“I didn’t pack bond,” I say evasively.
Zeke’s hand finds my lower back and he steps up to my right. Gage shifts to make room but stays close enough that I feel his support too. Zeke sends soothing waves of calm down the bond. I try not to let my nerves bleed into it. Corbin stands to my left, and Eli and Rafe take up the space behind us.
My mother furrows her brow, and my father gets up from his chair to join us in the entryway.
“Then what—”
“There was an accident,” Zeke starts, unintentionally drawing my parents’ attention to him. My father scents the air and looks from Zeke to me.
“An accident?” he growls, now spotting the single bite mark at the base of my throat.
“At the club where Flora was having her bachelorette,” I explain. I go through the whole ordeal, from beginning to end, with Zekeadding small details. Corbin has his arm wrapped around me, and Eli, Gage, and Rafe have crowded in closer.
By the end, both of my parents are looking furiously at Zeke, and I wonder if I explained it wrong.
“So you bit our daughter. Just like that. Do you know how dangerous that could be?” my dad barks.
“Dad—” I try, but another voice cuts through.
“Bit? Who got bit?”
James, my older brother, joins the fray. He’s as tall as my father but slighter, and with a full head of hair. James is the only alpha out of my siblings.
“Your sister,” my mother says, pointing at Zeke like he’s a rabid animal. “By this young alpha. Apparently at your other sister’s bachelorette party.”
“That’s not—” I try again.
“What about my bachelorette party?”
Flora appears from the direction of the kitchen. She’s the most like our mother in my opinion—tall, lithe, all elegant angles and high cheekbones. The microbraids in her hair reach her mid-back.
“Why wouldn’t you tell us Winnie got bit at your bachelorette party?” James demands of Flora.
Flora’s eyes practically bug out of her head. “What? No she didn’t. She came, didn’t really enjoy anything”—I scowl. Flora and I don’t enjoy the same things—“and then left early. Didn’t you, Winnie?”
“No. He bit her,” my mom says, and Zeke flinches at the accusing finger.
“No!” I practically shout, and everyone falls silent. “We bit each other. I probably bit him first! Why doesn’t anyone listen to that part? I bithim. So if you want to blamesomeone, blame me.”
I’m breathing hard now. My hands shake. Corbin takes one, bringing it to his mouth for a soft kiss. Every single eyeball in the house is trained on us.
Besides those in the living room when we arrived, I can see more cousins and siblings peering around doorways and over the stairway banister.
“Shoo!” my father barks, and the eyes scatter back to their corners.
My mother looks much calmer when I face her.
She takes my father’s hand. “What’s done is done. I want to speak to my daughter alone for a minute. Gentlemen, if you’d like, you can leave your coats in the guest room just through there.”
The alphas look to me. I nod.
Zeke slips my coat off, kisses the top of my head, and heads off with the others.
“Are you all right?” my mother begins.
The question brings such an unexpected swell of love to my throat that my eyes sting.
I nod. “I am. They’re really nice. I know they look a little rough, but they’re very kind, and—” I pause. She lifts one eyebrow. “I think I’m falling in love with them. They’re my mates.”
