“I…” He seemed lost for words.
“But don’t worry, puppy,” she said with a smile as she tapped his cheek with her palm. “I’ll make sure to point it out to you each time.”
“Puppy?” he asked, sounding rather affronted. Obviously he was used to the fawning type of respect Sheila had been projecting.
“What? You prefer ‘pooch’ perhaps?” She couldn’t stifle the giggle, and he moved her away from him to look into her eyes.
“You’re teasing me?” he asked with a relieved smile.
“Of course,” she said as she tried to comprehend his reaction. “Hasn’t anyone teased you before?”
“Actually, no,” he said as he pulled her back into his embrace.
“Have you always been the alpha?”
“In a way the answer is yes. My father was the alpha, and when I was born, everybody knew when I grew up I’d take over the pack.”
“So you were what, born to be king?”
He nodded. “You could say that.”
“Holy shit. You’re the werewolf equivalent of royalty?” He laughed, setting her mind at ease even though he didn’t actually deny it. “What about Isaac and Daegan?”
He let out a deep sigh and pulled her closer. “Twins, even triplets are quite common in werewolf families, but identical twins are rare. So rare in fact that for generations identical twins have been considered bad luck, a curse on a pack or a dire warning of things to come. If they’d been born to someone other than the alpha and his mate, they may not have survived their childhood.”
“What? You can’t be serious. The pack would have killed them?”
“No,” he was quick to deny. “More like…they wouldn’t have been protected.” He took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment, as if he were trying to find the words to explain. “Just like humans, werewolves raise their children in a family environment. But like wolves in the wild, werewolf families create a pack environment for protection. In a way, every adult provides for and protects the offspring of everyone in the pack.” She nodded her understanding and waited for him to continue. “But accidents still happen, children still find ways to make mischief, and of course teenagers simply think they’re indestructible. If the adults in charge somehow turned a blind eye to the child’s dangerous behavior, the outcome could be devastating.”
“Putting them at risk like that still sounds barbaric,” she said quietly, but she’d been called to enough domestic disputes in her time as a police officer to know that the human way wasn’t necessarily any better.
“It is,” he conceded with a sigh, “but fortunately, in our pack at least, most can see past the old superstitions and see Isaac and Daegan for what they are—decent men who contribute greatly to the pack’s well-being.”
“What about Sheila?”
“Until about ten minutes ago, I would have said Sheila was one of the many. But after some of the things Isaac and Daegan just told me, I’m no longer sure of Sheila’s concern for our pack or the werewolves in it.”
“Would you have married her?” It hurt to ask, but she needed to know. She felt a connection to these men whether she wanted to deny it or not.
“Extremely unlikely,” Xavier said with a relaxed laugh. “Apart from the fact that the woman drives me crazy, do you think Isaac or Daegan would have let her get that close to me? They know what she’s like. She has apparently never even tried to hide her contempt for them unless I was around.”
“So why didn’t they tell you earlier?”
Xavier shook his head slightly and shrugged.
“Because it wasn’t necessary,” Daegan said as he stepped around the corner. “Ready to go home, beautiful?”
“I…don’t know.” It wasn’t like her to be so uncertain, but she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she already was home.
“Come home with us,” Xavier said as he hugged her tighter.
“I want to,” she admitted, “but I need to open the shop at nine in the morning.”
“How about we promise to have you home in plenty of time. Isaac and I will even help you in the shop.”
“Uh-huh,” she said skeptically even though she was very tempted. “And how much do you know about jewelry?”
“Not a thing,” Daegan admitted cheerfully. “But we’re quite prepared to do whatever our mate needs done. What do you say, beautiful? Come home with us. Let us make last night’s dream into reality.”
She must be crazy. Something they did to her last night must have knocked a screw loose, because she nodded and let Xavier lift her in his arms and carry her to his car. Even knowing none of the feelings she had for these men could be real—that sort of connection took years, not hours—she was willing to follow what her heart wanted.