Page 119 of The Mating Game
I’m busying myselfunder the kitchen sink sometime later when I hear a commotion out in the foyer, the front door creakingopen, and the sound of stomping feet following. The sounds instantly have me on high alert, the thought of Tess upstairs, still vulnerable at the tail end of her heat, putting me on edge. I pull myself out from beneath the sink and hurry my way through the kitchen and dining room to the foyer, where I’m taken aback by the sight of Tess’s brothers piling in through the door with snow dusting their shoulders.
“Hey, man,” Thomas says, stomping the snow off his boots. “Some fucking storm, huh?”
Chase shrugs out of his coat. “I hope our sister didn’t freeze to death while we were gone.”
“Where is she, anyway?” Kyle asks.
A few things happen at once. Their friendly faces and welcoming smiles do something to my insides that is a far cry from what they should; instead of putting me at ease, they have me grinding my teeth, the thought of Tess upstairs and smelling like heat making my body go taut with tension. My protective instincts go into overdrive, and before I can even catch the words coming out of my mouth, my voice projects with an edge that seems unlike me.
“You need to leave,” I tell them, clenching my fists.
Thomas looks thrown. “Do what now?”
“Tess isn’t ready to see you,” I say, rising to my full height. The thought of someone seeing her like she is…it makes my alpha restless and agitated. “You can’t see her.”
Chase immediately goes on the defensive. “Excuse me? You can’t fucking decide that.” His head whips around. “Where is our sister? Tess? Tess!”
I don’t know what has me acting this way; logically, I know that these are Tess’s brothers and that they’re no threat to her, or to me,for that matter, but the idea of a male—any male—seeing her even at the end of her heat has me feeling out of sorts. I can’t make sense of it, but I also can’t stop myself from acting on the feelings.
“I said”—I bump Chase with my chest, feeling a rage building inside that is entirely new to me—“you can’t see her.”
“The fuck, guy?” Thomas says, his voice rising. “What the hell is your problem?”
I hear an actual growl leaving my throat, and my skin ripples as if getting ready to shift. There’s a humming voice inside me that screamsprotectand an even more alarming one that whispersmate—and there doesn’t seem to be a shred of rationality to be found as I grab Thomas by the collar.
“If you so much as touch a foot to that staircase, I’m going to—”
“Hunter!”
My head whips around, and I spot a wide-eyed Tess at the top of the stairs, looking down at the scene before her in shock. I stare up at her with a parted mouth for a span of seconds, my chest heaving as I try to gather my bearings. With her this close, the hazy red that was clouding my vision seems to part—and all at once I recognize what the hell I’ve just done.
I let go of Thomas immediately, stepping away with bared palms as I struggle to catch my breath. “I—I’m sorry,” I manage, still feeling a bit like I should be putting my body between theirs and hers. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You just tried to throw us out,” Kyle huffs. “That’s what happened.” He looks up at his sister. “What the hell is going on here?”
Tess isn’t paying attention to her brothers, rushing down the stairs to my side and pressing her hand to my chest, her eyes wide and looking as if she might be feeling as out of sorts as I am.
“Are you okay?”
Chase snorts. “Isheokay? Dude! He was six seconds away from hulking out on us!”
“Seriously, Tess,” Thomas presses. “What the hell is going on?”
I keep my eyes trained on Tess, my brow wrinkling. “I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I don’t know what came over me. I thought about someone being near you right now, and I just…”
“I get it,” she says with a nod. “It’s okay.”
“The hell it’s okay,” Chase says as Thomas roars, “Is someone going to tell us what’s going on?”
Tess takes a deep breath, looking resigned. She gives my chest a gentle pat, turning her head to peer back at her brothers. I know this isn’t how she wanted them to find out, and for that, I feel a pang of guilt in my chest. I’ll need to apologize for that later too.
“Boys,” Tess says with a sigh. Her hand glides down my forearm, her fingers finding mine and twining there, settling some of the restlessness still lingering inside me. “I can explain everything.”
If the way her brothers are eyeing our intertwined hands is any indication…there’s a good chance it will bemewho gets my ass kicked here.
“So . ..” Chase starts. “You’re a wolf person?”
“She said not to call them that,” Kyle points out.
