Page 4 of His Stubborn Bear

I couldn’t fault Rhys’s argument, but it still didn’t mean I was wrong.

“Do Papa and Dad know?” I asked.

“Yup, they think it’s fine. They met Kian a couple of times when they came down to visit,” Rhys said. “You would have too if you had ever come.”

“You know why I couldn’t,” I defended.

He waved me off. “Yeah. Yeah, I wasn’t bitching at you. I’m just saying if you’d met him, you’d know you had nothing to worry about. That’s all.”

“Fine.” I knew when I was beaten. “But make sure everyone knows to shift further out, not close to the house, okay?”

Rhys’s grin was triumphant. “You’re the best, Gabe.”

I rolled my eyes. The little shit knew he would get his way. He’d been doing it since he was a little boy and he realized batting those lashes at me would get him what he wanted.

My phone pinged, and I picked it up from the desk to see it was a message from Rhys in our family chat. I raised a brow at him as I opened it.

Rhys:Guest on Ranch. Don’t shift near the house.

Really? Shaking my head, I started typing.

Gabe:Human guest on Ranch. He’ll be working here a while. Be aware and try to shift as far away from where you can be seen.

Rhys snorted. “I think they got my point.”

I didn’t even bother responding. I was over-cautious—I knew it—but we’d kept our secrets for a long time. It wouldn’t be on my watch when they came out. Humans had proven over and over they couldn’t be trusted with knowledge of our existence. We’d seen how they treated anything that was not like them.

Austin:Got it.

Graham:NP.

Hunter:Duly Noted.

Papa:You worry too much. What have I told you about everything going exactly as it should?

Dad:Told you it would be fine, son.

Rhys:Thanks, Dad. I know, right?

Of course, my parents encouraged him and left me to clean up the mess.

Graham:Kian is lovely. I’m sure everything will be fine.

Hunter:Is Gabe stewing? I should have bet he’d blow his top.

I growled, and Rhys chuckled even as I saw him typing a message.

Rhys:He can’t say no to me. I’m his favorite.

I snorted. He wasn’t wrong—he was everyone’s favorite; it had to do with the wholeonly omegaandlast childthing.

Gabe:I’m signing out.

Rhys:You do know this is not MSN Messenger. Right?

Austin:Ha.

Graham:Does he even know what that is?