Page 128 of Pack: Posy 3

His eyes went far away, and he was quiet as Mase got Cole and Wyatt separated. I didn't think he was going to answer, but as our brothers cleaned up the broken chair and Ash picked himself up off the floor, Jay looked at me and smiled brightly.

"Six years ago, I would have said yes in a second. Now? No. I respect Quartz, and I admire him. He has a lot of good qualities that other shifters would never notice, let alone acknowledge. A softer, less mature wolf would have gotten me killed or walked all over, although it took me a long time to recognize that, and even longer to appreciate it. I needed my opposite in a wolf as much as he needed his opposite in a human. I wouldn't trade him for any other wolf, even if he is a pain in the ass more often than not."

"Aww." I went over and hugged him tightly. "You're a good man, Jay Carson. And that's two dollars in the swear jar, please."

He hugged me back while chuckling.

Meanwhile, Mase brought another wooden chair in from the kitchen and pushed a smirking Wyatt in it, sat a sullen Cole down between me and Jay, and took the seat next to Wyatt.

"Now that our dates are sorted, let's do the apology cards," he said, his normally unperturbed expression now perturbed. "If you're still willing to help us, Peri.

"Of course!" I chirped brightly and stopped hugging Jay. "Would you come with me to carry the supplies down? We can work here at the dining room table."

There weren't many furnishings in the rest of the house, other than our bedroom, and that's only because Mom and Dad gifted us with a whole bedroom suite as a mating gift.

Mase agreed and followed me up the stairs. As we headed toward what would become my craft room, he touched my shoulder and I stopped walking to look up at him.

"We'd buy you anything you wanted or needed, yet your new house is nearly bare," he said softly. "Is it your pride or Ty's standing in the way?"

"Neither. We want to furnish it in our own time with our own money." Seeing him scowl, I patted his cheek. "We're not being rude or proud, but we don't want any handouts. We have a plan for our future and we want to build it with our own hands. Ty has a good-paying job and I'm going to start waitressing at Roger's in the afternoons once school starts."

He opened his mouth, and I knew he was going to protest that, but I laid my fingers over his lips.

"Mase, you of all people understand the need to stand on your own two feet," I told him. "Plus, it will give me something to do while he's at football practice so I'm not home alone and can't get roped into free babysitting for Mom."

He smiled at that for a second, but a frown wiped it away pretty fast.

"You have enough food and toiletries and stuff, though, right? I swear, Peri, if you hide something like that from us, we will be so angry with you. And this state of affairs isn't going to continue for long. I'm going to make it my mission to grow Ty's investment portfolio exponentially, since you won't take any help from us."

"We have plenty of everything we need. Mama and Papa gave each of us money for our birthdays, and your mate also offered us any amount we needed to set up house. We told her we'd let her know and now I'm telling you the same. If we get in trouble, we'll tell you, but we're happy and taken care of, Mase. I promise you."

I could see he was surprised to know Posy had offered us money, but he shouldn't have been. She was the sweetest, most generous and practical person I'd ever met.

The perfect mate for our brothers, Dove chortled with glee.Especially now that she's not afraid to put them in their place!

Agreed, I grinned.

30: Crafting with My Bros

Peri

Mason and I carried down all the card-making supplies I had and spread them out on the table. I showed the boys the different papers they could use, and Wyatt immediately grabbed the watercolor paper and asked if I had the paints, too. Fortunately, I did, and I passed them over to him with the few brushes I had.

"Will they work?" I asked hopefully, knowing how fussy he was about his art supplies.

"Yes, these will be fine. I'm going to get water and some paper towels."

And he was off to the kitchen.

"Don't use my good glasses!" I called. "Grab the mismatched coffee mugs. They're only fifty cents at the thrift store!"

"Thrift store?" Ash's head whipped up and his eyes narrowed at me. "Why are you shopping at a thrift store?"

"Don't, Ash," I said softly. "Leave it for now. Please? There's been enough drama for today. Plus, I have Ty in my ear snarling about how his luna is crying because she's worried that her mates won't ever come home since she was mean to them."

"She's crying?" His dark eyes filled up with tears.

"She really thinks we won't come home?" Mase's mouth pulled into a taut line.

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