"It's really not," Micah says.
"This is what pack does," Killian adds, his tone softening. "We take care of each other. And you're going to be our Bonded. Ourmate. Of course we want to make sure you're safe and have what you need."
"Yeah," Sean says, jabbing a thumb in his direction. "What he said."
"Why?" I ask warily.
Kyle convinced me to quit school, but he never minded that I kept working. He just started collecting the money from my paychecks and putting them into the "coven fund," telling me it was just how things were done.
And then he started having me mix potions for clients on the side whenever those funds dipped a little too low due to his excessive spending.
He used me like his magical vending machine while making me beg for every little thing I actually needed, and if I didn't act grateful enough, he'd be anenormouspain in the fucking ass.
So I'm a little tiny bit on edge about gifts to say the least.
These wolves, though… they act like they actually enjoy doing things for me. No strings attached.
And I have no frame of reference for that.
There has to be a catch. Everyone always has a reason. Hell, my own parents saw me as a bargaining chip for status within the magical community.
But Killian and the others look genuinely confused by the question.
"Why do we want to take care of you?" Killian asks carefully. "You're our mate. Why wouldn't we?"
I sigh, realizing I'm not going to get anywhere with this. "I'll pay you back when I get a job," I say, finally accepting the bag properly.
All four of them make identical exasperated noises.
"Please stop talking about paying us back," Sean groans, suddenly looking pale. "It physically pains me."
Rowan does a double take. "You okay, dude? Do you mean that literally?"
"It's probably just the nachos you ate from the fridge," Micah remarks.
Now Rowan is staring at Micah. "Wait, what? Heatethose?"
"I'm right here, bro. Don't talk about me like I'm not in the room."
In spite of my awkward discomfort, I manage to laugh a little. It's tough to spiral around these wolves.
Killian ignores them, stepping closer to me. "Regina… this is what wolves do. We provide for our mate. It's instinctual. Letting us do this makes us happy. It's just how we're wired."
I look up at him, trying to read his expression. There's no deception there, no hidden agenda I can detect. He's completely sincere in his desire to provide and protect. It's so different from the false generosity I've grown accustomed to, I don't know how to process it.
"Okay," I concede finally. "Thank you. I'll use it."
But in the back of my mind, I'm still planning on how to pay them back eventually. When I get back on my feet, at least.
They all seem to relax at once. Killian grins and I can somehow almost hear his wolf purring.
"So," I say, trying to redirect the conversation away to safer topics, "is there anything specific I should know about this fancy new phone?"
"It has an emergency button that will alert all of us simultaneously if you feel threatened," Rowan explains, taking the phone from the box and showing me. "Press here three times quickly, and we'll get your location and a distress signal."
"We also installed a few magical barrier apps Sadie recommended," Micah adds. "Keeps your communications shielded from magical tracking."
"And the camera's way better," Sean chimes in. "So you can finally contribute some quality thirst traps to the group chat. No grainy pics from your Jurassic-era brick."
