**| Sang's POV |**
We were halfway to our meeting point when we stopped at a gas station to take a break and get some food. Luke had pestered North long enough to get the big man to cave.
It was an interesting dynamic to watch. Luke had a way to push all North's buttons, and he mercilessly did it until North swerved off the road and nearly jumped into the back seat to beat him up. Only Kota's presence got him to stop. Also, Luke's foot hitting my chin got things settled very quickly.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked for the hundredth time as we climbed out of the Jeep.
"Luke," I said softly.
He stilled, his eyes widening as they met mine.
"If you ask me one more time, I'm shifting and eating your face off."
Luke's hands went up, eyes widening. "Sorry. I'm sorry."
I growled.
He backed away, trying to hide behind Silas. Silas's frame was big enough to practically hide all of Luke.
"What's going on, Aggele mou," Silas asked, glancing at me and then behind him at Luke.
"Luke kicked her in the face," North growled out before stomping into the gas station to pay for the gas.
My ears picked up a low "Oh shit," before Silas whirled on Luke and shoved him hard.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sean said stepping up to Silas. "Let's save the violence for the idiots we're about to tear apart."
I went up to Silas and ran my hand up along his spine and then back down. His muscles were tight as he prepared to shift. My simple touch sent a shudder through his body as continued to glare at Luke, who was doing good at keeping his head down.
"Relax, Superman," I said. "It was just some rough housing. You know I can dish as hard as I'm given. Do you think Luke would be walking around now if I thought he truly meant to harm me?"
"Sang," Luke whined. "That isn't helping."
Silas finally looked down at me, his wolf there in his eyes, ready to break free. "I'm okay, big guy. Though I am hungry, and I need the bathroom."
"Restroom inside," he answered, words clipped, like he was incapable of adding on any extra to his answer in that moment.
I smiled and left them to it. If Silas was going to shift and tear Luke apart...well, I did my job and told him not to. It wouldn't be my fault if he didn't listen to me.
Inside the store was big and clean. The white lights added an intense wash over everything, making the place come off as vibrate. I could pick up North talking with the cashier in a low rumble as I scanned the place until I saw the bathroom.
When I came back out of the bathroom there was another person waiting. He gave me a kind smile as he looked me over. His nose flared and he raised an eyebrow. I took in his scent. He smelled like sage and something warm, that made my nose tickle. The hairs on my body stood straight up.
He wasn't a rogue, but being so close to a strange shifter still put me on edge. Despite the fact that I'd been doing well around the Blackbourne pack and handling the Toma pack didn't mean I was ready for anyone else.
"Well, hello," he said.
I eyed him warily. "Hello," I said softly.
He tilted his head to the side, his brown hair falling over his forehead. "Are you part of the other group." He tilted his head toward Kota, Nathan, Luke, Victor, Corey, and Marc who were scanning the snacks. Luke looked all too excited in the candy section. Marc was over by the coffee section with a grimace etched into his face as he stared at his options. Through the window, I could see our two vehicles at the gas pumps with everyone else around it, stretching and talking.
I nodded.
"Cool." He brushed by me and into the bathroom. It clicked softly behind me before the lock slid into place.
I gritted my teeth, my skin itching at the touch. I didn't like it all. My eyes met with Kota's and he raised an eyebrow.
Everything okay? His gentle voice echoed through my head.
I nodded.
Get some drinks for us?
With another nod, I wandered over to the drinks and grabbed a couple bottles of water and then random bottled sodas until my arms were full. My senses picked up the moment the shifter left the bathroom. My wolf stirred, feeling my discomfort.
"Ready?" Nathan asked, in front of me. He eyed my loot before taking most of the load, seeming happy with the selection. We dropped everything off at the counter. The others dropped off their load too. We looked like we were buying half the store. The cashier raised an eyebrow in surprise. With a grin, he was more than happy to ring us up.
"Head on outside," Nathan said, nudging me toward the door.
I almost growled at him, hating his tone, especially when I was on edge, every one of my senses tracking the other shifter in the building. He was currently scanning some of the magazines on display near the door.
Without saying anything, I beelined for the door, needing space, needing to be away from the strange shifter.
As I opened the door, the bell dinging to announce the door opened, he approached.
"Do you really belong with them?" he asked.
I frowned hard, stepping through the door.
"Yes."
He looked confused as he drew in my scent again. "You almost smell like a rogue."
His pale green eyes flickered to everyone. A few pairs of eyes were on us now and the volume of chatter was dying down all around as they realized he was talking to me.
The shifter leaned close and said underneath his breath so that I'd only hear him, "If you're in trouble, I can help you. I'm part of the local pack and my Alpha is lenient against rogues. If they're dangerous, I can get you away."
I nearly grounded my teeth together as all of me went on alert. It took all of me to hold in a growl. He really did seem sincere in his offer, telling me the truth. If I said yes, he'd fight for me. While I probably should have been flattered, I only felt rage. I didn't like what he insinuated. Not at all.
They would never hurt me. They'd only been protecting me, dealing with all my shit, and never complaining about it. I knew I was a burden, a ticking time bomb, and yet the Blackbourne pack and even the Toma pack have only been nice to me.
"I suggest you step away from me," I said, a growl coming out.
"They can't hurt me and risk war with my pack," he said.
This time I released a full on growl, my wolf ready to shift. She pressed against my skin, demanding to be free. I was nearly tempted to do it too. Unfortunately, there was a very human cashier in the shop and him seeing me turning into a wolf was the last thing I wanted. Humans didn't know about us and I didn't want to be the one to break the news to them.
"Get away from me," I warned him again.
The shifter realized I wasn't a friendly like he probably hoped and paled.
"I suggest you back away real slow," North said, now at my side.
Silas came to stand on my other side. "Before you regret ever opening your mouth."
The shifter scrambled back, his eyes flickering all around. The rest of the Blackbourne pack were slowly approaching, with the Toma pack standing in the background.
"Get away from her," Nathan said. "Or I'll tear you limb from limb."
"Y-you can't do that," the shifter said. "You'll start a pack war."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Alpha Blackbourne answered, his grey eyes now a silvery thunderstorm. "Approach one of mine again, and I will make sure there won't be enough proof left to start a war. They'd need to find a body first."
A whine came from the wolf before he ran to his car, turned it on, and peeled out of the parking lot with screeching tires.
"I could have handled him," I said, still staring after the car as it took off down the road.
No one said anything and I finally focused on all of them. They had closed rank, all of them surrounding me, all with wolves in their eyes and hard expressions.
"What is going on?" I asked in a whisper, wanting to back away. When Silas rested his hand on my lower back, I jumped.
That seemed to jar them out of whatever daze they were in.
"What was that?" I asked as they blinked and shifted away.
Kota and Victor's cheeks were red as they moved away from me. North refused to meet my eyes. Sean was grinning big as everyone else went back to doing what they were doing before that idiot decided to approach me.
"Sean?" I asked, completely confused.
Sean rubbed his jaw, a new kind of light in his eyes. "I didn't expect that. Not like that." He glanced around at the rest of the Blackbourne pack but no one dared to look our way.
"Come on, Pookie, take a little walk with me so we can stretch our legs for a little longer." We made our way around the building. The parking lot stretched all the way around the convenience store. In the back were parking spaces for electronic cars and another set of gas pumps.
"What just happened?" I asked. "Why did everyone react like that?"
"Sang," Sean said slowly. It felt like he was trying to pull together all the information he wanted to tell me. "Well, I never really expected that to happen, but at the same time, I'm not surprised. What do you know about mates?"
I shook my head. "When would I have had a chance to learn about them?" I asked.
Nodding, he said, "True." His expressen saddened. "Our wolves all recognize each other, for us guys, it's as a pack, as close brothers willing to walk through a forest fire for each other. Our bonds are of a tight knit family."
I bit my lip, hating the sting in my chest at that. I already knew it to be true, saw it every time they interacted with each other.
"But with you, it's different. My wolf side recognizes you not as any kind of sibling, but something more. My wolf likes you a lot, Sang. I do too." Sean grinned and sent me a wink. "We want to take care of you. So when that other shifter approached you and dared to even suggest that we'd hurt you, it pissed us off. All of us see you as part of our pack."
I gnawed on my lips as I mulled over what he told me. Finally, I asked, "Does the others' wolves see me the same way that you do?"
"I suspect so, but we never talked about it. I only know what my wolf feels and he can be pretty darn possessive when he wants to be. It's rare, but he can be."
"So when that stranger approached me, you wanted to eat him?"
Sean chuckled. "Pretty much. Though he wouldn't have tasted so good. At most, we just wanted to pull his limbs apart and tear out his heart, maybe make him eat that."
"So a mate is this bond that you feel for me?"
"Not quite." Sean hesitated as he glanced around, we were coming back around the building now and I could see the others. "There are other steps involved, but my wolf definitely sees you as mate material. Think of a mate being a married couple."
I gasped. "Y-you want to marry me?" I asked. The others were staring at us now, no one talking. My face heated at all the attention.
He shrugged. "It's possible. Think of this moment more like the prequel to dating."
"Your wolf wants to date me?"
"Yes. I do too." He reached out and grabbed my fingers, playing with them. "And since my wolf and I want to claim you as ours, we get dangerously possessive against anyone we perceive as a threat of taking you away from us."
I tried to wrap my head around that. I never thought about relationships. There was never any room in my life for it. "But...but you guys don't get like that when I'm hanging with someone else in the pack. You don't get all territorial when I'm with one of your brothers. How does that work? Because it wasn't just you who was ready to shift and attack that man. Alpha Blackbourne practically threatened to start a pack war over me."
Both of Sean's eyebrows were raised, as if he didn't really think about that. "You're right, Pookie. My wolf is more than okay with you spending time with the others." He grinned big. "Isn't that interesting."
He tugged me back to the SUVs without another word, leaving me trying to pick apart his words to understand what he meant. Was it bad or good that the others reacted the same way his wolf did. Is it bad if all of the Blackbourne pack treated me that way?
My brain revolted, hating my circling thoughts. I was so lost in them, that I didn't notice as Sean put me back into the SUV I had been in previously and we all piled in. North drove our vehicle as we followed behind Alpha Toma driving the other vehicle.
One thought kept swirling around the longer we drove.
My wolf agreed with Sean. We'd both be happy to spend more time with him, and not just him, but the others too. I didn't fully understand what that meant in the long run. Was I being selfish wanting more time with all of them?