His Apprehensive Mate - Brea Alepou Page 0,12

on before spooning up behind Morgan.

“Don’t you need to—um—you know,” Morgan said.

Kenny kissed the back of his neck. “There will be plenty of opportunities for that, but now I just want to hold my mate.”

Morgan sighed and relaxed further into Kenny’s arms. He’d missed it while being stuck in the infirmary. Sleep wasn’t the same without Kenny’s warmth and steady heartbeat keeping him company. Even after everything, Morgan was able to fall asleep in seconds in Kenny’s arms.

A knock at the door pulled Kenny from his sleep. Morgan was still snoring in his arms. He smiled down at his mate, tucking a black strand of hair behind his ear. Kenny unwound himself from his mate and made his way to the door. He opened it, not at all surprised to see Dezi, his alpha and best friend.

“You have a minute?”

Kenny glanced back at Morgan, now sprawled out on the bed, legs and arms spread wide. Without Kenny cuddling him, Morgan was a wild sleeper.

“Yeah.”

Kenny went back into the room and grabbed some pajama pants. As shifters they were okay around nudity, but there was no reason to always be naked.

“Kash is worried. You both haven’t been down.” Dezi put his hand up, stopping Kenny’s retort. “Yes, we understand the mating urge and that we just got Morgan back, but you know how he is. He wants to make sure you both are getting enough to eat and are okay.”

Kenny nodded. “Yeah, we’re doing fine.”

Dezi seemed to relax further. “Good.”

Kenny reached over and pulled Dezi into a side hug. Dezi was his best friend and brother. Kenny knew he’d worried all of them during Morgan’s absence; he hadn’t seen any point in life. He wasn’t sure how he pulled through, but he knew it was thanks to his family, his brothers, and their mates.

“Oh, you both are up here,” Rhy said, coming up the stairs holding a sleeping Samantha. “You two joining us downstairs for a movie night?”

“Movie night?” Kenny asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s why I came up the stairs,” Dezi said, scratching at his facial hair. “Dillan thought a movie night might cheer up Ava.”

Morgan’s niece. He’d been so preoccupied with his mate he’d nearly forgotten about the adolescent girl.

“Yeah, I’ll wake Morgan soon.”

“I’m going to go lay Samantha down,” Rhy said as he walked past them and to his room.

“Are you ready for that life?” Dezi asked.

Kenny stared at his friend, and the thought of caring for a baby created with Morgan had his chest tightening and excitement bubbling up inside of him.

“Yes, but the question is are you ready? Twins, right?”

Dezi smirked. “I have Dad Jokes 101 and Advanced Dad Jokes coming in the mail. They’ll be here any day. I was born for this.”

Kenny shook his head. The dad joke books were the one thing his friend made sure to have in stock. But now that they knew they could have children with their fated mates, Kenny needed to further stock up on parenting material.

“I’m a little nervous,” Dezi admitted.

Kenny placed a reassuring hand on Dezi’s shoulders.

“You will be a great dad.”

Dezi stared at Kenny as he took in a breath.

“Okay, so what does the drummer dad call his daughters?”

Rhy walked out of his bedroom just in time to catch Dezi tell the joke. Kenny met Rhy’s eyes, letting him know there was no escaping the torture. If he had to sit through a bad joke, then he had to as well. Rhy and Kenny both groaned.

“You don’t have to do this,” Rhy said pleadingly to Dezi.

Dezi smiled at both of them. “But it’s an excellent one. And I have to get my practice on now before the twins are here.”

Kenny sighed, knowing they would hear every joke possible unless they convinced Kash to burn the books.

“I should start it over,” Dezi said, smiling

“No,” both Rhy and Kenny said in unison.

“Well, I’m going to. So, what does a drummer dad call his daughters?”

Kenny refused to answer, but Rhy sighed. He was always the softer one of them.

“What?”

“Anna one and Anna two.” Dezi burst out with laughter.

“Those poor souls,” Logan said as he came up the stairs.

“It was a good try,” Cole said from behind Logan.

“Don’t give people false hope,” Logan berated Cole, who only shrugged it off.

“You guys don’t appreciate a good joke telling,” Dezi pouted.

“We came up to make sure you three weren’t goofing off. Instead we find you two being tortured by this man’s unfunny jokes,” Logan said.

“Logan, that’s cruel. Kash finds them funny,” Dezi protested.

Logan