Back and Better book

Chapter Twenty Eight Cuddle

Damon POV

It's been about two days since the rogue attack, and Amira has been uncharacteristically quiet. I would give anything to know what's going on in that beautiful, precious, and perfect head of hers.

We hired a full-time nanny for Meda, so that we could get back to school. Today is day 1 of being back, and Amira hasn't said much. None of us have any classes together, but at lunch she just had her chin propped in her hand. The only

time she smiled was when her best friend, Samantha, ambushed her-but even then it wasn't fully genuine.

I know she's concerned, we all are, but there's something else going on. I can tell.

I look at her untouched tray, and make eye contact with Erebus and Christian, both of whom transferred to our school.

We recently established a mind link, and are planning to merge our packs- which conveniently are all on neighboring territories.

What's up with her?I ask over mindlink. No clue. The f**k if I know I furrow my brow at their responses.

She has had a lot on her plate before The Delta, so I think she's just overwhelmed. I'm surprised she's not having mental breakdowns with how much stress she's under, especially being a white wolf. They feel emotion on a much higher level, Christian reasons.

We're Alpha's. We feel very deeply as well, Erebus responds.

But she's a white wolf, Erebus. She is going to feel deeper than all of us combined. The fact that she's still functioning is, frankly, impressive, Christian retorts.

So what do we do? I question.

My wolf is encouraging me to f**k the quietness out of her, as I'm sure Christian and Erebus's wolfs are, but I don't know if that's the productive thing to do right now.

I glance at Samantha, who holds the same worried look as the rest of us. "Baby?" Christian asks Amira tentatively. She looks up from her plate. "Yeah?" "Are you okay?" She clears her throat. "Yeah. Of course."

She stands up and gives us a brief smile before dumping her lunch tray and walking off, presumably to the library.

I turn to Samantha. "You two talked for like an hour this morning, do you know what's going on with her?"

Samantha sighs. "She seriously

needs attention and affection. She

even admitted it. But she also

admitted that she's hard headed and independent enough to fight it. She said, and I quote, "I'd probably need I to be held down and cuddled, and even then I'd fight becausem so hard headed. But I won't die, it'll be both a turn on and helpful." If that doesn't tell you guys what to do, I don't know what does."

I smirk. I know our little mate likes to be held down. "Is there anything else you can tell us?" I question.

"She's overwhelmed. She's been at the center of conflict her entire life-but it was previously from bullying," Samantha pauses to give Eros a pointed look.

"And she got a year and a half reprieve from that, but now she's at the center of conflict again. She's honestly just at a loss of what to do or how to feel, which is making her shut down."

I run a hand through my hair, contemplating what action I should take. Sure, I completely plan on forcing her to cuddle with me, but what else? What does she need?

"What else can we do for her?" and a baby thrown in there-she's exhausted. Even if she won't admit to it."

Cuddle her to sleep. Got it. "Thank you, Samantha. Let us know if there's anything else." She nods and offers all of us a small smile before walking out of the cafeteria and to class.

The rest of school passes slowly,

and I honestly just can't wait to have my beautiful mate in my arms. Since

I'm the most dominant, Chris her

and Erebus said nothing when, claimed that I would be the first to hold and cuddle her at home. So

once I'm home, I head straight to her room.

She's startled when I walk in without knocking, looking up from her laptop. I glance around to see that in the ten minutes since she's been home, she's set up her textbooks all around her along with packets of assignments, and her laptop resting on her lap.

My little mate really is a perfectionist and workaholic. I slowly walk up to her, looking her over and appreciating her delicious body before starting to move her homework from the bed. "Hey! Damon, I need those!"

I shake my head as I stack the textbooks and papers before reaching for her laptop. She clings on tight, though, being defiant.

"Being a workaholic is not what you need, baby. She spares me half a glance. "Yeah? What do I need?"