When the World Turns Red (Crossover between the Red and Acceptance Series)

Chapter 22- Cooper's POV

I grabbed my mate's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, and she looked at me with her dark gray eyes that were speckled with red. I didn't say a word and tucked my head closer to my chest, and I gave her a small smile while I looked at her, silently telling her that everything was ok.

Rylan held back an eye roll and slowly blinked, the red in her eyes leaving just as fast as it had come. She turned away from me and looked at her cousin and his mate to make sure that they were still fine, and they were and kept hugging each other without saying a word to one another in a way that we could all understand.

"So are we going to explore everywhere after we are done eating?" Jonah asked and looked between the two of us before he looked at my mate because she was the one in charge, and he knew it. "Or are we going to go ahead and go to bed?"

"I am probably going to go ahead and go to bed so that I can take a nap," Rylan said. She bit back a small yawn before she rubbed her eyes, biting back a small pout while she took her hand out of mine. "I don't care about what is going to happen next until after I take a nap."

"Do you mind if we go explore?" Jonah asked and cocked his head to the side while he studied her with a pout on his face. "Please, Mommy? I want to go explore with Cason." He grabbed his best friend's hand, and I couldn't help but bite back a small smile.

My heart grew warm while I looked at them, and I had this feeling that they were going to be mates when they were older, even if I and they didn't know it fully yet. "I'll keep an eye on them, Ry," I said and looked at her, and she looked at me with a guarded look on her face. "Vulcan can stay with you and make sure that you don't leave the house." I flashed her a small smirk and a wink, and she rolled her eyes and scowled, playfully.

"Very funny, Coop," she grumbled and folded her arms across her chest, biting back a small pout. "Why would you say that? I wasn't going to leave. I am actually going to take a nap as soon as I am done eating."

"Then, I am going to take a nap, too," Thomas said and yawned, mockingly. He pulled his mate closer to him and grinned at me, and Sam rolled her eyes and scowled but let him do. "At least my mate will not be sleeping alone, Not Alpha."

"Easy," Rylan warned and bared her teeth in warning at Thomas, and Thomas and Sam instantly looked at her, with Thomas becoming amused and Sam becoming protective of her mate. "There is so much bullshit that I can put up with before I do something stupid like forget that you are an innocent when I know that you are."

"Are you threatening my mate, Rylan?" Sam asked, her voice cold and filled with warning. She narrowed her eyes and scowled while she shifted until she was blocking him from view. "What is the meaning of that?"

I grabbed my mate's hand and squeezed it, silently telling her to calm down and that I was ok and not offended by what Thomas had said.

Even though a part of me was...

My mate turned to look at me with a small scowl on her face, and her eyes had some traces of red in them, which happened when she was annoyed like now. She slowly blinked, and a look of annoyance flashed through her eyes.

However, she didn't say a word.

"Be nice, Ry," I said and tucked my head closer to my chest while I offered her a grim smile, and she rolled her eyes before she looked at Sam with a small frown on her face that had me a little worried for her.

"I didn't threaten him, Sam," she said coldly with a shake of her head. "It was a warning not to act out or to provoke my mate because I am not in the best mood at the moment, and this stupid thing is not helping me at all." She rubbed her belly and grimaced, pressing her lips into a thin line while she furrowed her brows.