After a long sigh, he laid his cheek on top of my head.
"Willow always hung out with the five of us. After she was gone, I was adrift, like I didn't fit with my brothers anymore. I know some of that was my fault for shutting them out, but I—"
He hesitated, then everything poured out of him.
"I was the first of us to turn eighteen, to step up as alpha. For more than a year, I had to handle everything for five packs. I wasso busyall the time. The work never ended. The parents helped out a lot, but my brothers were still in school. That isolated me from them even more. Now that Ash and Wyatt are full alphas, I'm still figuring out the new dynamic. I overstep a lot and catch myself treating them the way my father treats me, and I hate that. I'm surprised they don't hate me, too."
"Of course they don't hate you!" I wiggled my arms out from between us and hugged his waist as tight as I could. "They love you, Mason.Ilove you. You're the glue that holds them all together. Without you, they'd fall apart. If you feel alone,talkto one of them. Play pool with Cole. Go for a walk with Jayden. Shoot some hoops with Ash. Work out with Wyatt. They're just waiting for you to open up to them, I promise you!"
His chest shuddered under my cheek, and a couple of wet drops hit the top of my head.
Oh, my heart.
"Mason, I'm sorry about your sister. I'm sorry you had to go through such a devastating loss."
"Thank you, sweetheart. Hey, Posy?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't call me alpha. You're our mate. Our luna. I love you. Besides, you're the most dangerous wolf in the pack.Youdon't kneel to any of us."
"Dangerous?Me?"I scoffed. I knew a scared little runt like me wouldn't stand a chance against anyone.
"No, really. It's true. You know why? Because you have five alphas behind you, ready to support you in all things. This school project? You know it's going to happen. We have to argue about it a bit first because that's how we are, but there will be secondary schools on pack territory simply because you want it to happen. You see what I mean? The power you hold over us is what makes you dangerous."
I lifted my head and stared into his gray eyes, and a sudden desire sprung up inside me.
"Mason?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I kiss you?"
His whole body tensed against mine for a second, then he relaxed with a sexy smirk on his lips.
"Only if I can kiss you back."
"Of course!" I smiled brightly.
He slid his hands up and down my back and I leaned in so close, I could count every one of his eyelashes.
"Can you feel my heart beating?" he murmured as his gaze dipped to my lips.
"Yes," I whispered. "It's beating as hard as mine."
"I know. I can hear it."
"This is my first kiss," I confessed.
"Mine, too, baby."
Then his big, soft lips were on mine and a zoo of butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but it didn't matter. We figured it out together with little soft kisses that grew into longer, more heated ones.
Without lifting his lips from mine, Mason rearranged us so that my legs straddled his and my bum hung between his spread knees. His hands fitted to my waist, but the longer we explored each other's mouths, the lower his hands slid until he was fully cupping my bum cheeks.
A hot wire of need twisted in my belly as his long fingers squeezed dangerously close to where I'd started to tingle and ache. I wanted to dothingsto him, wanted him to dothingsto me, and I had no idea what thosethingswere.
When his tongue licked along the seam between my lips, I got the impression he wanted me to open up, so I did. His tongue slipped into my mouth and explored every corner. I could taste him,him, Mason Price, and goosebumps popped up everywhere.