Page 22

F aye

I turn in the mirror, looking at myself in the sun dress I’m wearing.

It’s light and pretty, with yellow flowers.

Maverick said he had a surprise for all of us—probably to distract us from the big meeting with the jerks—but wouldn’t give me much instruction on what to wear besides casual is fine .

It’s strange. I’m excited for whatever we’re going to do.

Normally, I don’t like surprises, but I guess it’s different when you feel safe.

And my men make me feel safe. And loved.

When there’s a knock at the door, my heart jumps, a reaction I absolutely hate. I wonder if there will ever come a day when I don’t think Kurt will be on the other side of my door, but I force myself to cross the room. I catch his scent a moment before I see him.

Maverick. Maverick with his wild auburn hair and his bright green eyes. Maverick with his laugh that always makes me want to laugh, and his wicked sense of humor.

I have such great mates.

“Hi,” I say, opening the door and squealing with surprise when he steps forward, wrapping his arms around me, lifting me off my feet, and spinning me.

“You look good enough to eat,” he murmurs, before setting me down, and it makes a flush of warmth run through my body.

Even though he’s the one who looks good. He’s got on a white button-up shirt and dark slacks. The clothes fit him perfectly, showing off every muscle in his perfectly toned body.

“Thanks,” I say, and in a moment of boldness, after taking in his broad chest and the sideways grin on his face, say, “You, too.”

He looks pleased, his eyes darting to the bed for a moment. He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head, as though he’s banishing thoughts from his head. “You’re going to need to stop saying things like that. I have a plan that doesn’t include you being on your back, at least not yet.”

My face feels hot. “How often exactly do you think about sex?”

He leans in. “With you? All the time.” Placing his hand on the small of my back, he turns, leading me out of the room while I try to hide the embarrassment on my face.

The rest of the guys are waiting at the end of the hall, and I watch as they turn, one-by-one, their eyes lighting up when they see me. It’s a special kind of intimacy, to be wanted like this. So clearly and openly, without pretense.

“What’s your big plan?” I ask, when we join the rest of the guys.

“You’ll just have to be patient,” Maverick says, flicking the tip of my nose gently, his eyes full of merriment. “It’s a surprise .”

I roll my eyes, but laugh when Cayson and Xander appear on either side of me, each taking a hand. Ezra offers me a piggyback ride if I get tired, grinning wickedly. Eli follows behind the group like he needs to make sure none of us wander off.

Maverick leads us away from the castle and along the winding paths into the woods.

We pass other alphas and omegas, and the guys wave to some of them.

When we see Addilyn sitting on a blanket with some other omegas, she mouths so jealous to me, which makes me laugh.

We both know she’s not jealous. She has her two hotties to worry about.

“Seriously, man,” Ezra says, when we’re swallowed by the forest. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Maverick says, his eyes dancing with glee as he looks back at us.

“Did you find another dead rabbit? Because if you took us all the way out here for a dead rabbit–” Xander begins, and Maverick shoots him a look.

“That was one time,” he mutters. “And that rabbit had the same color fur as Eli’s hair. It was cool!”

Ezra gives me a look, and I laugh.

“Oh, I know what we’re doing—we’re going to hold a ritual out here,” Cayson says, motioning to Ezra’s crotch. “A lasting spell. To ensure that all of us can keep up with Faye.”

I blush. “That’s absolutely not it!”

“I know, Maverick wants to find another bear,” Ezra says, a teasing note to his words.

“Bear?” Eli asks, glancing between us.

Ezra nods. “Cayson decided to pet a bear cub while we were all picking berries. We were attacked by a very angry mama bear.”

“But the cub was so cute!” Cayson argues.

“That was fun,” Maverick says, turning around and walking backwards as he looks at us. “But that’s not the surprise. Come on, let’s all shift, and I’ll take you there.”

Shifting does sound nice. I haven’t been in my wolf form since before I was with Eli outside the castle, and that was only for a little while. Shifters need to be in touch with their wolf side. Otherwise, we get restless.

I glance at the others, watching as their bodies change, shifting into their wolf forms. I follow suit, feeling my body changing until I’m done.

After shifting, the size difference between us is even more obvious.

The guys are big, probably double my size, but it’s Eli that really shocks me.

Technically, I saw Eli’s wolf form the day he saved me from Kurt, but I was so out of it that I hardly had the space to see him and really register it. I wasn’t actually looking at him, then.

But I’m looking at him now. We all are.

He’s massive. Probably four times my size. I feel like a little pup next to him.

Whoa, Ezra says.

Ultimas can be a bit of a shock if you haven’t seen them in wolf form before, Eli explains.

It seems like we all pause for a moment to take him in—this towering, hulking white wolf next to us—then, Cayson takes off down the path.

Guys! A butterfly! His voice is a squeal of excitement.

Xander follows after him, and we all snap out of it, racing down the path after the two men.

Maverick leads us along, occasionally stopping to wrestle and jump with the others.

When I start to fall behind, panting as we climb up the hill, the guys circle back around to me, laughing and nipping at me, encouraging me.

Eli plods along, almost looking bored, even as the other guys are breathing hard and I’m practically gasping for air. There’s still some residual pain in my ribs, but I don’t tell them that. I can handle it, and the last thing I want to do is put a damper on all the fun.

Besides, it’s fun watching them. Ezra’s wolf is mostly black, but his face is white, and the fur around the white is gray.

He makes a pretty wolf. Cayson’s wolf is as golden as his hair, and only slightly smaller than Ezra, which I’m sure he hates.

Maverick’s wolf has red fur so brilliant that I can’t say I’ve ever seen another wolf that looks like him before, and Xander’s wolf is a black color so dark that it’s almost blue.

They’re all such different wolves, but beautiful in their own ways.

A rabbit! Cayson shouts through our connection

Once again, Cayson takes off, and this time, Ezra and Xander both follow him, each of them trying to get to the rabbit first. Maverick, Eli, and I stay on the path.

Now that it’s leveled out a bit, it’s not so bad.

My breathing comes easier, and a cool breeze moves through the trees, sliding through my fur and cooling me down.

That feels good , Eli says, his hazel eyes meeting mine.

A shiver runs down my back. There’s just something about the way my men look at me sometimes. It leaves me feeling like I can’t catch my breath, like my heart is racing too quickly.

This way! Maverick says, desperately trying to keep the other alphas on the right path. Guys, come on! We’re so close to the surprise.

Once the other three rejoin us, it only takes a few more minutes until the woods open up in front of us, falling away and revealing a clearing with a bubbling hot spring.

It’s both warm and cool in this area—from the heat from the spring and the chill in the air—and impossibly beautiful.

On the other end of the clearing, there’s a waterfall tumbling into the river, but the stones and grass around us give way to steaming pools of glassy water.

“Wow,” Ezra says, and I realize he’s shifted back beside me. “This place is really beautiful.”

We all shift back to our human forms, gasping in awe. I watch Cayson get to his knees and trail his hand through the water. The movement makes me itch to slip into the water myself.

“Feels good,” he says. “Just the right temperature.”

“This is certainly a good surprise,” Eli says, grinning. “But I’m assuming nobody thought to bring bathing suits?”

“No,” Maverick says, grinning wickedly. “I thought we could skinny dip.”

All eyes turn to me, and I feel my cheeks go bright red.

Oh boy. Am I ready to skinny dip in front of all of them? I mean, I guess I’ve slept with them, so why not…?