"See what I mean?" Leo rolled his eyes at me conspiratorially. "No social skills. You'll have to stick with me if you want normal conversation."
I giggled. I couldn't help it. Leo's smile got even wider.
"There we go. She laughs. That's a good sign." He leaned closer, dropping his voice to a stage whisper. "Between you andme, this place can get pretty boring. But now that you're here, I think things are going to get a lot more interesting."
Dinner was strange after that. The food was fancy, things I couldn't pronounce and wasn't sure I liked—but I barely tasted any of it. I was too aware of the four boys around me. Of the way Mason watched me from across the table with those warm, intense eyes. Of Caleb's silent presence, a mountain of barely contained something I couldn't name. Of Ethan's occasional questions, probing and precise, like he was taking notes on everything I said. Of Leo's easy jokes and bright laughter that never quite hid the sharpness underneath.
They were all watching me. All of them. Even when they talked to each other or to Mr. Harper or to my mom, their attention kept drifting back to me like I was a magnet and they were iron filings.
It should have scared me. It didn't. After dinner, Leo offered to show me the library. Mom said it was okay as long as I didn't stay up too late, and before I knew it, I was following him through hallways that seemed to go on forever.
"The library's the best room in the house," Leo said, pushing open a heavy wooden door. "Even Ethan admits it, and he's impossible to impress."
I stepped inside and gasped. Books. Thousands of them. Maybe millions. They lined every wall from floor to ceiling, with rolling ladders to reach the high shelves and cozy chairs tucked into corners and a fireplace big enough to stand in.
"It's like Beauty and the Beast," I breathed.
"Yeah?" Leo grinned. "Does that make me the Beast?"
I looked at him—at his easy smile and dancing eyes and the dimple in his cheek—and shook my head. "No. You're too pretty to be the Beast."
He laughed, surprised and delighted. "Pretty, huh? I'll take it." I wandered through the stacks, trailing my fingers along thespines, reading titles I didn't understand. Leo followed, pointing out his favorites, telling me stories about the books and the house and his brothers.
"Mason's the oldest," he said. "Well, technically he's not related to us by blood, but Dad adopted him when he was twelve. His real parents..." He trailed off, shrugging. "Anyway. He's the leader. Always has been. What Mason says goes."
"What about Caleb?" I asked, curiosity filled my voice.
"Caleb's... intense." Leo's smile flickered. "He feels things really deeply, but he doesn't know how to show it. So he just kind of... looms. But he's got a good heart under all that scary."
"And Ethan?"
"Ethan's the smart one. Scary smart. He notices everything, remembers everything. It's annoying, actually." Leo pulled a face. "But he's loyal. Once you're his, you're his forever." Once you're his. The words stuck in my head, though I didn't know why.
"What about you?" I asked.
Leo's grin came back, bright and sharp. "Me? I'm the fun one. The one who makes sure everyone doesn't take themselves too seriously." He winked. "Stick with me, little bird. I'll make sure you never get bored."
Little bird. Mr. Harper had called me that too. We stayed in the library for hours, Leo showing me secret passages and hidden compartments and a window seat that looked out over the moonlit gardens. By the time Mom came to find me, I was half asleep in one of the big armchairs, a book of fairy tales open in my lap.
"Time for bed, sweetheart," she said, scooping me up. I was too tired to walk, so she carried me, and as we left the library, I looked back over her shoulder. All four of them were standing in the doorway.
Mason. Caleb. Ethan. Leo.
Watching me leave.
Their eyes caught the light from the hallway, and for just a moment—just a flicker of a second—they didn't look like boys at all. They looked like wolves. I was ten years old and half asleep, so I told myself I imagined it. I closed my eyes and let Mom carry me to bed, and I dreamed of books and castles and four pairs of eyes that followed me wherever I went.
I didn't know then what I was to them.
Didn't know that they'd looked at me and sensed something, some Alpha instinct that told them what I would become before I had any idea myself. That Mason had watched me eat dinner and thoughtmine, even though I was just a child, even though it would be years before I presented. That Caleb had memorized my face and started building walls around a heart he was already preparing to give me. That Ethan had filed away every word I said, every expression I made, every tiny detail that would help him understand me. That Leo had decided, in that very first moment, that he would do anything to make me laugh.
They knew. Even then. They knew what I would be, and they started waiting. I didn't know that I'd walked into a trap. That I'd never really walked out.
I was ten years old. I thought I'd found a fairy tale. I didn't realize until much later that I was the princess, and they were the dragons, and the castle wasn't a home.
It was a cage I just couldn't see yet.
CHAPTER TEN
