Page 16 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
“How did I hurt you?” I didn’t remember doing that. I didn’t want to believe I could.
Anna smiled at me. “I ran after you and got caught at the edge of your shift. Knocked the wind out of me mostly,nothing more.” She gave the last two words a flourish and mixed in a hard stare at Caz.
“I worry about you, mate,” Caz said without relenting.
“Well, I’m fine, and it was an accident. So be nice to her. Dirk will recover, and everything will be okay.”
Caz looked ready to argue, his long, scaled neck lifting the head into the air, eyelids coming together slightly. Then he paused and sighed. “You’re right.”
Anna patted his foreleg. “I know,” she said, just loftily enough for the both of them to smile at each other. “Now get changed so you can take proper care of Dirk.”
I watched the back and forth, the little smiles meant only for one another, and the long looks, and I tried to push down the spike of emotion that came with such a display. I would not feel jealous of their obvious care for each other or the fact that someone other than me would be caring for Dirk.
“Did I hurt you?” I asked quietly as Anna came over to me after handing off the sweatpants to her mate. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Anna smiled. I knew she was trying to brush it off. We’d known one another too long for her to slip that past me. “Tell us what’s going on, and we’ll consider it even?” she suggested, glancing at Milly.
I let the pair of them escort me back to the chalet, but not before I looked back at Dirk as Caz bent down and gently scooped his broken brother into his arms.
“Are you sure you don’t need to help?” I asked Anna. “He has some bones that need setting.”
“Kolar and Durion will be far better suited to that than me,” Anna reassured me. “I’m here for my friend. And stop worrying about me. A couple of bumps and bruises, nothing more. I promise. Caz is just being an overprotective mate.”
“No such thing,” the big male called after us.
Anna giggled and glanced over at her mate as he caught up to us with long, easy strides.
I once again fought down the spike of envy at the depth of the looks they shared, all the unspoken communication I was sure was going on between their minds, courtesy of their mate bond.
You didn’t want this. Youdon’twant this. You don’t want to be claimed by someone you barely know and have never thought of in that way before. So why are you getting jealous? Stop it.
“All right. Time to spill,” Anna said as we walked through the broken door, skirting the pile of shattered glass and heading for the kitchen.
Kolar and Durion were busy picking up the tree trunk that had come through one of the huge panes and crushed a sofa as well.
I frowned at the mess of food scattered across the kitchen, half of it old and stale, the rest still sitting there, waiting for me to finish.
“Don’t even think about it,” Milly said, steering me to the stairs instead.
“What?” Anna was confused.
“She’s upset about the food.”
“I had it all ready to go,” I protested, still staring.
“Only you would care about that right now, El,” Anna said with a laugh. “As if you and Dirk being mated isn’t a bigger deal.”
I noticed neither of the other men looked up as they hoisted the trunk and sofa in one move.
“Doeseveryoneknow?”
“Yes,” Anna said with a simplicity that implied I should know better.
“And we at least have seen your side,” Milly added, gesturing at Anna. “Those marks look badass.”
I had a flashback to the kitchen where they’d come in. “They hurt like hell, actually. Like hooks ripping through my skin.”
Anna glanced down, her face reddening slightly. I clenched my teeth as burning spread across my cheeks. I’d left off what happened after the pain, but of course she would know.
