“I don’t think I can. Maybe I just don’t know how, but it doesn’t feel... right,” I quietly admit, stomach roiling. “It doesn’t feel like she freed anything, more that she-” I search for the best way to describe it “-put a crack in the cage instead of unlocking it.”
Slade rakes a hand through his dark hair, attention rapt on my claiming mark. “Okay, let's think about this. We know we can't spawn children with humans, so how could she possibly not know what she is? How could she have never shifted?”
Thinking it over, I riddle aloud, “We knowmencan't breed with human women, but what if women can? Not like any pack is going to let their mate bring in a human lover, so how would we know?”
My eldest brother looks at me like I’m nuts, so I toss out what we know about her to back up my theory. “She moved around a lot as a kid, yeah? What if her mom ran off rather than get married and shacked up with a human? Maybe the wolf thing is actually passed down through the mother’s genes and not the father’s.” As another pang lances through my chest, I rub the heel of my hand over my heart. “Maybe being a half-breed means her wolf is weaker, so it’s stuck like ours.”
“We have to tell her. About everything.” He groans, all of the implications suddenly hitting him. “Fuck, we can't let her stay in that apartment. If the others were to find out, especially after every hoop we made them jump through for Emmy.” He begins pacing, smacking a hand on top of his dresser abruptly with a curse. “We’re fucked either way since she claimed you. Shit, what about Bo? Him too? Does he know yet?”
Cringing, I shrug. “Haven’t touched base, but she drew blood when she bit his lip, so I’d imagine. Though if he realized, I think he’d have busted down Reid’s door by now and superglued her to his side.”
He nods absentmindedly, wearing a path into the carpet. “When the others find out, they very well might make a play to have us killed so that they can take her.”
My chest vibrates and I scowl, shoving the impulse back down. “I know. If we’re dead, they can force her to choose new mates. She’s never going to be safe; not even if we move her in here, but at least we have a better shot.”
Releasing a heavy breath, he stares at the door to his bedroom mournfully. “She's going to run.”
My chest aches, and this time, I can’t stop the low whine that slips out of my throat, but Slade politely pretends that he didn’t notice. “I know, but there's really no avoiding it. With as hard as Em was pushing us together, she's going to assume it was a set up, that we somehow knew and were tricking her into a relationship. I can’t see this conversation ending well no matter what angle we approach it from, but we can't put it off either, or it'll make things even worse.”
“I’ll grab the others, make sure Bo doesn’t run in blind,” he replies softly. “You and Reid break the ice, that way we aren’t making her feel cornered, but she’s going to have to see Emmy shift for it to sink in.”
Nodding, I swallow, leaving without another word. Striding through the halls, my steps grow slower as the door comes into view. I’m finally left standing outside of Reid’s bedroom with sweaty palms, drying them on my pants and pulling on the faint vestiges of confidence that it’s all going to work out in the end.
It has to, or I’ll die trying.
Rapping my knuckles in a half-assed knock, I push the door open a moment later without waiting for an invitation. Sabrina and Reid are stretched out in bed, and while she’s got her head on his chest, dozing, Reid’s wide awake, running his fingers absentmindedly through her hair.
He meets my gaze, resigned, before gently coaxing her awake. “Hey, beautiful, are you still up?” She makes a soft noise of confirmation, and he pushes himself upright, forcing her to follow. “There’s something we want to talk to you about.”
She sleepily groans her complaint. “Can it wait until morning?”
Crossing the room, I sit on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on her blanket covered leg, but it’s more for me than her. “Not really.”
My tone has her suddenly on alert, tensing. “Everyone’s okay, right?”
Not even close.
“Yeah, angel, no one was in an accident or anything, it’s nothing like that.”
She frowns, glancing at Reid. “And things with Emmy went alright, so no issues from the others?”
My twin smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Correct, and before your mind goes there, it’s not a break up speech either.”
She actually scoffs, like the thought is as ridiculous as it sounds. “Of course it isn’t. Even if Cin was dumb enough to try and hit it and quit it, you’d have the good sense to gag and lock him in the closet until after the OS is up and running rather than risk me walking out if I was upset.”
A genuine grin takes over my face. “That would be pretty stupid of me, I agree. You’re far too amazing to give up, and I’d hate to have to murder your rebound boyfriend.”
She raises an eyebrow, calling me out. “No you wouldn’t.”
“Damn straight, I wouldn’t. I’d take my good sweet time killing him, too.”
Reid clears his throat, subtly getting us back on topic. Releasing a heavy breath, I stare at my mate’s gorgeous face, memorizing her features. Holding her gaze, I start unbuttoning my shirt.
“You wanted to talk about a threesome?” she asks, chuckling. “I mean, I’m not going to turn down checking a twin sandwich off of my bucket list, but I think it’d be a lot more fun if I got some sleep first.” Shedding my shirt, I wait until she notices the mark, watching confusion take over her teasing air. “Shit, I didn’t think I bit you that hard.” Leaning forward, she gently inspects the mark, frowning as she realizes that it’s far too healed for only happening last night, and that the coloring is all wrong. “What the hell?”
“We’re damned, Sabrina, but you’re our salvation. You wouldn’t have been able to mark me otherwise.”
I proceed to rush out all of it. The caged wolves, the bites that break them free. How fewer and fewer girls are being born in the last century and people are at each other’s throats more than ever fighting over them, so the arranged marriages are the only way to keep an all out war from happening and wiping each other out completely. By the time I’m done, I expect her to get up and walk out of the room without a backward glance. Instead, she merely has her head tilted to the side, processing it all like Reid would; analytically, the emotional part of her brain going into sleep mode until reality has a chance to catch up to her thought process.
