Page 13 of Family: Posy 4

"I won't lie to you, but I want you to promise to hear the whole answer before you react, okay?" I gave her a serious look.

"I promise," she said.

Still, I hesitated as trepidation glimmered in her eyes.

"Remember, we didn't knowyouwere our mate. She was some faceless figure in our future, so don't take it personally," I delayed, then decided to just say it. "He was happy we'd all stay together, but disappointed about sharing. Can you guess why?"

Her eyes never left mine as she shook her head.

"You can't?" I raised one eyebrow. "Really?"

"Because of Quartz?"

"That was some of it. Jay should be the one telling you this, but I know him. Heneverwill, so I'm telling you to help you understand him a little better," I admitted, then sighed. "He was afraid the rest of us would overshadow him and he'd end up being crowded out."

She reacted exactly as I thought she would. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in a little o, making me chuckle.

"Think about it, cutie. Mase and Cole are ultra-dominant, powerful alphas with charisma to match. In a room full of people, everyone looks at them first. Anyone but the king would feel lesser next to them."

"They can both be scary," she said, which I guessed was how she interpreted alpha charisma.

"Which one do you think is scarier?"

"Mason." She didn't even hesitate.

"How so?" Now my curiosity was piqued. "I always thought Cole was scary because of his hot temper. You know, that jerk tried to knock my teeth out while we were at Peri's making your cards? All because I made a simple comment."

"Didyouknockhisteeth out?" She tilted her head to the right and blinked up at me.

How does shealwaysknow?I wondered.

Mate smart. Mate understands us, Granite said with a proud smile.Remember what I said, Wy. Never bet against mate.

Hush, wolf.

"Youdid, didn't you? Fifth star, you shouldn't hurt your brothers."

"It was him or me, and I only knocked out one tooth!" I protested. "He needs to learn to control his temper!"

"And maybeyouneed to learn when he's done playing and wants you to lay off." She wagged her index finger in my face. "You have to admit, you push a lot."

Leaning down, I caught her finger between my lips and gently bit it before releasing it.

"Part of my sparkling personality, Posy." I grinned at her tomato-red face. "Needless to say, we all knew our mate wouldn't neglect or forget aboutme. I'm always going to make myself known, even if the attention I get is negative."

"You bad boy," she teased me with a giggle, which mademegiggle.

"Do you thinkI'mscary? Or Ash or Jay?"

"I think you all can be very scary when you want to be, although I think Ash deliberately downplays that side of himself to appear harmless." She shivered. "Ha! I doubthewas worried about his mate neglecting him. He's too big to miss."

"So is his personality. Jay, though, always felt like he wasn't very interesting. Ash and I told him lots of times that Mase waswaymore boring. I mean, Mase was always working or studying, but Jay came up with the best ideas for what trouble we could get into next. Now, I ask you, which one is more boring?"

"Wyatt!" she gasped and whacked me on the bicep with the back of her little hand. "Not one of you is boring! And don't mock Mason. He had to take on a big responsibility—"

"Sorry, Posy. I was only teasing." I decided she didn't need to know we actuallyhadsaid that to both Jay and Mase's faces. "I respect Mase immensely, but now I need to know. Why do you think he's scarier than Cole?"

"Because he's always so tightly controlled and hides everything he's thinking and feeling behind that blank face. It makes you think he's safe right up until he's not."

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