37. Silas

Eva sat huddled in an armchair by the fire, shell-shocked, as I picked up the Christmas tree and attempted to clear away some of the mess. This wasn't the first time we'd fought each other. And it wouldn't be the last. But it was the first time Cole had lost his temper quite so spectacularly.

I had to admit, I'd come pretty close to losing my shit too, but the sight of Eva's panicked expression when Cole attacked Tanner was enough to restore my sanity. She had no clue what was happening and one of us needed to make sure she didn't try to run away.

"It's all my fault," she muttered, distressed.

"No, it's not." I lifted her small body and sat her back down on my lap. Tanner's scent was all over her and my wolf wasn't happy, but I pushed down the instinctive need to add my scent to the mix. "There's stuff Tanner hasn't explained, which you need to know about," I told her, grinding my teeth with irritation.

It was so typical of Tanner. Act first, ignore the fallout. He never listened to us - or anyone. Just did whatever the fuck he wanted. Damn the consequences.

"I'm sorry." Tears trickled down her cheeks and my heart stuttered in my chest.

"Sorry for what?" My wolf whined miserably. He was upset because she was upset. And also pissed that Tanner had mated Eva first.

"Sorry for messing everything up. Me being here is causing problems with you guys. I don't want to mess up your friendship." She tried to get up, but I held her down firmly.

"Eva, none of this is your fault. Like I said, there are things going on that you don't know about, which Tanner will explain when he stops being a dickhead. You being here isn't the problem. We want you here." I stroked her hair with my other hand, and she relaxed a bit.

"I don't like it when you fight."

"Sugar, fighting is normal. We fight to establish dominance, resolve issues, and to burn off excess energy. The only serious fights are the leadership ones between the alpha and whoever challenges them. They are to the death if a wolf won't yield. But they don't happen often. The days of pack wars are long gone. Most packs get along peacefully, and when there are problems, they get resolved amicably."

"Still don't like it," she muttered.

I got it. I really did. Eva hadn't grown up in our world. To her, fighting was pure aggression, where one party was trying to hurt the other. It was for us too, but not all that often.

A good tussle was a fun way to let off some steam, and also a precursor to mating between two unattached wolves.

Eva flinched at every vicious growl and snarl that echoed in from outside. I just hoped Cole was tearing chunks out of Tanner's ass. He deserved it.

"Trust me, it'll be fine." She snuggled into my chest and my wolf preened his approval. We both wished we'd been brave enough to claim her first, but unlike Tanner, we'd been trying to take it slowly. Eva had had a lot to deal with, with her abusive guardian and also with us. It was a lot and while she'd made great progress, she still had a long way to go.

The door swung open and my two idiot brothers staggered inside. I was happy to see Tanner had some nasty gouges out of his side, which would likely scar. Served the fucker right.

"You two finished?" I asked.

Tanner's gaze was on Eva, but Cole nodded. "Yeah."

From the bite marks on Cole's neck, it was clear Tanner had won the fight, which didn't surprise me. Cole was a powerful wolf, but Tanner had the edge on him, hence why the local packs called on him to resolve security issues and other problems. If there was a wolf or a human that needed putting down, Tanner was the guy to get the job done.

"Eva, come here." The edge to Tanner's words that told me his wolf was acting up. Most likely because he hadn't spent enough time with Eva to cement the mating bond between them.

Wolves typically holed up with a new mate for several days after mating, to allow the bond to settle. It helped to prevent explosions of aggression when other wolves were around. One night together was not enough. To be honest, it surprised me that Tanner hadn't gone full psycho on our asses just for looking at Eva, but it was likely because his wolf recognized that Eva was our mate too.

"You're hurt," she said, sounding upset about it.

The asshole smiled. "I'm fine, baby. I'll be right as rain in a couple of hours." Eva didn't look convinced, but she allowed him to pull her into his embrace.

"Is someone going to explain what's going on?" We all glanced at each other in surprise at the steel in her voice. Our little human had come a long way in the last few weeks. She was finally finding her backbone.

Good.

She'd need to stand up for herself once we started mixing with the shifter community. The unattached pack females in the area all thought they had a claim on each of us, so once they learned we were no longer available, fur would fly. We'd protect her, of course, but she still needed to show them she wasn't afraid of their shit.

"Tanner?" Cole snapped. Our brother rolled his eyes obnoxiously and sighed.

"Fine, I'll explain!" Eva turned to look at him expectantly. "We didn't just have sex last night, Eva. We mated. When I bit you, it sealed the mate bond."