“Oh, stop it.” I jumped down the rest of the stairs, and Mason reached for me and pulled me into his arms.
“Sorry I’m here early.” He whispered into my hair.
“Don’t be.” I snuggled into him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“What the hell is going on?” Kassie’s voice was loud but not from anger, more from hysteria. “She’s got to be sick.”
Mason’s chest shook. “At least I know no other guy has picked you up before.”
I pushed back and smacked him on the chest. “Behave.”
“I’m not sure if I’m happy about this.” Kassie’s mouth was slightly open as she turned to Mona.
“We told her to make friends.” Mona shrugged and glanced back at me. “Obviously, she has.”
“Friends, not men.” Kassie shook her head and glared at him. “And he’s a wolf at that.”
“You can’t blame her.” Mona winked at him. “He’s certainly eye-candy.”
“Ew. Stop.” Yes, he was hot as hell, but I didn’t want to hear someone that was essentially my mother say that.
“I’ve got eyes, and blood runs through these veins.” She laughed. “I call ‘em like I see them.”
“Even though she’s tempting as hell, I only have eyes for you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
I figured we’d better rein it in before it got too awkward for me. “Do you guys have some time to talk to us?”
“It’s Sunday, and neither of us is working, so yeah.” Kassie’s shoulders tensed, but she nodded her head.
“Let’s go to the kitchen. I need some coffee.” Shifter or not, I needed caffeine.
“Sounds like a plan.” Mona waved Kassie on.
As the two of them walked away, Mason slid his hand into mine and gently turned me toward him. “I had an idea last night that I want to run past you.”
“Let’s go into the kitchen and talk about it with them.” I nodded my head toward the kitchen door. “I want them to know everything. They deserve it.”
“Okay.” He nodded his head and followed me into the room.
Mona was at the Keurig machine, making a cup of coffee. “Do you want some coffee?”
“Do I breathe oxygen?” She knew me better than that.
“That wasn’t really directed at you.” She shook her head and grinned. “I already know your answer, I was asking…”
“Mason.” He winked at her. “And if you don’t mind, I’d love some.”
“So what are your intentions with Elena?” Kassie tapped her finger on the table. “We know nothing about you.”
I loved the bluntness of these two women so much. “Well, first off, he’s my mate.”
“What?” Mona paused and glanced back and forth between him and me. “And you’re just telling us now.”
“To be honest, we tried to fight it.” Now that we were laying it all on the line with my guardians, I couldn’t help but feel overcome with guilt.
“Are you serious?” Kassie shook her head and groaned. “That’s the worst thing you can do. It forces the bond that way.”
“Yeah, we kind of learned that the hard way.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mona grabbed the two cups of coffee she just made and brought them over to Mason and me. “We could’ve helped.”
“I know, I just…” I glanced toward the window, not sure how to proceed.
“She was trying to protect all of us.” Mason sat at the table, bringing our coffees with him, and patted the seat next to him for me to sit. “She doesn’t want to worry you two.”
“But that’s our job.” Kassie pointed at herself. “I want to worry so we don’t find out weeks later that a vampire is stalking you at work.”
“Stalking? Work?” Mason turned his head in my direction and narrowed his eyes. “I thought we were finally on the same page.”
“I referenced it at the witch’s place.” Okay, I wanted to take it back. Doing this was stupid, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now. “One of them keeps showing up at my work.”
“Where do you work?” Mason’s shoulders tensed.
“The Flying Monkey.” I hated the name. “It’s just ten minutes from campus.”
“Yeah, I know where it is.” Mason frowned and crossed his arms. “What do you do there?”
“I work in the kitchen.” I sat next to him and placed my hand on his arm. “Mainly wash dishes, but I have to help with serving food when we get busy. That’s how he saw me.”
“Great, when do you work again?”
“Next weekend.” Brad had told me I better have my hot ass back. I figured I could leave that part out of the conversation.
“We made her take this weekend off.” Kassie frowned as she picked up her cup of coffee. “Honestly, I’m not thrilled about her going back.”
“It’s not like it’ll matter.” Mona sighed as she plopped into the seat between Kassie and Mason. “They know her scent. They can hunt her down.”
“Not only that, but one of them was at Mason’s …” Oh, shit. I probably shouldn’t tell them that, “…gym last night. He recognized me while Mason was changing out of his sweaty clothes.”
The corners of Mason’s lips tilted downward. “Yeah, I wish I would've killed the bastard.”
“Me too,” Kassie grumbled. “But I bet humans are around where you’re working out, so that wouldn’t go over well.”
“In my defense, I still thought she was human too.” Mason leaned back in his seat and took my hand. “And I’m worried that she hasn’t shifted. That’s not normal.”
“We’ve told her the same thing.” Mona ran her fingertip along the rim of her coffee cup. “But we do understand her reasons.”
They weren’t sure how much he knew. “Last night, he learned everything after he had to take me to the witch’s shop.”
“You went there again?” Pure rage flamed in Kassie’s eyes. “After all this shit with the vampires?”
“They already identified me.” The last thing I needed was to be lectured. I was well aware of the risks. They still treated me like a child at times. “So I don’t
