Page 56 of Possessive Mate

He entered the room rather sheepishly, brushing back the beaded curtain as if he didn’t want to make any sudden movements.

One look at Eddie told Elena exactly why. Her brother was standing rigidly, his hands balled to fists at his sides. She couldn’t see his face, but from the growl he emitted, she knew his fangs were bared.

The weary look on Hanson’s face made Elena’s heart ache. She leaned forward, pushing herself up onto her knees, and reached for him. He crossed the room hesitantly, his eyes never leaving Eddie’s even as he took hold of Elena’s hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t stay away a moment longer.”

Elena knew the feeling. Ever since he had left, she had felt an aching in her gut that made her desperate to howl for him. It was the oddest sensation, yet one she wasn’t entirely unsure of. She had felt it before, back home, whenever Jason had been away. It was yet another thing to let her know that this was real, that she wasn’t imagining things, that Hanson was in fact her fated mate.

“It’s okay. I’ve told him everything,” Elena said, squeezing Hanson’s hand.

“Everything?” Hanson said. She heard the tremor in his voice.

“Everything,” Eddie growled low, his eyes never leaving Hanson’s even to blink. “We’re no longer even.”

Hanson’s eyes widened. Then they narrowed and his hand left hers. He balled up his fists, his shoulders squared, feet spread apart as if he were preparing himself for a fight. When he bared his own fangs at Eddie, Elena couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Would the two of you quit it?” she snapped at them, about ready to smash their heads together. They were acting like children, and she was more than a little fed up of it.

When neither of them backed down, only the bed and herself between them, Elena looked to her brother and snarled, “Eddie, stop it. This is getting ridiculous! All of this over a damn woman!”

For a second, neither of the men moved. They just continued to glower at each other. Elena expected that at any moment they would throw themselves over the bed at each other, claws flying and teeth snapping.

But then, her brother’s hackles finally started to fall. His eyes left Hanson, who remained right where he was, and he looked at Elena as he said, “You would never listen to me even if I tried to put a stop to this, would you?”

Elena glowered at him. “No.”

She held her breath, terrified for her brother’s response. There was nothing he could say or do to stop her. There was nothing anyone could say or do to stop this. This was fate. Hanson was her fated mate. Nobody could get in the way of that. But the last thing she wanted was to lose her brother because of it. It would make staying in Nightstar next to impossible for her.

Eddie took a step back from the bed. He seemed to deflate as he let out a long and exasperated sigh.

Shock rushed through Elena as Eddie finally said, “Then I guess the two of you have my blessing.”

Everything felt surreal as Eddie turned to Hanson then and poked his index finger at him. “I'm warning you. If you do anything, anything at all, to hurt my little sister, I don’t care whether we're pack or not, I will put you in the ground.”

“Eddie, there's no need—” Elena began, but before she could finish, Hanson squeezed her hand.

“You have my word, Eddie. I'd bury myself if I ever did anything to hurt her.”

Chapter 25 - Hanson

Hanson was entirely unable to relax until Eddie finally left the room. Even with the brother’s blessing, it didn’t feel as if they were ever going to get along again. Truly, he had no idea how it had come to be like this. Even before Elena had first shown up in Nightstar, Eddie had started to be odd. In fact, it had been since their first dealing with Christopher’s pack.

A shiver ran down Hanson’s spine. Surely, Eddie couldn’t believe he had anything to do with Christopher or his men? Yes, he knew of the guy from the old pack, they had been packmates, but back then it hadn’t been a community as it was now. It had practically been a case of every wolf for himself, and he had only ever run into Christopher a handful of times.

“What is the matter?” Elena asked, pulling Hanson onto the bed by his hand. “Aren’t you happy?”

“Of course I am,” Hanson blurted, sliding onto the bed to wrap his arm around her and pull her close. “It’s just, I don’t understand why he has such a problem with me.”

“I wouldn’t take it personally if I were you,” Elena said, shrugging her slender shoulders. “Eddie is just Eddie. Anyone would think he was a she-wolf with the way his moods shift.”

She laughed at that and when Hanson didn’t, she hooked her finger under his chin and forced him to look at her.

“I just…I don’t want this to start on the wrong foot,” Hanson said, his own shoulders slumping.

Elena cocked her head and furrowed her brow. “Don’t you think that ship has sailed?”

At that, Hanson did give a half-laugh. “I guess you’re right, but from this point forward, I intend to put only the right foot forward!”

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