Page 8 of Claimed By Two Alphas

I could handle this. After all, I wasn’t exactly an ordinary person. Whether I considered it a gift or curse, I had an ability no one else had. I think. I wasn’t sure because I’d never been out of Hungry. For all I knew, there could be thousands just like me. Thousands just like Delvin and Joshua.

After taking a deep and calming breath, I tried to sit up, but Delvin stopped me when he returned. “Let me clean off the blood and get a good look at the damage back there.”

The guy was still naked, and as hard as I tried to keep my gaze from wandering, it went straight to his dick. I quickly looked away, but I felt my eyes trying to tug back that way, as if they had a mind of their own and steely determination.

Joshua chuckled. “It isn’t polite to check out his dong while he’s tending to you.”

“I wasn’t…” The lie died on my lips. Joshua had seen me, so there was no use denying it.

“He can look whenever and however long he wants,” Delvin argued. “But I still need to clean that wound.”

Joshua helped me sit up, and then Delvin sat behind me, his fingers separating my hair. “Next time you decide to faint, give me some warning.”

“It’s not like I planned it,” I argued. “You shocked the hell out of me.” I thrust my elbow back, and it landed on something. Delvin made a noise. “I talked to you whenever I sat outside with Ashford. Now I feel stupid because I talked to you in a baby voice, like you really were an animal.”

“And I loved it.” Delvin wiped the wet cloth over my hair. “Yep. My first assessment was right. Just a tiny cut. Head wounds, no matter the size, bleed like crazy. You’re gonna live.”

“Do you have a headache?” Joshua asked. “I can massage your temples if you do.”

If Delvin had come clean with me, maybe I could tell them my secret. It wasn’t as if they’d run around town shouting it to whoever would listen. They had just as much to lose as I did if anyone ever found out. Besides, I didn’t think they were that kind of people.

“About my headaches.” I eased my legs around Joshua and planted my feet on the floor. “They’re not really headaches.”

“Some kind of social phobia?” Delvin asked. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of people have phobias. I hate heights.”

“I hate spiders,” Joshua added. “Their eight eyes and those creepy, hairy legs.” He shivered and stuck out his tongue. “You hating to be around people isn’t the end of the world.”

“I can read minds,” I blurted out while I stared at my blank television. “More like I hear people’s thoughts when I’m close to them.”

The room grew as quiet as a graveyard at night. My heart was racing like crazy as I waited for one of them to say something. Aside from my family, no one knew.

“Can you read mine?” Joshua asked. “Can you tell what I’m thinking right now?”

“I doubt it,” Delvin said. “If he could, he would have known we were wolves by now.”

At least they hadn’t called me crazy or said I was a liar. They believed me, which was a relief. “I can’t read either of yours,” I said. “It’s rare, but there are some whose thoughts are blocked. I couldn’t read Nezat’s that night, and I’m grateful for that.”

It was as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. Delvin and Joshua didn’t look at me like I was a freak like my family had before I’d lied and said my ability was gone. No one knew I still had it, but now the Bailey brothers did.

“Honesty, it’s nice having someone to talk to about this. Do you know how hard it is carrying this by myself, to not have anyone I can talk to about it?”

Delvin, who was still sitting behind me, slid his hands down my arms. “I’m just glad it’s not really headaches. I was really worried about you.”

“Me, too.” Joshua nodded. “I’d actually gone online and researched them just so I can try to help you.”

Aw. “I’m sorry I lied,” I said. “I couldn’t tell anyone.” I shrugged. “I thought no one would believe me, and if they did, they would treat me like my family did.”

“How’s that?” Delvin asked as his hands tightened on my arms.

I told them about how my mom, dad, and sister were afraid of me since I was little, how my father made me leave the room all the time because he hadn’t wanted me to read his thoughts. They’d never been bad thoughts, but he’d still been freaked out. How I lied when I was thirteen, telling them the voices were gone, how relieved they’d looked.

“I don’t blame them,” I said. “Who wants someone listening to random thoughts or even deep ones? It’s an invasion of privacy, and if I could, I’d turn it off.”

“So,” Joshua said, “when you look like you’re in pain?”

“The voices are becoming too much,” I said. “Especially if there are a lot of people at a table. I can hear everyone at the same time. It’s like needles attacking my brain.”

“Damn,” Delvin said. “I wish I’d known. I would have stuck you in the kitchen.”

---