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I needed to remember this when I shifted back. I could only hope my human form would retain this realization, and act accordingly. Two omegas, both precious to me, were at risk.

And it was my job to protect them.

69

ELIAS

Narrow shafts of sunlight broke through the thick canopy, spotlighting the ground around us.

Marlowe was still fast asleep against Cam’s chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her, in more or less the same position they’d been in once he’d knotted her.

We were back in our human forms now, but the rest of the pack and I had shifted while the two of them slept. With our heightened senses, we could react more quickly to incoming threats as wolves.

I hated that we couldn’t finally relax. Having Marlowe back was everything, and I wanted nothing more than to just bury myself inside her, breathing her in and surrendering to the peace that I’d only ever felt with her in my arms.

But no, we still had her brother and a maniacal fae king to deal with.

I gently brushed Marlowe’s hair from her face. I could hear and smell Kian and the weird creature approaching. They weren’t in a hurry, so I assumed we were still safe.

Getting up to stretch, I found Marlowe’s discarded dress and laid it on top of her. I may have been used to hanging out naked in front of Kian by this point, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let the vamp get an eyeful of her. Not that I didn’t trust him—he’d kept control of himself remarkably well last night when they’d met. But I didn’t think Marlowe necessarily would appreciate the exposure.

The vryscral, camouflaged at first by the lush, green forest,slinked into our makeshift nest first. She sniffed around us to introduce herself before heading to Marlowe, trilling softly and nudging her hand with her massive head. Marlowe stirred and mumbled to herself, and Cam’s grip on her tightened, neither of them ready to let the other one go yet.

I whistled softly to the beast, and she reluctantly trotted over. “Thank you for saving Marlowe,” I said to her quietly, scratching behind her strange, tufted ears. A sound resembling a purr resonated from her throat, and Archer came up to watch.

“What a fascinating creature,” he said, petting her along her flank. “It was flying yesterday, but it seems it’s able to tuck its wings away under its scales when they’re not in use.”

“Marlowe’s going to be pissed she can’t take her back to Earth,” Nolan chuckled, joining us. “If Mrs. Silvano was shitting bricks over house cats in her yard, imagine what she’d do if she saw this bad boy flying overhead.”

The vryscral flopped on the ground and rolled over, revealing a milky-white belly. Archer gave her a few good pats and then looked up at Kian, who had been watching us silently from the shadows. “I take it you didn’t see anything we should be concerned about?”

The vampyr shook his head. “No, nothing coming this way. Although I did sense a large amount of power heading towards that shifter haven we stopped at.”

“The shifters!”

Marlowe woke with a start, and we all whipped our heads towards her as she scrambled out of Cam’s arms, wrapping her dress around her. “Everyone up, we have to go!”

Cam stretched and yawned. “Babe, what’s the rush?”

She ran behind a tree, the vryscral trotting after her, and emerged a minute later with the dress back on. I hadn’t noticed last night, but the top was completely see-through, and I growled at the thought of her having had to wear that for the fae king. I took a peek at Kian, who was smart and composed enough to keep his eyes up.

I’d really come to respect and almost like the vamp, and I’d been worried Marlowe’s scent might drive him as crazy as it had his dad. But so far, he’d done well.

Thank the Moon he was here to help keep an eye out for us, too. Last night we’d been way too wrapped up in our reunion to keep a proper perimeter. Although, I could only imagine the wrath Cam might be able to summon had we been interrupted.

“The king is taking the alpha army to the shifter haven, he saidsomething about needing to get them back under control. He’s going to kill them, I know it. We have to help!”

Her eyes were wild with fear and desperation, the feelings doubling down on us through the bond.

Julian’s hand ran through his messy hair. “Shit, that was kinda my fault…”

“Hey!” Cam snapped, causing us all to wince slightly.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something was different about him. He acted more or less the same, but it was as if every action, every word he spoke, carried more weight and gravitas.

Even Marlowe was looking at him strangely. She shivered a little, biting her lip as she released a fresh wave of arousal-tinged perfume. She was hardly the submissive type outside of the bedroom, but I loved how turned on she got when our pack displayed dominance. In moderation, of course.

“None of this is anyone’s fault but that king’s, so don’t you even think about putting any guilt or blame on yourself. Now, we came here to rescue Marlowe,” Cam said, pointing at her. She returned to his side, putting her hand on his chest and looking up at him with nothing but pure love and adoration in her eyes. He kissed her on the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her tightly. “In that sense, we’ve accomplished our mission…”