I didn’t even realize I was until she said it. The sound cuts off instantly, but my arm around her lower back tightens as I clear my throat, not directly answering her question, but attempting to reassure all of us.
“They think that Sabrina’s their daughter and wanted her mated off to either Kaige, Hunter, or me for the sake of renegotiating the terms of our alliance to open up more avenues since they’re landlocked. Now they have what they want, so there’s no reason to stress. Sabrina clearly has a wolf, so that’s no longer a concern either. Her healing abilities should be on par with ours now, plus she freed our wolves-”
“We’re skimming over that one I assume?” Slade asks smoothly, but there’s no heat in his voice. He simply pinches a lock of Sabrina’s hair and tugs her closer so that he can kiss her lazily, like he has all of the time in the world.
“Obviously. Nobody wants to dwell on such a boring topic,” Sabrina murmurs, and my lip twitches.
“So, everything’s going to be okay,” I sum up with conviction. “Once you wrap up your work here, we'll rip the bandage off and get this awkward meeting over with. Then we’ll decide where to go from there.”
Bracing herself on my chest as she pulls away from Slade to sit up, she opens her mouth to speak before promptly snapping it shut again. I can’t help the broad grin that takes over my face alongside the blush rapidly spreading across hers as she realizes that we’re all completely naked, memories from last night catching up with her now that she’s more awake. She doesn’t cover herself though, and that fine line that she’s straddling between shy innocence and sexual confidence is a hell of a turn on.
“Sooooo, we should probably address the elephant in the room, huh?” Worrying her bottom lip, she flicks her gaze between Slade and Boden, as if she’s waiting for them to start yelling at her for literally sleeping with the enemy.
My knuckles already ache in a delicious way just thinking about one of them being stupid enough to raise their voice to her or make her upset. I’d love to have a reason to work out some of this aggression that’s beginning to surface like a slow boil in my veins as my other half senses her discomfort and is itching to prove to her that we have everything handled.
The door creaks open and one of the twins strides in like he owns the place. I suppose he does to a degree, but this definitely isn’t his room, at the very least. “It's just a cock, Sabrina, geeze. But I can see why you'd want to discuss it,” he teases before obviously adjusting himself. The tension bleeds from her body instantly, his presence alone putting her at ease.
Bo grunts as the interloper kneels on his stomach to reach Sabrina, plucking her right off of me. “If you don't mind me stealing you from your puppy pile, I'd like to get some time in with my mate before she leaves for work."
Once he’s back on his feet, he adjusts his hold so that she’s forced to wrap her legs around his waist and arms around his neck, one of his hands beneath her ass to support her. As she’s chuckling at his antics, he uses his free hand to flip off his brothers, ignoring me completely. “First no husband privileges, and now excluded from your gangbangs? I'm going to start getting offended here soon, sweet girl.”
She nods sagely. “My apologies. I’ll make sure to create a seating chart and integrate it into my calendar when I get some free time.”
My face scrunches up in confusion? “Seating chart?”
Boden rolls out of bed and gets to his feet with a snort. “For who’s face she sits on and when.”
They carry on towards the door. “I’ll have to figure out a way to get back into your good graces. What do you say, gorgeous? Up for some company in the shower so we can brainstorm? You know, for the sake of the environment and all that jazz, definitely not as a ploy to get you wet while we discuss when you’re going to sit on my face.”
This time she outright laughs, rolling with the eclectic twin and making this all seem... too perfect to be real. A sense of impending doom settles over me, reminding me that this can't last. The peaceful bubble will pop, leaving us all worse off than ever before. While I have the ability to shift now, it means nothing if I don't have her as a reason to become human again.
Once they’re gone, the rest of us waste no time raiding the dresser and closet for clothes. I don't have a clue whose room I’m in, but I couldn't care less whose shorts I’m stealing if it means not having a conversation with these bastards with our junk hanging out.
While Boden has a permanent scowl etched into his face as he contemplates if he can get away with eviscerating me without upsetting Sabrina, Slade releases a long breath before plastering his diplomatic mask on. “About last night.” When I only raise an eyebrow, unintimidated and waiting for him to get to the point, he surprises me by saying, “Why do you think she wouldn’t shift?”
It’s like he dropped a match, the simmering annoyance in my veins lighting up in response to his words. I can’t stop the low growl of annoyance that slips out, so I turn away from both of them, pacing the room. I have enviable control over my wolf compared to most of the men suffering back home, but right now, I have to grit my teeth at the violent impulses assaulting my better judgment.
I’m better than this.
But I know how to deal with a caged beast, not a semi-feral loose cannon that could make grown men piss themselves. He’s not an aching void in my chest anymore, he’s everywhere; integrating himself throughout my system, spreading like poison. It’s overwhelming, my impulses right now a watered-down version of those from last night, making me feel less human by the minute.
“The twins haven’t shifted yet,” I muse aloud, leaning into my instincts and attempting to see things throughhispoint of view rather than mine. “And we needed that last push from her to make the shift happen. Maybe she was worried that her shift would draw theirs out and she wouldn’t be able to help them if her wolf took over?”
Slade mulls it over. “Her wolf was running the show for the majority of the evening. Maybe the three of us were a test run to make sure that she could keep us in check?”
Boden leans against the wall with his arms crossed, jaw clenched. “She only planned on you two. When she came to me and Cin, she did this thing like she was looking inside of us and asked if we wanted to wait for another night. But after she bit me, she paused at Cin and declared him not ready yet. A lot of things were crazy last night, but I swear, she was looking at him like she thought he’d stab her in the back the second it was turned before sending him away.”
We all stand in contemplative silence, the energy in the room growing increasingly tense. No matter what theory I can drum up, it isn’t good, and all of them circle back to the same terrifying line of thought. She’s an alpha, through and through, but an untrained one that’s figuring everything out on her own. If I were her wolf, surrounded by the likes of us, I’d start off with a powerful display as well.
Alpha personalities are fantastic at coping mechanisms and compartmentalizing. We have a tendency to self-sacrifice rather than self-destruct, and put everyone else’s needs before our own without ever letting them know we’re suffering. We’re our pack’s emotional crutch and safe space, so we’re good at concealing what we’re feeling so we don’t inconvenience or burden others.
If she’s actually scared of us, we wouldn’t know.
As I meet Slade’s eyes, I find the same fear in his, and I tip my head in respect. To let me see that... he may hate me, but he acknowledges that Sabrina has made us a pack, even if it’s a hot fucking mess of one with the hierarchy shot to high Hell with three alphas involved.
He clears his throat, not meeting my eye. “Before you go getting excited, I feel you should be aware; she has a birth control implant in her arm. I’m sure she’ll bring it up eventually, but we haven’t mentioned it per se, since...”
“Since you dug into her files and haven’t brought that up to her yet?” Scoffing, I shake my head. “I get it, don’t worry. I won’t say anything or get my hopes up. Probably for the best right now, anyway, while things are so... new.”
