"Ash, it's fine—"
"That's not an answer." He tilts Toby's chin the other way, still examining. "Who put their hands on you?"
"My boyfriend. My mate." Toby's voice is steady despite the tension thrumming through the room, despite the fact that Ash looks like he's about to murder someone. "It's consensual. Very consensual. Extremely, enthusiastically consensual."
"You're absolutely sure, Tobias?"
Tobias. I've never heard anyone call Toby by his full name. Didn't even know it was his full name until right now.
"You don't have the best taste in men," Ash continues, still holding Toby's chin, still examining him like he's looking for evidence. "If this is another situation like—"
"It's not." Toby takes Ash's hands in his own, gently but firmly pulling them away from his face. "I promise, Ash. I'm happy. Really, genuinely, ridiculously happy."
He rises on his toes and presses a kiss to Ash's cheek, soft and reassuring.
That's when Knox comes thundering down the stairs.
His eyes are gold, lion close to the surface, a growl already building in his chest that I can feel vibrating through the floor. He's shirtless, wearing only a pair of sweatpants that he definitely threw on in a hurry, and he looks like murder incarnate. He takes in the scene—stranger with his hands near Toby, Toby's face tilted up, the marks on full display—and crosses the room in three strides.
"Hands off my mate," Knox snarls.
The two men face off. Knox has a couple inches on Ash, maybe thirty pounds of muscle, but more importantly he's radiating alpha energy so thick I can taste it. His lion is clearly close to the surface, pushing against the barrier of his skin, ready to shift at the slightest provocation.
But Ash doesn't back down. Doesn't even flinch. Just stands there, loose and ready, like he's faced down worse than an angry lion shifter and came out the other side.
"Your mate," Ash repeats, flat and cold. "So you're the one who marked him up."
"Yeah. I am." Knox's hands are flexing at his sides, claws threatening to emerge. "You got a problem with that?"
"Depends." Ash's voice is ice. "He says it's consensual. That true?"
"Every single mark. And there'll be more tonight."
The tension stretches, the clash of dominance thick enough to choke on. My lion wants to submit or run—the competing energies are almost overwhelming, making my skin prickle and my heart race. Vaughn has gone still behind the bar. Silas has set down his book. Even Ezra has appeared in the doorway to the back room, drawn by the tension.
"If I find out otherwise," Ash says quietly, "I will burn this building to the ground with you inside it. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Knox doesn't back down an inch. "Now take your hands off him."
Ash holds Knox's stare for another long moment. Two predators, sizing each other up, each deciding if the other is worth the fight. Then Ash releases Toby, stepping back, the threat bleeding out of his posture like water draining from a tub.
"Fair enough."
Toby immediately moves to Knox's side, tucking himself under his arm like he belongs there. Knox's hand splays possessively across his lower back, pulling him close, and I can see some of the tension drain out of his shoulders now that Toby's in reach. But Toby's smiling slightly, rolling his eyes at the whole display like two men almost fighting over him is just an average Sunday.
"Knox, this is Ash. Robin's older brother." Toby gestures between them like he's introducing people at a cocktail party instead of defusing a potential murder. "Ash, this is Knox. My mate."
Brother.
Robin's brother.
Not boyfriend. Brother.
The relief that floods through me is so strong I have to grab the back of a chair to steady myself. My knees actually go weak for a second, which is embarrassing as hell.
Not that it matters. Not that I have any claim on Robin's... anyone. I've talked to Ash for approximately thirty seconds and spent most of that time being insulted. But still. Brother is a lot easier to deal with than whatever I was imagining.
"Brother," Knox repeats, some of the tension leaving his massive shoulders. "You never mentioned a brother."
