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“Kai,” Marcus’ voice held a warning, but I was beyond caring.

“I’ll be thinking about this,” I continued, freeing my hand from his grip to trace my own chest, following the path their mouths had taken. “And about what happens after dinner. How you’ll finally claim me properly. All three of you.”

The temperature in the room seemed to spike about twenty degrees, and for once, it wasn’t my dragon abilities causing it.

“You’re playing with fire,” Derek growled, his eyes pure silver now.

“Good thing I’m fireproof,” I retorted, feeling more powerful than I had in days. “Now, are you going to get ready for dinner, or are you going to sit there looking like you want to eat me instead of whatever Jorge’s preparing?”

The answering growls told me exactly what they’d prefer to be eating, and I couldn’t help but laugh—a real laugh, free of the stress and fear that had been my constant companions since the transformation.

“Tonight,” Marcus promised, the single word holding more heat than should be legally allowed. “After dinner. No more interruptions, no more waiting.”

They withdrew reluctantly, each stealing one more kiss—Marcus’ controlled but promising, Derek’s rough and claiming, Caleb’s playful but no less intense.

As the door closed behind them, I collapsed back against the pillows, my body still humming with unfulfilled desire.

Chapter 26

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I demanded of my reflection, touching the marks already darkening on my neck. “They seriously just… and then they… because of dinner?”

Shadow, who had wisely retreated to the corner during our earlier activities, huffed what sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

“Oh, you think this is funny?” I turned to glare at him. “You try having three ridiculously hot alpha werewolves work you into a frenzy and then just leave because, what? The Rivera Pack can’t wait to kiss my supposedly royal behind? Unbelievable.”

My reflection told the whole embarrassing story—flushed cheeks, kiss-swollen lips, hair looking like I’d been thoroughly ravished—which I hadn’t been, thank you very much. And those marks… those were definitely going to be visible for days.

“This is not how this works,” I informed my reflection, narrowing my eyes. “They don’t get to just wind me up and walk away. Again. What am I, some kind of supernatural booty call they can put on hold for pack politics?”

Shadow’s tail thumped against the floor in what I chose to interpret as solidarity.

“Exactly,” I agreed, a plan already forming. “If they think they can make me wait through an entire dinner while I’m like this, they’ve clearly forgotten who they’re dealing with.”

I needed revenge. Something deliciously evil that would make them suffer at least as much as I was suffering now. Something that would have them squirming through dinner, unable to focus on anything but me and what they couldn’t have.

The gym complex’s sauna was exactly as I remembered—a ridiculous glass box of supernatural excess that Caleb had been way too proud of during my tour. “Specially treated to withstand supernatural strength and temperature fluctuations,” he’d boasted, like I was supposed to be impressed by fancy werewolf-proof glass. At the time, I’d rolled my eyes. Now? Now it was perfect.

I fired off the most innocent text I could manage.Need help at the gym sauna. Feeling weird dragon energy. Might be overheating?

The responses were immediate and hilariously predictable.

Marcus:On my way. Don’t move.Because heaven forbid I do anything without his alpha permission.

Derek:Stay put. 2 minutes.Already calculating fastest security routes, no doubt.

Caleb:Coming! Don’t do anything dragon-y without me!At least someone was excited about my potential spontaneous combustion.

I barely had time to arrange myself on the sauna bench, doing my best ‘damsel in supernatural distress’ impression, before Derek burst through the door like a SWAT team on a raid. Honestly, did the man ever just walk into a room like a normal person?

“Kai? What’s wrong?” he demanded, eyes scanning for threats like assassins might be hiding behind the weight rack.

“I don’t know,” I said, channeling my inner drama queen. “I just feel… hot. Like my skin is on fire.” Not technically a lie—my skinwas still burning from where they’d left me hanging earlier.

His brow furrowed as he knelt in front of me, all concerned alpha male. If I wasn’t planning to torture him, it might have been sweet. “Any other symptoms?”

“Just… pressure,” I said vaguely, fighting to keep my expression serious. “Like something building up.” Yeah, like revenge.

Right on cue, Marcus and Caleb burst in together, because apparently none of these wolves understood the concept of casual entrances.