see what was going on. If it wasn't the loud howling and growling that had taken place, she was pretty sure the sound of the mirror shattering had sent them running. Right now all Billie could think about was getting rid of them before Royce did anything else that was too animalistic and couldn't be easily overlooked or ignored.
Keegan gazed at the glass on the floor, then back up at Royce. "Billie, are you all right?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. It's over now. You can all go back to what you were doing."
Not to be put off, her oldest brother shook his head. "We're not going anywhere until you tell us what happened. It sounded as if a bunch of wild animals were attacking each other up here."
Which Billie had to admit was what almost happened. Seeing both men's eyes glowing as they growled at each other made them appear more animal than human. But what had gotten her the most was when Royce had leapt across the room in one jump. One minute he was standing at the open door and the next he was half way across the room, slamming Gren into the wall. It didn't seem humanly possible, which probably was the case.
"It sounded worse than it actually was." Billie took a quick look back at Royce. He was still breathing heavily and appeared to be fighting to bring himself back under control. "The prospective member Finn had me show around the gym, Royce knew him. They're not exactly on friendly terms, to put it mildly."
"So your boyfriend decided to pick a fight with him?" Keegan asked harshly.
"He wasn't the one to pick the fight. It was Gren. He's not the type of person we want at the gym. There is something about him that gives me the creeps. Royce was just warning Gren off when he showed an interest in me. If it wouldn't be too much ask, can you guys make sure he left?"
Billie had known that would be more than enough to get all four of her brothers out of the room in a hurry. She knew if Gren happened to still be in the building he would be lucky if her brothers didn't literally kick his ass out onto the street. She waited until they were alone before she turned around to confront Royce.
"Okay, I got rid of them. What was that all about?"
Royce slowly turned to face her. "I never intended for you to find out this way."
"Find out what? I don't understand, Royce. You're going to have to spell it out for me I'm afraid."
"Not here." Royce ran his fingers through his hair, making sections of it stick up. "Christ, I wasn't ready to tell you about any of this."
Billie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. She could see he was uncomfortable with the situation. "Tell me what? Is it about this mate business Gren referred to? That will do for starters, but I have questions of my own. Such as, why he called you a lone wolf. Why he referred to you as Roxie's grandfather. Or better yet, what is with the whole glowing eyes and growling the pair of you had going on?"
She didn't know why, but she couldn't help feeling a little pissed off that Royce had been keeping secrets from her. She knew she was being irrational. It wasn't as if they had been seeing each other for years. She really hardly knew anything about Royce. All she knew was she felt more connected to him than she had ever felt to any of the other men she had gone out with.
Royce closed the distance between them and reached out to hold her by her upper arms. He bent his head down so he could look her in the face. "Look, I know there must be a million questions running around in your head. I just can't answer them here. It's too public. I have a feeling you aren't going to believe what I have to say at first. And if that is the case, I'm going to have to give you the proof you will undoubtedly ask for. I'd rather it was at some other place where if you freak out on me your brothers won't come running to your rescue."
"All right. Then where?"
"I need to go make some phone calls first. I'll call you after that, okay?"
"Fine. I'll be at my apartment once I get this mess cleaned up."
Royce leaned in and