“Of course they are, pretty braids for a pretty pup,” I teased, tapping her on the nose and beginning another one, this one thinner so I could wrap it around the first. “Had you met the bad wolf before?”
“Mm-hmm,” she murmured in agreement, tilting her head so she could look in the mirror on the wall as I wove the braids around each other, letting the repetitive motions keep my hands steady. “Mama used to go meet him sometimes. He’s not nice. He used to pinch me or hit me if I’d cry. He and Mama would go off into the woods and make me wait in the car. It took a long time. Mama came back all stinky.”
“Well, that’s silly,” I told her, keeping my tone light. “Did they ever talk about anything in front of you? Anything weird?”
“They were mean.” Her eyes clouded over, her lip going out into a pout. “They didn’t like Alpha. They said he was bad and they’d make him go away. I like Alpha. He’s nice. He doesn’t hit.”
“I like him too. You know he likes strawberry shortcake?” I told her with a smile. Her eyes went wide.
“Me too!” she chirped with a sharp nod, twirling the braids I’d made. She paused and studied me. “He didn’t like you,” she told me softly. “They were in my room that night. He didn’t like you very much at all.”
I bopped her nose and smiled. “Well, it just so happens I don’t like him either, and I think I may be just a bit scarier than he is.” She giggled at that as I made a face at her.
“I love you, Beta,” she told me, looking up through her golden hair. “Thank you for saving me.”
I swallowed hard, scooping her up into a hug as the walls around my heart shattered into dust. “Love you, kiddo.” There was no going back now. This was my pack, these were my pups, my friends, and my lovers to protect. And I was going to do just that.
Chapter Eleven
Zev
“Is bribery legal?” Chann questioned, sprawled on the floor of the training room. Pixie was spread out next to him, her head resting on his stomach as she gasped for air. I rolled my eyes at the pair of them.
“Seriously?” I threw my hands into the air. “You’re making me be the bad guy here?”
“I thought we were supposed to be playing,” Chann whined, cracking one eye open to look up at me, ignoring the bow he dropped on the floor beside him.
“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be the fun one?” Pixie teased with a wink before stretching out the muscles in her arms. “You’re as much of a taskmaster as the other two.”
I groaned. “Yeah, yeah, thanks for the reminder.” It wasn’t like I wanted to be, but with Raff away, Starlight Woods causing problems, and our confrontation with Lyle coming up, it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.
“Come on, bro, give us a break.” Chann winced, stretching out a cramp in his hand. “We’ve been training nonstop. I, for one, don’t want Tinkerbell here to kick our asses again for making us overdo it.”
“Very wise.” She patted his leg lazily, unwilling to get up. “Ten points to team Chann.” I knew damn well the blue floor mats were far from comfortable, but the pair looked close to napping if I didn’t get them moving.
“One game,” I conceded with a sigh. “Then back to training,” I added, interrupting their celebratory whoops. Pixie bounced to her toes, her exhaustion forgotten.
“Absolutely, Zev.” She pressed a short kiss to my lips, and I resisted the urge to tug her in for a longer taste. “Whatever you say.”
“What should we play?” Chann asked, rubbing his hands together in delight.
“We could always go skinny dipping,” Pixie deadpanned, making Chann and I groan and her giggle.
Goddess, that laugh did things to me. It turned me inside out and pulled me to her like an anchor. I knew my brother felt the same, and part of me thrilled at the idea of us both falling for the same female. Another part was terrified because pack females had always seen us as a pair. We’d known they’d never make us choose, they’d want the set. We would have had to hide the differences between us, but we would have stayed together. My Poppy? She saw us for what we were, accepted us for our differences, but it risked tearing us