"But... my wolf..." I leaned in closer to her, which got a growl from Cole. I put my nose against hers. "My wolf is sure you're his mate."
"As is my wolf." Cole came closer and Ivy sucked in a breath. "Her wolf sees me as her mate."
"Ivy?" I pulled back, keeping my hand on her cheek. "What does your wolf say?"
Her frown deepened, and she shut her eyes. "She has only said it once with Cole when we were fighting in the woods. It's like... the more I'm around him, the stronger the feeling gets. With you... it's just a small acknowledgement so far."
"Oh." Letting my hand fall from her cheek, I started to step back, wanting nothing more than to go lick my wounds.
She grabbed my hand and stopped me. "There is something there, though. I've been around Cole more. I'm still working on sharing thoughts with this thing inside of me." She winced. "She did not like being called a thing."
"Two mates? What is going on here?" Cole had moved awfully close to Ivy from behind and put his hands on her arms. "The alpha and the omega? This should be interesting."
Ivy leaned back into his touch and jealousy rose up in me, making me step in closer. She was in the middle of two naked males and it didn't go unnoticed by my cock.
"No more fighting over me. I'm not a piece of meat." She shut her eyes again as we sandwiched her between us. "We'll figure out what's going on before this goes too far and someone ends up getting hurt."
Leaning my head down, I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her scent. She smelled delicious, like fresh dew on flowers right after the rain. I ignored the scent of Cole radiating off her.
A throat cleared and all three of our heads swiveled to find Sara standing in the driveway, leaning against the truck with her arms crossed. She had an amused, yet contemplative look on her face.
"I hate to interrupt this little naked hug fest, but Cole, the betas are calling a meeting." She cleared her throat. "Word spread quickly that you were moving Ivy in without having a vote."
"A vote?" Ivy stepped out from between us, and I immediately felt the loss of being near her. "Is this likeSurvivorand they can vote me off the island?"
"It takes a lot to be voted or kicked out of a pack, but to be allowed in takes the pack council, which is made up of the betas, to agree." Sara opened the back door of the truck and pulled out two pairs of shorts, throwing them at me and Cole. "Put some clothes on. This is too serious to have dicks hanging out everywhere."
"This situation is a little different than when we normally allow others into the pack." Cole pulled on his shorts and put his hands on his hips. "When is the meeting?"
"Right before the pack dinner you scheduled without a reason." Sara raised an eyebrow. "They are not happy with her being here."
I rolled my eyes. The betas always had issues anytime something was out of the ordinary, and Ivy was definitely out of the ordinary.
* * *
Ivy saidshe wanted to be left alone to unpack after we carried her things upstairs. I couldn't say I blamed her after our display of aggression on the front lawn and word that the pack was going to vote on if she could stay.
After leaving a sandwich and chips outside her door for lunch, I went back to the kitchen where Cole was already halfway done eating.
"Can you make me another sandwich? I'm starving after my morning activities." He didn't look up from his laptop, which he had opened in front of him. "Then we need to discuss what happened earlier."
A small part of me wanted to tell him no and to go eat an old sock. Sighing, I squirted mustard on my ham sandwich and put it on his plate before making myself a new one.
I sat down across from him and dug into my sandwich. I'd worked up an appetite from gardening.
After a few bites, I set down my lunch. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you."
Cole clicked around a few times on his computer and then shut the screen, giving me his full attention. "My wolf could have ripped your throat out, Elias."
Damn, he was whole naming me.
I picked a small piece of crust off my bread and popped it in my mouth. I knew what could have happened. I'd played the scene over and over in my head already.
"I was acting on instinct and let my emotions get too out of control. My wolf forgot his place." It rarely happened, but when it did it was a reminder that my wolf knew he wasn'treallyat the bottom of the pack; but he wasn't anywhere near the top.
"What if I had been Dante? You could have been really hurt. I knew this was going to be a problem at some point. Your wolf might not be the strongest, but he isn't the weakest." Cole put his wadded-up napkin on his plate. "I think you need to consider letting nature take its course."
"No." Standing, I grabbed his plate and took it to the sink, dropping it a little too hard and causing a piece to chip off. "I'm not going to let Sara be treated like that. She has it hard enough as it is without all the wolves laying into her when they're pissy or need to feel dominant."