Page 106 of Family: Posy 4

"Plus, Quartz will rip him to shreds if he even looks like he's going to try something," King Julian's voice came from behind us.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, I thought.

My brothers and I turned to stare at him. Like us, he was half-dressed in a suit.

Unlike us, though, he has others to change into if that fancy one gets ruined, I griped.

"Don't you have a coronation to get ready for?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't need to make a house call. We have things under control here."

"Naw, dude,wedon't," Ash disagreed, shaking his head and making his curls bounce wildly. "Our badass bitch does!"

"I see that," the king said, amusement dancing in his eyes as he stared at the center of the clearing.

We spun around and saw Maple had laid down with his head in our mate's lap as she gently stroked his fur. His eyes closed and, seconds later, he gave in and let Ethan shift back.

"I don't like our girl holding a naked man," I grumbled, earning a grunt from my brothers.

I didn't know if Posy heard me or not, but she whipped off her t-shirt and draped it over Ethan's lower half. Fortunately, she was wearing a sports bra under it, or we would have growled even louder.

"Goddess have mercy," King Julian whispered.

His eyes took in the scars running down Posy's back, then the dark pink craters on her shoulders and upper arms, and a little rumble of power rolled around the clearing as he fought his anger.

"Those white lines on her back are from a silver knife," he growled, his eyes flaring green with wolf light, "but what did he use on her shoulders?"

"Mercury," Mase rumbled, Garnet heavy in his voice. "Liquid freaking mercury."

"And what's above her waistband? Right in the center of her back?"

"His initials," I spat. "Burned them into her with a silver brand dipped in mercury."

King Julian, who I knew had seen and inflicted much worse himself, growled deep in his throat as Onyx gleamed in his eyes.

"By all that's holy, I wish I'd had that bastard in my dungeon to torture for a few years. How could he do that to such a sweet, delicate creature?"

"He's in the ground and she's alive." Ash went over and laid a hand on the king's shoulder. "That's what matters."

Then we heard Posy say, "Sleep, Maple. Sleep," in her Ultimate Luna Voice, and all of us yawned, our eyelids feeling heavy.

The king blinked and his lips parted, but he didn't yawn.

"Powerful, isn't it?" Wyatt smirked at him.

"That's... Is that what you feel when I roll outmypower?"

"Close," Mase admitted. "Hers is incredible, but I canalmostfight it, and I can move under it. Yours is absolute and holds me down like a lead blanket."

"She's getting better about pinpointing it, too," I told him. "The first time, at the training center, weallhad to obey her. This time, we only yawned."

"Boys, you—" The king shook his head and frowned. "Don't let this knowledge spread too far outside your pack. If some power-hungry bastard ever caught wind of what she can do, he wouldn't hesitate to take her from you—"

Hearing his warning, Quartz let out a roar so furious and power-laden, branches fell and a few saplings toppled over.

Well, this just went to the next level.

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Posy

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