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“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” I reply quietly.
The door opens, and there’s a lot of commotion as others come into the house. I don’t know if this is Alex and Topher, or the dads, or who, but they’re loud as they slam the door into the wall and bicker between themselves. The words are too distorted to make much out of, but they seem frustrated.
“Shut the fuck up, idiots. Phoebe is sleeping,” Ben snarls seconds before he enters the living room with a glass of green juice in his hands.
“She can sleep through anything,” I reassure him, but he doesn’t care. He hands me the smoothie that he’s made, and it looks both disgusting and refreshing at the same time. “Um, thank you.”
“I made a big jug of it for you. You can take it home with you,” he says, beaming at me.
“Thank you.” Is it drugged?
“It’s hydrating and will help with your supply.”
I nod slowly, so confused, and a little grateful. “What’s going on out there?”
“Oh, Toph and Alex have arrived. There was some trouble with my sister’s car, so my dads have had to give them a hand. Topher and Alex are coming in to see you, though, once they’ve been briefed on you,” Ben says, not looking up from his phone. Briefed on me? “Do you have a good diet? You’re quite slim, but you do have a bit of pudge around your mid?—”
My jaw drops. “I have a five day old baby,” I hiss. His eyes widen, and he drops his phone in his lap at my anger.
“Why are you mad at me?” There’s hurt in his tone, as if I’m the asshole here. As if he didn’t just call me pudgy.
“Surely, you’re not that obtuse?” I demand, being careful not to jostle Phoebe as I sit up and glare at him.
“You hurt our mate,” Seb snarls, giving his brother a dirty look. “Apologise. Now.”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” I counter, giving Seb a dirty look now. I turn back to Ben, raising an eyebrow. “You insulted my body?—”
“I did not,” Ben argues, shaking his head. “You’re beautiful, and your body is perfect. Your tits are huge, your hips are naturally wide, ready to birth?—”
“Please, shut him up,” I say, turning away from Ben as the anger increases. I can’t even dignify that with a response.
I’m positive this isn’t really happening.
“Come through here, darlings,” Julie says, leading another two men through to the living room. They’re identical to the two in front of me, but the difference is their attitude. Ben is excitable and tactless, and Seb’s quiet but obsessed with Phoebe.
Weird, but mostly positive.
These two are not. The first man seems angry, and the second seems disinterested.
“This is her,” the second one says, scrunching his nose up as he looks me up and down. “She’s definitely ours.”
He’s dressed similarly to Ben, down to the expensive loafers. But where Ben is relaxed and dishevelled—in a sexy, messy way—this man is most definitely not. His suit jacket is buttoned up, there’s not a single mark on him, and I swear his hair has recently been combed.
“Hm,” the first man says, raising an eyebrow. Just like the other unknown brother, he’s in a full suit, but the expression on his face is extremely stern and unwelcoming, rather than full of disgust.
Neither of them seem nice. Assholes, for sure, but the way they’re looking at me—and by extension my daughter—as if we’re scum on the bottom of the shoe, pisses me off.
“I’m definitely not yours. Not only am I not property to be owned, I wouldn’t be yours even if you paid for me,” I say, shaking my head as I rise to my feet. I don’t like being the shortest one here, and I hate it even more when I’m sat down giving them a clear advantage. “I’m here for one reason only. So, can we please make a plan to support my daughter so that I can take her home?”
“You’re not going back to your home,” the first man says with a firm tone of voice.
I’m not sure if that’s his natural tone or if that’s just the way he’s going to talk to me, but it sends my body into a frenzied state. My veins are burning, my throat stinging, and if I wasn’t clutching Phoebe, I’d probably think about swinging for him.
I settle for sneering his way instead.
“You’ll be moving in with us. No mate of mine will live unprotected and alone.” He eyes my child, and there’s a brief moment of something before it disappears. “And no child of this pack will ever be endangered.”
