warm and soft skin. Before long, I had my new clean clothes on and was almost running out of the bathroom and back to the now cool room.

I placed the folded T-shirt on the neatly made bed and opened my cellphone to check on any new notifications. The only notification I found was a message from my mom telling me that she had dropped of my set of keys with Zane and Nolan and she hoped to see me later when she got back with the occasional kisses and hugs and love yous. I quickly replied to the message before dropping the cellphone into my pocket as I headed out of the room and down to the kitchen.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I was surprised to find it empty and silent. In fact, the whole house was so silent, it was deafening. I lifted my phone to find the time flashing 10:20 which meant they should have been back from dropping off Grace already and as far as I know, Nolan was not going to work today and Zane....well, I don't even know what Zane does now that I think about it. I need to change that soon.

I left the kitchen and made my way to the living room where I heard the low volume of voices playing from the TV. A smile instantly graced my lips as I walked into the room to find Zane typing away on his computer from the couch and Nolan lazily staring at the screen in front of him.

"Good morning." Nolan stretched his neck backwards until he was looking at me upside down.

"Good morning." I giggled as I walked over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek before turning to a still focused Zane.

"Good morning, Babe," He absentmindedly greeted, leaning toward me to let me press a gentle kiss on his cheek too. "I'll be with you in a sec." He smiled at me, forgetting about the laptop in front of him for a second before facing me again.

"Sweetheart, come sit here." Nolan pouted as he patted the space on his lap.

I nervously abided and slowly shuffled over to him just to find myself awkwardly standing in front of him. He merely shook his head and chuckled in amusement before his hands gently took hold of my hips as he sat me down sideways with my legs uncomfortably in between him and Zane.

"So, what are you doing there?" I curiously asked Zane while trying to ignore the uncomfortable position that my legs were in. Nolan gently placed his chin on my shoulder, making his warmth breath tickle my exposed neck.

"I'm just finalising some work," He turned to smile at me before facing the laptop screen again. "I told my assistant I'd be back next week, but she had some work that needed my attention."

"Zane, I never asked you, but what do you do? What field are you working in?" I asked as I leaned against Nolan's chest.

"Well, I'm kind of the CEO of a construction company, specifically our father's construction company," He responded as he leaned forward to place the laptop on the table before taking my legs and putting them on his legs. "I'm sure you must have felt uncomfortable." He sympathetically smiled at me as he gently massaged my calves.

"Sort of," I shyly admitted, "But thanks."

"Anything for you." He warmly smiled.

"Nolan," I turned to the man from beside me. He sweetly hummed in response. "Do you by any chance work in the same company?"

"Yep," He grinned, popping the 'p'. "I was never much of the contracts and traveling kind of guy plus I enjoyed designing buildings and all that so I asked to be the architect. Now, I'm sort of the lead architect, while remaining an architect. Zane deals with the more boring stuff." He playfully stuck his tongue out at Zane who playfully rolled his eyes in response.

"So I'm assuming you travel a lot for work?" I directed the question to Zane. His hands abruptly paused on my legs before continuing with the gentle massaging.

"I used to," He sighed, "It was my way of escaping reality, I guess. I was restless and needed to get away," He weakly smiled at me," That is until now. It's kind of the reason why I'm doing this work for now. I've decided to step back a little. I don't want to be away from my family for long spans of time anymore, Angel. I don't want to be away from you for long spans of time. I wouldn't be able to handle it." He softly muttered as he gently raised his hand to caress my cheek.

"I don't want you to stop what you love doing, Zane," I sighed, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did."

"Baby, I might have enjoyed traveling, but I never loved it. Leaving my daughter behind or my family was never easy, but it was the price I didn't mind paying in order to ignore my problems. But, now that I have you, I can't live without you anymore. So, where you are, I'll be. I want to be with you and I want to be there for every single minute of my daughter's life before its too late." He explained.

"I understand." I smiled.

"I'm sure Mom will be happy to hear that." Nolan added.

"She will." Zane lightly chuckled.

"Anyway, on to more lighter matters," Nolan enthusiastically began as he tried to revive the last atmosphere again and boy was he successful. "How do you feel about an afternoon out?" He asked as he placed an affectionate, but gentle and sensual kiss on my shoulder blade.

"To where?" I asked.

"It's a surprise." Zane winked at me.

"Okay." I slowly responded.

"Good." Nolan grinned.

"What will I need to wear? I hope I don't need to wear any formal attire because I only own a shirt and pumps." I warned.

"Not at all, Angel. All you need is to be comfortable, but please, no short dresses, skirts or shorts." Zane groaned.

"Why not?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

Loud and deep groans of displeasure simultaneously filled the room, leaving me confused. What did I say?

"Sweetheart, let's just say we don't want anyone leaving in an ambulance tonight." Nolan softly chuckled.

I silently considered his response and thought it through almost like I was trying to decode a message until it finally clicked.

"You wouldn't." I softly gasped.

"We would." Zane scoffed.

"When it comes to their mate, a wolf would do all sorts of things, Sweetheart. Trust me." Nolan agreed with a short laugh.

I sat there in disbelief as Zane stared at me with a grim expression while Nolan sighed and rested his chin on my shoulder blade.

What have I gotten myself into?

"Have you eaten?" Zane raised his eyebrow.

After that conversation, I feel like I have.