Page 11 of Mates: Posy

"I told him no, then accidentally called him Father instead of alpha."

"He made you call him alpha?" Maple Syrup asked.

I nodded. That rule made more sense to me now that I knew he wasn’t my real father.

"What did he want you to do that you refused?" Pine asked.

Shaking hard at the memory, I buried my face in the pillow and didn’t answer. It was too shameful and would only disgust them.

"Posy, what did he want you to do?" Pine demanded again.

I shook my head.

Two hands rolled me onto my back. Panicking a little, I brought my arms up as a shield over my face, but Pine grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head. Feeling trapped as he hovered over me, my heartbeat sped up and my lungs went into overdrive.

"What did he want you to do, Posy?" he bit off each word.

"Please don’t make me tell, alpha," I whimpered, tears trickling down my cheeks.

"Calm down, Cole! You’re scaring her."

Campfire grabbed Pine in a headlock, pulled him away, and dragged him over to the far corner of the room.

Cole? Is that Pine’s name?

Still shaking, I squeezed Mr. Nibbles tightly and kept my eyes on the bedspread.

"Shh. You’re okay, sweetness." Roses sat down next to me. "You don’t have to tell us anything, okay? And don’t call us alpha. We’re your mates."

I nodded, but didn’t look at him.

"Cole’s just upset. He wouldn’t hurt you. None of us would. He’s worried about you. We all are."

"Oh, my Goddess!" yelped Vanilla, making me flinch. "Granite says you don’t know our names!"

"We forgot to tell you ournames?" Sounding horrified, Roses slapped his palm over his face. "Jeez. We’re lousy mates already. Sorry, love. I’m Jayden. Jayden Carson. I’m nineteen. My wolf’s name is Quartz. I’m an avid reader. I try to read at least a book a week. I also like to play the guitar. Acoustic,notelectric."

I didn’t know the difference, but learning anything about him was interesting.

I studied his striking face and blond-streaked brown hair, then met his eyes and couldn’t stop staring. If Pine’s pale green eyes were beautiful, Jayden’s were exquisite. The irises glittered golden around the pupil, then transitioned to sage and were encircled by dark blue rings.

Dragon eyes, Lark said.

A kind dragon.

Very kind, she agreed.Very sweet. Very nice. Very gentle. And Quartz none of that.

I paused for a second, then asked her what she meant.

Quartz going to be difficult, she murmured as if to herself.

Oh?

He violent. Not feral, just … brutal. So far, he no speak to me. Jayden tired from controlling him sometimes.Lark’s voice became determined.Between us, we help them. We help them both.

Definitely,I assured her.

Vanilla moved to stand behind Jayden.

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