Too late to regret it now. Too late.

Please refrain from opening this chapter if you are under 18 years old. Exercise discretion; this is a work of fiction with all its imaginative elements.

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Reheated satay was never a good idea—it tasted odd, but they ate it anyway rather than let it go to waste. Raven nibbled on his satay with his usual blank expression, a look that was somehow endearing.

Aiden, Ryder, and Dhimas had already gone home after their grocery run, leaving Alaric and Raven to organize the groceries in the fridge together. This should have been Aiden's task, but Alaric was starting to enjoy doing it with Raven.

Once again, Raven showed a different side of himself than what usually appeared on the surface. He shopped skillfully, as if it was something he'd often done before—or perhaps, he used to be a very different person in the past.