Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,126

about my orgasms, able to come more than once in a row. I had to remind myself that there would be a lot of hungry, grumpy shifters if we didn’t hurry back to the kitchen to help Theo. My Kraken was decent with a spatula, but he didn’t have Damien’s skill, and the elaborate feast my Gargoyle was fixing required both his culinary skill as well as his talent in timing so he served a warm meal—the food never grew cold under his watchful eye.

We scrubbed quickly, though I was careful to leave some of Joshua’s and Damien’s scents on my neck where they’d marked it. It hadn’t escaped my notice that my mates loved it when I smelled of them, a clear warning to others I was off the mating market.

I did not envy girls like Molly who were still looking for their mates. With so many shifters in one place, and the rules of the Council indiscriminate here among the rebellion, it was like the Wild West of dating. How a girl was supposed to sort through the interested parties short of having them shift and searching for her mate mark on their skin, I did not know.

The kitchen was in one piece by the time we arrived back, fully clean, sanitized, and ready to handle the food.

I took over grating the cheese, while Damien started on the chicken marsala, sautéing the mushrooms in one pan and searing the chicken in another. Theo had boiled the pasta while we were gone and was currently mixing the ingredients together for the ziti under Damien’s instruction, and Joshua was kneading the pizza dough.

“Have you heard from your dad yet?” Theo asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stared at a recipe card and measured out a few cups of mozzarella, sprinkling it into the dish.

Joshua sighed. “No, but I doubt he’s had the time to track down the others of our kind, so there’s probably no news yet. I assume he’s finally made it to Europe by now, but the hardest part will be finding their encampment, let alone trying to recruit them to join our cause.”

“How is Angela faring?” Damien chimed in, casting a glance at Theo and taking an extra minute to assess how his recipe was turning out.

I shook my head with a tiny grin as I moved a fresh pile of mozzarella into a dish before starting on the parmesan, using the other side of the grater that would render smaller shreds of cheese. “She’s been wearing herself out, if you ask me,” I commented, and Theo sighed.

“Yeah, she has been. Try telling her that though. She’s as stubborn as a mule, unwilling to slow down and take a break. At least, not while the hybrid children are here. She might love them more than she loves me,” he joked, though I knew he was truly teasing. His mother had a big heart, and Molly and Theo were at the center of it. Although, I could actually see her taking more children under her wing now that her own were grown, or nearly grown. Soon, Molly would have her own set of mates to keep her busy, and she’d be taken care of, leaving Angela alone without her mate or children to keep her company. In my opinion, Angela needed someone to love and foster, something I’d have to talk to Theo about next time we had some time alone.

There was a gap in the conversation as Theo and Joshua shared a look, and I caught the general gist of their thoughts. There wasn’t anyone to ask about when it came to Damien and me, no family either of us had to check in on.

“How are you and Gaspard holding up?” Joshua glanced to Damien, his hand buried in the dough as he turned it over to knead the other side.

“I’m as well as can be expected. I… it’s still surreal that my parents are…” He swallowed. “Gone. Sometimes I stare at my phone, expecting them to call, hoping it was all some terrible nightmare.”

I dusted my hands off and touched Damien’s forearm, stopping him from stirring the mushrooms. “That will ease with time. It hasn’t been that long.”

“All I know is that I look at you and I’m amazed,” he told me gently. “You’ve lost so much, and your heart is still as pure as goddamn gold. I don’t know how you’ve endured all the hard things in your life, Nix, and still