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𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
"Stefan Salvatore? The other Salvatore?" Mason asked, glancing over his shoulder as he lifted another box into his car.
"The nice one. The one offering an apology." Stefan replied, standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, continuing to maintain a calm, neutral tone.
"Not interested." Mason shot back, his voice dismissive as he turned his attention back to the boxes, loading them with a practiced efficiency.
"Look, my brother acted impulsively." Stefan continued, stepping forward slightly, though not enough to be threatening.
"You think?" Mason's voice dripped with sarcasm as he slammed the trunk closed. He crossed his arms and stared at Stefan with a cold look.
"If you and Damon keep going at each other's throats, someone is going to get hurt. I don't want that, and I'm sure you don't either. You've got family here, Mason. I can't imagine you'd want them getting caught in the crossfire." Stefan said, his voice steady, trying to appeal to reason. "So what do you say? We just quit the whole alpha-male fighting thing and call it a truce?"
Mason narrowed his eyes, sizing Stefan up. He leaned against the car, resting his arm on the roof of it as he pointed directly at him. "I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down—with a knife."
"He made a mistake." Stefan said firmly, though a hint of exasperation slipped through. "I'm here to make sure neither of you makes another one."
"Tell your brother to watch his back." Mason warned, lifting the last box from the ground. He turned to walk away, but before he could take more than a few steps, Stefan grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
"Well, I'm guessing Damon only has to worry about that during a full moon, right? Otherwise, you'd have already killed him by now. Am I right?" Stefan's voice lowered, growing colder. "There's one of you, Mason. There are three of us. You're the one that needs to watch his back."
Mason's eyes flickered with anger, his jaw tightening. "If he comes at me—"
"He won't." Stefan cut him off sharply, his eyes hardening. After a tense moment, Mason's posture relaxed, and he extended his hand.
"Fine. For now." Mason shook Stefan's hand.
As Mason walked away, Alice Salvatore emerged from the shadows, her arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with a raised eyebrow. "And here I thought you boys could handle this without me."
Stefan glanced back at her. "Alice, I told you I had this under control."
"Clearly." she replied, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Threatening him? That's the best you've got? I could've done that with half the effort and maybe even gotten him to apologize to us."
