“Yes.” Elise giggles. “He is manly, and that—”

“—smooth skin,” Elodie concludes before adding, “I would like to—”

“—take a bite of this chocolatey prince,” finishes Elise.

They both look at each other and giggle while Marcel looks at me with raised brows. I shrug and mouth; I told you, creepy. “He has a name, though,” I point out, the term chocolate making me cringe. “Marcel.”

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Marcel laughs. “As long as I can call you two my pretty Milky Bars?”

“Oh, we understand each other,” Elise says, wiggling her brows. Marcel shows her his fist, and she eagerly bumps against it with hers.

Well, at least one twin pair seems to be somewhat getting along with the group, but I can’t help but feel worried about my troublemaking guys there. It’s weird, considering they are around the same age as Steve, but Steve shows so much more maturity and responsibility.

“What about you guys?” Marcel turns to Anthony. “You are Henry, right?”

“No,” Anthony says, eyeballing Marcel from head to toe. “The one with the sexy undercut is Henry.”

Henry smacks his shoulder. “This hot guy here is Anthony.”

“Ah, sorry.” Marcel’s good-natured character comes forward as he completely ignores the slight arrogance the twins are displaying. Celine chose well when she asked him to accompany me.

“You are a pack warrior?” Elodie asks.

“Marcel is an elite warrior in Moon Blood,” I explain to her and the others.

“And you?” Anthony finally graces Steve with his attention.

Steve smiles brightly at him. “I don’t have a rank yet, but I’m training to become a warrior.”

Anthony and Henry exchange a gaze. “So, nothing special, huh?” Henry mutters, more to his brother than to us.

Marcel and I both frown and exchange a considering look. Yeah, what could possibly go wrong? Hopefully, Max will be on the alert too.

Did you say something?Max unexpectedly chimes in.

Ah, sorry, Monsieur, I wasn’t aware you were awake from your twenty-four-hour slumber.

Very funny,Max growls before eyeing me curiously.So, what did I miss? Found our mate yet?

No, Max, I didn’t find our mate yet.I can’t help but feel amused.However, I’ve finally got the whole group together.

Yeah, the arrogant twins and the crazy twins might mean trouble,he muses.But the other two don’t look too bad.

We are definitely on the same page there. At least once awake, Max is normally a pretty reasonable wolf.I need to make sure the dynamics don’t spiral off in a toxic direction,I muse.

Yes, but you can do it,Max says, sounding confident.Finn, we are alpha by blood. We might not lead a pack yet, and maybe we never will, but we are stronger than those arrogant twins. Let’s make sure they learn this sooner rather than later!

That’s actually good advice, I think.How come you’re suddenly so wise?

You think all I do is sleep? No, my human. I meditate.He flashes me a big toothy grin, making me wonder how he’ll ever swoon a she-wolf with that creepy smile. Hopefully, she’s blown away by his other attributes.And now I’m going right back to my meditation.

So, we are calling it meditating now?I grin.

Yep.

Well then, good sleep. Or rather, good meditation.

I turn my attention back to the group to see Elodie and Elise staring daggers at Anthony and Henry. Steve looks like someone kicked his puppy, his body language going from keen and confident to insecure and unsure. This isn’t going to work if they don’t get their act together, and soon. We’re leaving in a few weeks, and it’s important that we work together as a team. I consider my options and decide to go with my original plan for this meeting. The best way to reduce the tension around here is food. I show everyone to the dining area, where the hamburgers and hotdogs are set up. Unsurprisingly, the group digs in.