Which reminded her that his dick had been in her mouth an hour ago.
Shit shit shit.
She sucked in a deep, shaky breath, looking away from Cian. “I’m going to be late for my next—”
“You’re with me right now,” Mikel interrupted, a hint of iron to his tone.
Kalen pushed off the wall, stalking closer. “Thank you.” He aimed that at Charlie and Teak before stopping short of Isobel and returning his heavy stare to them over her head. “We’ll make sure the paperwork is ready.”
“Right. Well … okay. I’ll be speaking to you soon, Isobel.” Teak squeezed her shoulder quickly before striding for the entrance, her heels clacking hastily.
“Later, kiddo.” Charlie waved at her, flashing an unbothered smile before following Teak out of the family centre.
Moses was having a hard time wrangling his emotions under control, and as soon as the other Sigma walked away, he lost his grip on the barrier he had been hoarding it all behind—something they had all been practising lately.
He felt the crack in his efforts, felt the pressure in his chest ease as some of it slipped out. Isobel didn’t even flinch, even though he was sure several of the others had probably just done the exact same thing.
To stand there and get battered by anger, worry, and confusion from ten different angles wasn’t an easy thing to do, but the girl was a professional sponge. She rubbed her nose with the heel of her palm, eyes diverted to the windows as they all fell into silence.
“Luckily, the film crews are tied up at the moment following around their picks for the Icon winner this year,” Kalen groused out in a terse voice, though his scent didn’t match the burning, smoking sugar he emitted when he was angry. He stroked his chin, considering Carter. “I think we could probably keep you here without them interrupting. Until you finally tell us what’s happening, that is.”
Isobel squared off her shoulders, setting her jaw as she tried to muster the energy to face them all. Usually, Moses liked the fight in her. The stubbornness that matched his. The steely backbone he liked to bend just a little too much for his own comfort. But not right now.
He didn’t want her to have to fight when she was scared.
He would rather do that for her. He would do it for everyone, if they let him.
“Look …” She started to pace across the tiled stone floor, her steps hurried and nervous. “This is getting a little complicated. I … I thought … with the surrogacy thing—” She cut herself off, shaking her head like she was already disagreeing with the train of thought she had just gone down.
Was that what was bothering her?
She hadn’t freaked out getting close to Theodore, Oscar, or Gabriel. Maybe the problem was him. Maybe she needed really clear boundaries.
“I applied to be a surrogate,” he announced, lying through his fucking teeth.
Everyone’s head whipped around to him. Elijah and Gabriel looked expectant—Elijah even a little impatient, likely annoyed that it had taken Moses too long to get on with whatever action he had predicted Moses should take. Theodore’s eyes flashed dark with anger.
Kilian shifted, discomfort lining his shoulders.
Nico nodded slightly.
“W-What?” Isobel stuttered, spinning to face him.
Why was his face hot?
Why was his face burning with the slightest tinge of colour now? He had just fucked her with a goddamn crystal and exploded in her mouth but now he was blushing? Awesome. Great. Perfect.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, focussing on Oscar for a moment. The other Alpha had an angry challenge simmering behind a hard stare. That was going to be a fight later. Moses looked forward to it. “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask you. Is that okay?”
“Uh.” She seemed shocked silent, her throat working as she tried to dredge up an answer. “Yes? I mean sure. Yes. Thank you?” She smiled, the motion trembling across her lips, relief flashing in her eyes. “So all of that was—”
“Just doing my part.” He waved her off.
Her shoulders inched down, relief visibly flooding through her body.
Jesus Christ what the fuck?
Most people would be weeping with rejection by this point.
Kilian, Theodore, and Cian also relaxed, but the confusion on their faces deepened. Moses wanted to punch something to ease his frustration. The level of intellect required to keep up with this one girl was off the charts. She never did what he expected.
Especially not in the closet.
“Things got a little out of hand,” Cian said, as though his thoughts had naturally gravitated to the same place. “It definitely wasn’t supposed to go that far. Do you understand, Illy?”
Theodore stiffened, flashing a glare from Cian to Isobel. Moses knew his brother better than anyone, and while Theodore had an impressive amount of self-control, he also tended to lose it in a spectacular way. They had pushed him pretty far today.
“I … yeah, I didn’t mean for that either.” Isobel copied Moses’ dismissive hand wave, her eyes darting to the floor.
“Maybe some ground rules would help,” Niko spoke up.
Kalen and Mikel seemed to have taken a backseat in the discussion for now. They preferred for the rest of them to sort out their own messes, but they seemed tense enough that they would probably step in this time if things got too heated. Luckily, they had Niko. If anyone could make this whole situation sound all nice and neat and reasonable, it was Niko.
“Do you have any in mind?” Niko prodded Isobel gently. “Anything that’s absolutely off limits to you?”
Isobel nodded. And then shook her head.
They waited, but she didn’t say anything.
“Okay.” Niko looked like he wanted to smile. “Anyone else?”
“She needs a proper safe word,” Cian announced.
“What the fuck would she need one of those for?” Oscar growled, jumping out of his chair and prowling toward Cian.
Moses quickly inserted himself between them, trying to catch Oscar’s eyes, and everyone was too distracted to notice Theodore slipping past them and slamming Cian against the wall.
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?”
“Enough,” barked Kalen, his Alpha voice like a wave through the room. “Everyone sit down. Now.”
“Oh my god.” Isobel was staring at Cian in horror as they all moved to obey Kalen, Oscar choosing to stand just to prove he could.
Cian had three deep gouges cutting across his neck and into his chest. He was holding both hands over the wounds, but blood was trying to spill through his fingers.
Theodore slumped into a chair, gripping the table in front of him with a black-clawed hand, the talons elongated and painted crimson at the tips.
“Someone do something!” Isobel shifted around restlessly in her chair.
“It’s fine,” Cian rasped. “Barely a scratch.”
“Barely a scratch?” she repeated, her voice sounding numb with shock as she turned to stare at Theodore. “Do I rip open Wallis’ neck every time you touch her?”
Theodore gave her a strained smile. “I barely touched him.”
Theodore’s scent was growing more and more acidic by the second, his eyes flashing with a warning precursor of darkness. Moses was seconds away from snapping at Kalen that he needed to go to his brother, but Isobel seemed to soften at the last second.