away from me, and she glanced to each of my mates. “I’m sorry to have bothered all of you. Have a good night.”
Without saying another word, she disappeared into the dark night.
Chapter 14
After Iris left, most of my mates all went their separate directions: Colton and Rhys went to bed, and Aiden was going to work on the new motorcycle he’d bought in the garage.
“Do you want to go for a swim?” Theo asked me.
“Sure, why not? Let me go upstairs and change into a bathing suit.”
“There’s no need for that.” His bright blue eyes locked on mine. “I’d much rather swim with you naked.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
He nodded. “Come on.”
Opening the back door, he led me out onto the patio where he proceeded to pull his clothes off.
Kicking my shoes off, I glanced over at him.
He was completely naked now, and it was hard not to notice how much more toned he was in comparison to last year. His abdominal muscles were way more defined, and his arms just looked so much stronger. Even his butt looked more toned.
“Have you been working out?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah,” he replied with a nod.
I swallowed hard, trying not to drool. I’d always been attracted to his body, but hot damn. “Since when?”
“All semester,” he replied.
“Why?” The slightest hint of jealousy came over me. I wondered if he was trying to get hotter just in case I didn’t end up picking him. Maybe he was trying to become more dateable.
The idea of Theo dating anyone made my heart hurt a little. The idea of him—or any of my mates, for that matter—with someone but me actually made me want to break down into tears.
And this was a big part of why I hadn’t chosen, of why I couldn’t choose, I realized. Once I chose, once my decision was made, I would have no choice but to deal with these feelings head-on.
“We’re getting ready to go to war,” Theo reminded me. “I need to be ready to fight once the time comes.”
“Oh.” Well, that made a lot of sense, at least.
Once I had completely stripped out of my own clothes, I glanced up at him and found that his bright blue eyes were scanning the entire length of my body.
I felt like a supermodel when he stared at me that way. There were still times when I couldn’t help but wonder why Theo—or any of my mates—wanted me.
Sure, I was a princess, but appearance-wise, I was plain. Average, at best. But they were all sexy as fuck.
His eyes only continued to drink me in, lingering on every inch of my body. It was like he was in a trance.
“Let’s swim,” I suggested.
Theo’s eyes moved up to meet mine, and he nodded. “Alright.”
I ran forward and then dove, head-first, into the deep section of the pool.
From underneath the water, I heard the surface breaking as Theo followed after me.
When I swam upwards, he was already hanging out on the side of the pool.
My long blonde hair was slick from the water; it clung to my bare chest as I swam over to him.
“You look like a sexy mermaid,” Theo said, his blue eyes, which sparkled under the light of the full moon, locking on mine. “You know, minus the whole seashell bra or fins thing. But otherwise, you’re my sexy mermaid.”
I laughed. “I wish I was a mermaid. I bet that would be a lot easier than being the Princess of the Werewolves.”
“Maybe, but then you wouldn’t be mated to me.” He paused and then quietly added, “Or any of us.”
“Yeah.” I could already see that this conversation was going in a direction I didn’t want it to go in, so I quickly changed the subject. “So, Aiden mentioned something tonight that I never knew about you.”
“Oh? What was Aiden running his mouth about now?” Theo asked.
“He told me about Fawn.”
“I see.” Theo’s eyes darted away from mine. It was clear that this was still a painful subject for him.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought this up,” I quickly apologized, suddenly feeling like an asshole.
“No, you have nothing to apologize for. You were bound to find out about Fawn eventually.” He paused for a moment. “What did Aiden tell you about her, exactly?”
“That she was your best friend, and that she was killed.”
“Okay.” Theo let out a deep breath. “So, all of that is true, but…” He trailed off, as if he was trying to put something into words. “Fawn was more