Chapter 22

ALEXIS

I hummed along to the radio, bobbing my head and swaying my hips as I mixed the pancake batter together. For some reason, I was very happy this morning, and no, it didn't have to do with the fact that I woke up on top of Hudson.

"Good morning Alexis," Bradley's voice said from behind me. I turned around and smiled broadly, "Morning Bradley."

"You seem to be in a good mood today," he noted, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just one of those days," I said, moving to sit next to him at the island, "What would you like on your pancakes?"

"Strawberries please," he yawned.

I nodded and started to get to work on cutting up the fruit. As I did so, Bradley started patting his hand on the island as if he was looking for something.

"Have you seen my eyedrops anywhere?"

I looked around and found them on the other side of the island, so I quickly leaned over and handed it to him, "Here you go."

"Thanks."

I watched him squeeze a drop of liquid into each eye and pursed my lips.

There were so many questions burning up inside me, but I wasn't quite sure if it was appropriate to ask him. After all, we had just met yesterday.

"Are you wondering about my eyes?" He asked, turning his head to face me.

I swallowed slowly, "Was it that obvious?"

He chuckled, "You're not the first person to wonder about them. Although, I appreciate that you didn't ask me right off the bat. Most people do that when they first see me."

"It just seems....rude to ask."

"Perhaps, but some people are just like that. We can't help it. But anyway, to give you a sweet and simple answer, I was born blind."

I wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. I couldn't exactly say I was sorry because Bradley didn't seem to be upset about it. He actually seemed quite comfortable the way he was.

I hesitated to ask my next question, "If you ever got a chance to see again, would you take it?"

He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and seemed to be in deep thought about my question. I almost thought he wasn't going to answer until he said, "I don't know. I've been blind my whole life so the thought of being able to see again is.....enticing, but at the same time, scary. I wouldn't know how to adjust to seeing after living in darkness for the past twenty-three years of my life. But I also don't want to sound ungrateful for the chance to be able to see. Not a lot of people get that."

"No, I get it. It would be like flipping your whole world upside down."

"Yep," he nodded, "now how about I cut the fruit and you start making the pancakes. I'm starving."

I laughed softly and pushed the cutting board towards him, "Knock yourself out."

While I was getting the pan out and waiting for it to heat up, Bradley called my name. He had a small smirk on his face as he shook his head in amusement, "I'm not an idiot, I know you were thinking about using your blood to heal my eyes."

I stared at him like a deer in the headlights. How could he have possibly guessed that I was thinking about that?

He lifted his head for a moment to give me a genuine smile, "I appreciate the offer, Alexis. I really do. I hope I didn't offend you by not accepting it."

I returned the smile, "Not at all. I'm not going to force you to accept my offer. Just know that if you do change your mind, my veins are ready."

"Thanks."

***

By the time I was done with all the pancakes, Hudson, Boston, and Matthew returned from their border inspections.

"Morning Alexis," Hudson said, wrapping his sweaty arms around me. I tried shoving him off of me, but he just laughed and tightened his grip around me, "What? I thought you liked me hot and sweaty."

"Not when you stink! You should come with a warning label!" I chided, trying not to suffocate in his arms.

In all honesty, he smelled delicious, but I still didn't like the feel of his sweat sticking to my dry skin. It made me want to cringe and shudder at the same time.

"Alright you two, break up the PDA or else I'm going to puke all over my pancakes, and the Moon Goddess know that that is a huge sin," Boston said loudly, pulling me away from Hudson. I smirked at Hudson's face and grabbed the plates to move them to the island.

"So what took you guys so long?" I asked, shoveling a mouthful of pancakes into my mouth.

Matthew snorted, "We had to stop so that Hudson could yell at Devin for trying to get laid with one of the female pack warriors."'

I grimaced, "He needs to get his act together. Has anyone told him that?"

"Many times. I've considered punishing him, but he didn't offend anyone so it would be considered unfair by pack law."

"Then tell him that the only way he could ever get laid is if he crawled up a chicken's butt and stayed there."

The four men suddenly burst into laughter as I stared at them with a serious look on my face.

"Oh my god, just the image," Boston gasped out between his laughs. I slapped a palm against my forehead and shook my head at their immaturity. Of course, they would sit there and imagine a chicken laying Devin.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stop thinking about it apparently, because for the next ten minutes, one of them would chuckle randomly or smirk at me, making me very irritated. It wasn't even that funny!

I growled quietly and took my empty plate to the sink, leaving them to their snickering. Meanwhile, I started washing the dishes as they dropped their dirty ones into the sink and thanked me for the pancakes.

I was rinsing off one of the plates when I felt the familiar presence of a certain someone.

Hudson dropped the plate into the sink and leaned his hands against the counter, trapping me between the two. His warm chest was pressed up against my back as his warm breath tickled the nape of my neck.

"Your hair is nice," he whispered, "I like the way it feels."

I snorted, "Your hair is nice too. I love the way it curls out of your nostrils like that."

His body vibrated against mine as he let out a rumble of laughter. His lips twitched into a smile as he brushed them along the crook of my neck, making me shiver slightly. I quickly put the plate down and wiped my hands on a towel before turning to face the man behind me.

He raised an eyebrow with amusement and cocked his head, "What do you have to say for yourself, Alexis? You just insulted an Alpha. You need to apologize before you get punished."

I rolled my eyes, "Excuse me Alpha, but you deserved it."

"Really?" He drawled, leaning closer to my face. My breath hitched at our close proximity. If I moved even a centimeter, my lips would be against his.

Did I want to kiss Hudson? That was probably a stupid question, of course, I did. I just hoped he didn't hesitate like last time or else I would have to take matters into my own hands. Although, Hudson didn't really seem to know what to do. I had to remind myself that anything we did together would be his first.

I swallowed hard and licked my drying lips as he stared at them hesitantly. It was like he was afraid of leaning in and pressing his lips against mine. I decided to take this chance to slowly raise my hands and place them on his chest. I heard his breath hitch as his heart started pounding beneath my fingertips and his eyes darkened as the air around us became tense.

It was like electricity was flowing between us and we had no idea how to control it thanks to the overwhelming mate bond. The feelings surging between us were just hard to describe.

But, for some reason, I was able to recognize the wave of confidence that suddenly washed over me. It felt like something was calling me and it was causing an ache throughout my body. I stared at his soft pink lips and bit my bottom lip hesitantly.

I should just go for it. What could possibly go wrong?

Before I could even come up with different scenarios of what could go wrong, I got on my tiptoes and captured his lips with mine.