Page 33 of Claimed By Blood

Morwen just grins, pulling Mia against her side. “Tough shit.”

It might be a side effect of living with lycans for too long, but I could swear she’s holding eye contact deliberately, like she’stryingto incite an alpha challenge.

It’s Mia who surprises us all when she presses a kiss to the vampire’s jaw. “Try not to piss off my old alpha too much, babe.”

Morwen doesn’t look surprised at all.

“Wait.” Silas looks between the two of them. “Youtoldher?”

Oh, he’s in for it. I can see his sister working herself up to unleash the full force of a Mia Meltdown. I settle back in my chair, content to watch this one play out. Without thinking, my arm falls around Eve’s shoulders, pulling her back against me.

I freeze when I realise what I’ve done, only to relax as she sinks into my embrace.

God, I might be dreaming, but don’t let me wake up.

“I don’t hide shit from my girlfriend,” Mia retorts. “I suppose honesty might be a bit difficult for you two to understand, seeing as you abandoned your youngest sister in Europe without giving her the slightest idea of what you were doing beyond ‘it’s dangerous.’”

Neither brother looks guilty. If anything, they look more incensed than they did before.

“Hang on,” Eve murmurs quietly. “They’re related?”

“That’s Mia,” I whisper back. “Silas and Vane’s younger sister.”

We’re quiet, but not quiet enough, because Mia rounds on me next. “You forgot to add best hacker in the entire rebellion and all around badass.”

I hold a hand up in surrender. “I apologise. This is Mia, the best”—Finn shoots me a raised eyebrow, and I groan—“Joint best,” I amend. “Hacker in the rebellion.”

“I’m better,” Finn whispers to Eve.

“I got under your firewall!”

“That was one time!”

“It was lazy coding.”

“Is she related to Finn as well?” Eve asks, confused.

“No. But she’s fulfilling the role of the annoying younger sibling I never had quite spectacularly,” Finn grouses.

The bickering might have continued, if not for Vane finally taking the time to say something. “We left you in Paris. Where it wassafe. Why did you think that joining the rebellion and taking an undercover mission in the heart of the Court was a good idea?”

“Because you weren’t the only ones who lost a sister—”

Vane’s calm tone doesn’t change as he cuts her off. “No. I want to hear the logical path your mind took when you decided to disregard our plans for you to live a safe and happy life with the Paris Pack. A plan which took a lot of sacrifices on our part.”

Mia doesn’t miss a beat. She’s accustomed to dealing with her older brother, even though it’s been decades since they last saw one another. “I had skills, which I knew would help.”

“Finn has the same skills. So do plenty of others.”

“You want me to say it was a revenge-motivated decision. Or one aimed at hurting you because I felt like you abandoned me,” Mia observes.

God, it’s freaky when they argue like this. I’d forgotten…

Silas and Mia can go toe to toe with their fiery tempers, but Vane was a teacher with a degree in psychology before their pack was torn apart by Gideon’s father. He dealt with teenagers all the time. One of his superpowers is arguing so calmly and reasonably that by the end of the discussion you’ve agreed to your punishment without ever knowing why you were arguing with him in the first place.

“I want to know if you agree with that assessment of the situation.”

“I don’t.”

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