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FOURTEEN

Fiona

I woke on top of Reed, his chest bare, shirt discarded sometime in the night. He still wore his slacks, the expensive fabric silky under my thighs. I should have felt embarrassed—Lord knew my mother would have been horrified by my behavior last night—but all I felt was satisfaction. So much of our bare skin deliciously pressed together.

With any other man, I’d have felt rejected. But with Reed… He had a way of making me feel cherished. The way he held me, kissed me, I knew he wanted to take it slow, not push me away.

In the soft light of dawn, I felt cared for. I was stroking his collarbone, tracing down the center line between his pecs, when I froze, staring at my hand. Which was no longer blue, all the color apparently having drained away as more time passed since I’d touched the book.

I was turning it back and forth in the light—was that a tiny tinge of blue left around my fingernails?—when Reed stirred, his rock-hard erection pressed up into my thigh.

I froze like a scared bunny.

He groaned, tossing his head against the pillow as he ground up against me again, and I resisted the urge to push down, notch him against my core.

Because damn . Even through his slacks, I could feel the impressive size of him, and I knew I’d never been with anyone whose equipment was even close to what he was packing.

But he was asleep, and after he’d been so determined to take things slow the night before… I had to respect those wishes.

Sleepy Reed was not giving me consent to grind on him like a desperate hussy.

Sadly.

I held still, waiting for him to settle back down. But when his hands came up to palm my ass, I couldn’t bite back the groan at the delicious feel of him.

A second later, his glowing ice-blue eyes were blinking up at me, a soft rumble starting in his chest, and he skated his hands up my bare back to a safer position.

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat, that low morning rasp in his voice making my nipples go peaked against his chest and a pang of need shoot straight to my pussy.

“Good dream?” I teased, and to my shock, the faintest hint of a blush crept up his neck. I watched with fascination, enjoying the fact that while he might be a big bad wolf, the tiny almost human still affected him.

“Not as good as reality,” he answered, reaching up and stroking my hair before guiding my forehead down to press a kiss against it.

It wasn’t remotely sexual, but try telling my body that. Two nights in Reed’s bed—two fairly innocent nights, at that—and I was more than melting at the sweet touch.

A fist pounding at the door had us both groaning.

“What is it?” Reed called, all business even as he held me in place when I tried to slide off him.

“The head priestess requested us all to join her at the eastern gate.” It was one of the men in his pack, though I wasn’t quite sure which yet.

“For?” he bit back.

“The barrier test is done.”

He sighed, shooting me an apologetic look. “We’d better get dressed, then.”

“Sounds like it,” I agreed.

I followed Reed and Dirge—apparently, Reed’s twin brother, which was a big surprise to wrap my head around in like, ninety seconds—to the east gate, casting a wary look up at the shield I could see overhead on the way.

We were the last to arrive, the rest of our pack and several of the maidens gathered around one weary-looking older woman. Her head was bowed, low enough that I couldn’t see her face, just her silver-streaked hair and fancy white Grecian robes instead of their usual kick-butt uniform.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s not waste any more time.” Priestess Marciana, the same one who’d tried to ban me from the enclave, was the one who spoke up. “Priestess Belleza, what have you discovered?”

When she lifted her head, her eyes were white, completely colorless, and I couldn’t contain my gasp of shock. Belleza didn’t flinch, though.

She turned unerringly to face Marciana, as if she could somehow still see despite the milky blankness of her eyes, and spoke in a high, clear voice. “The barrier’s strength remains undamaged by the unknown’s presence. The omega is safe.”

The relief that rushed through everyone present—myself included—was palpable. I didn’t want to be a danger to Reed’s people. His family , though he seemed no more moved by his brother’s safety than any other member of the pack.

Apparently, being a wolf was… complicated.

Granted, being a mystery magical being wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Kane surprised me by bowing deeply to the priestess. “Thank you, Priestess Belleza, for your sacrifice in verifying my mate’s safety. Now that we know for sure that Brielle is safe here, we’ve come to a decision.” Brielle clasped his hand, looking up at him like he hung the moon as he continued. “With Kari’s short timeline to stay in Romania and our safety inside the barrier, we don’t want to wait any longer. Tonight, when the moon reaches its peak, Karissma will remove the curse and unleash Brielle’s full omega powers.”

Somebody muttered shit under their breath, but I couldn’t tell who as everyone started to talk at once.

Priestess Marciana raised both hands in the air, and the group fell silent once more.

“We are honored to protect you and your line, Brielle of Pack Blackwater. Our swords and wolves are with you.”

“Our swords and wolves are with you,” the other maidens all echoed as one. The eerie declaration sent goose bumps crawling up my arms.