Page 94 of Mask and the Magnolia
“Before your bedtime,” Maddox says with a nod before nudging Eve. “Told you the charade was silly.”
My best friend shrugs as she gives me a sheepish smile, dropping her defensive posture to reach out and fiddle with her napkin. “Sorry, Maggie. You’ve just been so secretive lately, Iwasn’t sure how to get you to talk to me without putting you on the spot like this.”
“I’m sorry.” I lean in and take her hand, giving it a squeeze before I turn it over to look at the tattoo on her wrist.Our matching tattoo.“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I haven’t been trying to isolate myself from you three, you know I wouldn’t do that on purpose.”
”I know,” Evie says with a little bit of a sad smile. “I just miss you, is all. And I’m a little worried about you since you’re hardly home and we haven’t had a chance to really talk in a while.”
There have been a lot of late nights at the asylum ever since I found my pack and while most of them really do start out finishing some kind of work, they also usually end with a lot of orgasms. Which isn’t exactly something I’m on the clock for regardless of how much time I spend on Ward C.
“Let’s talk, then.” Madds nudges my leg under the table in reassurance as his brother grunts, “Starting with why you smell different.”
Leave it to Hendrix to jump right into the heart of it.
Evie nods as she sits up straighter, a rather devious grin forming on her face. “And why your bedroom has one hell of a funk coming out of it.”
Maddox’s eyes widen as he leans in. “Your bedroom has funk, Maggie? I know you’re kind of a slob but you don’t usually have funk.”
“Thanks,” I deadpan before I sigh, knowing damn well I’m already defeated. “I guess I can answer both of those the same way.”
“I’m all ears.” Now Evie is leaning in next to Madds and it really brings out the family relation.
“I found my mates,” I mumble as I drop my eyes to the table and start tearing apart the wet napkin in front of me.
“You what?” Eve asks.
So I mumble a little louder, “Found my mates.”
“What was that? I don’t think I heard you right. It sounds like my best friend in the entire world just said that she found hermatesbut that can’t be right. Can it?”
I glance at the three of them, relieved when I see their smiles but it doesn’t make this any easier to say. Not because I’m ashamed of who they are or how we met. I could never in a million years feel anything but proud of the men I’m lucky enough to call mine. Proud and full of so much love for them I might burst, but that’s why this is hard. I love the four of them so much more than I knew I was capable of but not only is our future as a pack sketchy, I’ve been legally contracted to be with someone else. Both of those things are obstacles I’m still trying to move out of my way but it’s not going as smoothly as I’d like.
“Oh, Maggie,” Evie says with a sniffle, her eyes welling with tears as her hands shoot across the table to grab onto mine. “Maggie, you really found your mates?”
I nod as tears sting my nose and hold her hands tightly. “I did.”
“And it’s plural?” Maddox asks as he and his twin grab hold of us too. “More than one mate?”
“Yeah.” I nod like a bobble head and blurt, “Four. Four mates. Two scent matches, two fate bonds.” A tear rolls down Evie’s face, framing her smile as it widens, and I can’t help it when one slides down my cheek to match. “Four perfect, beautiful men that I get to say are mine.”
Hendrix wipes away another few of my tears before he sits back in his seat and raises a glass full of ice. “Then we toast to our Magnolia and her soon to be pack.”
I raise my glass but bite my lip, trying not to smile too wide as a blush stains my cheeks, and apparently that was my biggest tell yet.
“Oh my god, you already mated,” Evie gasps before she tries to take a swing at me from across the table. “You bonded with your pack and didn’t even bother to tell me?”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Probably.”
“Well, now we need all the details, Magnolia.” Maddox flags down a waitress and promptly orders two more drinks for each of us. “Don’t leave anything out. I want names, descriptions, positions, all of it.”
“That’s my cue,” Drix says with a grin as he stands. “Maggie, I love you and I’m happy as fuck you found your pack. No one deserves it more, especially since it means you’re finally out from under your dickhead dad’s thumb.”If only it were that simple.“And while I mean that with my entire chest, I do not need all the details. I’m going to go find someone who fits my favorite description so I can fold them into an equally favorite position, and preferably without ever knowing their name.”
Then Hendrix leaves us with a grin and a wink before lumbering off to disappear into the crowd of dozens who would be more than happy to oblige him.
“One day he’s going to swing his dick at the wrong person and when he finds out they’rehisfated match, he’ll be sorry he didn’t take all of this more seriously.” Evie wipes the tears from her cheeks as she watches then turns back to me with an evil grin. “Now, spill it, Magnolia. I want to live vicariously through you for the next few hours.”
I chuckle as I look down into my drink, stirring the ice again because I have no fucking clue how to do this.
Which she knows and it’s why she starts the conversation for me.
