Page 119 of Poet & Protector

“Cosette,” Sabine interjected. “You were there. Tell us what Dax said.”

Cosette’s eyes widened. “I don’t think⁠—”

“Tell us exactly what happened,” Sabine said firmly. “Everything that was said.”

I ground my teeth, not liking putting Cosette on the spot, but she was the only one besides Dax who could tell us what happened.

“Cosette—” Dax spoke her name with a low growl.

At the same time, I gently touched her shoulder. “I know it’s not pleasant, but I would be grateful if you’d be honest about what went down.”

Cosette bit her lip, glancing nervously at Dax before looking at me, then at Sabine. Sabine gave her a small nod, which seemed to decide the issue for Cosette.

She took a steadying breath before saying, “It started when Mason made a comment about Nev being good with his hands.”

Despite the tension in the room, I smiled. My smile quickly faded when Cosette continued.

“Dax didn’t like that.”

“We don’t need to do this,” Dax spat. He was angry, but I heard fear in his words as well. “That’s enough, Cosette.”

Sabine moved closer to Cosette and took her hand. “It’s okay, Cosette. Keep going. This is important. If it wasn’t, Dax wouldn’t care about you telling us, would he?”

She punctuated her question with a pointed look at Dax, who snarled, but didn’t speak again.

“Go ahead, Cosette,” Sabine said. “What happened next?”

Cosette glanced at me then stared at the floor as she spoke. “He said it was only a matter of time before Mason got…got on his knees for Logan.”

I hissed out a breath. “He said what?”

“That,” Cosette replied. She didn’t look up as more words tumbled out. “And then he said when it happened, you and Mason would be over forever and he couldn’t wait for Mason to get what he deserves.”

My entire body went rigid with disbelief. The cruelty of it choked off my breath.

Pure instinct set in. My muscles bunched; I was on the verge of shifting and attacking Dax. In that moment I didn’t give a damn that he was my packmate. I was going to rip him apart.

But Sabine was suddenly between us. A crack that rivaled a thunderclap split the air and Dax was on the floor. She’d laid him out with a single punch.

Sabine stood over our huge packmate, fist still clenched.

“How dare you.” Her voice was soft and quaking with fury.

“What the hell, Sabine?” Dax rubbed his jaw. “You almost broke the bone.”

When he started to rise, she said, “If you get up, I will put you down again. You are going to listen to me now and you are going to remember what I say.”

He gaped at her.

“You think what Logan has planned for Mason is a joke?” Her body shook. “You taunted him about it?!”

“Sabine—” Dax started.

“Shut up!”

He cringed at her furious tone.

“Do you think what Efron does to me is funny?” Sabine asked him. “Do you think what he’s been doing to me for years is funny? Do you have something clever you want to say to me about it?”