Page 44 of Mates: Posy

"Then why do you need a make-up gift when she hasn’t even been with you for twenty-four hours yet?"

"Look, James, it’s a misunderstanding, but Posy is too upset to hear anything. She’s so afraid that we don’t really want her."

"And you blame her for that?" His voice rose. "You only know a small fraction of what she lived through. How can you expect her to be anything other than scared? I warned you all about this before you left."

The boys squirmed in their seats.

"I know," I assured James, "and we don’t blame her for anything. We’re trying to show her that she can trust us. Unfortunately, this … incident occurred and now we’re back to square one."

Huh. If there was a negative square, that’s where we’d be,Garnet brooded, and I had to agree.

"Why should I help you get back in her good graces?" James demanded. "You shouldn’t have messed up in the first place!"

"You don’t want your sister to be happy with her mates? For real, James, I love Posy so much that I’m willing to beg here."

He didn’t reply, and I scowled. Plowing my hand through my hair, I glared at my brothers, and they dropped their eyes to their shoes.

"Give her flowers," James muttered after a long silence. "She loves them. Always has. Especially if you can find pansies. She used to pretend the fairies painted them."

Ah. That explains the purple pansy tattooed on his forearm and the simpler one inside Aiden’s wrist.

The boys had perked up at his words, and their eyes brightened.

"Thank you," I told him.

"You’re welcome." There was a long pause, then, "Did she have a nightmare last night?"

"No. She fell asleep on the way home and didn't move until morning."

A gusty sigh came from the phone.

"Well, when she does have one, give her Mr. Nibbles. She won't want to be touched at first, but don't leave her alone. She wants someone with her. Just keep telling her she's safe."

Red rage filled my vision. I would give anything to be able to resurrect Alpha Kendall Briggs just so I could kill him again.

We’d take years doing it, too,Garnet snarled.Snapping his neck was too merciful.

But, "Thanks, James," was all I said.

"One more thing, Mason."

"Yeah?"

"Whether it’s you or one of your brothers,don’tscrew up again. I failed in my duty as her brother once. I never will again. She deserves to know nothing but happiness for the rest of her days. If you can’t or won’t deliver on that, I will do what I need to do. I don’t care who you are."

"I understand and agree one hundred percent."

After I hung up, Wyatt jumped to his feet.

"Dudes, I have a great idea!" he yelled. "Come on! We have a lot of work to do!"

As they hustled out of the room, I hollered, "You also better get your butts back to that shop and buy those flower things she wanted!"

"Already done." Ash gave me a thumbs up.

At least they did that much right,Garnet grumbled.

Small favors, I grumbled back.

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