Page 67 of Truth or Pack

Maybe I could have my beta for dessert.

Though, that might not be a good idea this close to heat if I didn’t want to trigger another.

Ash playfully pulled me into the awaiting feast that Holt had set out.

A smile tugged at my lips before I looked at the beaming Alpha. "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I just made a few of my favorites."

"If you keep feeding me like this you're going to have to push me through door frames since I'll be as wide as them," I teased.

"And I'll love you the same," he smirked, looking proud of himself. It was such a different attitude than he had at the beginning.

Then again, mine was different, too. We changed each other, softened those hardened edges.

"Nah, I'm sure between the three of us, we can work it off," Ash winked as I glanced at him.

"Are you sure that you can handle me?" I countered.

"Darlin', that's why you were blessed with us. We will take anything you throw at us," Holt answered.

Shit, this was getting me hot and I was trying to keep from another heat spike.

I thought carefully before speaking again, "Good to know."

I wanted to facepalm myself for the stupid words that had left my mouth but I knew that they'd get on to me, even if I wasn't hurting myself. It was going to take some time to get used to all these new feelings and emotions. I've waited my whole life to be loved so completely.

"What are you thinking?" Mathias asked as he pulled out the chair in front of me.

"Just lost in thoughts," I muttered as I took a seat.

"I won't push but you know you can tell us anything, right?" he asked as he pushed me up to the table.

There was no hesitation in my answer. I did know I could trust them, but I was still trying to remind myself that I didn’t have to put a mask on for them. Only one other person had ever been that way for me, and it was my best friend.

My family certainly didn’t qualify.

"I do, I'm just adjusting to the fact that I actually have people in my life that care for me. It's all a little overwhelming, but I wouldn't change it for anything," I told him.

"Enough of this mushy talk, dig in," Holt commented after an awkward silence. “Truth or Dare, Taryn.”

That had me perking up. “Dare.”

“I dare you to drink all of your water, brat.”

I huffed, before chugging the whole glass with a defiance sparking within me. Damn, they already knew how to read me.

I turned to Mathias. “Truth or Dare.”

He grinned. “Truth.”

“What’s your favorite memory of your early days together?”

I already knew the worst one, but now I needed something lighter and happier. Something hopefully sweet enough to distract me from the fire building within me.

His answering look was soft and contemplative. “It’s not a very exciting memory.”

“I want to hear it no matter what,” I reassured him, knowing damn well it wouldn’t be silly.

“My parents were never home. Being an only child meant that I was alone a lot so I always ended up with Holt and Ash. Holt was the one of us with the most normal family. His parents were fairly strict, but fair, and they tried to keep him as humble as they could,” he said, shooting Holt a teasing look. “One summer they decided to surprise us all with this huge water slide down the hills in the back pasture. His dads brought out a long hose and a bunch of tarps. We were all always ‘on’ all the time, being perfect and putting on an act for society. Sailing down those hills, it was the most free I’d felt that far in my life.”

---