Austin escorted Ivy into the living room in the same fashion as he had me the first time.
“Lexi, come meet the rest of the pack,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“Maizy, go put on your nightgown and brush your teeth,” I said. She smiled and I tried to contain my laugh due to her missing tooth.
“It’s fine,” Austin cut in. “We shouldn’t keep her in the dark.”
I glanced at the twins on the couch. Their dusty brown hair was lighter than the others—choppy and styled a little messy. Their eyebrows were dark and pronounced with a little arch to them, making their eyes stand out. They definitely inherited the Cole looks because despite their more narrow features, they were handsome men in a very stern and mischievous way—I wasn’t quite sure which. Liquid brown eyes sparkled like amber, bright and illuminating. They shared the same medium build with toned arms and lean torsos.
But here is where they differed. The one on the left wore tattoos like sleeves. One shoulder had a wolf, then I saw a dagger, some tribal, and they blended like one fantastic design. He also had a circle beard closely trimmed that he seemed to like stroking with his fingers.
“These are my brothers, Wheeler and Ben.”
I turned my mouth to the side. “Where’s that located?”
Simultaneously, they replied, “Ben Wheeler, Texas.”
“At least it wasn’t Beaver Dam.”
“Ah shit,” Ben said. He was the guy on the right who seemed to have a friendlier personality than his inked brother, and his smile was wider. “Don’t mention that around Denver; he’ll have a field day. The jokes never end with him.”
“At least it’ll get the attention off of me,” Jericho said from behind. I turned around and Jericho greeted us in nothing but a pair of black jeans. He stretched his long arms up and held onto the frame above the hallway entrance. It looked like a vacuum hose had made out with him.
Austin went on with introductions. “This is Lexi, Wes’s little sister.”
I held my tongue and mentally rolled my eyes. I would never be more than Wes’s little sister to these guys.
Ben and Wheeler didn’t talk much. They resumed watching Reno putting the movie in while Maizy plopped down on the round carpet in front of the TV. She was eating up the attention because they didn’t quite know what to do with a little girl around the house. Therefore, they spoiled her with whatever she wanted. Hopefully she didn’t pick up on some of those fun four-letter words they enjoyed using. Regardless, I got a good vibe with the pack. Despite their differences, they were unified.
“Who’s she?” Wheeler (the one with the tats) asked apprehensively.
“Our new packmate,” Austin replied without blinking an eye.
“Since when are we taking in bitches?” Wheeler protested. I was surprised he didn’t like the idea; you’d think a woman would be just the thing they’d want around here. While identical, Wheeler had a little darkness in his eyes that I didn’t see in Ben. Maybe that’s why he covered himself up with ink.
Ivy had attached herself to Austin like a wild vine. “Since today. Ivan is taking over the hunt for Lexi’s mom and to return the favor, he asked that I bring one of his daughters into our pack because she’s nearing the change. We’re growing, and y’all know I make the decisions on who we take in. You’ll get more say-so when it comes to men because I don’t need you guys killing each other, but we need women to balance things out. Since Ivy doesn’t have a mate, as a rule, it’s hands off.”
Denver wandered into the house and lingered in the hall to the right of the recliner. “Did you meet Wheeler and Dealer?” he asked with a smirk.
I couldn’t help but notice that while Ben hardly paid attention, Wheeler’s eyes slid over to Denver and looked volcanic. Odd reaction since the nickname seemed more of a jab at Ben.
Austin made sure to look all of them square in the eye. “Any funny business and I’ll find out. Treat her like a sister, because from this day forward, that’s exactly what she is to you. You know damn well what some of these packs are like, and I’m going to put in my claim officially so we don’t have to worry about anyone closing in on our turf.”
“You claiming Wes’s sister?” Denver asked.
“Will everyone stop calling me that!”
I stormed past Jericho into his bedroom and slammed the door behind me. Where else could I go? I might have been overreacting just a hair, but I couldn’t get my mom off my mind and what could possibly be going on with her. I’d never felt so helpless and lost—so uncertain of what I should do, and here these guys were, having a meet and greet.
I grabbed my bag and went across the hall into Austin’s room, glancing around for anything that belonged to Maizy. I stuffed her wand into my bag and walked with a determined pace to the living room.
“Come on, Maizy. We’re leaving.”
“But my movie just came on,” she whined.
“Lexi, what do you think you’re doing?” Austin said, attempting to be calm but not doing a very good job of it. Ivy stepped around us and found the bathroom in the hall.
I snapped my fingers impatiently. “Come on, Maizy. I’ve got movies at the house and Auntie Naya bought you a new one as a surprise.”
