Chen moved toward me, dipping his chin to keep my eyes, but stopping several feet away. “He loves with a love that’s bigger than anything you’ll know. He’s loyal beyond reason. He’d die for any of us, endure the worst kind of torture and die. He’d kill for any of us. If we were hurt, he’d avenge us and he would make that painful and messy beyond anything you can imagine. He’s the best kind of man you could know…the best son, the best brother…times about fifty thousand. Knowin’ that, you understand his intensity. Knowin’ that, you’ll eventually understand everything.”

When he finished his speech, I wasn’t sure if I felt better or more weirded out.

So I just said, “Okay.”

“I hope to God there will be a bunch of days in my life I’ll never forget,” Chen continued. “When I find the woman for me. When I make her mine. When she gives me kids. But I know one thing deep in my heart. I will never forget yesterday, when my brother found what he needed to take away his pain.”

I swallowed again, feeling my eyes sting, and I nodded.

Now that made me feel better.

“He’s protective of us. He’s protective of Ma…to extremes,” Chen went on. “It is not a surprise to any of us that that’s ten notches higher with you.”

“Okay,” I repeated.

“So don’t let that shit freak you,” Chen finished.

I nodded again.

Chen held my eyes for a while before he nodded back and stepped away.

I looked to Xun and Wei and saw their eyes on me. They were watching me intently, their faces void.

And I knew they thought this was a test.

A test I had to pass.

I had to accept their brother as he was, cut him some slack, get to know him, get to understand him.

And I could do that, because, as my father had said, when I found what I needed, I’d win it no matter how I had to do that, including making these three loyal brothers believe I could.

“Yeesh, dudes, give me a break,” I said. “Found the man I’ve been waiting for all my life and he’s an overprotective werewolf vampire who drinks bagged blood for breakfast, has the strength of ten men, the speed of a superhero, not to mention we have people who want us dead. This is not something a girl takes in stride. At least give me to lunch.”

This got me three smiles and a room with a lot less tension threading through it.

“I’ll take your crap to the bathroom,” Xun muttered.

“I’ll go tell Ma you’re up here,” Wei stated before turning and using the door.

“I’ll park my ass in front of the TV,” Chen said, moving to the couch.