She turned to Kellen and smiled. “I hope you enjoyed what we clearly did.”
“I, ah, yeah.”
“We all wanted you to feel like a part of us. You’ve been so sweet helping. And we like you.”
Kellen blinked.
“I like you,” she reiterated. “Logan likes you.”
“I do. You’re cute. And you’ve got a mouth. Man.” Logan fanned his face.
Kellen turned pink again.
“You want to tell us why you were so pent up for so long?” Jesse asked, but he didn’t come across as antagonistic. For once.
She loved him, but Jesse didn’t give his trust lightly.
Kellen glared at him, but as Jesse remained quiet, waiting, he finally glanced away. “It’s not easy when you’re away from your clan.”
“I get that.” Jesse nodded. “But Kellen, you need to release your aggression. You don’t train within the clan the way you should, balls out and fierce. You hold back. And if you’re never having sex, you’re limiting yourself that way too.” Jesse paused, and Kate watched as Kellen seemed to really listen to what Jesse said. “I don’t know what life was like before you arrived in this world, or what it was like with the Lawlesses, but I can imagine.” He grimaced. “Prime made you blood-bound to the clan. You’re a Savage now, man. It’s okay to let go here. We’re safe.”
“You’resafe. You don’t know everyone,” Kellen grumbled, but Kate liked that he knew he could trust Jesse. At least partially.
“You make a good point,” she said, feeling for Kellen’s obvious doubt. “We’re safe. Logan, Jesse, and me.” She maintained eye contact, willing him to believe it. “We’re safe for you, Kellen. Others might not be yet, we know that. But no one will attack you outright, and no one will stand against you with non-Ravagers. In our own clan? Yeah, we have a lot of assholes we deal with.”
Logan snorted. “Darren, Avery, Luke. Hell, I could go on.”
“Please, don’t.” She sighed. “I had to talk to Darren yesterday about not stalking Diana the minute she gets back. He’s beyond annoying.”
“Why were you talking to Darren?” Logan asked. “That should have been Dom or Prime.”
Kellen frowned. “I heard someone say you guys used to be part of Prime’s pack. What happened?”
Logan opened his mouth, closed it, and looked at Kate.
She sighed. “It was me.”
“It wasn’t you, Kate,” Jesse said with a scowl. “Stop taking the blame for something that was never an issue.” He turned to Kellen. “Logan and I were never a real part of Eric’s pack. We love him, and man, he and Dom can fuck like stallions.” He ignored Kate’s glare, the bastard. “But our purpose was to hold the line for when he formed his real pack. We were there, waiting for Kate to get her head out of her ass and claim us. So when Eric found his queen and Malcolm joined them, Logan and I were happy to leave.”
Logan wiggled his eyebrows. “Were we. But Kate had to figure out we wanted her as much as she wanted us.”
It still embarrassed Kate that she’d been so clueless about their feelings. “I claimed them. They’remine.Not Prime’s.” She heard the growl in her voice and cleared her throat. “So we’re all on board when we tell you we want you. We want to help you fit in with the clan and lose that chip on your shoulder.”
“You mean massive shoulder,” Jesse muttered. “Yeah, you’re strong and big and can kick ass. But you’re not nearly as fast as Logan and me.” He glanced at Kate. “And Kate.”
“Thank you.” She hated when he acted as if he and Logan had to protect her, but she’d gotten used to accepting his issues. And overprotectiveness was his number one, in her opinion.
“Our clan is strong because we come in force,” Jesse told Kellen. “It’s not one against an enemy; it’s all of us against an enemy. Hell, our pack will end anyone who fucks with any of us. Including you.”
Kellen froze. “Are you telling me I’m pack?”
“Not pack, but protected by pack,” Jesse explained.
Yet as Kate watched Logan’s interest in the conversation deepen, she wondered. Could Kellen be pack? He was the first they’d taken into their bodies and hearts since forming their small family. And he’d just come into the clan. It wouldn’t be fair to rush him into a commitment.
Not yet.
She met Logan’s eyes, saw him tilt his head in question and watch Kellen with renewed interest. He felt the connection with Kellen and acknowledged it.
