Page 61 of Eternal Light

“Ro, you aren’t in trouble. It’s going to be okay, but you have to tell me what happened,” Leo offers, and he braves a hand down Rowan’s spine and then another. “You are so handsome like this, but I really miss your person-face, too.”

Leo is using his extra-sweet cajoling voice—the one he breaks out when Rowan is in rut and won’t let the others leave to use the toilet. Rowan must recognize it because he pulls his head out, tilts it, and then rolls his eyes.

It is the strangest thing to see in the face of a giant wolf. So human.

“No? Alpha will have to make you, then, and I’ll have to wait outside because you know how that upsets my tummy.” Leo sighs and gets to his feet.

Leo leaving disappointed is the worst of all threats, next to Nix feeding himself.

Jay watches as Rowan-wolf sets his front teeth into the back of Leo’s pants and pulls him back.

“If you don’t want Leo to leave, baby, you have to change back,” Jay says, disentangling the cotton from the sharp teeth before they need a third set of scrubs.

It’s met with another pitiful whine, but Rowan-wolf closes his eyes with a subsequent sigh. There is a surge of magic or power in the room, and Grayson gasps.

There’s a flash of light—and then Jay is holding a very naked Rowan on his lap.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Leo breathes, running his hand through Rowan’s red hair. “Hey, Ro.”

“How was that?” Finn asks, unable to hide the curiosity in his voice. “Did it hurt? Do you feel the transformation at all, or does it feel like it looks to us?” He’s gearing up for a line of questioning.

“Are you okay?” Grayson asks. “That was so cool, by the way.”

Ignoring them, Rowan drops his forehead on Jay’s good shoulder. “I’m sorry, Alpha.”

Sorry for what?Jay wonders. His own list of needed apologies is so long—today, yesterday, and forever.

“It’s okay, Ro.”

“It’s really not. I let them take Nix and Luc. I–I was at the store when they came for them.”

“You left them alone?” Leo asks, getting up to pace, grabbing handfuls of his already messy curls. “Does no one take me seriously?”

“Nix tried to stop me, but he was craving brownies, and Luc, too. And I wanted…”

“Happy mates,” Gideon sighs, rubbing a hand over his face and around the back of his neck. If there’s anyone who understands how tempting this kind of caregiving feels, it’s Gideon.

He hands the scrub top and pants to Rowan, who stands to put them on. They’re a tight fit, but at least he won’t be shocking the staff with his dick.

“Yeah. But when I got back, the door was ajar, and they were gone. I could smell decay…you know? It’s like what Grayson described? And magic.”

Running big hands through his hair, Rowan tries to get comfortable in his scrub pants. He can’t find a spot for his dick that isn’t obscene, and it’s ramping up his scent from annoyed to genuinely pissed off.

Finn must realize it, too, as he reaches into Rowan’s pants and pulls The Cock™ until it’s caught gently in the waistband of his scrubs before pulling the scrub top down over it. It wouldn’t feel ideal, but at least it’s not caught and is minimally mobile at the same time.

“Thanks, Finnie,” Rowan whispers before yanking Finn in close to lick and bite at his neck in gratitude—or maybe for thehand on his dick. His scent is getting spicier, and Finn moans at the onslaught.

“Ro, reel it in. You can’t do that here,” Gideon groans.

Even Jay is getting hard in his hospital gown.

Shit. While Rowan has always been sensual and sexual, he’s never had them all hard as a rock in five seconds or fewer—and Jay and Grayson are infirm.

Ha…well, no, he’s quite firm.

He wonders if it’s the sheer animalistic nature of Rowan’s wolf. Maybe this is how Nix’s omega and Rowan’s enigma communicate all the time.

“Jay!” Leo snaps his fingers, and Jay growls at the affront.