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Ian leans back in his chair and clasps his hands behind his head. “I really think I did.”
Mason slides down in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares down at the table.
Ian notices. “No one expects you to—”
“I know,” Mason cuts him off harshly.
My eyebrows rise at the sudden tension stirring between the brothers. That definitely wasn’t there yesterday, and my mind spins out of control trying to come up with explanations for it. Some of them start with me, others end with their father. I bite my lip before taking a step into the room—the only way to find out what’s going on is to ask, right?
“Good morning,” I call out, alerting them to my presence.
Ian jerks around in his seat to look at me, brows hidden under his floppy hair from his surprise. He sits up a little straighter and skims his eyes over me. “Morning, baby. How did you sleep?”
“I slept well. Why didn’t you all wake me up?” I’m not sure how I feel about the three of them sitting around talking amongst themselves. Maybe that’s just my guilt about last night speaking, though.
“You seemed like you needed the sleep.” Ian’s grin is a little wicked, but his eyes crinkle at the corners with his teasing. I know he’s not making a snide comment, but I blush anyway.
Willem stands and pulls out the chair between him and Ian, gesturing for me to join them. “The guest house here might be in the middle of nowhere, but it still comes with a catered breakfast,” he jokes. “Do you want coffee?”
“No, thank you.” I wrinkle my nose. “Is there any—”
“There’s tea,” Ian answers before I get my sentence out, somehow intuitively knowing my preferred drink. I don’t think we’ve talked about it, and we didn’t share tea over the campfire yesterday morning, opting for s’mores instead of a more traditional breakfast. My heart warms as he jumps up and heads for the kitchen as I sit.
Willem drops back into his seat beside me, and my attention shifts to Mason. “Is everything okay?” I ask him, my stomach roiling uncomfortably in spite of how delicious the food on the table looks. I’m terrified he’s upset with me for having sex with Willem.
We probably should have all talked before anything more happened between any of us.
“Yeah.” He drops his arms and relaxes, but it doesn’t look natural, and worry gnaws my gut. Clearly getting lost in the heat of the moment wasn’t my plan, and the tension in the room makes me twist with discomfort as I belatedly consider the consequences of my actions. What if the twins decide they don’t want me now?
Unacceptable, my wolf growls, and I whole-heartedly agree.
“What were you all talking about when I walked in?” I bite the bullet and ask the question that dredges fear through my entire being. This will only ever be a losing game if any of us is keeping secrets from the start. It’s better to be upfront and get everything out in the open, even if that means someone’s feelings get temporarily hurt.
The room goes still except for a thump from the kitchen doorway. My head jerks in the direction of the kitchen, to see Ian muttering as tea spills over the edge of the mug in his hand, splashing his bare chest. “Shit,” he groans as he tries to brush the steaming liquid away.
“What’s going on?” I clasp my hands anxiously in my lap. Clearly, they were talking about something they didn’t intend to share with me. Otherwise, why would they all be so freaking quiet all of a sudden?
I glance over at Willem, wondering if he really—out of everyone—is going to keep a secret from me after last night.
His shoulders slope as his mouth opens, but Mason beats him to the punch by groaning loudly. “Right for the weakest link,” he grumbles, and my wolf rises to the surface.
“Don’t talk about him like that,” I say between clenched teeth, barely swallowing my wolf’s growl. I shoot Mason my dirtiest look.
Ian manages to get the overfilled mug under control and takes steady, even steps toward the table, setting the dark tea in front of me beside my empty plate. There’s no way I’m eating anything until I know what’s going on. My stomach is prepared to lead a revolution.
“Quinn.” Ian kneels next to my chair, and I turn to face him fully. He runs his hands up and down my thighs for a moment, and my stomach jolts. “Last night, I abdicated my position as first-in-line to be Alpha of this pack.”
“What? Why would you do that?” I look around, wild-eyed, at Mason and Willem. They both avert their gazes.
Ian squeezes my thighs, dragging my attention back to him. A small, uncharacteristic frown mars his handsome face, and I fight the urge to smooth my fingers over his cheeks as I try to grasp what exactly he’s telling me. “My father plans to step down by the end of the year. He doesn’t want to make the mistake of being Alpha past his prime and risk not doing right by the pack.”
It sounds like an honorable thing to do to me… So I just don’t quite understand what Ian is trying to say.
“Baby, I can’t be any kind of mate to you if I choose to stay here and prepare to take over the pack. Even after we take care of our Jakob problem, you have your own pack to go back to. And someday, your pack is going to need you to take over for your mom, right?” His eyes flicker to Willem, and I realize they’ve talked about this. Likely at length if they’re all being so zen about Ian’s atom bomb-sized revelation.
“You can’t just make a decision like that without me.” My voice cracks. How could he give up everything like that without even talking to me about it?
A flicker of doubt crosses over his face, pulling his brows down even further. I bite my lip and fist my hands in my lap to keep myself from reaching out for him as he speaks. “I was worried you would tell me not to.”
