Page 22 of Her Males

“Our meeting with the shifters was always intended to be just a conversation starter,” Silas says. “It’d be dangerous to go in and share everything we know. We never intended for you to think otherwise.”

He stands from his chair and attempts to approach, but Charlie shoots him a sharp glare until he sits back down.

“You led me to believe otherwise,” she says.

I run a hand through my hair. It wasn’t intentional. Charlie’s young and inexperienced, but I thought this was obvious. The hurt on her face tells me otherwise, though.

“No, we didn’t,” Aziel snaps. “If you’re not certain about things, you should ask instead of assuming.”

I clear my throat and shake my head. He meets my eye before pursing his lips and turning away. Aziel’s always been known for his brutal honesty, but he’s taking it too far. Charlie’s too sensitive about her intelligence for him to be commenting on it.

Charlie glances at the ceiling, her eyes growing wet.

Aziel deflates as he sees her tears, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He looks painfully uncomfortable as she wipes her cheeks, and I raise a brow as I wait to see what he’s going to do.

“Stop doing that,” he eventually says.

I shut my eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever met somebody as horrible at talking to women as Aziel. If it were a competition, he’d win a fucking trophy. He shifts his weight from foot to foot as she tries to hide her subtle crying, and I let out a low sigh before turning and pulling her into my side.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I should’ve taken care to make sure you understood exactly what was happening.”

Silas approaches and kneels by her feet.

Aziel sucks in his cheeks as he watches us, but I don’t pay him any attention. If he has a problem with Silas and me being intimate with Charlie, he needs to pull up his big boy panties and get over it. He made his decision, and now he has to live with it.

“Our intention was never to mislead you,” Silas assures our female, sliding his hands up her thighs. He stops at her waist and gives it a tight squeeze.

Charlie lets out a puff of hot air and gives a jerky nod. She’s clearly embarrassed, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. She’s young and has spent most of her life in hiding. It’s understandable she’d have trouble reading between the lines and understanding the intricate nuances of our decisions and plans.

We should have made sure she truly understood what she was agreeing to.

She’s smart, and she just needs time to learn.

“If they’re receptive, will you tell them about the females?” she asks Silas.

Silas’s chest expands as he sucks in a breath, his head rocking back and forth as he thinks through an answer. I’m willing to bet the answer would be a firmnoif he weren’t trying to spare her feelings.

“If they’re friendly, we’ll mention that we have people working on it and are pursuing some exciting findings,” he decides.

“No, we most definitely will not,” Aziel says, shutting down the plan immediately.

Silas doesn’t argue with him, but he shoots Charlie a wink before bending and kissing her knee.

5

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CHARLOTTE

I GROAN AND wrap my arms around Silas’s chest, annoyed as he shifts below me. I can vaguely hear him chuckling, but I ignore it and burrow further into his armpit.

“Charlie,” he teases, lifting his arm to look down at me.

I peer at him through my lashes and flush at the sight of his cheesy grin. His hair’s messy from sleep, but it still looks good.

“Where’s Gray?” I ask.

Silas’s eyes dart to the empty bed behind me before he shrugs.

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