I frowned. Yeah, that was pretty shitty of me.
But what was I to do? Wake him up and tell him I was going to go fuck and claim my mate?
“Yeah, sorry.” I cleared my throat. “I do need to tell you something that the others don’t know, though.”
Anaki perked up.
“She didn’t fall asleep right after the bite.”
Anaki’s eyes widened. “She didn’t? Maybe you didn’t wear her out enough.”
Little fucker.
I shuffled my mate in my arms. “No. That can’t be it. She’s taken this, all of this.” I turned to my bedroom that I treated like a cave. The way she submitted so beautifully to me, how she hardly fought the bond, she sought my touch, accepted who I was, who the Iron Fang was so easily. “I’m starting to think you are right. I don’t think the parents that were killed were her birth parents. I think that maybe she might not be human after all—or at least not all human.”
Anaki covered his mouth. “It’s… possible. Maybe genetically altered like Shane?”
“Or maybe it’s natural? Born half supernatural. I don’t know. I don’t know what else she could be. Only supernaturals have the ability to stay awake after bonding is completed and feel the connection formed,” I countered. “When she wakes up, we need to go back to the club.”
Ankai nodded frantically, then snapped his fingers. “The salad. She freaked out when she ate that salad. Like it was the best thing she ever ate.”
I gazed down at my mate, gazing at her features. She looked like a human, except she was exceedingly small, but that could be the human side as well. Or she could just really love salad.
Fucking gross.
“I don’t know, maybe she likes salad.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“I don’t know, maybe she likes salad,” Anaki mocked in his girlish tone. “She wolfed that salad down, man. I think she might be a fae or a fairy.”
I stood there dumbfounded. “Fairy’s are small. How would that even work? It would have to be a fae.”
Anaki rubbed his chin. “Fine, a fae. A fae had some relationship with a human, unbonded, and produced a half-human fae child, Nadia.” He pointed to her.
“You’re speculating. We don’t know yet.” I turned and headed to my room. The bed was filthy and unmade, and I wanted her to rest in clean, soft sheets.
Anaki came over, nearly bouncing on his toes.
“Can I hold the baby while you domesticate your cave?” He held out his arms and wiggled his fingers. “I won’t drop our love child, I promise!”
I growled, causing my mate to stir, feeling my unrest.
“She is not our love child, and we are not an item. Don’t test me, Anaki,” I snapped.
Anaki pouted but continued to hold out his arms. “Understood, Teddy. I’ll rock her in the chair while you clean up the mess you both made.” He fluttered his lashes, and I continued to growl, ready to damn smack that smirk that was threatening to escape.
This was Anaki, however. I trusted this unmated male with my life and with my mate’s life. He was the only brother of the club I would ever lean on.
I let out a breath and gently put my mate in his arms. He held her like she was the most precious thing to him. He didn’t stare at her body; he cradled her head, held her tightly to his chest, and immediately took her to the rocking chair, draping a blanket over her.
My grizzly stayed hidden in the background, watching intently. “I’ll be quick.”
I kept the door ajar, peering through the crack to make sure my friend was still in view. He stood staring blankly ahead with an unreadable expression on his face. I knew that look all too well—it meant he was deep in thought.
Most likely thoughts of his old mate, like most of the Iron Fang. Anaki was different, though; he had a big heart, and he loved much. With such a big heart, I was sure his rejection was heavy.
I walked back into the living room to find Anaki sound asleep. My gorgeous mate lay in his arms with her hand resting on his chest. The moonlight beamed through the window like a spotlight cast on them, creating an ethereal glow around their bodies. It was as if they were both caught up in some dreamy world of their own.
I didn’t have the heart to move either of them, so I lay on the couch beside them both. I grabbed her ankle and held onto her, and we all slept together in the living room until dawn.