For the Love of Cupidity: A Valentine’s Day Novella (Heart Hassle Book 4)

Once Ronak sets me down, I’m instantly reminded how freaking heavy it is to be upright on my own. I’m half tempted to ask him to pick me up again, but I resist. “Where’s Amorette?”

“Well, much to our surprise, we went inside to get some lunch, only to find our den is filled with cupids,” Sylred says, giving me a look. “She’s playing with them and showing off her wings.”

Ronak sighs. “Why is our den filled with cupids?”

“Oh, I just had to do some training,” I say nonchalantly as I pick off some imaginary lint from my dress. “It’s nearly Valentine’s Day on earth, you know. It’s our busiest season. And Valentine’s is important for us cupids. It’s special.”

Ronak narrows his eyes. “Did you finish training them? And did you tell Sev about the time off you’re taking?” Sylred asks.

I fidget with my black and white gilded feathers at the bottom of my wings. “Umm, yeah. I told him.”

“Scratch. Spit out whatever it is you’re not saying,” Evert says.

I shuffle my feet. “Hypothetically, if I said that these twelve cupid trainees in our den right now are really sucky cupids and that I need to train them for the next week, would you guys be understanding and supportive about the situation?”

Ronak and Evert sigh.

“Let me get this straight. Instead of quickly taking care of one last issue and then going on maternity leave, you invited a flock of cupids into our house and invited them to stay for a week,” Ronak says dryly.

“Hypothetically,” I answer.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath.

“Get rid of them,” Evert tells me.

“I hypothetically can’t, because I hypothetically have to train them, or we’ll be super behind, and I can’t let Valentine’s be ruined!” I argue.

“They can’t stay in our den, Emelle,” Sylred says calmly. “There isn’t room.”

“I know. Which is why I was hoping you’d be understanding and supportive, and help me figure out where to stash them when we aren’t working. Hypothetically,” I quickly add.

Based on the looks on their faces, I’m pretty sure my hypothetically isn’t fooling anyone.

Sylred cocks his head in thought. “We can find a place for them.”

“Don’t encourage her. She was supposed to do one small thing, finish in an hour, and then be on leave,” Ronak reminds him. “She was not supposed to agree to work for a week straight when she’s about to have our baby any minute.”

“Exactly,” Evert adds, crossing his arms.

This is what happens when you mate with a bunch of dominating males. “Well, I did agree, so if you won’t help me figure out where they can stay, I’ll just do it myself!” I snap, turning to storm away. “Hypothetically!” I toss over my shoulder.

I don’t even make it five steps before Okot intervenes. “My beloved,” he says, gently taking hold of my arms.

I don’t look up at him. I’m too mad.

“All of this arguing and stress is not good for you or the baby,” he murmurs.

“Then tell those genfins to stop arguing with me,” I retort.

Like a bad magic trick, all of those genfins step up so that I’m now surrounded by all four of my mates.

“I told you, of course we’ll find a place for them to stay,” Sylred says, moving my hair over my shoulder in a tender gesture.

Ronak wraps his tail around my waist, while Evert presses his chest against my back. Okot still has hold of my arms.

I narrow my eyes. “I know what you guys are doing, and it’s not going to work.”

Evert leans in and starts nipping at the back of my neck. “I don’t know what you mean. Enlighten us.”

“You’re trying to soften me up with your sneak-touches.”

“We aren’t sneaking, little demon,” Ronak says with a chuckle. “We upset you, and now we’re comforting you.”

“Why is Valentine’s Day so important to you?” Sylred asks.

“Because. It’s the one time of year where people actually seem to try. The dates. The thinking-of-you gifts. The flirting. The love. The sex. It’s beautiful to see everyone taking a day to celebrate love. It’s what we should do every day. Imagine what life would be like if everyone took the time to adore our loved ones—to express that love in whatever way is meaningful to them. As a cupid, that’s the dream. That love would be cherished, always. So that’s why Valentine’s Day is important, okay? It reminds us to take a moment and appreciate our loved ones.”

They all nod, like they get it, and they continue to rub on me. I frown and look down at all of their sweet touches, and my suspicion starts to build.

“Sorry for giving you a hard time, Scratch. We just want you to take a break and be able to relax,” Evert says. “We understand the Valentine’s thing.”

Wait. Evert is apologizing? Okay, something is seriously up. He didn’t even apologize for that time he left the toilet seat up, and I fell into the basin, getting gross toilet water all up in my business. I also got stuck. Yeah. Stuck. As in, I couldn’t get my ass back out. I had to call for help, and Evert had to yank me out. Do you have any idea how humiliating that is? And the fucker laughed!

I narrow my eyes on him. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Evert says too quickly.

I swing my eyes to Sylred. He can’t keep anything from me. “Syl?”

He runs a hand through his pink hair a bit nervously. “Well, we received a message when we were walking back from town and—”

Evert slaps his hand over Sylred’s mouth before he can say more. He then pulls out a letter from his pocket, but when I try to snatch it, he holds it over my head and hands it to Ronak.

I watch Ronak’s brow furrow as his black eyes flit across the page. When he’s done, he passes the letter back to Evert—who’s still clamping a hand over Sylred’s mouth. Sylred just stands there like he’s glad he doesn’t have to be the one to tell me what’s going on.

“Well?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips.

Sylred and Evert both look to the alpha, and Ronak settles his gaze on me. “Our parents are back from vacation.”