Veiled Spirits - Page 67

I shiver a little now that the sun’s set. Even though I’m wearing Luca’s sweatshirt, I only have shorts and a bra under it. Despite being a bit cold, I don’t want to go in yet. “Tell me something no one else knows about you.”

Instead of the silly response I expect, Archer thinks for a second before answering quietly. “I resented Luca for the longest time. He’s the perfect one. Luca’s effortlessly good at everything he does, and everybody loves him. Our parents, teachers, the pack, and women. I was always the second choice, just Luca’s shadow.”

“What changed?” I whisper, unused to seeing the playful wolf so serious.

“Well, the first thing that changed it was that I got into Muay Thai at fourteen. I’ve never been very good at school. Teachers would always get frustrated with me struggling with the material. But Muay Thai and other martial arts were so easy to pick up. After a few months of practicing, I was winning against fully grown shifters. While Luca’s good at MMA now, he had a much harder time learning it than I did. It was the first time I ever felt good at anything. It also taught me discipline.”

Archer pauses for a moment, lost in his thoughts.

“I’d love to watch you fight sometime,” I tell him earnestly.

A ghost of a smile crosses his lips before he shakes himself out of his thoughts. “Losing our parents was also a wake-up call. While we both lost our dads and mom, Luca was the only one who was expected to have it all together. The pack expected him to have all the answers. At twenty-five, Luca had to lead nine hundred people, while having no time to grieve for losing most of our family.

“I realized then why Luca was always perfect. He had to be. As the future alpha, everyone held him to higher standards than the rest of us. All this time, I’d been resenting my perfect older brother when he likely resented me, the goofy fuckup. Unlike him, I at least had some freedom to do what I wanted. Since then, I’ve been trying to pick up the slack. I want him to have more time to just be Luca, not Alpha Nightshade.”

When Archer finishes speaking, I can’t resist the urge to hug him. In a clumsy move that makes an exorcism look smooth, I straddle the wolf and wrap my arms around him. “I’m sorry, sunny boy, about all of it. Coming in second your whole life and losing your parents are both awful in different ways.”

My lips are pressed against the smooth skin of his throat, making my voice come out muffled.

He laughs softly while hugging me back. One of his hands spears through my blonde hair to hold my face to him. “It’s not your fault, sunshine.”

“I know. I’m still sorry, though. You should know, sunny boy, that anyone who couldn’t see how awesome you are is stupid. Your joy and exuberance and zest for life is contagious. You know how to cheer me up, even when I’m at my lowest. You make any situation so much better and all the bad parts of life easier. While you may not see it, you add so much to your pack and to my life. Everything would be miserable and dull and gray without you.”

“Fuck, Izzy,” Archer rasps as he buries his face in my neck. I put one of my hands on the back of his neck and run my fingers through the silky strands at the nape of his neck. “Who knew you were so sweet under your thorns?”

“Tell anyone about it, and I’ll kill you.” I can’t have anyone knowing I have a sappy side.

He snorts. “There’s my girl.” My heart beats a little harder in my chest at being called Archer’s anything.

I stay on his lap for a while, soaking up his warmth and his vanilla citrus scent. We don’t talk, content to sit in silence with each other. Eventually, I start shivering too hard to hide from Archer. “Sorry,” I manage to get out through my chattering teeth.

“You cold, sunshine?”

“Just a little.” It would be more convincing if I weren’t shivering so hard my voice comes out wobbly.

“Let’s get you inside, then.” He waits for me to nod before standing. I squeak, expecting to fall. Archer’s strong arms hold me effortlessly as he straightens. He lets me down, so we can both put on our shoes. Archer then picks me up again, and he wraps my legs around his waist before turning to the forest. With one arm under my ass and the other around my back, I feel secure in his arms.

As he starts walking to the forest, I remind him, “I have legs that work. I can walk.”

“I’m aware, sunshine. Lemme hold you. Please?” His voice wavers on the last word, and my resolve to do it myself crumbles. I nod into his neck, and we walk the rest of the way back to the house like that.

I expect Archer to put me down when we reach their mansion. Instead, he supports me with one arm and opens the back door with the other. I’m impressed that he’s able to carry me to the stairs, up them, and to Luca’s room without even a huff or a puff.

He shuts the door behind us and lets me slide down him. When I turn around, I suck in a surprised breath at seeing my other four mates shirtless. Luca is in a pair of gray sweatpants at his desk. Levi is sitting on the edge of the bed in only basketball shorts. Cain and Bishop are whispering about something on the sofa but stop as soon as they see me. They’re both in just sweats as well.

All of them are looking at me. “Um, hi?”

I glance behind me at Archer for some idea of what I’m supposed to do. But I find him stripping down to his boxers. He is one fine specimen of a man, all tanned skin, defined pecs, and rock-hard abs. My eyes momentarily snag on the wolf tattoo on his chest that both Luca and Cain have. It must have something to do with their pack if they all have it.

When I turn around, I’m startled by Luca standing right in front of me. I jump and press my hand to my racing heart. “Jesus, fuck! Make some fucking noise, dude!” I need to put bells on the wolves. That way, they won’t be able to sneak up on me.

Luca just chuckles at me, the asshole. “I made plenty of noise, wildcat. You just weren’t paying attention.” While he’s talking, Luca puts his hands on my waist and pulls me tight against his front. I fight the urge to lean into the big wolf. “Are you ready for bed?”

As soon as he mentions sleeping, I realize just how tired I am. I woke up a few hours ago, but I’m already drained. I’m usually low on energy for a few days after using up all my magic, so it makes sense. “Yeah,” I manage to answer around a big yawn. “Where am I sleeping?”

“In here. We all are.”

I raise my eyebrows at him and turn to look at his king-size bed that definitely won’t fit six people. Only, I don’t see a king bed. Instead, there’s a massive one taking up a sizable portion of Luca’s huge room. A very smug-looking Levi is staring back at me.