Page 24

TWENTY-FOUR

Fiona

I f I hadn’t seen the change with my own eyes, it would have been nearly impossible to tell the difference. But sure enough, as I watched, the crack spread, splinters forming to the sides as it grew, silent but terrifying as a greenish-white pulse of energy hit it like a battering ram before dispersing across the breadth of the barrier, shimmering and beautiful in its destruction as it finally soaked into the barrier.

But when I turned to Priestess Belleza—who was so much kinder than Marciana, who I could tell still wasn’t a fan of mine, even if she was letting me stay—she’d turned away from me and taken two huge steps closer to the men. No, not the men.

Reed .

Jealousy, hot and sudden, burned in my veins. Which was absurd, because Priestess Belleza was elderly, the only old wolf I’d seen yet.

But the way she and Marciana were looking at Reed? It was like they wanted to jump his bones, right here in the damn courtyard.

I stepped toward Reed, the need to put myself between him and the priestesses undeniable. He pulled me closer, my back to his chest, where I felt his impressive erection grinding against my lower back. He wrapped me up, one arm over my chest, the other over my waist, and buried his nose in my hair as if he was dying for his next hit of my scent.

Belleza and Marciana seemed confused by my appearance, freezing in place, but another maiden came drunkenly stumbling our way. She was young and brunette and pretty, and some primal part of my brain instantly classified her as a threat as she sidled up to Reed, ignoring me in front of him as she draped her arm around his shoulders.

Reed ignored her, trailing his nose down my neck, but the bitch didn’t seem to care.

“Hey there, handsome. What do you say you and I go to my rooms? I’ll show you a good time.”

What the actual fuck? I shoved her away with a snarl, turning Reed and myself so that I was between Miss Good Time and my mate.

“What is happening right now?” I wasn’t sure who I was asking, but Kane stepped to my side, holding up a hand toward the other female.

“Reed has found his mate. If you have needs, go see to them yourself.” He snapped the words at the young female, and she whined and craned her neck before skittering away, though not without multiple longing glances back at Reed.

But while she left, three more maidens appeared, each of them looking at the man who was currently rocking against my ass in microthrusts, as if he couldn’t quite help himself.

“Reed, stop it. Look around.” He stilled as soon as I spoke, but his groan low in my ear had me wishing he didn’t have to stop. But whatever had come over the wolves, my head was clear enough to tell this was not even close to normal. Reed was always in control, which meant whatever could impact a wolf as strong as him to this degree was a little bit terrifying.

“You said the crack just widened. Did you see anything else when it happened?” Kane asked me as he held up two hands and glared to stop the women all staring longingly at Reed, who was now kissing my neck very distractingly. And shamelessly.

“Uh…” I gently shoved Reed back off my neck an inch so I could think, but he switched straight to the other side, laving my neck with his tongue now. I drew in a breath through my nose, steadying myself and doing my best to ignore him. “Yes. A flash of greenish-white power. It hit that spot, then ran along the barrier and kind of melted into it.”

“Brielle. It’s her fertility power spiking,” Marciana said through gritted teeth. To her credit, she hadn’t charged Reed, though I could tell from the tension in her pose that she still felt the urge to.

“Why isn’t anyone going after Kane, then?”

Marciana shook her head. “He’s bonded. The bite protects him. Reed is the only unmated male inside the enclave.”

Oh, I did not like the sound of that. “So, every unmated female in the enclave right now wants to screw my mate?”

“For however long this surge lasts, yes. I suggest you take him back to your room and lock the door. Quickly.”

Shit on a stick.

“Yes, let’s go back to my room,” Reed practically purred against my back, his left hand creeping up to trace the underside of my breast in a way that was not at all appropriate for the audience we had right now. I grabbed his hand, dragging it back down to a safe spot and holding it there.

“I take it Reed is also under the influence of omega fertility juju right now?” I asked.

“Seems like it. If you’re uncomfortable being alone with him, one of the mated males can stay with him and ensure nothing inappropriate happens.” Kane’s expression held no judgment.

While under any other circumstance I’d have been more than happy to follow wherever Reed’s train of thought was obviously taking him, sleeping with him right now would be taking advantage, no different from if he were drunk or drugged.

“Will he still try to sleep with me if I tell him no?”

Kane shook his head. “His wolf will not ever allow him to take you against your will. No matter what is happening, your desires come first to the wolf.”

Okay, then. I could work with that.

I peeled Reed’s hands off me and took a step back so I could look into his eyes. “Take me back to your room. I don’t want to share you with any of these other women.”

He grinned, and I held up a hand. “But I’m not sleeping with you. You’re going to shift, and we’re going to wait this out.”

“I’ll see you both back to the room,” Kane offered, looking concerned at the mass of maidens who had gathered at the fringes of the courtyard, every one of them looking at Reed like he was the last brightly colored lollipop in a candy shop.

Jealousy stronger than I’d ever felt before made me want to do something stupid, like climb into his arms and kiss him while they all watched, so they’d know he was off-limits.

But the way Reed only had eyes for me… I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about. I could trust him.

For the first time, I was starting to understand what the mate bond was really about. He was mine, every bit as much as I was his. And I didn’t want anyone else touching him or looking at him like that.

“Alpha, before you go. It sounds like Brielle’s strength is too much for the shield with the diminished number of maidens we have here to support it. Your half-fae pack mate, Shay. Would she be willing to see if she can lend her strength to the cause?” Priestess Belleza seemed to have regained a measure of control, her serene smile back in place as she addressed the high alpha.

“I will send her to you as soon as I have these two settled.”

* * *

Reed’s door clicked shut behind us, and he locked it with a flourish. His hands were in my hair before I could blink, tilting my head back so he had easy access to trace my lower lip with his tongue. The impressive bulge of his erection was distracting against my stomach, but I knew I had to end this, cut off the haze of lust before we did something he’d regret when he wasn’t under Brielle’s spell.

I lightly pushed on his chest, and he immediately stepped back, the hunger in his eyes undiminished by the foot of space between us.

“Reed, I do not want to sleep with you today, not like this.”

He frowned. “But, Fiona, we’re mates. You’re perfect for me. I’ve wanted you like this since the moment I set eyes on you in that bar. This? This is just the truth, dragged to the surface. Being together will only make our bond closer, tighter. I want that. I want you .”

Despite his impassioned words, he didn’t close the distance between us, didn’t push.

“Can I talk to your wolf, please? Is that a thing? Can you—” I stopped mid-sentence when his eyes began to glow, the stunning blue leaving me agape for a second. “Hi, wolfie. Human Reed isn’t himself right now, but we’re not ready to have sex yet. Not like this. Can you come out? I’d like to snuggle you until this weirdness passes.”

I bit my bottom lip and waited, but it was only a few seconds until Reed stepped back, and the shift took over. Fur sprouted along his arms, and everything about him seemed to blur until there was a wolf, large and black and intimidating, standing in front of me. But no matter how terrifying he might have looked, the eyes were the same.

His tongue lolled from his mouth, and he cocked his head to the side as if to ask, Where are those cuddles you promised, lady?

I took a tentative step closer, then another when his tail began to wag happily.

“Hey there, big guy. You’re way bigger than a normal wolf. Are all shifters like that?”

He yipped happily, and I took that for a yes.

“Well, we may as well get comfy on the bed, then, huh? Unless you want to play fetch or something?”

He snorted, then leaped onto the bed in one graceful movement. That was easy enough to interpret, so I climbed in after him, propping my back against a stack of pillows. He circled a few times, then lay down, his head in my lap.

I traced the soft, short fur on his head with my fingertips, humming a little tuneless song as I stroked behind his ears, tracing his eyebrows, exploring the insanely soft patch of fur under his neck, getting lost in exploring this other, wilder side of him.

“You’re really something, you know that, wolfie? Reed is really something too. He’s kind, devoted, and I can already tell he’s wicked smart. As weird as this was at first, I kind of wish I had a wolf instead of whatever this is hiding inside me.”

I swallowed hard, confessing things to the wolf I was too chickenshit to say aloud any other time.

“He says I’m not evil, but I guess I just don’t trust it. It’s scary. I don’t want to be a person who hurts others. Am I even a person anymore? Or am I something else? It’s a lot to process, and it’s been such a short amount of time.” I shook my head, burying my fingertips in his thick coat. “It would kill me if I hurt him or any of the pack.”

He looked up at me with those silent, soulful eyes, and I realized the one downside to having a conversation with a wolf. It was entirely one-sided. No reassurances were forthcoming.

I shook it off and soldiered on, saying what I needed to say.

“Maybe I don’t have to figure it all out right now, huh? We have time. We can sort through it, eventually. Though hopefully, Reed’s not mad at me for asking you to come out and cuddle.” I looked down at wolfie, and he licked me on the cheek.

“Eww, that was kind of gross. But does that mean he’s not mad in there? I don’t want the first time we have sex to be… that. Him not himself.”

He licked me again, and I laughed, not able to stay stressed when the wolf’s unfettered joy at being with me was so obvious. “Okay, okay. No more worries. How about I read you a book? What’s Reed reading at the moment?” I picked up the book on the nightstand.

“ Economics in Developing Countries . Oh, shit, that’s boring. What do you say I read you some wolf smut instead? Did you know there’s a whole part of the bookstore that’s all about relationships like ours? It’s not just vampires getting all the love these days.” I scratched him behind the ears and opened the reading app on my phone.

“I found the paranormal romance section while I was waiting on Reed to wake up, and let me tell you, I was missing out before. Okay, here we go.”

I began to read, and wolfie rumbled happily in my lap as he stared up at me, intent on the story. Probably because I didn’t skip any of the juicy bits.