There’s a dip on the bed as he sits near my feet. Waiting until I break and look at him before speaking, his patience puts mine to shame. “If you’re ready to quit pretending you didn’t hear me last night, you’d know you already have your answer.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, stomach flipping with nerves. A few calming breaths, and I decide he’s right. I need to rip the bandage off and face facts, because refusing to talk about things just because they’re hard or uncomfortable only exacerbates the problems.
“I think I was just seeking affirmation, you’re right.”
He doesn’t act like my need for approval and assurance bothers him in the slightest. “Happy to remind you as often as you like,” he says with a simple shrug. “Pride, by the way, not pack.”
I give him a contrite look. “Sorry, my knowledge on shifters is pretty limited. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
His jaw tenses like he’s clenching his teeth, but he makes a conscious effort not to appear hostile or threatening. Still, his words come out angry, but they aren’t directed at me.
“Let’s clear this up right now. You don’t need to apologize for everything, you’re not a burden, and everyone in this house is more than happy to let you stay.” As Ozzy meows at him, Ares swipes a hand down his face, looking weary, but more level headed. “Sorry. It just pisses me off thinking about the way they treated you.”
“The way we left couldn’t have helped matters either.” I grimace. “Between him killing Jax and them thinking he abducted me, kidnapping a mage is going to be riskier than it already was.”
He blinks at me. “Hell you mean, kidnapping a mage?”
I gesture down at Ozzy. “Since he’s still an ocelot, I’m assuming you don’t know how to fix him either. So logically, since mages did this, we’re going to need one to fix him. And seeing as how I can’t even walk through the woods without busting my head open, the chances of me pulling it off alone are slim. Hence, coming here for help.”
Ares rests his elbows on his knees, cradling his head and swiping his hand over his face in exasperation before pinning me with a look. All the while, Ozzy lounges on my lap, grumbling any time I get distracted and stop scratching him. It helps, though I hate to admit it, to have something to occupy my hands while under such an intense glare.
“One thing at a time, alright? Osiris will live for a few more days while we work some stuff out before I can even start in on what a terrible idea that is. You’re our mate, Rin, and that’s a pretty big fuckin’ deal to us.”
“Why do you think I'm your ‘mate'?” I sigh, my headache only growing.
“Not think; know. You smell like mate. Shifters are teased even as cubs with the prospect of finding their elusive, fated mate, but few ever do,” Ares explains. “It’s not unheard of for a human or mage to mate with a pride or pack, just rare.”
“And if only shifters can sniff out their mates?” I humor him, because it just seems absurd. “How am I supposed to know if you’re lying?”
The two of them look at each other, holding a silent conversation with their eyes. “I don't know,” Ares finally admits.
“I've never heard of a rejected mate,” he adds, clenching and unclenching his fist as he glares at Osiris. “You're not thinking of rejecting us, are you?” he asks, turning wide eyes on me.
“You’re not talking about just you, you mean Cole and Osiris as well!” I exclaim, tossing my arms up before Osiris nags me into more pets. “How can that even work? Do you expect me to just accept everyone that walks up and decides I belong with them?”
He growls low, crowding me until I can feel the vibrations even through the air. “Ours.”
I swallow, trying to ignore the chaotic feelings warring for dominance as he presses so close. “So I have three men claiming I'm their mate. You can see why I'm a little skeptical to believe that. If I can't give you a good mate-sniffing right back, how am I supposed to believe you?” I watch the gears in his head turn, trying to come up with a plausible explanation and failing.
They seem to mull things over, grasping for an explanation. “How do humans choose their mates?” Ares finally asks and it strikes me as odd before realizing he might be as far removed from our society as I was from theirs. But I would imagine even in the fringe towns he’d be interacting with humans, so I can’t help but scrunching up my face in confusion.
“Dating? Picking the one we think we are most compatible with and praying it works out, divorcing and trying again if it doesn’t.”
Now it’s his turn to wrinkle his nose. “That seems like a waste of time.”
Cole strides into the room and I get my first look at the man. Messy black hair falls over his bright blue eyes, and he has his hands nervously tucked in his jeans’ pockets like Ares did. He’s not quite as large as the man sitting beside my legs, but still puts the men back in the city to shame. Muscular, but in a graceful way like his animal form.
He gives me a sheepish look, staying in the doorway. “Sorry if I scared you, I was out of line. I forget humans aren’t as open with affection as we are, and well…” he sighs, not meeting my eye. “I’ve been suppressing my instincts for weeks, so when I smelled not only Osiris again, but you? I couldn’t really control my shift.”
“It’s alright, I’m not upset,” I admit, surprised by how true the words feel. “And with as chilly as it is in this house, it was nice.” I frown, feeling conflicted.
Cole grins and starts crossing the room, looking like he’s about to slide in next to me when Ozzy rolls to his feet and hisses in his direction, a silent conversation taking place between them. It leaves me the odd man out in just one more way, and my stomach is a knotted, chaotic mess.
Cole ends up sitting at my feet opposite Ares, Osiris acting like a buffer. Logically, it shouldn’t feel this comfortable with him compared to the others, especially with the revelation that he’s convinced I’m his mate too. It’s just so hard to imagine him as apersonwhen he acts more like a loveable pet.
Hiding behind my neurotic guard cat, the conversation circles back like I inevitably knew it would. “Unless the shifter thing is too much for you,” Cole murmurs, looking self-conscious.
Now it’s my turn to growl, getting annoyed. “Don’t try and spin this. My problem isn’t who you are, it’s that I was literally just forced into a marriage at gunpoint. If it wasn’t for Osiris, I have no doubt Jax would have raped and beaten me into submission until I either killed him or myself. And now I have three more people deciding that I belong to them? Is it really that hard to believe I’m a bit skeptical here?”
