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Seb doesn’t since I’m leaning against him with Phoebe, and Cade doesn’t move, either. Topher holds the door open, but everyone else heads out, chattering and laughing away.
“You three, too,” Talia says, giving the three men a dirty look.
“No.” Seb doesn’t even look up from Phoebe as he replies to his sister. I giggle.
“Don’t encourage him,” Iris snaps. I flinch.
“Iris,” Cade says with a warning in his tone. “We’re not doing this again. You will be polite to your brother’s mate and my friend.”
“Mhm.” She rolls her eyes and storms through to the kitchen, Talia hot on her tails. The guys start coming in with food items, and I keep my head bowed despite three eyes being trained on me.
“What’s going on with my sister?” Topher demands.
Cade sighs. “Nothing you need to concern yourself about. She’s just having a rough time with your mum right now.”
“Mum?” Seb asks, lifting his head up. He’s not the only one who is intrigued.
I can feel Topher’s merging with mine, and the two of us also peer at Cade.
“She’ll tell you if she wants to,” Cade says, shaking his head when Topher tries to press. “You know what it’s like trying to get in between the two of them. Your mum is lovely, to us, but she’s hard on Iris, and it’s not helping that?—”
He falls silent, shaking his head again. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“I see.” Topher purses his lips together, understanding pouring from him. It’s strange because I’m only more confused by Cade’s vague words.
The door opens, and the men come in and out with trays, the rest of us sitting quiet as they do. I feel a little guilty that Talia did all the cooking when we could have ordered in or even prepared ourselves.
“Hey, what’s with the extra patrols?” Brad asks, dropping down onto the armchair. “Your house is securely marked, and it wasn’t like this the last time I was over.”
“Oh, fuck, I forget how little you guys are actually here,” Lyle—or Kyle—says, coming in from the kitchen. “It’s with all the reports about the rogues, right? They’ll be in their overprotective states with their pup and mate here.”
The twin looks to Topher for confirmation, and whilst Topher doesn’t visibly react, a pang of shock hits me so hard it knocks the breath out of me. He didn’t know.
“The rogues?” Alex asks, taking a seat next to me and Phoebe. He’s tense, despite acting nonchalant.
This is not something my guys knew about.
“There’s been a few reports of it over the last few months,” Lyle—or Kyle—says, tilting his head as he rests against the wall. “I’ve passed a few of them onto your dad myself. There’s been a few sightings of rogue wolves, apparently, but more than that has been the scent of them. Numerous trails appearing out of nowhere, leading nowhere. We’ve been chasing our tails, really, trying to figure it out.”
“The scent of them.” Alex’s words are bland, but if his emotions are playing as much turmoil as Topher’s are, I can imagine how unsettled he is.
“No trail?” Seb demands. He’s angry, and despite his gentle hold on me, I can feel the tension he’s carrying.
“That’s not why you’re running patrols,” Brad says with a frown. “So why are you upping the protection for the pack if you had no idea about this issue?”
“I thought…” Lyle—or Kyle—trails off, coming to sit down as well. He spreads his legs, leaning on his knees.
“We thought wrong, Kyle,” Lyle says, narrowing his eyes. He’s wearing the blue turtleneck, so at least I’ll be able to tell them apart now, too. “What’s going on, Christopher?”
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Topher says. He can’t muster up enough to actually calm them. The bond is thrumming with his unhappiness, and I get the feeling that this is going to be another nail in the coffin that his parents are creating. “But rest assured, nobody has reported any concerns to us whilst my parents have been away.”
“They wouldn’t,” Kyle says with a guilty frown. “Your dad made me the person for that. Any sightings are to be reported to me, for me to pass onto him whilst he’s away. He wants to keep track of it all, and well…”
Topher snarls so loudly I jump in my seat. Phoebe’s eyes fly open, and she lets out a wail. Seb grabs her from me, pressing her into his chest, and kisses her head as he growls lowly to calm her.
I rush to cover my nipple as the kitchen door flies open and both Talia and Iris are standing there in shock.
“What is going on in here?” Talia demands, looking around at us all. Seb’s managed to calm Phoebe down, but Topher is the complete opposite.
