Claws

Chapter Forty-Eight

Zale's eyes fluttered open to see the highlights of Mae's cheekbones and golden eyes illuminating in the lamp's light as her gaze was set on the singular picture frame sitting on his bedside table. He remembered framing that picture of his mom and brother and setting it on his bedside table when he felt like he had the urge to see them. That's when he'd been alone, at least. Now that he'd gotten so deep into Mae's life and interacted with his family again, he didn't know what was going to happen to him. 

Mae seemed to be deep in thought as he felt her fingers run through his hair while she released her pheromones. How long had he been asleep? Wait. Was he still dreaming?

Zale squinted his eyes in interest and slowly reached his hand up, brushing his fingers across Mae's cheek. She jumped, her eyes growing wide in embarrassment, and looked down, pulling her hand away from his hair while letting a curse word slip through her lips.

"Y-you're awake," Mae avoided eye contact and pushed his hand away from her cheek. "Finally. My legs are falling asleep."

"Sorry. My bad. I guess you were just too comfy," Zale smirked and sat up as she nudged his head upwards. Ever since they'd temporarily marked each other, she'd let her guard down around him so much, although she put it up a little more when he acknowledged it. He never imagined there was a soft side to Mae anywhere in that bullheaded personality of hers, although now that he'd seen it, he also found it unbearably adorable. Almost as much as her feistiness. 

Zale stretched as he sat up straight with a huge yawn. "How long was I out for? It must've been a while. I don't feel sick anymore."

"Uh, I think around forty-five minutes, so not that long. I have no idea what Robin and Marie are cooking out there, but it smells amazing. They said they were going to make tacos, but I think they made something different," Mae sighed, trying to divert the fact that she'd sat for almost an hour changing cold rags on his head and giving him her pheromones while stroking his hair. He wondered what else she could have done. Despite his curiosity and overwhelming desire to pick on her, he didn't ask. He was just glad to feel himself again and not so nauseous.

Zale sniffed the air and smiled. He knew what it was. "How surprising," Zale sighed, an impressed look crossing over his face.

"And may I ask what's so interesting?" Mae looked at him after a small silence and frowned as she stood up, wiggling her legs one by one. "If you're going to say something so ambiguous, at least finish it off with an explanation."

"Ah, right. Well, Robin's been trying to perfect our mom's lasagna recipe for about a year now because he heard it was one of Marie's favorite meals. He's been totally disgracing the Ailswood name with his awful cooking while attempting to make it at least a little bit edible. I guess he worked on it a lot because, since the last time I caught a whiff of his cooking, I ran for the hills, thinking I was smelling toxic fumes. However, this, my darling, is the heavenly smell of my mother's new famous Pasta alla Lasagne recipe she developed a little over a year ago, which Robin seems to have somehow perfected. As I said, it's surprising." Zale laughed and stood up, inhaling and pointing in the air as if the scent was visible. Zale stepped towards Mae with a playful smirk on his lips, leaning down to level his face with hers. She tensed defensively but didn't break eye contact. Her expression didn't soften either. Zale raised an eyebrow at her. "Before we go eat, I just want to say thank you. You really helped me. It's hard after my ruts, so I'm grateful you came here to take care of me."

Mae flushed and looked away, turning around with a light shrug. "Yeah, sure. I didn't have to do much anyway." She briefly glanced back at him and gestured to the door with a nod of her head. Zale swore he saw a small smirk play against the edge of her mouth. "Let's go see if the food is ready. You're going crazy from starvation to the point where you just apologized. It's freaking me out."