Everyone except her and Hartley freeze.
“No, that would not be a good idea,” Ronit says with a forbidding voice.
“Oh, why?” Becky challenges. “Don’t tell me you are trying to cage her.”
“Because we are unmated alphas, and your pack loves you. It makes it very dangerous to be around you,” he explains. “And she is going to have her heat.”
“Plus, we are courting Mei,” Reed says seriously, “and if any of you even look at her, I’ll break your faces.”
I still, my ears ringing as I hear those words over and over.
“You are courting me?” I squeak.
“Yes,” Reed grumbles and grips my chin, tilting my head up to his. “We are courting you, silly Nightmare.”
I exhale, but he catches my air, drawing it into his lungs, and I’m lost. I have been dying for him to kiss me since the moment he last stopped kissing me.
“We are all glad to hear that,” Diablos says, clapping his hands. “When you are bonded, we can have the barbecue.”
Becky is disappointed, I can feel it in the air.
“Its important to you?” I ask out loud.
Becky sniffs. “I just thought, there aren’t many of us, and it’s a lonely life. It would be nice to have friends.”
I can feel every single one of the males around me stiffen, but I ignore them all and focus instead on her. This isn’t about them. It’s about us.
“Do you want to be friends?”
She sniffs. “Yes.”
“Okay, let’s be friends,” I concede.
Becky jumps towards me, but her alphas grab her mid-jump and drag her back.
“Let’s move in small steps,” Frost says to her.
She grumbles. “Bye, friend.”
“Uh, bye,” I say back, feeling the tension of the three groups of us ease as everyone slowly backs away.
“Good work. Two down, three to go.”
Diablos and Hartley leave with a cloud of sulfuric smoke.
I rub my nose, trying to ignore the burn.
“We can go get the next one in a few hours.”
“Already?” I squeak.
“Yes.”
We walk along the beach, wandering slowly until we get to a place where the sand is sand, not ground-up bones, and sit down.
I hesitate.
“Why do the Fae hate you so much?”
