Page 52 of Desired By Eros

“Perseus, this is Eros,” she introduced. “Eros, this is my brother, Perseus.”

“Nice to meet you.” Eros took the hand he offered.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Mom.”

“As I said earlier, all good things,” Jean assured him.

Eros’s eyes narrowed at him. “Are you?—”

“I hope you enjoy your stay here.” Perseus pulled his hand away from him. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a phone call.” He nodded at his parents and Psyche before turning on his heel and striding off.

“He’s really busy, especially this time of year.” Jean turned to Psyche. “It’s a pity you couldn’t come earlier or stay longer.” She clucked her tongue. “But I know how much your work means to you.” She gave her an affectionate smile. “So glad you’re home. We’ll see you later.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Psyche! You’re here.” Agnes appeared from the doorway to the left, followed by Christine and a third figure—a middle-aged, balding man dressed casually in a sweater and chinos. “Oh, so you did come, Lord Eros.” A line appeared between her eyebrows.

“You invited me, didn’t you?”

“Lord Eros,” Christine greeted. “It’s nice to see you again.” Strangely, there were no flirty glances or coy smiles from her today. In fact, the tone of her greeting mirrored Agnes’s.

“Allow me to introduce my husband and mate, James Springfield,” Agnes said. “James, this is Eros, Psyche’s, uh, friend.”

A pang plucked at her chest. The wordfrienddidn’t quite fit what she and Eros were, at least, not anymore if she were going by her checklist. Yet, Eros didn’t correct her sister.

“Nice to you meet ya.” James held out his hand, which Eros shook. “And Psyche, welcome back. How’s those dinosaurs?”

Psyche quite liked her brother-in-law as he was affable and funny, which was the complete opposite of Agnes. Despite this, her sister’s wolf chose him, a human at that, to be her mate.“It’s all great, James.”

“Can’t wait to hear more about it later.” He placed an arm around Agnes. “Should we go get you ready for the pack swim, babe?”

“Sure, but I need to speak with Psyche first.”

“Yeah,” Christine chimed in, her gaze flicking toward Eros. “We both do.”

“About what?” she asked.

“It’s private,” Agnes insisted. “Let’s go to the library.”

Her chest tightened, as the last thing she wanted after a long day of traveling and being assaulted by all kinds of sights, sounds, and textures was to be pulled into a private conversation with her sisters. But Agnes was already reaching for her arm, and she braced herself for the contact.

“I’m sure it can wait.” Eros deftly maneuvered her away from Agnes’s grasp. “Psyche, which way to your room?”

“It’s upstairs.”

“Alpha, Jean, thank you for the warm welcome. And I accept your invitation to the pack swim. We’ll see you later.”

Psyche allowed Eros to guide her up the stairs before she led him down the hall to her bedroom. Like the rest of the house, it was sleek, modern, and clean. Some people might think itlooked cold and impersonal, like going to a hotel room, but this was just how she liked it. There was no clutter, few sensory distractions, and clear visual boundaries. Her mother knew her exact preferences when it came to her living space and ensured everything was just right whenever she came home to visit.

“Psyche,” Eros began. “Your brother…there’s something about him…”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Perseus is adopted,” she explained. “It’s not a secret or anything, and it’s pretty obvious since he doesn’t look like the rest of us.”

He had been the son of Jean’s childhood best friend, who had died giving birth to Perseus. The identity of his father was unknown, and with no one else to take care of him, her parents had adopted him. But blood or not, he was part of the family, and anyone who said he wasn’t faced the wrath of the entire Gialamas family and Vancouver pack.

“I see.” Stepping toward the balcony, he opened the door that led out onto the terrace overlooking the ocean. “Stunning.”

“It is.” This was her favorite part of her room. Growing up, whenever she was overwhelmed, just looking at the clean, clear blue water of the Pacific Ocean was enough to calm her nerves.

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