Of fudging course.

He said it so casually, but I knew my brother well enough to know that was a front. There was fear in his voice. Fear and pain. In the seconds that followed, I recalculated a plan that would save the girl at pretty much any cost. If only because Rhys would die before any harm came to her, she was now one of my top priorities for protection.

"Can you get a shot?" I asked one of the girls, also through the mind-link. I knew she had amazing aim because when she went hunting, she usually had to ask for help carrying all her quarry home again.

"Nope," she replied. "I might get an angle a little further to the left."

For a moment, I wondered if we could slip someone in behind the shifter, but he was pressed up against the bars of yet another cage.

"I'll distract him, you move."

The disadvantage of holding twenty people hostage at once was that you couldn't watch them all. With the right bait, I could keep his attention on me long enough for someone to take him out. Hopefully.

"Hey, we met a friend of yours earlier today," I said, and my grin at that moment couldn't have been more provocative.

"Oh yeah?" the man asked.

"Said you were all working for someone named Malcolm. After I ripped his fingernails off one by one, of course." The lies were coming thick and fast today. There was a flash of fear in the human girl's eyes. She was probably wondering if we were saving her for some even worse fate.

The slaver cussed me out harshly. "Are you having a laugh? Us? Work for Malcolm? Quite the opposite, actually."

"I'll take that as a no," I decided. The archer was shuffling slowly over, lifting her bow fractionally as she went.

The slaver's eyes caught the movement, and he snarled, pressing his blade even further into the human's hands. The fighter stopped dead in her tracks, throwing me a look that said well, I tried.

"Drop your weapons," he repeated, although this time his voice shook.

But behind him, a figure rose slowly from inside the cage, brandishing a full water jug. In a sharp moment, he brought it down through the bars onto the slaver's head, knocking him clean unconscious. The unshaven and filthy man cackled.

"I've wanted to do that for a month.
Bloody mutt," he grunted with no small amount of satisfaction.

Rhys ran forwards without hesitation. He dragged the slaver's body off his mate and helped her to sit up. "Skye," he said anxiously, "she's bleeding."

"I can see that, jackass," I sighed and knelt down beside the pair of them. Anything to take his mind off what could have just happened to his soulmate.

I took the opportunity to study my future sister-in-law. She was remarkably beautiful, in a soft sort of way. In fact, everything about her seemed soft, with the singular exception of her eyes, which bore a steel will and an unflinching calmness. Interesting. She was the polar opposite of Rhys, who looked like he could rip your throat. Only his hazel eyes marked him out for what he really was- a cinnamon roll.

Ripping a strip of fabric from Rhys's shirt for a bandage (it was his damn mate, I wasn't going to ruin my own clothes), I wrapped it around her bleeding hands. "I'm Skye, and this is my little brother Rhys. We're not serial killers, I promise. You're safe now."

And yet another dammed lie. Of course she wasn't safe. None of us were ever safe.

"Thank you. I'm Cassidy." She spoke softly and with an unusual amount of shyness.

The fighters were stood stock still, staring at us. I let out an impatient growl. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get them out of the cages and let's go home."

Tighter and tighter I wrapped the cloth to stop the bleeding. At one point Cassidy winced and Rhys began to growl at me, before pausing to decide whether he should side with his lifelong companion and big sister, or the mate he had met five minutes ago. I suppressed barely contained amusement. His newfound loyalty dilemma was interesting. Rhys getting all protective over someone who wasn't me or Fion was also kinda adorable.

Fion. I stopped thinking about how this would change things between Fion and Rhys before I had even begun. I would consider that when I wasn't exhausted and full of adrenaline.

Leo had found the keys. He tossed them to someone else and knelt down by my side. "She'll be okay?"

"Oh, yes. She'll take a while to heal, given that she isn't a—" I stopped suddenly, not sure if she even knew werewolves existed. The fight had taken place completely in human form, and there was a fair chance the slavers had never shifted in front of her. "Given that she isn't a, um, time traveller."

"What?" Cassidy asked, confirming my suspicions. She didn't have a clue what she had walked into, which would make it a hundred times harder for Rhys.

Rhys's usual grin returned. "Skye's a budding doctor. She likes to use fancy medical terms. Ignore her."

I glared at him. "Oh, yeah. Sure. My life ambition is to go to med school and spend the rest of my life healing people."

The sarcasm game was strong. Especially when I preferred being the one to inflict injuries and leave other people to repair the damage. Fortunately, I had kept my tone clipped enough that Cassidy didn't pick up on the hidden meaning.

"That's great. My mam was a doctor as well. What area do you plan to go into?" Cassidy was genuinely being nice, which made it harder to lie through my teeth.

"I was thinking vasectomy," I muttered, giving Rhys a particularly threatening look.

He shuffled uncomfortably and crossed his legs. Message received, loud and clear.

"Oh...okay. It's certainly useful, I guess." Cassidy sounded a little concerned for my mental well-being.

"Right, Cassie — can I call you Cassie?" I began.

"I suppose so."

"Good. You can wait in the car. I'm sure Rhys would be happy to show you where it is." I gave him a pointed look. Be nice to your mate. We're scaring her.

"Of course," Rhys replied. He sounded a mixture of nervous and excited.

Cassidy tried to stand up and swayed in place, probably from the blood loss. My brother slipped an arm under her shoulder and helped her walk out of the warehouse. I suspected he would end up carrying her before they'd got a hundred metres.

First bonus of Rhys finding his mate — he had someone else to carry. Maybe that meant I'd be allowed to use my own two feet a little more often. Leo didn't seem the type to carry me unless my life really depended on it. He respected my independence. I supposed that left Rhodric, but again, he would be more likely to laugh and tell me that if I could complain, I could damn well walk.

"Um Skye?" Leo asked. He had prodded my mind without me realising, picking up on my train of thought. "Rhys finds his mate, and all you're thinking about is how it will affect your chances of being carried. I'm not sure if I should laugh or be worried..."

"I really hate being carried," I mumbled as a way of explanation.

"Oh, I know. I tried to pick you up after the tree fell on your leg, and you nearly took my head off," he laughed.

The prisoners had all been freed from the cages by then. We offered to take them back to camp and get them cleaned up, but the overwhelming majority chose to go their own way. They seemed to mistrust us, but after all they'd been through, I didn't really blame them.

We jumped back into the car with Rhys and Cassidy. The latter was a little distressed, given that she had caught sight of claw marks on one of the car seats. Rhys was trying to placate his mate and convince her she was safe.

I didn't have time to sugar coat the truth. She'd find out what we were as soon as we pulled into camp, where people shifted all over the place. My way of explaining to someone that werewolves existed was to turn into one right in front of them. Harsh, but it usually got the job done.

Cassidy didn't scream as I expected her to. She was actually remarkably calm, the only visible reaction being to move closer to Rhys for protection. The first proof I had seen that my brother wasn't the only one feeling the mate bond.

"So ... that's a wolf," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

"Skye, that was a little insensitive," Leo said, giving me an exasperated look.

I rolled onto my back, panting loudly and grinning at my mate. He snorted and started scratching my stomach.

Rhys put an arm around Cassidy, pulling her close as he gave me a small growl. "Not cool, Skye," he muttered. "In answer to all of your unasked questions; yes, Skye is a werewolf. Yes, we're all werewolves too. And no, we do not usually ask for tummy tickles."

Cassidy stared at me for a while longer. Eventually though, her lips spread into a small smile. "At least you're not vampires. I don't feel like dealing with that Twilight crap today."

And that was when I decided I liked my brother's mate.

***

Introducing Cassidy to Fion was one of the most awkward experiences of my life. Neither of the girls made it that way, it just felt odd. Some part of me knew Brandon had already destroyed any chance of Rhys and Fion getting together. He didn't even know he was about to become an uncle.

Leo got a phone call from his parents and excused himself, so it was only Rhys and I making the introduction. The meeting took place in Fion's little tower room. It was pretty brief. Rhys told her through the link that he had found his mate, we gave her about five minutes to process it, and then we brought Cassidy up for a quick hello.

On the way down the stairs, Cassidy asked who Fion was. I realised that we royally sucked at introductions. Rhys went with the adopted sister version of events, probably so as not to confuse her.

Rhodric was the next stop. I think I could have predicted every word that came out of his mouth. He gave Cassidy a pretty terrifying grin, perhaps not quite understanding or not caring about the whole just-an-ignorant-human thing.

"Who's this?" he asked.

This time, Rhys remembered his manners. "Cassidy, this is our dad. Dad, meet my—"

He swore under his breath. We had yet to explain the mate side of things to Cassidy.

I switched to the mind-link. "She's Rhys's mate."

"Well, it's about damn time," he replied the same way.

"Hello, Cassidy," Rhodric said out loud. "Has my son been treating you well?"

"Uh — yes." Cassidy snuck a glance at me, as if suggesting I may not have been so nice.

What? What the hell? I didn't get much nicer than this.

"Well if he ever forgets his manners, you come to me. I'll knock some sense into his thick head. I raised my son to be a gentleman."

At that point I couldn't suppress a snort. That was the exact opposite of what he had raised Rhys to be.

"Something funny, Skye?" Rhodric asked, with his daring smile.

"Oh no. Nothing at all," I smiled sweetly. It felt like now or never to drop the next bombshell. Rhys wouldn't hulk out with Cassidy here and Rhodric to keep him in line. "So completely off topic, Leo and I want to spend the next few nights in a hotel. Can you hold the fort until we get back?"

"No," Rhys interrupted. "Over my dead body. Dad, tell Skye she can't go spend the night alone with her ma- boyfriend."

Rhodric grinned. "I'll do no such thing. I want grandkids, you know."

Cassidy's eyes widened significantly. I thought she was probably a little freaked out again, until she started coughing to hide what looked like laughter.

Rhys let out a low growl, realising he was on his own. "Then I'm coming too."

"Don't you think it might be a little too cosy with three in a double bed?"

Rhys glowered at me and opened his mouth to retort, but Rhodric cut him off.

"You know, this isn't actually a bad idea. There's a little place off Bracken Ridge ... a bed and breakfast of sorts. They have a bunch of little cabins on the mountainside, and the owner owes me a favour," Rhodric mused. Through the mind-link, he added, "Rhys could take Cassidy and give her a bit of time to get used to the mate bond. You and Leo could have peace, quiet, and somebody to watch your backs."

"Fine," I agreed reluctantly. "But if Rhys goes into overprotective mode, I can't be blamed for returning him with fewer body parts."

"By all means," Rhodric said. "Shall I arrange it?"

"Yes, please," Rhys and I replied at the same time. I added, "Would you like to go too, Cassie?"

"Um...I suppose. I mean, I don't mind. Whatever's easier," Cassidy mumbled out a very noncommittal answer.

"Consider it done. The four of you can enjoy a nice romantic break." Rhodric winked at Rhys, earning only an exasperated glare in return. After dropping that particular bombshell, the old rogue made a well-timed exit.

Cassidy blushed and glanced uncertainly at Rhys when the word romantic was mentioned. Have I ever mentioned how much I love watching the mate bond at work?

"So that was our dad." Rhys shook his head, but he was smiling again. "He's a little..."

"Overwhelming," Cassidy suggested.

"Yeah," he said. "That's one way of putting it."

"You're very quiet," I blurted out randomly, looking at Cassidy. "But that's actually a good thing. We need more quiet people around here."

"Then ... thanks, I guess."

Leo arrived, having finished his phone call. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Did he say yes?"

"And then some. Dad's organising it now," I replied happily. We only had to wait until tonight.

"Leo's quiet too, Cassie," Rhys told her. "He hardly gets in a word edgeways when everyone else is here."

"Everyone else?" She sounded a little apprehensive.

"Don't worry, you won't have to meet those idiots for a while. Ollie, Tally and the twins are the worst. Complete animals, the lot of them," Rhys was teasing. He actually managed to make the human girl smile.

And for the entire journey to the bed and breakfast, he continued to make her smile. My brother-professional rogue, deadly, dangerous and apparently, a real charmer. Who'd have thought it?