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“Where is Blue?” I demand to know.

“The mutt is with Seven’s sister Persa,” Wolf says firmly. “You may see him tomorrow if you have been good and let the doctor check you and then rested.”

Eiden carries me to Seven’s bedroom, where a kindly doctor bustles to inspect and treat my cuts and scrapes.

My mates stand around looking anxious. Well, Seven looks both anxious and annoyed as a stream of visitors arrive, and he is called to the door to deal with them.

Eiden does a lot of pacing, still in his battle stag form—at least he relinquished his bloody sword to Nox.

As the doctor leaves, Eiden scoops me up into his arms and strides out of the bedroom. As we pass the others, I hear Seven dismissing the staff until further notice.

“Where are we going?” I ask, peering up at him and seeing his noble stag jaw locked tight. How quickly this side of him has become familiar to me.

He doesn’t answer.

He doesn’t need to as my nest door comes into view. I am tired to the point of exhaustion, but I am also grubby. “Can I bathe first? I’m very dirty and don’t want to get it on my nest.”

Eiden comes to a stop, turning toward the rest of my mates who have followed straight into the room, filling my intimate space with towering walls of male flesh.

“You are all very dirty,” I add.

“You will behave and let… Gideon do the cleaning.” Wolf says brusquely. He is human—all of them are all human. It is only Eiden who is struggling to let go.

Eiden growls.

“Settle down,” Nox says. “You can have her back as soon as you are both clean.”

“I don’t think I’m qualified for this,” Gideon says as Eiden thrusts me into his arms.

“Work it out,” Nox advises.

“This bathing chamber is barely adequate for this many mates,” Seven mutters… He still follows us in… they all follow us in.

Thank goodness the water is in constant circulation, for it grows very murky as we wade in.

Gideon is gentle and efficient. I can admit I miss Eiden, but Nox is firm with him, and none of us linger longer than we need to be clean. No sooner does Gideon finish drying me in the giant fluffy towel than Eiden claims me and, still in his battle stag form, takes me to the nest.

The others follow, making space for themselves and finding positions that work. A part of me thinks I might need a biggernest, but I also like this, the way we are forced to gather close, each mate touching me in a way, large or small.

I breathe deeply.

A sob bubbles up as the enormity of what just happened dawns.

“I feel like I am nothing,” I blurt out. “Just a stupid little Fawn. How can I possibly deserve such amazing men as my mates?”

“My precious love,” Wolf says, stroking a finger down my cheek from where he lays behind Eiden. “It is you who lift us up. You who sees better in us than we see in ourselves. Not everyone is destined to be a warrior, nor would the world be balanced if they were. Goddess willing, you will be the mother of our children, and there is no more sacred duty, nor anyone I would rather share that experience with than you. Mischief and joy are your middle names, but you are also loving, giving, passionate, and so very brave. You are now and always the center of my world.”

I glance up, seeing my other mates watching me, their expressions earnest.

“Ah, what Jude said,” Gideon says.

“Surprisingly eloquent for a wolf mutt,” Nox adds with a smirk.

Seven smiles. “You are truly worthy of being a queen.”

“You are perfect,” Eiden says, his stag voice rumbly as he nuzzles my throat. “You are the center of all our worlds. You are the tie that binds us together. The queen of our hearts.”

Chapter Forty-Two