His Apprehensive Mate - Brea Alepou Page 0,14

my niece, and I want to protect her from what I went through.” Morgan tapped his fingers against his legs before bringing his knees closer to his chest and hugging them.

Kenny wished he could wipe away all of Morgan’s past so that his mate never remembered what happened and have that look on his face ever again. But he couldn’t do that. He could only make from now on better. He wrapped his arms around Morgan and kissed the top of his head.

“She is still a child, but I know sending her back to my sister and her husband will only result in Ava getting hurt.”

“We will not be sending her back there,” Kenny said matter-of-factly.

Morgan finally looked back at him. “Does that mean you’re okay with her staying?”

It finally dawned on Kenny what Morgan was so worried about. “She is your family, and you’re my mate. Of course I’d accept her.” Kenny thought about it for a second. “Honestly, even if she wasn’t related to you, I would still accept her because she’s a shifter in need, and our pride was based on that need for somewhere to belong.”

Morgan unfurled and moved in Kenny’s arms, getting up on his knees until they were eye to eye. Still Kenny was slightly taller than him, but it didn’t seem to bother Morgan as he leaned forward and brushed his lips over Kenny’s.

A knock at their door stopped anything from continuing.

“Would you two come on,” Logan said. “Everyone is waiting on you.”

Morgan’s face went beet red, his fair skin unable to hide his embarrassment.

“Umm, I better get dressed.”

Before Morgan could slip from his hold completely, Kenny pulled him back against his chest and kissed his mate properly. When they pulled apart, Morgan’s pupils were dilated, and his cock was half-hard. A sense of enjoyment coursed through Kenny at the sight of what he did to his mate.

“Now you can get dressed,” Kenny said as he let Morgan go.

Morgan chewed on his bottom lip, his lashes lowered and his breathing heavy. He was too alluring to walk away from. Kenny held strong. They were going to go enjoy a movie night even if all he wanted to do was ravish his mate until all he could do was call out Kenny’s name.

Morgan and Kenny joined everyone downstairs in the living room. Ava, Dillan, and Kash walked in with bowls of popcorn. Kash waddled in. His stomach was huge—the twins were due in a week or two. Ava stopped short, a shy smile on her face. Now that Morgan wasn’t confined to his bed, he wanted to talk more with his niece. He smiled at her. She shyly glanced down at her bowl of popcorn.

“Um, would you like to sit together or something?”

Morgan glanced over his shoulder at Kenny, who gave him an encouraging smile.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Ava gave him another shy smile, her cheeks splotching red. Her brown eyes traveled up to Kenny, and she swallowed audibly before squaring her shoulders.

“You can, you know, sit with us too if you would like. I mean, not that I can tell you where you can sit. I—”

Kenny ruffled Ava’s bright blue hair. “We can all sit together.”

Ava seemed to be shocked by the gesture, but she leaned into the touch, and Morgan’s heart swelled, thankful he’d gotten such a kindhearted mate. It was all the more reason he should go through with the mate bonding with Kenny. He just needed to get over his own hang-ups. Easier said than done.

They took one of the unoccupied couches and settled in, Morgan’s back to Kenny’s chest and Ava sitting next to Morgan. She passed over the popcorn as she settled back against the couch. Her posture was way too stiff, and Morgan was about to suggest they sit differently when Kenny stretched his arms out on the back of the sofa, laying his hand down on top of Ava’s head. She glanced their way, and after a moment of tension, she seemed to ease back and truly relax. Logan, Cole, Dillan, and Rhy sat on the floor on a mound of pillows.

“This is going to be so good,” Dillan shouted as he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn.

“Don’t eat all the popcorn,” Logan chastised as he hit Play on the movie.

Morgan wasn’t sure what movie they were going to watch, but he settled in as the opening credits began to play.

Ten minutes into the movie, Morgan knew two things: it was an older action movie, and his