TOUCH NOT HIS PLUMP MATE

Suspicion

VELORA

“Whoa!” The person rushes toward me, but I react before he can get close. I lunge for the bed and scramble across it, clutching my towel tightly around my still-damp body. My heart is hammering so hard I can barely hear anything else.

“Dammit!” he mutters, trying to get around the bed. I don't give him the chance. My hand snatches the first thing it can reach —a heavy textbook — and I hurl it at him. He catches it easily before it can hit his face.

“Somebody help!” I scream. “There's a pervert in my room!” I doubt anyone can hear me from this side of the house, but that doesn’t stop me from yelling.

“What? Pervert?” he says, sounding genuinely shocked.

He immediately jumps off the bed and turns his back to me the second he realizes I’m only wrapped in a towel. His shoulders are tense.

“Yes! What else am I supposed to call someone who sneaks into a girl's room without knocking?”

He glances over his shoulder, then quickly turns away again.

“Okay, okay. Just… cover yourself first, Vel.”

I narrow my eyes at the back of his head, still breathing hard. The towel feels too thin, almost like it’s revealing the whole of my body. My skin is still warm from the shower, and the thought of what I was just doing makes the embarrassment even sharper.

He sighs. “I'm sorry. I didn't know you were—Rose told me you were…” He cuts himself off and sighs again, clearly frustrated with the situation.

I grab the nearest dress from my wardrobe and yank it over my head as quickly as I can, not bothering with underclothes. Only when the fabric covers me do I speak again. “Wait.” I stop and stare at him. “Who the hell are you?”

He turns around slowly, looking almost offended. “Seriously? You don't recognize me?”

“No.”

He lets out a short, disbelieving laugh. “It’s me, Jaxton.”

I freeze. Jaxton? My eyes widen. “Rose's nephew?”

He grins, a little sheepish now. “Finally.”

My lashes blink at him too fast, still trying to process how the boy I only occasionally saw at distant family gatherings, taller now, broader, older, has somehow ended up standing in the middle of my bedroom.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice tighter than I intend.

“Can I turn around now?”

“Fine,” I say flatly.

He turns, and without the glasses I half-remember him wearing as a kid, I finally get a proper look at him. Those same sharp brown eyes are exactly how I remember them, only older now, more focused.

Not that Jaxton is a bad person. We just never really talked beyond the occasional greeting at the rare family gatherings that brought our sides together. Nothing had ever brought him into my room before.

“I’m sorry, alright?” he says with a small, apologetic smile. “I honestly didn't think you were in the shower.”

I cross my arms. “You still haven't answered my question.” I insist.

“What question?”

“What do you want?”

He frowns. “Can you try being a little friendlier? You keep acting like we've had some kind of fight.”

I don't answer. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm being so harsh with him. Maybe it's because he's Rose's nephew. Somehow, that alone makes it difficult for me to trust him. Anyone close to Rose has always felt like someone I should keep my distance from. Jaxton seems to notice that I'm not going to soften anytime soon. He releases a sharp breath and takes a careful step closer.

“Actually, I'm here for the engagement. I'll be staying until it's over.”

“And?”

“And I thought I'd come say hi.” He shrugs, then his expression shifts, becoming more serious. “I heard the mating ceremony is coming up. Aveline said you still haven't gotten your mate.”

His expression changes slightly. “You okay?”

The question catches me off guard. It's been a long time since anyone has genuinely asked me that. Not Father. Not Rose. Not even Aveline. Yet here he is. looking at me like he actually wants an honest answer. Something tight and unfamiliar twists in my chest.

“I’m fine,” I mutter, looking away.

He studies my face for a moment longer, clearly not convinced. “Hey.” His voice softens. He almost reaches for my shoulder, but stops himself at the last second “You'll be fine.”

II look back at him. He gives me a small, reassuring nod, then glances toward the door before meeting my eyes again. “Are you free tonight?”

I blink caught off guard for the second time. Before I can answer… A sharp voice yells my name from the hallway.

“VELORA!”

The door flies open without a knock and my body jolts. Even Jaxton flinches. Aveline storms in, already prepared to launch into whatever demand she came to make, but the moment her eyes land on Jaxton, she stops cold.

Her gaze moves from him to me, then back again. Confusion flickers across her face before it hardens into something slowly turning into suspicion.

Then she looks at him again, her eyes narrowing. “What are you doing here?”

Something about the way she says it tells me she's asking more than the words suggest.