The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 4

Grace's POV.

The days fly by as we get ready for the weekend away. Axel and I both get permission to have time off of work.

We pack our bags for a three—night stay and load everything in the back of our car. I get in the passenger seat, letting Axe drive. We drive to Rory and Lydia's house first.

We all live about ten minutes away from each other, it's a pretty perfect setup.

The two mates lock up their house and then get into the back of the car. Once they're buckled up, we set off for the lake house, following the directions that Noelle sent us.

Noelle and Xaden are meeting us there. They had their 12—week scan this morning and went to the house as soon as they were done.

It takes a couple of hours for us to drive to the lake. It's in the center of Elijah's territory. His territory is known to have great beaches, we might visit them on one of the days.

The car ride is a lot of fun. We sing along to the radio and chat about random things.

I love that, even years after we've finished school, we're all still so close.

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I gasp as we pull up to the lake house. Even though I've seen photos of it, it looks even better in person.

Axel parks up next to Xaden's car and the couple step out of the house as we get out.

'Welcome!' Xaden shouts, drawing our attention. 'Isn't this awesome'

We unload our things from the car and haul them up the steps to the house. After we've put them in our rooms, Noelle and Xaden give us a tour.

It's a beautiful house, decorated in light colors with wooden furniture. It's situated right on the edge of the lake. Floor—to—ceiling glass doors lead out onto a balcony that sits over the water.

I can just picture us having breakfast out here in the mornings.

The lake is vast. The water doesn't look particularly warm, but it's clean and I might be tempted to go in if the weather is hot enough.

'We thought we could go for a run this afternoon and then have a barbecue out back' Noelle suggests. 'I've brought all the stuff for making s'mores.'

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The six of us go for a run in the woods. We act like kids again, chasing and playing with one another.

We're sweaty and out of breath when we finally get back to the house. There are two bathrooms, so we take turns showering, but we shower in pairs, with our mates.

In the afternoon, I lay on the sofa, reading. Lydia sits on the opposite sofa, sketching.

Noelle and Axel are in the kitchen, prepping the food. We offered our help, but those are the best when it comes to BBQ's.

Xaden and Rory are out at the front of the house, getting the fire pit going for the barbecue.

As evening settles and the Sun gets lower in the sky, we all go outside and sit in a circle around the fire pit on camping chairs.

The barbecue is a success. We have kebabs and skewers filled with meat and vegetables. We grill halloumi and eat it straight from the skewer.

Afterward, Noelle hands out toasting forks and we pass around a bag of marshmallows. Using chocolate biscuits, we melt the marshmallows and make s'mores.

We stay up late around the fire, talking about everything; funny stories from school, wondering what the future holds for us.

Noelle and Xaden take each other's hands and look at us.

'We have some news,' Xaden says, grinning from ear to ear. 'At the scan today…'

He looks at Noelle, who grins back at him before turning to face us.

'We found that we're having twins.'

We rush to congratulate them, overjoyed for our friends.

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In the morning, we have breakfast out on the balcony. It's as perfect as I imagined it would be.

I take some pictures of us all. I hope that one day, we bring our children out here.

'What's the plan for today' Axel asks as we demolish the fry—up buffet spread across the table.

'We were thinking of going to the beach for the day,' Xaden suggests, and we all agree that it's a good idea.

We pack everything we'll need into Xaden's car. His car can fit all six of us. Axel and I opt to squeeze in the back.

It takes less than an hour to drive through the woods to the beach. As it is on Alpha Elijah's territory and private land, there are no humans.

There are other people on the beach, but mostly we have space to ourselves.

We set up a little camp with our towels and bags. I strip down to my bikini and lay on my towel, soaking up the sun.

I smile as I feel Axel's lips kissing up my arm.