Page 123 of Mates: Posy

I smirked at his scowling face. Wyatt never could stand to see a girl cry. It was Peri’s main ammunition against him growing up.

"I'll contact Luke through the Moonset link," Jay offered with a smirk. "He can tell the king, who can tell the queen. Let him deal with his mate's tears."

"And tell Luke to bring them and his mate over here. Ranger, too," Cole instructed.

I tuned them out when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Seconds later, Posy appeared in the living room doorway and hovered there with uncertainty on her face.

"Come here, cupcake." I patted the space next to me.

With a grin, she ran over and jumped on the couch. Her little arms snaked around my waist and squeezed me tightly.

"Hey, princess," I murmured and stroked her long hair. "Did you enjoy your run before the interruption?"

"Loved it. Lark, too. She was so, so happy."

"Good! Watching her chase butterflies with the betas was adorable."

"She used to like to chase fireflies at night." She smooshed her face into my side and snuggled closer.

"Well, we can do that one evening. Once everything calms down."

"What happened, Ash?" she asked quietly. "River wouldn't let us see anything, but we heard fighting."

"Wait until the others get here. We'll have to tell them the story, too."

She nodded and relaxed against me, and we cuddled until the doorbell rang.

We all got to our feet, and I volunteered to open the door because I wasn't one to be still for too long.

"Where's the wolf who threatened my queen?" King Julian demanded as soon as I had the door open.

"Dead. You can thank Quartz later. Come to the living room and we'll tell you everything."

I greeted Lilah, Luke, Gisela, and Ranger as they followed in his wake. We were sorting out seats and Jay was asking if they wanted drinks or snacks when Sid got my attention.

Something wrong with mate!

Swiveling toward her, I saw one of her hands clutching her throat and the other rubbing her chest. She was trembling, and I realized she was having a panic attack.

In that moment, everyone else became insignificant. Royalty in the room or not, only she mattered. I bolted over, wrapped my hands around her upper arms, and bent almost in half to look in her eyes.

The fear in them devastated me.

"Posy?"

No response.

Something triggered our girl, I linked my brothers.

In a heartbeat, they surrounded us, blocking her from worried and curious eyes.

"Breathe, sweetness. In and out."

"You're safe, honey. No one will hurt you."

"What happened, Ash?" Wyatt demanded.

"I don't know."