“Maybe she’ll tell us,” the smallest one pointed towards me, spying from the stairs.
“Human girl,” the biggest one called. “Come down here; we won’t hurt you.”
They chuckled while I shivered and looked to Theo, who only nodded his head sadly. I slowly descended, and my eyes never left their faces.
“My, our big brother has such a sweet pet,” they joked. Theo growled, turning to find me standing close to his back.
“Reese,” Theo warned.
“Oh, we’re just messing around,” he laughed, reaching a hand out. “What’s your name?”
I gulped and whispered back, “Margo.”
“Margo,” he grasped my arm roughly. “I’m Reese, Theo’s favorite brother. Has he been treating you kindly?”
I nodded, grabbing the back of Theo’s shirt hem. He noticed my distress and quickly wrapped his hand around mine, giving it a light squeeze.
“Well, she certainly seems like more than just a girl,” the smallest one noted.
“Don’t worry about her,” Theo scolded, moving to sit me in a plush chair out of view. The men followed, throwing themselves on the couches comfortably.
“I mean, Margo is very pretty. If he doesn’t want her, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind spending the night with me, hey Eli?” Reese joked, kitting the smaller one on the leg.
Theo growled again and moved closer to Reese. He grabbed the boy’s arm and hauled him up to his feet.
“You. Will. Not. Touch. Her,” he heaved out, body shaking, veins expanding.
“Theo,” the biggest one called calmly.
“No one touches her, Gabriel!” Theo screamed as his brother struggled to escape his grasp. Theo began shaking, and I knew from experience this happened when they were fighting the urge to shift.
“Okay, Theo. But you need to calm down,” Gabriel warned.
Theo’s head snapped over. His usually blue eyes were a dark onyx. I shrunk back in my seat as far as I could, blocking my face as I pulled my knees up to my chest.
“Theo, you’re scaring her,” Eli said softly. That was enough to stop him. He released his brother in a clumsy drop and relaxed his shoulders. He started moving towards me slowly, keeping his hands in front of his innocently.
“Hey,” he whispered as his eyes returned to their normal hue. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking, Margo. I’m not going to hurt anyone. I’ll never hurt you.” Slowly, he made his way to my side, moving cautiously.
“Brother,” Gabriel beckoned. Theo turned his head but didn’t move from his place in front of me. “Is she?”
Theo nodded his head before turning and kneeling by me. His eyes begged for my forgiveness, but I was still shaken from seeing him in his raw stare.
“Is she what?” Reese whispered to Gabriel.
“His mate,” was all he said.
The room fell silent until I unraveled myself from my contorted position, allowing Theo to sit on the edge of the large chair with me.
“No one can know,” Theo said.
“The pack should know,” Gabriel insisted, leaning forward over his knees and interlaced his fingers.
“They can’t, not yet.”
“How are they supposed to protect her if they don’t know about her?” That made Theo think.
“I don’t want anything to happen to her before I can put security measures in place. I need to hire and screen more guards, I need to go over safety procedures with her, I need to-” Theo rattled off, only to be interrupted by Gabriel.
“Theo, I can’t think of a better security measure than introducing her to the pack. Fifty thousand wolves will be protecting her; there would be no safer place for her.”
Theo closed his eyes, weighing his options. He never once asked me for my preference and made the decision to introduce me at the end of the week. His brothers nodded in agreement, perking up at the talk of a pack meeting. No one noticed my discomfort.
“I don’t want to meet any more wolves,” I murmured, blocking my face with my hair. Theo set a hand on my back, gently brushing the long curls that rested against my spine.
“Did we really make that bad of an impression?” Eli joked softly.
“No,” I said quickly, afraid to offend them.
“Then what is it?” Theo asked.
I fidgeted with my fingers while they stared at me. “It’s just all a bit much. I know shifters like to do things fast, and I get why you want to introduce me, but could we please wait a few more weeks?”
Theo’s eyes softened, and he instantly nodded his head. “Of course, we can. I’m sorry, Margo, I wasn’t even thinking about how stressful this has all been on you. We can take all the time you need.” My frantic heart stopped beating quite as fast, and I settled back into the chair.
“Mom’s going to kill you,” Reese spoke, breaking the silence. “You didn’t introduce her to your own mate. Emily was the first one to meet her and see you after you’ve been gone for weeks.”
“Mom can wait. No one was supposed to meet her yet. You bunch just came barging through my door.”
“Rightfully so,” Reese joked. “You were hiding something from us. Isn’t that punishable, Gabe? Hiding a human from the Alpha?”
“You know very well Theo can do as he pleases,” Gabriel scolded his younger brother.
“Big, bad, Enforcer man,” Reese grumbled. “Thinks he’s all that.”
“I can still take you down with one arm, kid,” Theo snorted, watching Reese’s face turn to a scowl.
“So, what are you going to do with her?” Eli asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?” Theo asked.
“I mean, are you going to turn her?”
Theo narrowed his eyes at the question. “No,” I answered for him. My eyes got wider as Theo looked at me in confusion. “No, you aren’t turning me.”
“Margo,” Theo whispered.
“You aren’t turning me.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to be a shifter.”
“Margo, it’s not a bad thing,” Gabriel assured me.
I continued shaking my head as my heartbeat sped up again. My hands shook as I tried to brush the hair from my clammy forehead. Theo reached his hand down to steady me, but I shot out
