HER FOUR MATES

More Than Brothers

Lyra’s POV

I was trying very hard to focus on the eggs I was scrambling when Zane walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but low-hanging pajama pants, his hair still messy from sleep.

Okay, maybe I wasn’t trying that hard to focus on the eggs.

“Morning,” he mumbled, his voice rough and gravelly in that way that made my stomach do weird flips. He moved behind me to reach for a coffee mug, and I swear he pressed closer than necessary, his chest brushing against my back.

“Morning,” I managed, trying to sound normal and not like I was having inappropriate thoughts about my adoptive brother before 8 AM.

His hand settled on my hip, casual, possessive, warm through the thin fabric of my sleep shirt. “Smells good.”

Was he talking about the eggs? Because I was pretty sure I’d stopped stirring them about thirty seconds ago.

“Lyra.” His voice was softer now, and I could feel his breath against my ear. “You know we’re not really your brothers, right?”

My heart stopped. Actually stopped.

Before I could form any kind of response, Marcus walked in, took one look at us, and raised an eyebrow. “Really, Zane? In the kitchen? At least wait until after breakfast.”

“Shut up,” Zane muttered, but he didn’t move away from me. If anything, his grip on my hip tightened.

“I’m just saying, there are more appropriate places for, whatever this is,” Marcus continued, but there was something in his voice that wasn’t quite teasing. Something darker, more possessive.

“Like where?” Darius appeared in the doorway, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop about ten degrees. His eyes fixed on Zane’s hand on my hip, and I watched his jaw clench. “Where exactly would be more appropriate, Marcus?”

Oh. Oh no. This was about to get very messy, very quickly.

“Guys,” I started, but Kael chose that moment to bound into the kitchen like an overgrown puppy.

“Morning, family! What are we talking about? Ooh, are those eggs?” He paused, finally noticing the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. “Why does everyone look like they want to murder each other?”

“Because,” Darius said slowly, his eyes never leaving Zane’s hand, “some of us apparently don’t understand boundaries.”

“Boundaries?” Zane laughed, but there was no humor in it. “That’s rich, coming from you. You’re the one who sits outside her room when she has nightmares.”

“You what?” I spun around to face Darius, which meant Zane’s hand slid from my hip to rest against my lower back. The loss of contact felt wrong somehow.

Darius had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “Sometimes you cry out in your sleep. I just… I make sure you’re okay.”

“He means he camps out in the hallway like a guard dog,” Kael supplied helpfully.

“And Marcus checks the locks on your windows every night,” Zane added.

“Zane times your showers,” Marcus shot back.

“I do not time her, okay, fine, maybe I notice if you’re in there too long, but only because you could slip and hit your head!”

I stared at them, my mouth hanging open. “You guys… you all…”

They all went very still, like they’d just realized what they’d admitted to.

“Lyra,” Zane said carefully, “we can explain, ”

“You’re all obsessed with me.”

Silence. The kind of silence that screams louder than any argument.

Finally, Marcus cleared his throat. “Obsessed is a strong word.”

“What would you call it then?”

“Devoted?” Kael offered weakly.

“Protective?” Darius tried.

“Completely and utterly in love with you?” Zane said quietly.

The eggs burned. Actually burned, because I forgot they existed for a solid minute while I processed what Zane had just said.

“Zane,” Darius warned.

“No.” Zane stepped around me, facing his brothers. “I’m tired of pretending. I’m tired of acting like she’s just our little sister when we all know she’s not. When we all know what we want.”

The air in the kitchen became thick, electric. I could practically feel the tension crackling between them.

“What you want?” I whispered.

Four pairs of eyes turned to me. Zane’s dark and intense, Marcus’s cautious but hungry, Darius’s protective but possessive, and Kael’s soft but determined.

“You,” Kael said simply. “We want you, Lyra. All of us.”

I should have been shocked. Should have been appalled. Should have run screaming from the room about how wrong this was, how they were supposed to be my family.

Instead, I felt… relieved. Like a secret I’d been carrying for years had finally been spoken out loud.

“I know,” I said softly.

“You know?” Marcus stepped closer. “What do you mean, you know?”

“I mean I’m not blind.” I looked around at all of them, these four incredible men who’d shaped my entire world. “I see the way you look at me. The way you get jealous when other guys so much as smile at me. The way you touch me like I’m something precious you’re afraid to break.”

“And?” Darius’s voice was rough.

“And… I look at you the same way.”

The confession hung in the air between us like a challenge.

“Lyra,” Zane breathed.

“I know it’s complicated,” I rushed on. “I know people wouldn’t understand. But you’re not my brothers, not really. You’re… you’re everything to me. All of you.”

“Everything?” Marcus asked, and there was something vulnerable in his voice that made my chest ache.

“Everything,” I confirmed. “When I think about my future, about being mated, about being happy… it’s always with you. All of you. I thought I was broken for feeling that way, but, ”

I didn’t get to finish because Zane crossed the distance between us in two strides and kissed me.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful. It was desperate and hungry and everything I’d been dreaming about for years but never dared to hope for.

When we broke apart, I was breathing hard and my knees felt weak.

“Well,” Kael said cheerfully, “that was inevitable.”

“Kael,” Darius growled.

“What? Come on, we’ve all been dancing around this for years. I’m just glad it’s finally out in the open.” He paused. “Does this mean I can stop pretending I don’t want to kiss her too?”

“Get in line,” Marcus muttered, but he was smiling.

I laughed, actually laughed, because this was insane and perfect and terrifying all at once.

“So,” I said, looking around at my four… whatever they were now. “What happens now?”

“Now,” Zane said, his forehead resting against mine, “we figure out how to make this work.”

“The mating ceremony is in two weeks,” Darius pointed out. “Other packs will be here. There will be expectations…”

“Let them expect,” Marcus said firmly. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Together,” Kael added, and somehow that one word made everything feel possible.

I was still looking at Zane, still close enough to feel his heartbeat, when I realized something.

“The eggs are definitely burned.”

“I’ll make new ones,” all four of them said at the same time.

I burst out laughing. “Yeah, this is definitely going to work out just fine.”