Page 17

Cam’s growl rumbled through me. “Sure it is, you’ll have had days of Marlowe to yourself by that point.”

Pack dynamics were only going to get trickier as our lives and schedules made it harder for me to divide my attention equally with each alpha. Elias may have required the most reassurance and one-on-one time, but Cam was the most tactile of the bunch, and days of not being able to hold or cuddle me were going to be hard on him.

Not that Archer or Nolan wouldn’t miss me too, but they were better at handling their disappointment. I needed to make sure I didn’t take their lack of protest for granted, neglecting our relationships in favor of my louder mates.

Julian especially needed me to take the wheel given his ranking and age, since he was going to defer to the older alphas. At least until he felt more comfortable and could advocate for himself. I yawned, giving Cam a kiss on the cheek before I stood up and stretched. I was exhausted, and still needed to pack and prepare myself emotionally for going back to Mike’s condo. I’d once considered the place a happy home with my loving fiancé, but then it turned out my loving fiancé was a cheating vampyr who tried to murder my pack and kidnap me.So I stabbed a knife through his back.

I had work to do tonight, I didn’t want to leave on a bad note with anyone.

“Nolan, can you help me make a playlist for the trip?” I asked, leading him back up the stairs.

His eyes lit up and he smiled. “Of course, sugar.”

6

MARLOWE

Marlowe…

He was here.

I was deliciously sore, having knotted each of my pack mates in preparation for my trip. Cam’s arms were wrapped tightly around me, and I carefully extricated myself from the tangle of limbs and got out of bed to look out the window, squinting into the darkness. I found him after a few moments of searching, the black silhouette of his wolf waiting in the trees.

We couldn’t have a conversation while either of us were shifted. Deep talks were almost impossible in that form, and my wolf was still too naive and suggestible. She could easily follow him off into the night, and I couldn’t let that happen.

I pulled on a sweater and leggings, and grabbed an extra pair of sweatpants one of the guys had left in my room. Once I made it downstairs, I slipped on a pair of boots and Elias’s down jacket. The back door slid open silently, and I headed towards the woods, crunching through the snow. Ezra’s eyes shone in the moonlight, tail wagging slowly.

“Shift,” I demanded. My heart was almost beating out of my chest, and I was afraid of the face I’d see in front of me. It felt equally terrifying for it to be Ezra or someone else entirely. “I need to hit you, and doing it when you’re a wolf feels like animal abuse.”

The transformation was fast. I had barely blinked when suddenly a tall, bearded man stood in front of me.

My brother, Ezra. In the flesh.

In the verynakedflesh.

I averted my gaze, throwing the sweatpants in his general direction. “And I refuse to stand here and talk to you with your dick out.”

He smirked, catching them one-handed with ease. “People in this realm are far too hung up on the natural body.” Once he pulled them on, he gestured to his lower half. “Better?”

“Much.”

I walked up and punched him as hard as I could in the gut, but he barely flinched. “You fucking asshole!” I cried. “You left me! You lied to me! You abandoned me!” Each accusation came with another punch, but Ezra never moved. Maybe I should have brought Julian out here. “How could you do this to me? You were my brother, my twin brother! Half of my fucking soul, and you didn’t even care!”

He finally wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him tightly. I sobbed, now having the nose to recognize his scent—almond and cherry. Growing up, that smell had just been Ezra. Had just been home.

“I’m still your brother, bitch,” he said teasingly, referencing our nicknames for each other.

“No!” I yelled. I pushed away, wiping the tears off my cheeks and pointing my finger at him. How dare he try to worm his way back into my good graces with nostalgia and inside jokes? “No, you don’t get to break my heart and then show up like it hasn’t been eight years. Like we can just pick up how we were. I don’t even know you anymore.”

He tilted his head, the expression on his face amused and patronizing, as though he was observing a child. It pissed me off even more. “We shared a womb, we’ll always know each other.”

“Shared a womb?” I repeated, nearly gagging on the phrase. “Fucking gross, since when do you talk like that?”

Ezra shrugged. “Since I grew up and discovered my true home. My destiny.” He stepped closer. “Ourdestiny.”

I squinted in the darkness so I could take a better look at his face—hazel eyes, just like mine. His jaw had sharpened and widened as he’d grown into manhood, and what used to be a playful smile now felt sinister.

“What kind of cult did you fall into, Ez?” I whispered, gaping over the intricate tattoos that covered his torso. “What did this shifter commune offer you that your own family couldn’t?”