Page 41 of What the Hex

“Are you okay?” Reina asked as she brushed his hair back from his face. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

“I’m fine.” King looked more confused than scared. “I was hoping you could tell me what happened. Why is my mate losing his mind?”

“We all heard the crash,” Royal explained. “I think Storm was trying to protect you.”

“Crash?” King glanced around at the chaos. “Oh, that. I hit that ugly tea pitcher with my elbow and knocked it off the counter.”

Royal bobbed his head. “Best. Day. Ever.”

Oddly—or maybe not, all things considered—none of them seemed to be particularly worried about their mother. Under different circumstances, Storm might have felt sorry for her, but she had kind of brought it on herself. It also hadn’t escaped his notice that at no point during the ordeal had King’s father made an appearance or shown any concern for his family.

Calm now that he knew his mate was safe, he lowered onto his haunches and relaxed his tense posture.

He’d done a decent job of clearing the countertop during his initial assault, but he’d missed a small bowl near the corner. It obviously wasn’t bothering anyone. It sure as hell wasn’t a threat. He still couldn’t stop himself from nudging it with his paw.

“Storm, stop that.”

He jerked his head up to look at his mate, but his foot seemed to have a mind of its own as it continued to push the bowl right off the edge of the island. It tumbled to the floor and bounced, but it didn’t break. Bummer.

“Storm!”

There were a couple of snickers from the siblings, but Storm ignored them, distracted by a hand with manicured nails reaching toward his head.

“Sorry,” Rhia said. She stopped moving, but she didn’t retreat. “Can I? Please?”

She did realize she was asking to pet a grown ass man, right? Humans were weird. Still, it cost him nothing, and if it made her happy, he could play along. With a soft purr, he dropped his head and stretched his neck toward her.

Giggling like a child, she tentatively ran her fingertips from his brow to his crown. After a couple of repetitions, her confidence grew, and she began scratching behind his ears.

It was actually kind of nice.

“We should probably go,” King said a few minutes later. “I don’t doubt that my mom really will call the police.”

“Good idea,” Reina agreed. “Go on. We’ll sort things out here.” She looked over her shoulder toward the patio doors. “Uh, should we find his clothes?”

“It’s fine. He can ride home like this.” He arched an eyebrow when Storm whined at the suggestion. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Unsure of what he’d done wrong, Storm whined again and nuzzled his mate’s cheek. King, however, wasn’t swayed.

“No, sir.” He spoke with resolution as he pushed Storm away. “You had one job. Just one.”

Storm meowed. The closest he could get to a question in his current form.

King’s lips turned down at the corners, and he huffed. “All you had to do was keep your fucking clothes on!”

Chapter eleven

“I’m sorry.”

It was about the nineteenth time Storm had apologized since they’d left the disastrous dinner party. Maybe it would have been more believable if he knew what he was atoning for, but it just seemed like he didn’t want King to be mad at him.

In which case, he could stop feeling bad because King couldn’t remember ever being happier. Sure, he’d been scared shitless when the big cat had first burst into the kitchen. His mate had been spitting mad—literally—and he really had worried Storm might attack his mother.

After the initial shock had worn off, however, he hadn’t been able to stop smiling. It had felt good to see Daniella Mathers put in her place for once, instead of the other way around. The incident also had the unintended side-effect of showcasing his siblings in a much different light.

The way they had rushed to his defense had been surprising, especially when Reina had told their mother to shut up. The look on Daniella’s face had been priceless, and he wished to hell he had thought to capture it in 4K.

According to Storm, his siblings had been concerned for him as soon as he’d left the patio. Another surprising revelation. Now, he was reconsidering everything he thought he knew about them. Had he really been misreading them this whole time? The way they had surrounded him to make sure he was unhurt kind of made it seem that way.