I groaned. “Fine.”
I turned around and opened the door. Steele stood on the other side, with Malachi and Dallas somewhere close by but out of sight. I kept my eyes from meeting their gazes since whenever I do, I ended up losing all of my senses. Once I stepped out of the bathroom, I continued moving until I was, once again, sitting on the foot of the bed.
I sat with one leg bent under me and took a few moments to clear my mind and go back to the beginning of everything they had tried to explain to me. Meanwhile, Steele leaned against the wall near the bed with his hands in his pockets. Dallas leaned against the edge of the wall leading to the bathroom and the door to the room, and Malachi took a seat on a chair to my left, planted somewhere between the table, to which the chair belonged, and the bed.
The men were quiet and patient as I thought of where to begin. Things about Charlotte and her control over the men came to mind, and that struck me as a great place to start.
“How does Charlotte have control over you?” I asked. “She’s just a boss. She doesn’t own you. And I believe there are laws against such things.”
“She may be our boss, but she’s much more than that too,” Malachi added.
Steele nodded with a frown. “She’s our alpha.”
“Your what?” I asked and blinked at them.
Dallas leaned forward. “Guess the literal cat is out of the bag now, gentlemen.”
I settled my attention on him. “What?”
He dropped his arms and sighed. “We are shifters.”
“Seriously?” I asked and almost smiled.
“Well, that wasn’t the response I was expecting,” Malachi said.
“Nor was it what I had expected either,” Steele added. “You know of shifters?”
“Yes. And it’s a long story,” I said.
“We are mountain lions,” Dallas said. “I highly doubt you’ve met anyone like us before.”
I shrugged. “I really wouldn’t know. You shifters are exceptionally good at hiding your true selves. The only shifters I know of for sure are bears.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” Steele added.
“How so?” I asked.
“The way you are handling everything, is all,” he said.
“Oh,” I said and shrugged. I redirected the conversation back on track. “So, her being an alpha explains the whole not sleeping with people rule and the mating thing.”
I was starting to piece things together.
“Yup,” Malachi said. “And though we weren’t supposed to sleep with you, now that we had, it’s clear neither of us can stop thinking about you.”
My face felt like it had ignited into flames. It felt nice to hear those words. But words were only good for so much. Too bad they had the actions to back it up too.
I was slowly losing my will to not fall for these men.
“Did you have any more questions?” Steele asked.
I shook my head. “I do. None I can think of right now, though.”
“When you can think of them,” Steele said, “ask away.”
I nodded.
“Excellent,” Malachi said.