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Adaline gave him a warm but stern smile.
Isaiah held back a sigh. “You’ve come to warn me that I’d better be good to your sister or you will slit my throat in my sleep.”
They exchanged a look.
“We were actually thinking more along the lines of disemboweling you,” said Raya.
Alllllll right. “I’m not going to hurt your sister,” he assured them.
“Maybe not intentionally,” said Adaline. “We just want to be sure she isn’t going to be second best in your eyes. We get that you would have preferred to bond with your true mate—most shifters universally would. But we’d like to have the assurance that you’re not going to be looking at Quinley wishing she was someone else.”
Isaiah gave them a sober look. “That’s not how it will be. She’ll officially be my mate as of tonight. That’s what I’ll see when I look at her—my mate. I won’t lie to you, it may take a while for us to form any kind of emotional ties. We’re pretty much strangers to each other. A mating brand won’t change that. But she’ll be my priority.”
A glimmer of surprised humor appeared in Adaline’s eyes. “You don’t anticipate that her wearing your brand will have any emotional impact on you?”
“No,” he replied.
Raya’s nose wrinkled. “You don’t think it will make you possessive or anything?”
“Maybe a teensy bit, but… why are you both smiling?”
Adaline coughed into her fist as if to hide a chuckle. “No reason. We’ll take you at your word and trust that Quinley won’t be competing with the woman you were fated to have. But if we find out you hurt her…”
“Disemboweling will commence,” he said. “Got it.”
They both grinned, clearly satisfied.
Right then, Quinley materialized, her perceptive gaze bouncing from face to face. “Everything okay?”
“Of course,” said Raya with a reassuring wave of her hand.
Quinley’s eyes narrowed. “You two threatened to kill him if he upset me, didn’t you?”
Adaline looked appropriately offended. “No.”
Quinley sighed. “Let me guess, disembowelment was your choice of execution.”
Adaline put a hand on her hip. “I’m just looking out for you. It’s my job. Suck it up and deal.”
Raya turned to Adaline. “I still don’t see why you don’t look out for me, too.”
“As I said, you’re Lori’s problem now,” Adaline told her with a flick of her hand.
Raya crossed her arms over her chest. “So, as of tonight, Quinley will be Isaiah’s problem?”
“No.”
“You’re playing favorites. That’s what’s happening here.”
Quinley toward Isaiah. “It’s an old argument,” she explained as her sisters began to bicker. “After our parents died, Adaline took over as the mom figure. I was only five, so she babied me in a way she didn’t need to with Raya. That was when the whole ‘Quinley’s your favorite’ began. As it irritates Adaline, Raya does it all the more. And due to being so irritated, Adaline makes teasing comments that imply Raya’s correct.” She shrugged.
Isaiah splayed his palm on her back. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
She gave a half-smile. “Thanks.”
He wanted to know more, but now wasn’t the time or the place to ask. So, he instead said, “I like your family. Especially your nephews, even though they talk like they’re one person.” Like they knew each other’s thoughts and feelings. It was eerie.
“They’re quite aware that it freaks people out, and they like it.” Quinley took a look around. “You know, your pride has more of a variety of shifters than I expected. I was surprised to see that your Alpha female isn’t a pallas cat.”
