Chapter 78 THE RETURN

Chapter 78 THE RETURN
IRIS' POV

The way I glanced at Marcus, even he knew that something had changed.

“What happened?” He asked, and I cocked my head to the side.

“Well, guess what, Marcus? I'm not interested in what's to come next.”

I didn't even wait for his reaction as I walked towards the pack house. Derek's house to be precise.

Derek and Garrett were right behind me, and I couldn't even help but smile. I expected them to wait for some kind of answer from Marcus. But they were coming with me.

Thankfully.

I turned back, noticing that Ragner had taken a step forward.

“Stay there,” I ordered, and it cocked its head to the side. Did I sound like some kind of leader?

I carefully pushed the thoughts away from my head. I was fine. Or at least I hoped that I was going to be fine.

As I walked into the room, there were maids that were already waiting for me. I didn't miss the looks of sympathy on their faces.

“Do you need something?” I asked. The least I could do was be nice. I wasn't going to be like my mother, and ask them what they thought of me.

“No, Iris. We have prepared your bath. We wanted to help you get to it.”

“No,” Derek quickly said from outside the room. “We'll handle it.”

I turned back to look at the both of them, with an eyebrow cocked. That was when I looked behind my shoulder, noticing that the creature was no longer visible, but I could feel its energy.

“The both of you don't have to,” I was already saying, but it was more than clear that they weren't going to listen to me.
Garrett gestured towards the door, and the maids seemed to giggle as they headed out.

I groaned. The last thing I needed at that point was any more gossip among them.

“Now, you're going to make them start saying things about us.”

“I don't understand,” Derek said calmly. “You're annoyed about the fact that they will go around telling people that your mates want to give you a bath?”

There was something about the way he said it, that made heat pool at the bottom of my stomach. I looked away before I blushed.

It was the first time that he said it like that, and even Garrett shot him a look, but I could tell that he liked it.

As if someone had turned off the switch, I suddenly felt a excessively tired, and my knees wobbled. Garrett was immediately by my side, and he asked Derek, “Is the bath ready?”

“The maids clearly said so,” Derek's answered with an eye roll. I didn't even have the time to pay attention to their bickering.

Garrett took my arm in his, before pulling me towards him. I didn't hold back. Before I knew what was happening, he was already reaching for the hem of my dress, before pulling it above my head.

I was right there, watching as the two men looked at me from head to toe.

It would have felt normal if it was just Derek. But now, Garrett was involved as well, and I genuinely didn't know how I was supposed to feel about it. They were both my mates anyway. I was just not willing to admit it.

“We're not touching her that way,” Garrett said out loud, looking over at Derek. I noticed the way Derek gave him an eye roll, and a part of me wanted to know what was actually going through Derek's mind.

And maybe. Just maybe I wanted that as well.

The both of them led me to the bathroom, and I didn't even hesitate to step into the bathroom.

After a whole day that felt like it was full of shit, it was actually nice to have water on my skin. It felt like I could worship the water.

“How does that feel?” Derek asked, stepping forward, and grabbing my loofah.

“Heavenly,” I whispered, and he gave me the nod of his head, before slowly bringing the loofah on my skin, and rubbing gently like it was the most delicate thing he could ever do in his life.

The both of them were tired as well. I could see the exhaustion written all over them, but they were trying to keep themselves strong for me. That was something I couldn't look away from.

Garrett's scent was the next thing that I could smell. He was right at my head, before slowly pouring over it, and reaching for one of the shampoos on the shampoo stand.

My hair was one of the things that I never managed to care for. But somehow they managed to remain in their perfect state every single time.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the smell of soap, hands on my skin, and my hair.

That was the last thing that I could have thought I needed, but there I was, enjoying every bit of it.

“You're okay, right?” Garrett asked, and I could imagine him looking over me with a concerned gaze. But the last thing I wanted to do at that point was open my eyes and look at him being concerned.

“I am,” I whispered. “Now, please stop talking.”

He grunted a bit, and I could hear Derek laugh. The creature was still there within me, and I could feel him watching. How much longer was I going to be able to control him until he lost his mind?

I could only hope that things were going to go right at this point.

“What are you planning on doing after now?” I heard Derek ask, and that was the one question that I had been avoiding this whole time. But now that they both wanted to know, there was no way I was going to ignore it.

“I want to go back home.”

“What do you mean?” I heard Garrett ask in a slightly panicked tone. I found myself sitting up.

“I want to go back home,” I repeated. “Back to school. Take my mom to meet my dad. Have a normal life again.”