I try to pull his shirt off, but he stops me, resting his forehead against mine.
“I love you, Snow. You brought me back to life. I was just moving through the motions each day, but now I feel like I have purpose. A reason to be here.”
“You say the sweetest stuff to me.”
“I’ll be so good to you,” he says, adding more sweetness. I’ll be shocked if I’m not a big pile of happy goo when he’s done talking.
“Like take me into town and let me open the shutters?” I tease, making him growl, but he nods.
“I’ll go with you every time. Someone might try and take you from me.”
“No one is going to snatch me.”
“Yes they would, because I would.” It’s adorable that he thinks everyone wants me. He thinks I’m so rare and special that no one could resist taking me.
“Did,” I correct him as I laugh. I don’t want to go anywhere without him anyway. I don’t know if some of my old fears still reside inside me, but I never like it when I’m alone, and I feel safe in Koda’s home with all the security.
I go to pull his shirt off, wanting to make love to him, but he stops me once again. I pout.
“They’ll hear.” He looks over his shoulder at the front door. “I don’t want them to hear me taking you. No one hears that.”
Suddenly, we hear the locks start to pop one by one. Koda is on his feet instantly, pulling me with him. He turns when the door flies open.
A short girl with brown hair and the same eyes as Koda stands in the doorway, her very pregnant belly in silhouette.
She has her hands on her hips, and I see a man standing behind her, a possessive hold on her shoulder.
A smile spreads across her face. “I knew something was going on!” She bounces into the room, the big tattooed man following her. He picks up the tranq dart off the floor.
The girl sees it, and her eyes narrow. “You shot my brother!” she yells at the man, and I now know she’s Winnie, Koda’s sister. He’s talked about her a little.
“Not that it did any good.” He tosses the dart onto the coffee table.
“It would take more than that then to stop me from losing my mate.”
My brothers all shuffle in, and I can feel the tension come in with them, making Koda growl. My brothers all growl back. I move in front of him. He locks his hands on my hips so I can’t leave his hold, but I’m still blocking him from my brothers.
“Everyone, cool it. My mate is pregnant, and there will not be a fight in the living room. One of the females could get hurt.”
“No one is going to fight.” I try to stay as calm as possible. “Koda would never hurt my brothers, would you, Koda?” I turn my head, looking up at him and giving him my pout.
“No,” he growls, clearly unhappy. “Unless they try to take you from me.”
“No one can take me from you,” I reassure him.
I turn to look back at my brothers. “Glad to see that doe-eyed look she does doesn’t just work on me.” Forest says.
“Her eyes are perfect.” Koda kisses me on the top of my head. “You don’t need to worry about her doe eyes. Only I get them now.”
“Ahh. That’s so sweet. See, I told you, Stone. He’s a marshmallow on the inside. No one believed me,” Winnie says, coming over to me and trying to pull me into a hug, but Koda won’t let me go.
“Let her go,” she huffs, and Koda reluctantly lets me go with a grunt.
She wraps her arms around me. “Thank you,” she whispers in my ear. “I already see the old Koda coming back.” Releasing me, she steps back. “How about a family dinner? All the families come together and really meet,” she says, clapping her hands together.
“No,” Koda says, making me laugh.
“Koda,” she says, sounding annoyed and looking over at who I’m guessing is her mate, making him the Alpha from what Koda had told me. She looks at him as if she expects him to demand we all have dinner together.
“I want to meet the man who’s going to be with my sister,” Flint says.
“No,” Koda says again.
“What Koda is trying to say,” I say, cutting in, “is that we’d love to have dinner.” Koda growls behind me, pulling me back into his grasp. “Maybe next weekend. We need some alone time. He’s still a little on edge. Then we’d love to have you over for dinner. I can even cook for everyone.”
Winnie and my brothers start to voice their complaints.
“Winnie, let them be for a little,” Stone tells her. Her eyebrows furrow a little, and she’s clearly not liking what he’s saying. “Maybe you’ll get yourself a little niece or nephew,” he adds, making me blush.