Page 31 of Mates: Posy

"He’s alone. He’s all alone to dwell on it for the whole ride home. No one to distract him or let him talk about it. And when he gets here, we’ll all be busy with lunch and shopping, and he’ll still have it bottled up with no chance to talk to anyone."

"He usually doesn’twantto talk to anyone," Wyatt said, but his face showed uncertainty.

"Doesn’t want to, or isn’t given the chance to?"

A sob slipped out, and I put my hand over my mouth as tears poured down my cheeks.

My poor mate. How much has he had to internalize over the years? Is that why he’s so aloof, even with his brothers?

"Aw, Posy." Wyatt cupped my face and kissed my forehead. "You’re right. We haven’t been a good support team for Mase. He’s always been ours, and I guess we never really thought he needed us in that way. He does, though, doesn’t he? We’ve been blind."

"He’s almost home," Ash said, his eyes clearing up. "Should be here in a minute, the way he’s driving. And Wyatt’s right. We have been blind, or maybe selfish is the better word. He’s the oldest and always seemed invincible."

"Ash!" Wyatt growled, and nowhiseyes were fogged over.

"What is it?" I jumped in fright. "Did something happen?"

"Mase is pissed because Ash told him you were crying." Wyatt punched Ash’s arm. "You moron! Hurry up and explain thathe’smaking her cry, notus!"

"Oh! Um, yeah. Right."

As Ash went back to linking Mason, Wyatt took my hands in his. His face was drawn with worry and something else I couldn’t name.

"We took Mase for granted and, because of that, he learned to lock everything away and hide from us. We’re horrible brothers, aren’t we?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" I pulled my hands from his and threw my arms around his waist. "James is the same way with Aiden, so maybe it’s a common big brother-little brother issue. It seems to be an instinct for the oldest to protect the younger ones."

Wyatt wrapped his arms around my head and shoulders. I felt his breath catch in his chest for a second and scolded myself.

Who am I to lecture an alpha? And about a relationship I’ve only recently become a part of?

"Yeah, but we’re more than brothers. We’re co-alphas of a huge pack. We need to make sure we have each other’s backs even more than brothers." Ash frowned. "Here he comes, by the way. He wouldn't link with me again, so he doesn’t know why you were crying. I really don’t know how he’s going to react."

I looked down the driveway and saw a rooster tail of dust approaching at an alarming speed.

"How do we even start to fix this with him?" Wyatt rested his chin on the top of my head. "I can’t just run up and ask if he wants a hug. He’d either think I’d lost my mind and put me through a psych eval or else punch me and tell me to stop goofing around."

"It’ll take time, but wearegoing to fix this," Ash promised. "Posy, for now, you better be the designated hugger."

Mason’s big red truck came into view, and Wyatt released me and took a step back.

"Yeah, cutie, take one for the team. He won’t hityou."

I knew Wyatt was teasing, but I hoped he was right. Mason could be scary.

He no hurt you. Not ever.Lark preened at the thought of hugging another one of her mates.Garnet say he devoted to you. He adore you.

Mason slewed his big truck into his parking space, leapt out of it, and ran towards us in a blur.

And I thought Wyatt was fast! Lightning hangs fire compared to Mason.

As he cleared the porch steps in one leap, his eyes ran up and down my body, as if checking for injuries. He stopped a foot away, took my shoulders in his huge palms, and bent down so we were eye to eye.

"Why were you crying?" His face gave nothing away, but his eyes glittered. "Do I need to beat some sense into these two?"

"Whoa, Mase!" Wyatt held up both hands. "Give us some credit, man. She was worried aboutyou. It wasn’t anythingwedid."

He straightened up and turned to them. His expression remained as blank as always, but I could sense his irritation.

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