Sinclair POV
Adrian taking the time to get to know me is… different. Before, when Amber was alive, we would have light conversations. His world was wrapped around trying to fix his relationship with Amber, so he never knew me.
“Explain that to me, Sinclair. I thought you had a family growing up.”
“It’s just like it sounds, Adrian. See, sometimes, the state doesn’t have enough room for kids in the system. They rely on families to take kids in and care for them, while they try to find us permanent homes. The state would pay those families for watching over those kids. Sometimes, if a kid is really lucky, the foster home will adopt the kid. I wasn’t that lucky, though.”
His eyes darkened slightly. I have no idea what he is thinking. I don’t want to give him the details. The last thing I want is for him to pity me. I told him what was going on with the pack members for his awareness. The way he has treated me has given the pack the audacity to treat me like I’m undeserving of common respect. I just want him to acknowledge me so they back off with the treatment.
“So you grew up without a family? Why were you in four different foster homes?”
“Various reasons. At the end of the day, they couldn’t continue caring for me. Once I got to the last place, I was there until I turned eighteen, and I left. I ended up becoming a hitman.”
“Why a hitman? Didn’t you have any interests growing up?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I was interested in being adopted. The state paid those families to take care of the kids in their care. That payment didn’t cover things like ballet classes and baseball teams, Adrian. It put a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my stomach. Anything else would have come from the families, and well, the foster families I lived in didn’t do extras.”
He squeezed my hand a little tighter. I’m not sure why, but I continue walking. I’m looking at the perimeter while we walk. I noticed that there are warriors who look at us and stick their noses in the air.
My eyebrows furrowed, and I tried to figure out what that meant. Adrian catches it. “What’s wrong?”
I looked at him. “Oh, nothing. I’m just trying to figure out why everyone who sees us walking together keeps putting their nose in the air. What’s that about?”
Adrian’s ears turn pink. “Um, they are trying to figure out if we have bonded.”
“Well, we are bonding now, right?” I asked.
Adrian started laughing. “Um…no. Not that kind of bonding.”
I am thoroughly confused. I looked at him expectantly, and he started blushing furiously, and then I realized what he meant.
“OH! That kind of bonding.” Now I’m blushing.
“Why is that any of their business?”
“Well, what better way to know that mates are marked than to smell it? Our scents change when that happens.”
“Oh, yeah…that makes sense. It happens all the time with Aiden and Thalia. Isaiah and Kaia are also like that,” I said.
Once again, I am feeling a pang in my chest. Pack members assess the stability of a ranked couple this way. We don’t look stable to them. I sighed internally.
This is more than I expected today, so I try not to think about it. We continue walking, and I notice a fallen tree. It’s close to the fence.
“I need to get that tree away from the fence. Help me?” I asked.
“Sure.”
I climbed over the fence, and Adrian followed. I started shoving the tree. Adrian shifted into Thor, and Mali took over. Instead of dealing with the tree, both of them started flirting with each other.
‘Mali! What are you doing? We need to move the tree.’

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