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It still made me angry as hell he’d mated her without explaining what it meant. He took what he wanted with no regard for anyone else. Eva was soft and perfect. She’d endured so much in her life. The last thing she needed was another asshole pushing her into things she wasn’t ready for.
Speaking of…
The three of us needed to talk about our plans for her scumbag guardian. I knew Tanner had installed some kind of elaborate security system around the cabin to warn us if anyone came sniffing around. He’d said nothing about how he intended to deal with the threat, however. Knowing my brother, it would involve plenty of bloodshed, which I was fully on board with.
Every time I thought about the scars on Eva’s body, I wanted to rip the guy’s throat out and tear him limb from limb. No female should have to suffer that kind of abuse. Wolves who treated their females like that were dealt with by the pack alpha. The decent ones, at least.
Some backward packs still treated the females like breeders and allowed the males to abuse them. Sadly, not all alphas were like Rufus; he was a good alpha: strong and fair. Even if he had banished Tanner after Jessie-Lynn’s death.
I made a coffee, debating whether to shift into my wolf and run for a couple of hours. Tanner was with Eva, so she was safe. Cole, I had no clue, but I’d heard him leave earlier, probably to run for a bit. We usually shifted at least once a day, as nothing beat the freedom of running in our wolf form, but since Eva’s arrival, one of us always remained at the cabin.
Still undecided, I slumped onto the sofa and stared at the fire. The flames danced and roared up the chimney, blasting heat into the room. Just as I swallowed the last of my coffee, Eva walked in. Her eyes skittered over me and then widened in surprise when she saw the gifts under the tree.
“How…who…?
I smiled. “For you. It is Christmas, after all.”
To my surprise, her eyes welled up with tears, and her lip wobbled.
“But I don’t understand? Since I got here, we’ve been snowed in?”
“The roads are closed, yes, but there are trails down to the valley that are passable on foot. For our wolves, it’s a day trip.” I grinned at her, enjoying the way each new revelation about how different shifters were provoked surprise and wonder.
“Oh.” She looked from me to the gifts and back again. I could tell she was dying to know what we’d bought her, but too shy to ask. Then some of the excitement left her face, and she shuffled on her feet, fidgeting nervously.
“Silas, I—”
Tanner walked in, freshly showered, and scooped her up into his arms before she could finish what she was about to say. She squealed, but did nothing to push him away. Their bond was growing stronger, as it should. I was pleased. Eva needed a strong mate to protect her, so I pushed my irritation down, ignoring my wolf’s reminder that she was our mate too, and stood.
Eva deserved some extra time to get used to her new life. When she was ready for another mate, I’d be here for her. In the meantime, she had Tanner and Cole. They were more than enough for her.
“I’m off for a run,” I said. Tanner nodded before throwing me a smirk.
“I’ll take care of Eva.”
I knew he would, but it still stung like a bitch.
Eva
Cole had cooked us all a huge breakfast of bacon, sausages, and pancakes with fresh berries. The guys ate so much food it was a wonder they weren’t all grossly overweight, but I knew for a fact none of them carried a spare ounce of body fat.
That thought made me blush, and of course, Cole noticed. He winked at me, guessing which way my thoughts had gone. My cheeks heated even more in response. Gah. I was like a teen with her first crush. Oh wait. These guys literally were my first crushes.
Before I could embarrass myself further, I hopped down from my stool and carried my plate to the dishwasher. Cole always ended up with cleanup duty, and I was trying my best to be more helpful around the place. Since it looked like I was sticking around for a while, I needed to pull my weight. We hadn’t discussed it, but if I was ‘mated’ to the guys, surely I’d have to? Even if I didn’t, I wasn’t sure I could leave anymore.
“Hey, I got this, sweetheart.” Cole plucked the plate from my hand and kissed my cheek.
“Cole, you gotta let me do stuff!” He was like a mother hen sometimes. Not that I was complaining all that hard. It had been a long time since anyone looked after me, and truth be told, I loved it.
“Nope, I don’t. Go sit down by the fire. Once the kitchen is clean, you can open your presents.”
I wanted to bitch and whine at him, but it was pointless. I could tell. Tanner stood a few moments later. He shoved his now empty plate at Cole and picked me up like I weighed nothing at all.
“Come sit on my lap, baby. Pretend I’m Santa. I want to hear whether you’ve been naughty or nice.”
Cole scowled at him. “For fuck’s sake, she’s not a doll, you idiot!”
“No, she’s my mate!” Tanner growled, and I rolled my eyes. He was so possessive it was unreal. At this rate, I probably wouldn’t ever need my legs because he insisted on carrying me everywhere like a teacup chihuahua.
