Zachary
Zachary sat quietly in their den with Gabe. He couldn’t get her out of mind, this little Riley Stern.
“She really doesn’t know anything,” Gabe mumbled incredulously. Zachary growled softly, shifting his position a little.
“Yeah, she’s clueless about it all.” He couldn’t believe it either. He’d never heard of a half-breed knowing absolutely nothing. Normally, the shifter parent would slowly bring them in but she didn’t have that. He was sure it happened sometimes but he’d never met one and now they had one in Wild Junction.
Shit, she responded to them like a shifter would. She was a mix of defiant, looking for place in the pecking order and submissive to the more dominant personalities. She reacted naturally to everything they threw at her and when they invaded her personal space, she didn’t back down. That took a spine of steel when it came to this group.
“She didn’t even break eye contact,” he mumbled to himself, remembering how both he and Gabe were in her space and she barely blinked. “I wonder how Brenton is going to feel about this.”
“About her or going to Rocker’s?” Gabe laughed. “I never took Andrew as sneaky but he’s playing this hard. That was slick, committing her to seeing us at Rocker’s.”
“Both, since you know Brenton wanted us to keep our distance.” Zachary smirked. “We failed.”
“You failed what?” Brenton’s voice entered the room and they both looked at him. He was wearing a typical navy blue suit on his six foot four frame. His brown hair was done perfectly, all business professional.
“Keeping our distance. She was here earlier and I spent the morning with her and Andrew.” Zachary chuckled. “She’s hotter in person and Troy was right, she definitely has a mouth on her.”
“Where is she now?” Brenton inquired softly.
“Andrew’s taking her home. She’s got to get ready for a night with the girls at Rocker’s,” Gabe laughed, waving Brenton over. Brenton didn’t move. “We’re going, by the way. To Rocker’s. I was thinking we would head out at ten, what do you say?”
“I can’t fucking believe you guys.” Brenton growled. “Simple rules, stay away from her, let Andrew bring her in to the fold.”
“Yeah, well, she’s never going to trust us if we never meet her,” Gabe pointed out astutely. “Plus, I like her. I think she’s wonderful and I’ve only had her for an afternoon.”
Zachary hissed at that. Had her? None of them have had her. And he liked her too, which irked him more. Andrew was already in deep on that front and Troy had made his interest obvious. Zachary suddenly felt Rocker’s was a terrible idea, since then Brenton would meet her and he would fall just like the rest of them. Brenton showed little emotion but he felt deeply. And she was going to pull on all his primal needs just like the rest of them had to deal with.
“We can’t all like her,” he growled at Gabe, who looked back to him.
“Why not?” Gabe shrugged. “You obviously didn’t smell I smelled in that kitchen.”
Brenton sat down with them and looked between them.
“What did you smell?” He gave in, and Zachary could tell he wanted information. Brenton lived off knowing all the facts.
“She finds us attractive. Every time one of us got too close, her scent changed from normal to aroused in seconds. It was wild.” Gabe was still grinning at both of them. “The game is on, guys!”
“There is no game,” Zachary growled viciously. “We’re not going to start fighting over her and Brenton might not even like her at all.”
“I don’t believe that and neither do you,” Gabe laughed. Brenton was silent, lost in thought.
“I think I’ll be the judge of who I like or don’t like,” Brenton groaned after a minute, shaking his head.
Andrew walked in, followed by Troy, who was grinning to his brother.
“You met her? Isn’t she something to look at?” Troy fell next to Gabe and Zachary resisted the urge to sigh. The brothers were all about the next conquest, irregardless of who that might be.
“Yeah, we going partying tonight too, just so we can see her,” Gabe elbowed Troy, who was stunned by that. “Wipe that look of your face, it’s happening. Rocker’s, ten o’clock, all five of us. She’ll be there with her little girlfriends, Haley and Phoebe.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Brenton growled. “Maybe we should just let her live a normal life and be around without alcohol getting in the mix.”
“Unacceptable,” Troy laughed. “I need to see if she loosens up with a couple drinks or if she’s always a prickly punk monster.”
Fuck. Zachary couldn’t listen to this anymore. He didn’t want to think of her alone in Andrew’s truck or dancing strange guys. Or…
“She hooks up with tourists at the bars,” he hissed. “We’re going to have to watch pick out a guy and take him home.”
They all stopped talking and looked at him. None of them seem okay with that except Brenton, who only shrugged.
“It’s her life, Zachary, not ours. On top of that, we’ve all done it here.” He was mild and easy going about it. Zachary hated it.
“We could try and be that guy.” Gabe finally chuckled.
“No.” All of them snapped at him, causing him to sigh in defeat.
“Looks like tonight is going to be something else,” Andrew groaned. Zachary knew he hadn’t been thinking about Riley’s sexual habits when he invited all of them out to the bar. He looked like he was regretting it more by the minute.
“Yeah,” Brenton chuckled at their misery. “Looks like we found a woman who finally puts all of you in your place. If you can’t handle her handle one night stands, then don’t have them yourselves. It’s a double standard I won’t tolerate here.”
“Fuck you,” Zachary growled.
Zachary was only mad because Brenton was right.