Page 22 of Mates: Posy

Wyatt cut me off.

"Candles have fire, moron. What do roses have? Limp petals that wilt?"

I was ruining things already. Should I have lied and told him he smelled like something else? But I couldn't lie to my mates.

"I’m sor—" I tried again, feeling tears prick my eyes.

"Roses have thorns, idiot. You know what candles do? They melt into a soft lump."

As they went back and forth, I started to shake. The fingers of my free hand dug into Mr. Nibbles, and I bit my lips so hard, I tasted blood.

"Shut up, both of you!" Mason barked. "You’re upsetting Posy!"

"Oh, cutie, I'm sorry. We're just joking around." Wyatt brought our joined hands up to his mouth and kissed my knuckles.

"Sorry, Posy," Jayden said. "Didn't mean to scare you. We'll try to tone it down around you, but wearedudes, young, and alphas, which means it’s our nature to compete."

"It's never any serious fighting," Wyatt explained as he rested our hands in my lap. "We got that out of our systems when we were pups."

"You grew up together?"

"Yep. We’ve all known each other our whole lives. Been there through the worst times and the best."

"That must have been lovely." I admired how close they were.

Except for Mason, they all laughed.

Worried they were laughingatme, I lowered my head and played with the rings on Wyatt’s hand. He wore a rose-gold band on his pinkie, a signet ring with a square ruby on his middle finger, and a pair of wings on his forefinger. That one looked like silver, but I knew it couldn’t be because shifters were allergic to silver.

It plat-in-um, Lark said the unfamiliar word slowly.Granite tell me. He say they richy rich.

Great. Yet another reason to feel inadequate.My shoulders slumped, and I spun Wyatt’s pinkie ring as I blinked back tears.

"You’re not inadequate," Cole growled, making me jump. "Stop thinking things like that."

"How did you—"

"Lark talks to our wolves, and they talk to us."

Lark, shut up!I hissed at her.They don’t need to know every thought I have!

Yes, they do. Especially when you being down on yourself.

"You mean the world to us, Posy, and we’re going to prove it." Ash reached back and laid his hand on my knee. "It upsets us and our wolves that you doubt us."

"It’s me I doubt, not you."

"Try to believe it, okay? Believe in us and in yourself." Cole stretched forward and squeezed my shoulder.

"I’ll try."

"Good. That’s all we can ask."

The motion of the car was making me sleepy, and a yawn surprised me.

"Go to sleep if you’re tired, cutie. You need to rest to get your strength back."

I nodded as my eyelids grew heavier. I could hear my mates talking, but their voices grew fainter and fainter.

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