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“We can talk by ourselves.” Maverick goes to object, but I just squeeze his knee and shake my head at him. Hudson sits on my right, and I can feel how tense he is at my declaration, but he doesn’t say anything. It may feel like I’m keeping secrets from them, but I’d rather them think that and save them from any kind of anger they’ll feel hearing about my old pack and any kind of retaliation they’d want to give in response.
Wells nods at my response, and I fish out my phone, unlock it, and hand it to him to read the messages. He takes it, and Hudson leans in to read over his shoulder. When they’re done, Wells hands it to Damien to read.
“The good news is, it could be worse. The only really worrying text is your address. It is a very clear threat. They know where you live. But besides that, they’ve not indicated in any way that they’re going to act upon that information. The other texts, while disgusting and clearly abusive, don’t point to action either. At least not immediate action. The first thing we would have advised was moving you out of your apartment. So it’s good you’re here. We will be working in eight hour shifts: seven am to three pm, three to ten, and ten to seven. That way one of us will be with you at all times, and we’ll take steps to make this place more secure, too. Additional locks on windows and doors, more cameras, and we always recommend getting a dog to clients.”
At his words, I sit up so fast I knock off the arm Hudson rested gently around my shoulders when we sat down. A puppy. I’ve always wanted one. I asked Jade a few times in the beginning, after we’d mated if we could get one. The first time, she was gentle in her refusal.Our furniture is so nice and expensive. A dog will ruin it, she’d say. But after the second and third time I’d brought it up, she shut it down so firmly, and in her angry tone she adopted when she was on her way to steaming mad that I never brought it up again.
A few chuckles sound out around me from my mates. “A puppy, huh?” Mason asks from where he’s sitting on the other couch with Brooklyn. I shrug, not wanting to let on how much I want one, only to be shut down again.
“Hudson has been pestering us to go with him to the pound to adopt a dog, but we’re always so busy,” Brooklyn laughs.
“Maybe my mate will go with me then,” Hudson says in a hopeful voice, looking at me with big, blue puppy dog eyes. The grin that takes over my face is so big it starts to hurt my cheeks. I nod and start to bounce in my seat in excitement.I might actually get a puppy.
He grabs me tight by my hips and yanks me into his lap. I yelp at my sudden change in seating, and Hudson must not know his own strength because he pulls so hard I fly into him, hitting his head with mine.
“Ouch,” I chuckle, rubbing the tender spot on my forehead.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, pretty girl.” Laughter comes from all directions at his show of clumsiness, and I shoot everyone a glare before planting a chaste kiss on Hudson’s lips. His answering growl is completely indecent for company, and I love it. Love how a simple gesture can draw such a reaction from him. I pull away to continue the conversation and laugh as his lips chase after mine.
His arms wrap tight around my middle when I lean back against him.
“Obviously, we’re here to keep you safe. But even we’re infallible. Having multiple protections is ideal.”
Hudson and I share a giddy smile.
“They’ll be staying in the basement until further notice, or we no longer have use of their service,” Brooklyn tells us.
“That’s where we’ll be if you need one of us that isn’t on shift watching Summer,” Damien tells us, but mostly, it’s directed at me. His next words are for me alone. “If you want to come downstairs with us now, we can get that conversation out of the way and let everyone get some sleep.”
Suddenly nervous, I nod without looking at my mates and follow my three new bodyguards as they walk ahead of me to the door that leads to the basement, already so at ease in this house.
Jerks.
Six
Summer
They grillme for what feels like an hour about the littlest details that couldn't possibly be important. I tell them about Pack Monroe's family, friends, jobs, likes, dislikes, hobbies. They ask about the pack house and the pack’s charitable work. Using the computer in the corner of the basement, I look up a picture of the three of them at an event so they know what each of them looks like.
Part of me shudders when I look at their eyes. How did I never notice the dead look in them? Especially in Jade’s. Just soulless pits of nothingness.
When they’ve run out of questions, and I’ve spilled my guts about how they used to treat me, I head back up to the living room to see my pack waiting on me.
The four of them are in the same spots they were before I went downstairs. Just looking off into space. Crickets chirp in the deafening silence.
Fine, maybe there aren’t actually crickets, but the silence feels loud for some reason. I try to move as confidently as Wells, Damien, and Houston did. Like they own the house. But even knowing they’re my mates, it feels weird walking freely in someone else’s home.
“You okay?” Hudson asks when he sees me walk back over to them. I sit back in his lap.
“Yeah, it’s just…” I try to think of the words. Why does it feel so weird all of a sudden? “I don’t know. This isn’t strange for you guys? Moving me in so fast?”
Mason snorts, and when I whip my head around to frown at him, he manages to turn his laugh into a cough, beating his chest like he choked on something. “Something funny?” I try–I do–but I can’t keep the hurt out of my voice. It doesn’t deter him. If anything, he looks like he’s trying even harder not to laugh.
“Oh, babe. It may feel fast to you, but we’ve known from the first time we saw you that you were meant for us. Took everything I had to stop Maverick from throwing you over his shoulder like a damn caveman and handcuffing you to his bed.”
My eyes shoot to Maverick, who stares blankly back at me and shrugs. Completely unrepentant. I look between the four of them, searching for some indication they’re joking.
“Don’t believe him?” Maverick sits back, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.
