Chapter 115

“Um,” I say, feeling utterly awkward as I look between Ben’s slack jaw and Jesse’s appalled expression. I am suddenly very, very aware of Jackson’s forearm tucked neatly below my ass, holding me up against him, and the way that my leg intuitively curled itself over his hip, like it belongs there.

Ben’s mouth drops open further as he realizes that this is not a mistake – that I’m not fighting Jackson, demanding that he put me down.

“Get off of her!” Jesse shouts, starting forward, livid, raising his fist like he’s going to beat the shit out of Jacks.

Jackson snarls, taking a step away, holding me possessively to him as Rafe stands and jumps between my mate and my cousin.

“Whoa, whoa, Jess!” Rafe shouts, putting out a hand to stop our cousin in his tracks. “You don’t have all the information here!” Jesse obligingly skitters to a stop, looking between Rafe and me with his mouth open.

“What are you talking about!?” Jesse shouts, staring at Rafe in shock. “You’re just – you’re okay with this!? What the hell happened out there –“

“You didn’t tell them?” Jackson murmurs, turning his face to me with a little frown of confusion.

“Tell us what?” Ben asks, eager, sitting forward and resting his chin in his palm. His expression has turned from one of shock to delight at the drama unfolding before him.

“Um,” I reply, going still with awkward fear, having absolutely no idea what to say.

“No, she didn’t tell them,” Rafe sighs, turning back to Jesse. “Though she should have –“

“What information am I missing here,” Jesse says, speaking fast in his outrage and growing panic. “Because, Rafe, I actually think you’re the one missing some facts – Ariel and Jackson cannot date, she’s already –“

“Jesse!” I shout, bursting into action in my panic and wriggling in Jackson’s arms, desperate to get down. “Shut up!”

“Shut up?” Jesse asks, sufficiently diverted but turning to me now, angry. “What…why do you…Ari!” he shouts, stepping towards me now as Jackson hesitantly lowers me to my feet, but doesn’t let me out of his arms. “What the fuck is going on!”

Ben just stares between all of us in shock and delight as Rafe sighs, shrugging at me. “It’s time, Ari. You should just let everyone know now – no reason to keep it a secret anymore.”

I open my mouth, not knowing what to say, feeling that Jackson is looking down at me with love and support in his eyes.

And then, just at the absolute worst moment possible…a little knock comes at the open door.

“Hey, guys, did dinner come up yet?”

We’re all completely silent as we turn to look at Luca, who cheerfully steps into the room and presses the door shut behind him.

“Is Ari here?” he asks, looking around.

And then his eyes fall on me, peeking out from Jackson’s other side, my mate’s arm still wrapped around me. Luca’s face falls slack, probably matching mine for shock and pallor.

Shit shit shit.

How am I not better prepared for this!?

Luca processes his shock faster than mine, instantly moving into rage.

“Get your fucking hands,” he snarls, taking a dangerous step forward into the room, his canines lengthening as he levels a murderous glare at Jackson, “off of my fucking mate.”

“Wait, what?” Rafe snaps, taking an aggressive step towards Luca.

Jackson snarls in response, releasing me from his embrace only to tuck me protectively behind his back. “She is my mate, Grant,” he growls, and I can feel his rage pulsing through him now at the claim Luca is making on me.

The claim Jackson doesn’t know that Luca has every right to make.

“Stop!” I gasp, sensing the perilous edge that both of my mates are teetering on right now, about to tip into violence. I dart to the right, trying to get around Jackson, to meet Luca’s eyes, sending a desperate plea down both of my bonds to stop, to calm, to wait –

Because both of them, I can tell, are on the brink of shifting. And neither is going to survive it if they tear into each other now.

“Ariel!” Luca snaps, “get over here!”

His words are desperate, a plea as much as a command. He’s asking me, publicly, to recognize him – to tell everyone who he is to me, what we are to each other.

Instinctually my feet move, and I step to Jackson’s side, eager to get between them. Jackson gasps, his hand reaching out, grasping my arm. “Ariel,” he stutters, shocked, “what are you –“

“Get off of her!” Luca roars again, taking another step towards us, his eyes locking on Jackson’s hand wrapped possessively around my arm.

“Luca!” Rafe shouts, just as Jesse shouts Jackson’s name, both of them baffled.

I shake my head at Jacks, begging him to understand as I keep moving forward, as I place myself between my mates. And the moment I step actually between them, holding out a hand, palm out, towards each, begging them to stop –

I realize that it was a mistake.

I mean, I don’t know what else I could have done, but it was a mistake.

Because in that moment, each of my mates sees that I’m not denying the other. Luca’s eyes flash to Jackson’s just as Jackson’s move to his. There’s a brief moment of silence before Jacks releases a horrible, desperate snarl. Luca roars in response before, in a flash, they both shift into their wolves.

Ben realizes what is happening half a second before everyone else, and he’s the only one to move in time. My friend releases a shout, hurling himself up from the couch and leaping over the coffee table to tackle me to the floor just as the two wolves crash into each other above us.

And god, the sound they make –

The crashing roars they release sound unending, so loud in our tight stone room that it feels my eardrums will shatter. Ben wraps an arm around me, pulling me away, back against the stone of the fireplace as I cover my ears with my hands, tears slipping down my cheeks. I try to look, but god, there’s blood –

And as each of my mate’s emotions rage through me, I’m completely overwhelmed. I no longer have any idea which of my emotions are mine, and which are theirs – I want to scream, and scratch, and bite, and intercede, and stop them, and –

Somewhere, outside, I feel Ben wrap me up in a tight ball as more noise adds to the fury –

And suddenly, somehow, the feelings change – shock and confusion adding to the anger, and a sudden sense of shame, and restraint –

I open my eyes, my senses slowly coming back to me, and my face goes still when I see that there are four wolves in front of me now – Rafe’s huge dark wolf snarling as he holds Jackson’s scruff in his mouth, not biting him but a warning growl rumbling deep in his chest. Jesse’s familiar brown wolf stands between Rafe, Jackson, and the fourth wolf, who is a lighter brown – almost blonde – panting and snarling his warning. But then Jesse shifts, his hands out between them.

“This is done!” Jesse shouts, glaring viciously between Jackson and Luca. “Shift the fuck back! We are getting to the bottom of this, right now!”

There’s a long pause as we all look around at each other before Jackson shakes himself, just a little, and Rafe loosens his grip on his neck. Luca shifts then, and my eyes go directly to him, groaning when I see his bloody lip, the swelling already starting around his eye.

I move, wanting to be next to him instantly, to check on his wounds – but Ben tightens his hands on my arms. “You stay…right here…” he murmurs in my ear. “For just a little longer, okay?”

Realizing that he’s right, I stop, though I can’t stop the whimper in my throat as Luca stares at me, appalled.

There’s another flash to my right, and when I look I see Jackson getting slowly to his feet. He didn’t come out of it as badly as Luca did, but I see his hand move instantly to his jaw, rubbing it like he’s assessing the damage.

Rafe shifts a moment later, turning to me in his rage. “Ariel!?” he says, glaring down at me. “Is there something that you want to explain here!?”

“Um,” I say, glancing at Ben, who sighs and releases his grip on me. The two of us get to our feet and I look awkwardly around the room, tears welling in my eyes, not knowing where to begin. I feel so horribly selfish and overwhelmed – because I know I need to tell them – all of them.

It’s just – I have no idea where to start…

“Ariel,” Luca says, his voice desperate and heartbroken as he takes a step towards me. A snarl breaks from Jackson and my head whips towards him, but I see Rafe’s hand out in a flash, catching Jackson in the chest.

“Stop,” Rafe growls, glaring at the other Alpha who only he could probably hold back. “Let them talk.”

I turn my head back to Luca, who is just staring at me, crushed. “Why…Ariel, why is he saying that he’s your mate?”

“Because,” I whisper, locking my eye with his. “Because, Luca…he is.”