Chapter 15
Doc
"You're going to have to talk to her, Doc." Ed stopped eating long enough to fix Doc with a long stare. "Like, today."
"You know, it might be better for the two of you if I don't talk to her," Doc murmured. "I can just pull the 'I'm your teacher' card and back off. I didn't really intend to get that involved with her to start with."
"Doc, she's completely into you, and despite some of your previous experiences, I don't think what you are is going to scare her off," Ed insisted.
"I thought you wanted her to be into you?" He crossed his arms and studied his pack brothers, feeling conflicted. He really shouldn't get involved with Sofia, for so many reasons. Reasons that seemed more and more insignificant the harder he tried to convince himself to back off.
"I want her to be into all of us," Ed replied.
"That's asking an awful lot of someone. Especially someone we just met."
Ed shrugged. "If we don't talk to her, at some point, she's going to think she has to choose, and she might choose Alex since there's only one of him and there's three of us. If we want to keep her, we need to convince her she wants to be with us." He clenched his fists.
Doc's brows rose in surprise. "You've clearly thought a lot about this."
"Only every waking moment I'm not trying to pay attention to class." Ed sighed.
"Ed, if you want to date her..." He couldn't continue because he had already offered to back off once, and the idea hadn't felt good then and felt even worse now. There was a chance she would accept him for who he was, and that was very intriguing. Unlikely, but intriguing.
"Doc, she figured out on her own that we're werewolves and you're not. I think she knew before last night. It doesn't seem to bother her. I want to keep her with us," Ed finished earnestly.
He glanced at Allan. Ed had been pushing Sofia at him, but not at his brother. Probably because Ed had the same worries he did about what he was being harder to accept than two werewolves.
"I want to keep her, too. I could probably be convinced to simply keep her with the pack and not date her, though." Allan looked uncomfortable at that thought. He stared at the table, hands gripping his fork and spoon as if they were a lifeline. Doc knew how he felt.
"The first time we take her running with us you're going to change your mind and it would be better to have the matter settled before we get that far." Ed leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"How exactly do you think you're going to take her running with us? She won't be able to keep up on two legs, and she doesn't know any magic. I'm not even sure if mages can shapeshift." Doc had a sneaking suspicion he knew what Ed intended.
"Same way you do, Doc."
Suspicion confirmed. Ed was really convinced Sofia was the one if he was suggesting they give up that secret.
"Do you really think she would agree to that, and then be okay with it after if she did?" He couldn't even imagine her being okay with the idea.
"Yes," Ed declared stubbornly.
"What we really need to do is figure out how to keep her safe long enough for her to decide she wants to stay with us, and we need to find someone to teach her magic," Allan said. "Keeping her out of the black market's hands has got to be our priority."
Ed pushed out his lip in a pout. "The best way to keep her safe, outside of teaching her magic, is to keep her with us."
"We need to visit Sam and see if she has any charms or anything that will help Sofia. I know nothing about how mages cast magic, but I'll try to work with her a little bit and see if we can figure something out, and we probably should see if she knows any self-defense." Doc knew Allan was right, but Ed had some of the truth of the matter too. Something about Sofia had captured all three of them, almost instantly, and if they didn't want to lose her, they needed to talk to her. He just couldn't help but think that discussion would be the end of it.
"You're the fighter, Doc. I think that's all your territory. And Sam tolerates us, but she's not about to sell us a charm to protect Sofia," Allan replied.
"She barely tolerates me." Doc shrugged.
"Take Sofia when you go." Ed smiled. "I think Sam likes her."
The shower turned off, and the three of them fell silent.
"Go fix up her back. You're the first step in convincing her to stay with us." Ed winked suggestively.
Doc clenched his hands into fists before taking a deep breath and trying to chase his worries away. There was no way she was going to agree to any of this, anyway, so no reason to worry. Right? "Don't get your hopes up."
"You had her strung tighter than a piano just with the sunblock, Doc. I don't think you're going to have as much of a problem as you think you will." Ed grinned encouragingly.
Doc sighed and left the room. They just didn't understand how little luck he really had with women, ever. He got along fine with them until they found out what he was, then they usually freaked out. Understandably.
Sofia was headed down the hallway as he left the kitchen. "Do you want to take a look at my back?"
"Yes." Doc followed her back into the bedroom. Her scent covered the bed and filled the air. He hadn't really been thinking about that when he had let them sleep in his bed. He wasn't sure where else he would have put them. Unfortunately, her scent would drive all three of them nuts for a few days, and he doubted
