Page 50 of Mates: Posy

Cole snorted, and Wyatt laughed harder.

"Oh, baby, you willneverbecome conceited," Ash grinned. "Now open your gift. You can think of it as a belated birthday present."

Opening the box, I found the beautiful flower hair barrettes I’d admired at the store. I touched the petals of the pansy lightly, swallowing hard as gratitude and love tightened my chest. When I was sure I could speak without choking, I raised my head and smiled brightly.

"How did you know?"

"Sid told me. Posy, I’m so sorry I ignored you today. Iwilldo better in the future. I promise. Will you accept my apology?"

"Of course. And I’ll do better at making myself heard and not give up so easily." I frowned when his eyes flickered green for a second. "What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head.

"It wassomethingif it made Sid ascend."

"At the store, Lark said we were making do with a pathetic, damaged mate." Ash held my shoulders. "We’re notmaking do; we love you, Posy. You may feel damaged, but you arenotpathetic. Do you remember what I told you this morning?"

I nodded.

"And?Why are you strong?"

"Because I got up and kept going."

"Because yougetup andkeepgoing, present tense," Mason interrupted.

I looked over to see him and Jayden standing by the French doors. I hadn’t realized they’d followed us out here.

"Your courage is as much a part of you as your lovely brown hair and pretty blue eyes," he continued.

I blushed at his compliments and ducked my head.

"It’s true, Posy," Ash agreed, then bent down to whisper in my ear. "He’ll never admit it or ask you, but Mase would really love a hug, too. He was furious that we upset you."

I glanced up at Ash, then back to Mason. His face held its usual blank expression, but I was starting to understand that his eyes were what I needed to watch. Like little chinks in his armor, they revealed glimpses of what he was feeling and thinking.

And right now, all I could see in those gray depths was something like longing.

I patted Ash’s hands, and he released me with a smirk, which made me roll my eyes. I walked over to Mason.

"May I give you a hug?" I asked.

He shrugged, but I knew what to look for now. That shrug was a shout of "Yes, please!"

With a secret smile, I snuggled up next to him, wrapped my arms around his torso, and squeezed. After a few seconds, his tattoo-covered arms came up and wrapped around my shoulders ever so gently.

"You won’t hurt me with a hug," I teased him.

"You’re too delicate for us. Five rough guys and one sweet, innocent flower. You’re going to have to be patient with us because we’re going to screw up. We’re going to screw upa lot." Then he lowered his lips to my ear, and his voice grew so quiet that I wouldn’t have heard it without my shifter-enhanced hearing. "Please don’t leave us, Posy. Promise you won’t, okay? We love you so, so much. If we lost you, we wouldn’t want to live anymore."

It was the most he’d ever said to me at once, and I cherished both that fact and his words. Raising my head, I met his eyes and smiled.

"I promise. I only hope—" I sighed and admitted my fear. "I only hope you won't be disappointed with me."

"That is not possible." He touched his forehead to mine. "We will treasure you forever, little flower."

"Mase, don’t forget dinner," Wyatt interrupted our moment. "We have a lot of guests coming."

Mason released me with a sigh.

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