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“Okay, but don’t laugh.”

“We won’t,” the gentle one promised.

“I help out with the kids and make sure the elders have hot meals.”

“Do you enjoy it or is it to please your father?”

“Both.” Then she finally found the courage and asked, “Why you three ?”

“Why do you have all three of us as your mates?” the gentle one clarified.

“Yes.”

“We believe it’s because of our blood bond.”

“You’re bonded with a vow?”

“More like a spell,” the scary one said, then he sighed. “And now you think we fuck each other.” She opened her mouth to say something, but a different sound cut her off. Another chuckle, but this one was… almost sensual. “We don’t.”

What was she supposed to say to that?

The next new voice had her lips quirking into a smile. “It makes our hunts easier.” So, she’d been right: the silent one had been there all along.

“Should we really tell her all about our hunts?” the dark one asked. “We might give our little princess nightmares.”

“Why did your last hunt take longer than expected?” she asked, wanting to prove him wrong.

“We went after a vampire in Ascot, who hid out of sight and didn’t give us an opportunity to strike,” her gentle mate explained.

“But he did?”

“I lured him out,” the scary one hummed with pride.

“That doesn’t sound safe.”

The warm chuckle returned. “Oh, little toy, if you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“I let him drain me, but he quickly regretted it—I was tainted with silver.”

A shudder ran down her spine at the mere mention of the precious metal. “Why would you do that?”

“Vampire blood is very valuable,” the quiet one continued. “Any injury we obtain during the hunt the blood will heal in a matter of minutes.”

“So, that’s what you do for a living?”

“Mostly, yes.” The silent one. “I do some custom carpentry, but we mostly focus on our hunts.” As she’d suspected.

“What would you do if your father let you pick?” the gentle one asked.

“I wanted to study business, or maybe art.”

“So, you’re artistic?”

“A little.”

“Don’t be shy, little princess.”

The way the dark one hummed the last two words, made the pet name a little bit sweeter—not that she would let him know that.

“When will you be back, love?”

“The day after the Wolfmoon.”

“We’ll be waiting for you in the shadows of the night.” And again, the scary one’s words sounded a little like a threat.

“Go get some rest and enjoy your time out there,” the gentle one added. “You know how to reach us if you need anything.”

The call ended and she tucked the phone away. Though the call had done little more than stir up her emotions, it also left her with a warm, cosy feeling that helped her drift off to sleep.

To her greatest displeasure, her parents joined her a day early.

So instead of having a full day to herself, she was greeted with a family lunch when she returned from the lake the next morning.

Maximilian had arrived as well, and seemed to sense her dampening mood.

After lunch, he knocked on her door with a gentle smile.

“I was hoping you would come join me on a hike.”

She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. “You hate when I go on hikes with you. You always complain that I go too slow.”

“Fine, let me rephrase. Would you like to join me on a stroll through the woods to get away from everything?”

“Only if you carry the snacks.”

“Of course.”

Thirty minutes later, she walked by Maximilian’s side onto a trail she hadn’t taken in years.

It would be a long walk, but she didn’t argue her brother’s choice.

He wouldn’t have taken it if he wasn’t prepared to spend the next few hours with her.

The silence between them was comfortable in a soothing way, with only the forest’s sounds surrounding them.

She wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking, but Maximilian initiated the first break by setting his bag onto a fallen tree. “Snack or just a drink?”

She sat down, her body already fatigued. She wasn’t used to much exercise. She’d kept up her fitness as long as possible, until her mother disapproved of her body becoming more muscular. “I’ll take water.”

He handed a bottle over and sat down next to her. “We haven’t had much time alone lately.”

“No, someone has become quite busy adulting and taking over the family business.”

He chuckled and nodded while taking a drink himself. “I have and I neglected you while doing so.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. You’ve always been very forgiving, but I feel that something is slowly changing.”

Scarlett sighed, resting her head in her arms. “I sometimes feel like I could be so much more than I am.”

Maximilian put a hand on her shoulder. “I want to see you grow, which is why I want you to go study or work or whatever you feel like doing. It’s something that has been on my mind for a while.

Once father makes me alpha, I want you to know that I won’t hold you to his standards.

If you want to go out there and spread your wings, you have my full support.

He might not like it, but you’re twenty-five. It’s time for him to let you grow.”

Tears filled her eyes, because Maximilian would be the one to give her what she’d been craving for years. Only now, she wanted something else, something different. She wanted her mates and even her open-minded brother had a deeply seeded hatred for hunters.

Maximilian pulled her in, soaking her tears up with his shirt. “Oh, please don’t cry.”

She let him hold her, fighting the urge to come clean and tell him that Isis had chosen three hunters for her to spend the rest of her life with.

The only reason she didn’t was because she loved him and she’d miss him—she’d miss her entire pack.

The children she loved singing with, the elders she had lunch with every day, every ridiculous situation that Kurt found himself in.

Everything would be lost if she revealed her secret and as she considered the three things she would have left, she wasn’t sure it was worth it.