Chapter 8 We Thought It Best Not To Tell Her

• Zeus POV
• I watch Elara run out of the door, and I know we have fucked up. We went too far, too fast. She isn't ready for one of us to give her our undivided attention, much less all three of us at once.
• Zane sighs loudly and lays back on his bed. "Well, that backfired. Just like I told you it would."
• "You fucking started it, Asshole," I growl at him. "What were you thinking?"
• Zane sits up and snarls in my direction. "You try sleeping next to her all night and not getting hard."
• "You could have kept your hands to yourself," Zeke snaps at him.
• "I am not the only one that had wandering hands," Zane reminds us. "We all touched her."
• He's not wrong. All of us are to blame. Now, she is likely to never trust us again.
• "When did she turn into a woman?" I wonder aloud.
• "I don't know," Zane replies. "She definitely didn't have those breasts or that ass before she left for college."
• "I know you aren't talking about Elara," our father's voice fills our room.
• We all stand at attention. None of us are brave enough to look into his eyes. He is stalking around our room with his nose in the air. He must have run into Elara in the hallway.
• "Nothing happened," Zane opens his stupid mouth.
• "Which one of you is her mate?" Our father asks. "Because I know you aren't stupid enough to touch her if she is not."
• We look up from the ground at the same time. I know the answer is written on all of our faces. Dad pinches the bridge of his nose and mumbles something under his breath.
• "Does she know?" He asks.
• We all shake our heads. Only Zeke is brave enough to respond. "We thought it best not to tell her."
• "And your mother and I," he spits. "Did you not think that information would have been helpful for us?"
• "We didn't know until last night," I chime in. "We are trying to come to terms with it ourselves."
• "This room reeks of your arousal and hers," Dad snarls. "What exactly are you coming to terms with?"
• "Things got out of hand," Zeke tries to defuse the situation. "It won't happen again."
• "Damn right, it won't," Dad yells. "You are sleeping in your own rooms from now on. No more of this clubhouse bullshit. You will apologize to Elara, and we won't speak of this to your mother."
• "Do we tell her she is our mate?" I ask eagerly.
• Zane reaches over and smacks me on the back of the head.
• "No," Dad replies. "Let her figure it out on her own."
• "She doesn't have a wolf," Zeke counters. "She will never know."
• "Then I guess you need to convince her to find the Imperial Pack temple," he says.
• "I am not letting her go alone," I tell my father.
• "I don't expect you to," he replies. "You are all going."
• "Yes, Sir," Zeke and I reply, but Zane crosses his arms over his chest.
• "Do you have a problem with my orders, son?" Dad asks Zane.
• "I am not accepting her as my mate," Zane says confidently.
• "Excuse me?" Dad growls. "Do you understand what she is?"
• "She is like my sister," Zane replies. "It doesn't matter what she is."
• "Yeah, she was like your sister while you were dry-humping her this morning," I grind out.
• "Shut up," Dad shouts in frustration. "You are all going. I don't care which one of you accepts her and which one of you doesn't. But no rejections take place until she has her wolf. Am I understood?"
• Zane is sweating as he tries to defy our father's command. "Fine," he finally says.
• "Apologize to her," Dad reminds us. "One at a time. And for fuck's sake, keep your hands to yourself."
• We stand silently as Dad leaves the room. Zane storms across the room and slams the door. "I am not apologizing for anything. We didn't do anything wrong."
• Zane begins to throw his clothes in a pillowcase, and I try to block him from leaving the room. "Where are you going?"
• "You heard Dad. No more clubhouse," Zane growls. "I was tired of you all anyway."
• I let him pass, and he bumps his shoulder against mine as he walks past. I turn to Zeke, and he is packing up his things too. It breaks my heart. We have rarely spent a night apart since we were born, and now we are being forced apart.
• "I will go apologize to Elara," I tell him, and he grunts in return.
• I walk down the hall and stop in front of Elara's door. Her scent is making it hard for me to think. I want her more than I have ever wanted anyone before, but I have to remember to keep my hands to myself.
• I knock on the door, and it creeps open. I peek inside and Elara is on the floor, crying. Stepping inside, I shut the door behind me against my better judgment.
• "Hey," I say.
• Elara looks up and wipes the tears from her cheeks. "I am so sorry," she whimpers.
• "You?" I say, bending down in front of her. "We are the ones who are sorry. We should never have pushed you into that situation."
• "I'm so stupid," Elara sobs.
• "Why are you stupid?" I ask, tilting her chin up to look at me.
• "Because I was curious," she whispers.
• "Curious about what?" I ask.
• "Kevin didn't even kiss me," she admits. "Not on the lips anyway."
• Anger rises in my chest. "What do you mean?"
• "He fucked me, but he didn't kiss me," Elara snaps. "What is wrong with me? Am I repulsive? Why would he do that to me?"
• "Elara," I say softly, trying to control my anger. "Did you want to have sex with him? Did he force himself on you?"
• "He didn't force me," she says, looking away from my eyes. "I just thought it would be different. Then this morning, I was so curious about what things were supposed to be like, I let things get out of hand."
• My eyes flicker down to her lips. They are perfect and plump. Right now, her bottom lip is pushed out into a little pout, and I just want to bite it. My hand is still on her chin, and her tongue darts out to moisten her bottom lip. My thumb follows her tongue along her lip, and she holds her breath.
• "Do you want to be kissed?" I ask her quietly.
• "Please," she says breathlessly. "I won't tell. I just need to know what I am missing."
• "Fuck," I mumble.
• I cup her cheek and pull her face up to mine. She closes her eyes tight, and I press my lips to hers. I try to coax her mouth open, but she is tight-lipped. I press my tongue against her lips, and she moans. I take the opportunity to slide my tongue into her mouth, and it is like fireworks.
• Gripping the back of her head, I pull her closer to deepen the kiss. Her tongue tentatively brushes against mine, and she wraps her arms around my shoulders. I know I need to pull away from her before things go too far, but I am finding it too hard. I want to own every inch of her body.
• Eventually, I find the strength to pull away, and Elara pants with desire. The scent of her arousal has filled the room, and I need to get out of here.
• "Is it like that every time?" She asks.
• "No," I say, unwrapping her arms from around me. "That was unbelievable."