5. Bryce

We decided to wait outside for Radley since our presence inside the diner seemed to make her nervous. Ever since she unknowingly started reaching out through the mate bond, I've had this need to talk to her. But since it's not safe for us, and Radley's human, we've had to wait until she was ready.

"Will you stop?" Mason says with a laugh, laying his hand on my bouncing leg.

"I'm nervous," I admit. "What if she doesn't like us? The mate bond doesn't mean anything. She could reject us."

"She won't," Nash replies, leaning up between the seats and crossing his arms on the console. "She's just confused right now."

Mason reaches over and cups the back of my neck, making sure his thumb is sitting on his mate mark. He rubs his thumb back and forth over it, and it never fails to calm me down. I have matching marks on each side from them. It's a night that I'll never forget. Although we claimed each other as our pack, we didn't solidify the bond until we were all eighteen, which is normal. Mason and Nash set the whole thing up so I'd be comfortable after it happened because the marks are painful. It's like tying your soul to another. We can reach out to each other through the bond, just like Radley can. Mason's dad gave us our cabin when we were eighteen, and the day we moved in was the day they claimed me for the rest of our lives. Most packs actively seek out an omega, but these guys never did. They wanted me as I was, even with me being a beta. I was rejected by my own family for being a beta. My father declared he'd only have alphas or omegas, so the day my wolf showed up, and it was a beta, he shipped me to live with my aunt. As much as the rejection hurt then, I'm thankful for it now. It's how I ended up in Light Point.

The first day I felt Radley through the bond, I was depressed and still trying to accept my place with the guys at the tender age of eight. I felt this warmth spread through my whole body, and then I saw her. She had long red hair in pigtails, bright green eyes, and chubby, freckled cheeks. I ran as fast as I could to find Mason and Nash. They had the same vision, so we went to talk to Mason's dad, who told us about the mate bonds.

"Here she comes," Mason says, squeezing the back of my neck.

We slowly slide from the truck, and she shyly walks up to us. She's so gorgeous. My wolf is dying to mark her, and I have to focus hard to keep him from making his presence known. "Hey," I smile. "How was work?"

She relaxes slightly and smiles back. "It was okay. I'm sorry for sounding rude in there about Rebecca. Thank you."

"No thanks needed," Nash replies. "Would you like to talk here or go somewhere else?"

Radley chews on her bottom lip, thinking, before blowing a breath out. "Can we go back to my place? I feel like I'm going to need several drinks after this, and I want to change out of these clothes."

"Only if you're comfortable with that," Mason responds. "We want to help you, but we won't do it at the expense of your comfort." I love that man. Mason can be gruff and demanding, but he truly takes care of us as our pack leader.

"I'll be fine," Radley answers. "I don't live far, so you can follow me if you want." Mason nods and goes to walk her to her car. I hip-check him out of the way, flash him a grin over my shoulder, and open her car door for her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I make sure she's safely inside before shutting her door and practically skip back to Mason's truck.

"You little shit," he grumbles under his breath.

We get back into the truck, and Mason backs out of the spot before pulling onto the main road behind Radley's car. I'm a ball of nervous excitement that she's finally going to be able to get to know us. Luther made sure we knew that she could still reject the bond, but I'm going to push all that to the side. I'll make sure she knows she's supposed to be with us.

Wolf shifters have gotten a bad reputation in Light Point thanks to a few bad shifters. This made humans scared of us, and rumors spread like wildfire. We were painted as bloodthirsty savages who would kill just for fun. But what they've forgotten is we're actually protectors. We are born to protect anyone who lives on our lands—humans included.

Mason pulls in beside Radley at her apartment complex, and I jump from the truck, not waiting on the other guys. When I get to the hood, Mason grabs my arm and gives me a warning look for being too eager. My wolf whines at being chastised, and Mason must sense it because he squeezes my arm to soften the blow. We follow Radley to her door and wait for her to wave us in.

"I'm sorry it's such a mess. My grandma brought over some stuff today," she explains, shutting the door behind her. "Get comfortable. I'm going to change real quick." I watch her disappear down the hallway and shut a door behind her.

Mason leads me over to the couch and pulls me to sit beside him. "I know you're excited, Bryce, but you need to bring it down a few notches."

Nash sits on my other side and squeezes my thigh. "We don't want to scare her."

"I know, but I can smell her everywhere after last night. It's imprinted in my nose."

"We all can," Mason says. "But I'm not even sure she understands she was there."

Last night, we could feel her there, and then her scent hit us like a freight train. Her arousal was swirling around us, making the whole night even fucking hotter. The fact that she was getting off to us fucking had us messing around all night long. I woke up sore as hell this morning, but it was well worth it. I love it when my alphas use me for their pleasure because they always make sure I'm taken care of. They've never left me wanting, so I've never minded waking up to one of their cocks already inside me.

"Stop," Mason hisses, and I give him a sheepish smile. I sometimes forget they can feel what I feel through the bond.

Radley comes into the living room dressed in an oversized shirt and shorts. Her red hair is piled into a messy bun on top of her head. She sits in the chair across from us and tucks her legs under her.

"Doing some light reading?" Nash asks, gesturing to the coffee table. I didn't even notice the stacks of books sitting there until now. My mind is only on Radley.

"Can I just be honest here?" Radley asks and sits forward in the chair. We all nod, and she starts chewing her bottom lip, something I've noticed that she does when she's nervous. "I'm just now finding out things I always thought I imagined are real. I've had vivid dreams for as long as I can remember. My parents tried to fix me by taking me to psychologists, saying I had an overactive imagination and I couldn't tell reality from fiction. My grandma is the only one who's ever been honest with me. These dreams…aren't dreams, are they?"

Mason regards her slowly, making sure she's ready for this. He finally nods and sits back on the couch. "They aren't dreams."

"And you guys aren't…" she buries her face in her hands. "I can't believe I'm about to ask this. But you guys aren't entirely human, are you?"

"Radley," Mason says softly, waiting for her to lift her face. When she does, I can see how warily she's watching him. "Ask the question you want to ask."

"Can you turn into wolves?" she blurts.

"Yes," Mason answers.

Radley wraps her arms around her waist. "Wow. Okay."

"I know this is a lot to take in," I say, sitting on the edge of the couch. I want to reach out to her so badly, but Mason's wolf growls in my mind, and I know he's right. I can't risk freaking her out. "Why don't you tell us what you've read about?"

"I don't even know where to start. Wolves, bonds, mates, born, bitten, late developers. You name it. I feel like it's a big jumble in my head right now."

"Do you want all the answers to those, or do you want to ask us questions?" Nash asks, and something about his deep voice makes her shiver.

"I think I'd rather ask questions," she says quietly. "The night in the woods, at my grandma's cabin, you guys were there?"

"We were," Mason answers. "We thought you might be ready because you've never manifested yourself that way. We were wrong. I apologize if we scared you."

"What do you mean by manifest?"

Mason clears his throat and leans forward to brace his arms on his legs. "Before, when we'd seen you in these dreams, you were just an image. Like we would only get flashes of you, but that night, you came to us."

Radley's face turns deep red, and she groans. "Oh my God. So, last night…?"

"Was real," I answer.

"Holy shit. I'm so sorry. I never should have been there! I should have left or whatever?—"

"Radley," Nash cuts into her rambling. "It's fine. We knew you were there. We could have stopped."

"Why didn't you?" she whispers.

"Because we wanted you there," Mason says, his voice getting a little raspier, showing how this is affecting him.

"We could smell you," I blurt and try not to cower when Mason gives me another warning growl.

"What?" Radley squeaks.

"Your scent is unique to us," Nash explains, but his wolf isn't any happier with me. "Even in human form, our senses are magnified." Radley's eyes widen, and I can sense her discomfort.

"We don't want to overwhelm you, so why don't you sleep on the information you have tonight? We can meet back up tomorrow," Mason suggests.

Radley nods and then looks at the three of us. "I've seen you guys for a really long time."

"Since you were eight," Nash responds. "It's the same time we started seeing you."

"Why then?"

"It's when we formed our pack," I say.

"Why, though?" Radley pulls her legs up to her chest, wraps her arms around them, and sits her chin on her knees. "Why me?"

Mason looks at me and Nash before looking back at Radley. This is where it can make or break everything. If she rejects us, we'll leave, no questions asked, but it will hurt like hell. Not just mentally but physically. I can feel Mason and Nash struggling through the bond, but it's overrun with an overwhelming amount of fear coming from Radley. I know the minute that Mason finally comes to a decision.

"Because you're ours."