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I woke up swinging. As in swinging my fist. Someone grunted.

“Whoa now! You're safe, sugah.”

“Safe?!” I looked around. “Hardly.”

“We aren't going to hurt you,” Lex said.

I was lying atop a luxurious bed made with a velvet comforter.

A ridiculous canopy hung over me. And on my every open side was a hound—Lex on my right, Cyrus on my left, and Jake stood at the foot of the bed, just beyond a chaise lounge.

The room spread out beyond them, soaring up into high ceilings.

Two tall windows, almost as tall as the walls, stared at me from across the way, framing Jake.

A fireplace was off on the right—ridiculous in New Orleans. If we were still in New Orleans.

“Where are we?” I demanded.

“At our place.” Lex looked at his packmates.

“You're home now.” Jake pointed at me. “And you're staying put. No more wandering.”

“Oh, is that what you think?” I climbed out of bed, pushing Lex out of the way as I went, and confronted Jake.

“I don't care for overbearing men. I downright detest them.

So, if you think I'm gonna go all Stockholm and fall in love with my captors, you're dumber than all that grunting makes you sound.”

Jake hunched toward me and growled.

I slapped his growling face hard enough to swivel it.

Jake shook his head as a dog might, then refocused on me. His eyes started to glow.

“Whatchu gonna do?” I got in his face. “You gonna slap me back?

Punch me? Bring it on, asshole! I've dealt with men like you in every one of my lives.

Just because you're stronger than a normal man, it doesn't make me afraid of you. In fact, I will fucking laugh my ass off, back in the Blessed Isles, if you end up killing me by mistake.”

Jake blinked, his expression going baffled, then backed away.

“Yeah, that's what I thought.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Now, who's next? Lex? Cyrus? You want a piece of me?”

“No one wants to hurt you, Salina. We only want the chance to love you.” Cyrus sighed, his thick arms flopping to his sides as he looked at the others. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“She was going to fuck that asshole,” Lex said.

Jake grunted.

I put my fists on my hips and smirked. “I've already fucked him. You're too late.”

They all went silent. Then they converged on me. Jake made it to me first, grabbing my upper arm as he shoved his face into the curve of my neck. He sniffed and let me go. Looking at the other two, he shook his head.

Cyrus and Lex relaxed.

I laughed.

“That wasn't funny, Salina,” Lex said.

“I wasn't joking.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I laughed because you think just because you can't smell it on me, he hasn't been with me.”

The men exchanged confused frowns.

“Ace and I were together in a past life.” I dropped that gem gleefully. “He proved himself back then. He saved me. He loved me. And that love was strong enough to bring us back together in this life. It might even be strong enough to break the enchantment binding me to you three.”

Jake roared and spun, swinging out blindly. His fist collided with a bedpost. The post splintered, shards flying. As I gaped, the canopy wobbled, then cracked, and fell on the mattress.

Jake wasn't the only one to react poorly.

I backed away as three shapeshifters from Hades went fucking ballistic.

I'd never seen anything so terrifying and oddly sexy at the same time.

Their faces were monstrous, their bodies bulged, and they tore apart everything within reach with their bare hands.

Yet, even within that savagery, they made sure that I wasn't hurt.

They directed their fury on the furniture and aimed the debris away from me.

I stood within a maelstrom of madness, untouched. Not so much as a splinter hit me.

Finally, when feathers floated in a slow rain to the floor and everything with any mass to it was pulverized, they shifted into their hound forms and bounded out of the room as a pack, that terrible, wounded howling coming from their throats.

That same sound they had made the other night.

Except now, it didn't scare me. Only hurt. Deep in my chest.

Standing in a circle of clean carpet, I watched them run off with wide eyes.

I was frozen in place, absolutely stunned and utterly turned on.

I'd never seen anyone react to my rejection like that.

I mean, of course, I hadn't. I'd only been with humans.

But I had a feeling that even gods didn't have this sort of response to a lovers' spat.

It was awful. Yes, of course. How terrible that they would react so violently.

And yes, I'm rolling my eyes. Because there's nothing sexier than a powerful guy losing control over a woman—as long as he doesn't hurt that woman.

Then, it wouldn't have been sexy. But as it was .

. . yeah, I was gonna need some personal time in the shower.