Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,21
the words, I understood her hurt. If I was ready to claim my mates and one of my guys suddenly changed his mind—even if he just wanted to put the ceremony off for a while—I’d be crushed. “I think you need to talk to him.”
“You think I haven’t tried that?” Rini tugged me closer to the wall, keeping her voice low. “We’ve had so many discussions it’s unreal.”
“Discussions or arguments?” I raised a brow, waiting for her to confirm or deny what I had a feeling I knew. The way Rini chewed on her lip instead of giving me an answer was confirmation enough. “Sometimes the reasons are buried deep. Trust me on this, okay? I may not know a whole lot about healthy relationships, but even I can see how right you and Ciarán are for each other. I know it wasn’t easy, but Donovan, Cayden, and Barrett have accepted him, and all five of you have become a group. That was the hardest part. Don’t let whatever is going on between you and Ciar now change all that. Work it out together and try to understand where he’s coming from.” I finished by giving her arm a little squeeze as her brown eyes shot to mine. Her nod was microscopic, but it was there. “And if you ever need a break, I will seriously kick the guys out of my room and make them homeless so we can have some girl time.” I smiled when her lips finally tugged up in the corners.
“You’re the best, you know that, right?” She pulled me into a one-armed hug, each of us careful not to spill our drinks on the other.
My heart warmed. “What are friends for?”
We headed back to join the others. Theo was already waiting at the table with a plate full of food. I glanced around to find Hiro, locating him at the buffet table. His hands were glowing as he encased seeds between his palms and grew a full-fledged tree that yielded oranges. The shifters around him smiled widely and plucked the fruit before Hiro made the tree disappear. We’d each been using our skills to the best of our abilities to aid the rebellion, and people had grown to love Hiro’s magic, enjoying the fresh food we were lucky to have in the middle of the cold, Alaskan winter.
I was still grinning when I sat next to Theo, only noticing how stiff he was when he slid my plate in front of me. I tilted my head, studying him, but all he offered me was a tight smile. Placing my hand on his thigh under the table, I leaned over, my chest brushing against his bicep as I kissed his cheek sweetly.
“Thank you for breakfast.” I let my palm trail lightly up and down his thigh, enjoying how he melted from ice to water, finally relaxing. “Are you alright?” My voice was quiet, meant only for the two of us.
Theo cupped my cheek and stroked his thumb over my skin with warm eyes before leaning in to kiss me. His lips were sweet and familiar, but gone all too quickly. “I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Anything that bothers you is something to worry about,” I countered, wishing he’d open up to me, but I understood his hesitation. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about whatever was bugging him in front of the others, so I let it drop. For now.
Leaning into his palm, I planted a kiss in the center before he pulled away and returned to eating a breakfast burrito full of cheese, eggs, and bacon.
I had a mix of scrambled eggs, pancakes, fruit, and bacon myself, and I eyed the large portions.
“I love to eat, but this is a lot of food.” I smirked at Theo as Hiro appeared at the table, sliding in next to Barrett and striking up a conversation about their plans to clear some snow this afternoon—a constant in our lives.
“Not too much,” Killian muttered, as he grabbed a chair from a nearby table and flipped it around, placing it close to mine and straddling the seat. One muscular forearm braced against the back of the chair while he reached over to steal a slice of bacon from my plate. “I’ll eat whatever you don’t. Won’t be nearly enough between the two of us.”
“Get your own plate,” Hiro chided from across the table. “We got that for Nix.”
Killian smelled of sweat, clovers, magic, and that distinct manly musk that