“I’m assuming that you can also tell if I lie to you?”
Three assorted forms of ‘yep’ sound out simultaneously and I sigh. As much as that’s a pain in the ass, it’s actually... a relief, maybe? It leaves no choice other than to be open about things, and as someone that’s spent the last few years forced to wear a plastic smile and surrounded by fake people, it feels like a weight’s been lifted from my shoulders.
A small smile tugs at the corner of my lips as I repeat his statement in my head. “But you can be vague and play between the lines to get away with shit. Is this a sire thing, or shifters in general?”
“You’re avoiding the question,” Mason chastises, looking just as high strung.
“And so are you,” I counter, raising an eyebrow. When he doesn’t dispute the claim, I lick my lips, meeting Stryker’s hard, emerald stare. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”
He winks. “Now, would I lie to you?” As I narrow my eyes, he simply shrugs a single shoulder. “Depends on what you classify as stupid. Not about to leave you alone to go track him down, but I can’t promise what’ll happen if one of us ever crosses paths with the bastard.”
All eyes on me, I grimace as the words are pulled from me against my better judgment. “Blake Thompson.”
A small flash of victory flickers over his eyes before Stryker gets to his feet, kissing my forehead on the way up. “I’ll find some clothes for you so you can shower and have some time to decompress, if you’d like. I know we’re bombarding you with information, so breaking it up into manageable chunks might be a good idea so it isn’t so overwhelming.”
He strides out of the room, Bane’s fingers still digging into the arm of his chair. “I don’t know if introducing you to the neighbors is the right thing to do anymore. I don’t want you feeling like we’re trapping you here, but,” he trails off, tongue in cheek and looking aggravated.
Mason takes over, biting a hangnail. “Any of the shameless bastards start flirting with you, might just kill ‘em, right about now. Tomorrow’s probably a smarter choice.”
“You’re kidding,” I scoff, incredulous at how overly dramatic they’re being.
Yet two sets of hard eyes fall on me. “He’s dead serious, Risa,” Bane declares, still seated. “While most shifters only turn their human mates, everyone in this area is well aware of what happened. Sires or not, it’s not like we own you, and once they see you?” The ice thaws as his gaze heats, locked on my face. “You bet your ass they’re going to be hitting on you.”
Stryker returns with a set of clothes. “Whether they do or don’t, they’re idiots. Fools not to try and steal you away while there’s a chance, and suicidal fools to attempt it.”
Taking the bundle of clothes from him, I rise to my feet, the promise of a hot shower sounding more enticing by the minute. “I thought you said that I was free to make my own choices about my future?”
Mason kicks off from the wall, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and guiding me towards the stairs. “Of course you are. We just mean to show you that any choice beyond us is a stupid one.”
Chapter 6
Mason
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Motherfucker, thoseeyes are going to be the death of me.
