Page 113 of Mates: Posy

"Um. Well, Lark's a little worried." I shuffled my feet. "She's a runt, you know. She's afraid you won't like her anymore because of how small she is."

"Of course we will," Wyatt and Cole said together.

"Don't even worry about that, Lark," Jayden told her, and Mason smiled gently.

"We love Posy, and look how smallsheis." Ash smirked at me, and I stuck my tongue out at him. "Do that again, princess, and I'll bite it."

For some reason, his promise made me blush and feel quivery inside, so I spun away and went behind one of the massive tree trunks to strip down. Despite her nerves, Lark was so eager to run that she shifted faster than she ever had before.

Wow! I laughed at her.

Run! Run with mates, Posy. In the woods!

I know. Have fun, wolfie.

She stretched her front paws out, then did a full-body shake that started with her nose and ended at the tip of her tail. Then she pranced out to our mates, who stared at her with soft eyes and open mouths.

"You're so cute and small, like a pup!" Ash bounced on his toes. "Now I'm even more in love with you! You're like a stuffed animal. Our little wolf doll!"

Lark ducked her head shyly.

"Okay, we'll shift next." Mason looked at the beta wolves. "You're on guard."

Arroyo, Matthew's wolf, dipped his head, and they surrounded me in a wide circle, not close enough to make me feel threatened, but not too far that I felt exposed.

It only took a minute before my mates returned. When they did, Lark froze. Alphas were always the biggest wolves in a pack, since size went along with power, and my boys were some powerful alphas. The betas looked like pups next to them.

Unfortunately. Lark panicked. She submitted and bared her neck, then tried to make herself as small as possible. Flattening her ears down, she arched her back, tucked her tail between her legs, and whimpered.

At the sound, all the wolves in the clearing dropped to their bellies and whined.

Topaz crawled over, still on his belly, and rubbed his face against hers. That made Lark comfortable enough to relax her defensive crouch. Quartz came over next and did the same, and she lifted her tail and wagged it slowly.

Her other three mates joined in then. I hadn't seen their wolves before, so I was curious to learn which was which. Garnet had pitch black fur, Sid was charcoal gray with light gray cheeks, and Granite's coat was a blend of blond, cream, and tan.

After they'd all rubbed Lark's face with theirs, she bounced around happily and started yipping like a pup. Her mates finally stood up and began to yip and wag their tails, too.

I only hoped they weren't laughing at us.

They not, Lark insisted.They happy we happy.

I studied the alphas as they frolicked with her. Something was bothering me, and it took me a few minutes to realize what was wrong: Jayden, not Quartz, was in charge of their wolf form. I knew that, if Jayden had him controlled, it was for a reason. Still, his absence didn't feel right.

Quartz, I called him,are you going to come out for the run?

Jayden says no,he grumbled.

Well, you tell him that I said yes!

He says good try, but still no. Now he sounded like he was pouting.He doesn't trust me while you are surrounded by other males, even if they are your beta guards.

And what doyouthink?I asked him.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed heavily.

I don't trust me, either.

I held back a chuckle.

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