Shadow Breeds

Chapter 19

Ashe

The strong smell of coffee woke me, it was probably the first time in a while that I'd woke up to coffee instead of tea, not that I was complaining. Magna's tea was great, it just seemed to be all there was besides water.

I turned and noticed August wasn't in bed. I smiled to myself as I sat up. I'd been thinking about this morning until I had passed out at, well, I don't even know what time last night. I vaguely heard female voices chattering in the living room and then remembered the girls were supposed to come by last night, but I couldn't recall if they ever did. I bit my lip as my cheeks blushed when memories of what did happen flooded my mind.

I heard a click of the door opening and saw August stepping into the bedroom. He looked up and smiled warmly when his eyes met mine, "good morning I hope you slept well."

I smiled back and nodded, reaching for one of the mugs in his hands, "kind of." He climbed back into bed next to me and I pulled the cup to my lips to avoid looking at him. My anxiety began increasing but, there's no going back now. Of coarse he noticed my behavior and raised a brow expectantly. I didn't understand why I was nervous, I'd already accepting our soul bond and our relationship, this should be easy.

I chewed my lip nervously before speaking, "there's something I need to tell you." Now his brows were furrowed, eyes full of concern but he nodded for me to continue. "Um, I don't know if this is sudden or not considering our relationship was only made official last night, but we've known each other for years, apparently longer than I originally thought actually," I giggled at an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, "look I don't how to say this because I've never done this before but I've already accepted our fate together so I'm just going to be blunt about it. I- I'm in love with you August and I have been for a while now."

His wide eyes searched mine for sincerity, "Ashe, that's a big word..." I shook my head to stop him from saying anything else, "a lot hasn't made much sense lately or it's made so much sense that it didn't make sense and I know that I don't know much about relationships but, I love you and I do know that." I rested a hand on his thigh, giving a light and reassuring squeeze.

I was surprised to see tears forming in his eyes as they swirled with a mix of intense emotions I couldn't quite distinguish. I lifted my hand from his thigh and used my thumb to wipe away the tear that managed to fall and continued to stroke his cheek. "I'm beyond in love with you, Asheland," the sincerity in his voice dripped with passion and the tender kiss he placed on my lips after sent sparks through my belly again.

A knock came at the door and it opened before August could even respond. Clovella stepped into the doorway with a big smile and Oakley's head poked out from behind her, also wearing a big grin.

Clovella's smile dropped into a surprised expression for a reason I wasn't sure of. It's not like we were naked or even on top of each other. "Holy shit, your birthday did a number on you," she said, her tone sounding just as surprised as she looked. I scrunched my face in confusion, "I mean, I don't remember most of it but it was pretty painful."

Oakley's face quickly matched Clovella's once I'd opened my mouth. 'Do I have something in my teeth?' I thought to myself and ran my tongue over them, stopping at one of my canines. I jumped up and ran towards the mirror on the opposite end of the bedroom, now that I thought about it I hadn't actually seen myself since that night. I remember reading that physical changes were involved and I wondered if the fangs were all there was.