Hers(22)

Gwen smiled and came forward and pushed Slater out of the way to hug Steven. “Thanks.”

Steven kissed Gwen’s forehead. “I’m going to go home now. Tell your parents I had an emergency at work. Call me if you need me.”

Gwen nodded, and Steven turned to Brock and Slater. “You need to claim your mate. She’s vulnerable as a human.” Steven turned to Sammy. “I’m sorry I scared you. I would never have hurt you. I’m glad Gwen has a friend like you willing to stick up for her if anything did go wrong.” He then turned to Philip and John, who stood to the side of Gwen. “Be patient with Gwen and stay clear of Adele, because she will kill you.” And with that he walked away and out of the functions hall.

Sammy felt like she was about to collapse. All her bravado left her. Slater must have sensed it because his arms came around her waist, and he held her up.

“You did good, beautiful, but don’t do anything so stupid again. Gwen is a shifter. She can look after herself. Steven’s a shifter, and you have to be more careful. Come on. Let’s go back inside before someone misses us all.”

Slater practically carried her back to the function room. Sammy stayed quiet, too mentally exhausted to tell Slater off for speaking to her like he did, or for telling her what to do. Sammy was proud of herself that she stood up for her friend and that she had the strength to accomplish it. She’d been just like her old self when she had gone after Sandy’s brothers and stood in front of Gwen. It wasn’t until Steven made her realize he was bigger and stronger than she was that she’d gotten scared.

Sammy sat at the bridal table the rest of the night, switching between telling herself she’d done the right thing and she couldn’t live in the shadows afraid of everything for the rest of her life, and then berating herself that she was a fool and if she kept acting like she was invincible she would get beat up and killed this time.

Gwen left early, and Sammy noticed that Sandy’s brothers weren’t too far behind. Brock came and sat next to her. At first he just sat and held her hand. Then he told her that his mother and father were driving him crazy and had started talking about retiring and if he wanted to take over his father’s construction business. Brock’s smooth deep voice soothed her, and she relaxed back into her seat and gripped his hand tighter.

Slater came and sat on her other side. He was quiet for a while as Brock explained what buildings his father’s company had built and what was involved.

“I love your voice. That’s twice now you’ve talked me out of going off to my safe place.” Sammy faced Brock for a moment. “I told Slater yesterday you surprised me because I thought you would be the one of the two who would scare me, with your dominance, large frame, outspokenness and the fact you’re a cop, but you’re the one who calms me and has the patience.” She turned back so she could see both Slater and Brock. “It‘s Slater who pushes my buttons and has gotten to me.”

“I would never hurt you physically. I said that last night.” Slater leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. “Come dance with me.”

Slater pulled her up, and she laughed as he wiggled his butt as she followed behind him. The music was current dance music. Sammy looked around the dance floor and noticed all the young people moving around. Jane was shimmying against a tall, dark, and handsome man, and Sandy, Jake, and Zack were giggling about.

Slater danced with her for a couple of songs before Sandy pulled her and Jane over to do the chicken dance. By the end of the song Sammy was laughing so hard at Slater’s attempt to skip around she’d completely forgotten about her exhausted, scared state from earlier after what she’d done to help Gwen.

After a couple of slow songs and trying to convince Brock to come and dance she took a break and sat by him.

Brock grinned at her. “I liked watching you have fun.” He turned to Slater. “It was even better watching you make an idiot out of yourself.”

Slater winked at her. “I thought I looked good.”

Sammy giggled as a picture of his skipping came to mind. “I had fun.”

Brock pulled her over so she sat on his lap. “I have something we can all do together. Why don’t you come to the gym with us this week? Brock and I are taking over self-defense classes, so Zack and Jake can go on their honeymoon and they can relax when they come home and focus on Sandy having the babies.”

“I don’t know. I’m not a fan of violence. I don’t know how I’d do with all that fighting going on around me.”

Slater reached for her hand and squeezed it. “That’s fine if you don’t want to do it, but it’s self-defense. We don’t teach you how to fight. We teach you how to defend yourself. So if someone tried to hurt you and we weren’t around, you could defend yourself and maybe prevent yourself from being hurt or give you time to get away.”