20. Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

ANNEX'S POV

I thought I knew what bliss was. The red droplets pooling at the end of my fist as it meets whatever meat-sack pissed me off. The feel of cold steel between my fingers as I palm my blade against an enemy. Or the mindless slaughter of those who threatened what's mine…but I was wrong. So wrong.

I watch Red as she takes a seat at the kitchen countertop, a sweet pink blush still coating her cheeks from the three sexy rounds we had a few minutes ago.

Fuck she was beautiful.

How the hell I managed to pull out of her, I'll never understand. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to bury myself back inside her and lock us in that bathroom.

Ezra would be listening to his own personal porn soundtrack directed by yours truly and starring our beloved Red.

Fuck that would be hot, wouldn't it?

We left Ez in bed to snore his brains out and crept downstairs to grab some breakfast. Gotta keep my beloved fed.

I make my way over to the kitchen presses, opening them one after the other. But how the fuck do I cook for her?

My eyes narrow at the pan I've just taken out, wondering how the hell Creed makes those delicious sweet pancakes of his.

The bastard makes it seem so easy, throwing flour and… milk together? Fuck…I don't know.

I glance back at Red watching me with a sexy grin stretching her lips.

I give her a wink, trying to throw her off from my lack of knowledge of cooking, and she chuckles. The sound like heaven to my ears.

My Red was breathtaking. And just as beautiful, bare and naked, moaning as she was grinning at me now. But why not have both?

I glance back at the white powdery mixture I've taken from the press and now hold in my hands, then back toward the carton of milk on the counter…or was I supposed to add eggs?

Fuck it. I place the flour down.

Maybe she'll let me spread her across the countertop and make her feel full in a different way. Again.

A grin stretches my lips as I turn around, ready to hear that sweet symphony fall from those plump lips, when in walks Ezra. He gives me a knowing smirk.

So the asshole heard us after all.

He creeps up behind Red before wrapping his arms around her and pressing a soft kiss on her cheek. Soppy asshole.

She lets out a small chuckle before yanking him down for a proper kiss.

And fuck, watching her plump lips part and tongue slip out to meet his, was making me hard again.

I wonder if she was hungry enough to put something else in her mouth.

Ezra's chuckle pulls me outta my thoughts, his finger pointing toward the flour abandoned on the counter.

"Were you actually trying to cook?" He raises a brow, taking a seat beside Micai.

"I had to put some calories back into Red after having her sweat most of them off this morning." Red blushes, the colour a sweet blush pink like cotton candy. So fucking biteable.

"And from you last night," I add, giving my brother a playful glare.

"Then we need to feed her, not poison her," answers Ezra, smirking.

"I can cook, you know," I scoff, rolling my eyes. I've cooked plenty of times.

"Cooking something you've hunted is not the same as baking, Annex. It's harder than cooking meat on a stick…and something you've never done."

"How hard could it be?" I look back at the milk and flour on the counter, my face instantly twisting. "Fine. I'll leave that shit to Creed."

Red's brows raise, her eyes widening. "Creed can cook ?"

The look of genuine shock on her face makes Ezra and I chuckle.

"He's alright." I shrug, lying. Cause the stubborn asshole cooks like Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver rolled into one. One of the few reasons I stick his annoying lectures and rules is ‘cause it's usually during dinner time. And he knows I won't turn down one of his meals.

"He's better than just ‘ alright '." Adds Ez, scooting his ass closer to Red. "His dinners make even this jackass fall silent for a few minutes." He points a scaly finger toward me as I scoff. "But don't ever tell him I said that. His ego's big enough as it is—"

"Whose ego is big?" Creed calls, entering the kitchen with Mallyn prowling in behind him. They're both still dressed in the same shit as last night, and from the job they made me go on. Their black and grey clothes are now stinking of dirt and blood.

The dark scowl Creed's wearing tells me they were only just getting back now.

Oh well. That's what they get for making me go and pulling me away from Red. I could've had a whole night of hot, sweaty sex and then round five or six in the shower.

"I was wondering where you had run off to…" Creed grits out, giving me that adorable little glare he does when he's pissed with me. I grin back, the small vein near his brow twitching with my smile.

"I should have known you would run back here…" He flicks his gaze toward Micai, and Ezra bristles beside her, his eyes narrowing toward Creed's glare.

He opens his mouth, but Mallyn cuts him off, pulling his hood down and taking a seat beside Micai. "Doesn't matter. The job was done."

"Doesn't matter?" Creed barks, his face scrunching together and making my stubborn brother seem bitter. "We had to clean up by ourselves. Again. If he hadn't run off so quickly, we would've been back earlier and not so messed up." He glances down toward his dark clothes, droplets of muddy red pearls falling on his pristine marble floor.

Creed's face instantly scrunches up, probably thinking the same thing as a heavy sigh leaves his lips.

"I'm going to take a long shower and then change." He drags a hand down his face. "When I get back down, be ready to leave. We're heading to the academy to get those stupid interviews over with." He marches upstairs, not once looking back, like the big huffy man-baby he is.

"So…" Ezra starts. "What are we doing for breakfast." He looks toward me. "Cause I'm not willing to get food poisoning tasting Annex's poor attempt at baking—"

"I could be a natural baking genius," I add as Red chuckles.

"I ordered breakfast from Pages and Pies," Mallyn adds, glimpsing down at the phone in his hands. "I placed the usual order and added a few extras." His gaze softens, watching Micai, before quickly turning back toward his phone.

I knew Red would carve a space for herself with each of us. First me, then Ezra, and now Mallyn.

A grin tilts my lips. I can't wait for the stubborn-grumpy bastard to fall. My brother was too high-strung and controlling, but it came from a place of love and fear. Love for those he deemed his own: his people and family. And fear of losing us.

But he was way too hard on Micai, and it was grating on all of us. Ezra particularly looked like he wanted to snap Creed in two. Something completely opposite of the devoted second-in-charge of our little group.

"That's great. For a minute, I was worried Annex was going to feed me soppy flour." Micai teases, her features lighting up with the playful jab.

"I could put something else in your mouth if you'd like, Red." I grin as Ezra mock gags.

Mallyn's face scrunches up before he shakes his head. "I'm going to shower." He gets up and looks at Ez. "Get the door if the food comes."

Ez nods as I plop myself down in front of him and Red. Her eyes flit between us as that sweet flush takes over her cheeks. Probably remembering what she got up to last night and this morning.

Ezra places his hand over hers while sitting on the table, his fingers brushing back and forth and playing with her hand as he opens his mouth. "Tell me something, Micai."

Her cute brows pinch together in question.

"Something about you. Anything . We want to know everything, even the tiniest of details."

She looks at Ez and then back to me, probably seeing the curiosity in my gaze too. I wanted to know everything about Red as well, except the asshole beat me to it.

I lean a little closer, wanting to hear it all as her lips part.

"There's not a lot to tell." Something forms in her eyes, something I instantly don't like. "I…" They flicker back and forth between us, an awkward expression on her face as if she doesn't know what to say.

Had no one ever asked her about herself before?

"What do you want to know?" She finally asks.

"Everything," Ezra answers. "Let's start with your favourite colour, favourite food, favourite sleeping position… Your birthday. When's your birthday?" He stares over at me, his smile growing. "And what do you usually do for it?"

I nod. A simple but good question.

How the hell did I not know the day I had to celebrate and thank the Gods for bringing Red into it?!

A look I'd never seen before on Micai takes hold of her expression, a mix of sadness and conflict warring in her eyes.

"It's the 30 th of November…" She shakes her head. "It's just another day, I don't really celebrate it."

The 30 th of November…Wait, so we missed it! And what does she mean she doesn't celebrate it—

"The 30 th …" Ezra says, his brows pinched together with some thought before quickly widening. "The day we went to the Roller-Room?" His eyes widen further while turning toward Red, an almost panicked look taking over his expression.

My brows jump up into my hairline, and the slow, answering nod from Red leaves my mind spinning. That was her birthday?

And I only gave her a fucking chocolate muffin!

A soft smile stretches her cheeks, a warm look in her gaze as she turns to me and Ez. "It was the most fun I've ever had on a birthday."

The look in her eyes tells me she means it…and a dark voice starts to whisper in the back of my head.

A day out in the local town playing around with a small chocolate muffin, and she was genuinely this happy?

What the hell kind of birthdays did she have before?

I know my past is not the best example to use. I never had a real birthday with the crazy-demented shit-ball of a family I have.

Most of my brothers and I wouldn't know where to start if going from our own experiences. But we could learn. I could do just about anything to make my Red happy and smile.

"Micai…that's not—" Starts Ez, but she lifts her hand, cutting him off as she places it over his this time. Her soft blue eyes meet his worried gaze, a more serious look taking over her features.

"My birthday. The day I was born…was the day my mother died." Her voice weakens as the words leave her lips, and I feel my black heart ache with the vulnerable look in her eyes. My beautiful Red.

"My mother and father were mates…" She continues, finding strength as Ezra's hand wraps softly around hers. "That day is the day he lost her. How could we celebrate something like that?" Her voice cracks a little, and I can see so much pain in my beautiful Red's face, even as she tries to hold herself strong in front of us. She was trying to open herself up and share another piece of herself with us. But this pain…

I wanted to rip it from her and consume it, burning it eternally with my own and never letting it see the light that is my Red again.

I get up, walking around to stand beside her, my hand falling to her shoulder as she continues.

"I took her from him—"

"No baby—"

"No Red—"

Both Ez and I call simultaneously, leaning in closer toward her as a small tear pierces her heavy armour.

"But I killed her. I was the reason she died. If she hadn't given birt—"

"Fuck no!" I bite out, anger twisting my voice. "Those words…never say shit like that again, Red! What would this shitty world be without you?" An endless pit breaks open in me with her gaze and the pain in her eyes as tiny droplets stream down her soft cheeks.

She genuinely believed that shit. She was carrying this burden all by herself and slowly drowning in it.

" Micai …" Ez calls, a sadness in my brother's eyes as he watches our girl. "You mean everything to us. Your mother loved you, that's why she chose to give birth to you. She loved you so much that risking her life for yours was something she didn't even question. A mother's love…" He takes a shaky breath as a tear falls down my brother's cheek, unleashing some of the heavy pain he carries himself. "It's boundless and unconditional…" He meets her gaze, showing her the truth of each word. "You were loved, Micai. By her. And by us."

I nod. My brother has a better way with words than me.

"And don't ever say shit about you not being born, Red." I brush my fingers across her cheek, catching some of her tears and gently pushing them away as I gaze down at her. "This dark and twisted world is a lot brighter for us with you in it."

I wrap my arms around her from one side as Ez takes her other, feeling her heartbeat slowly calm beneath our arms. I nuzzle into her hair as Ezra presses a kiss against her moist cheek.

"From now on, you'll be celebrating every birthday with us. And each one is a celebration that you were born into this world."

Ezra gives me a look, his expression full of new resolve and probably matching my own.

Red deserved the world on a platter. Every day with her in it was a gift. So it's about time someone showed her what she's worth.

My brothers and I will happily take up the challenge of proving to her how important to this world she is. Without her, I would probably have burnt it to ashes, the madness slowly eating away at my soul, driven to cause carnage and chaos with an unquenchable bloodlust like no other taking control of me.

She's this shit-hole's saviour, and they don't even know it.

Well, now they needed to pay that luck forward and toward my Red.

The plebs in this academy also treat my Red like some sort of pariah, talking shit like they know the subject. Ez and I paid a visit to a few dickheads and taught them a lesson, but apparently, we needed to make a bigger example.

I told Red she needed to only see the good things, and that meant removing all the ugly and shitty ones. The image of four dickheads and one stupid blonde pops into my head.

That's right. That's where we should start.

A dark grin stretches my lips as I look to Ezra, a similar dark look taking over his features. We‘ll protect what's ours.

Burning the world and anything that gets in our way to ashes would just be an added bonus.