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The way Emmy was holding back from him was driving him crazy. Was he misreading the obsession he saw in the shifter’s eyes? Had he pushed too hard at the bridge?

It took everything Rocco had to let his fiancé leave the clubhouse again that morning once they returned without trailing after him like a …

well, like a puppy. The run-in with Brand and Emmy finding the evidence he’d been collecting had been a reminder that he had other things to be focussing on, though.

As much as he wanted to break down the wall Emmy was holding between them before their wedding, he needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with the treasurer.

Which was why, several days and a dozen unanswered sexts to his fiancé later, he was perched on a roof watching Brand meet with one of the local business owners instead of being Emmy’s shadow wherever he was.

Judging by the direction his tracking magic was tugging him and the sounds he could make out from the location, he’d guess his wolf was on his pack’s land .

Tuning in to the magic he’d left on Emmy, he heard the rumbling voice of the Lunetti Pack Alpha speaking to him.

“I can smell him on you, Emmy. I know you two are growing closer. Why won’t you take a chance at happiness? Rocco isn’t the same as your father’s mate.”

He should probably feel guilty about eavesdropping. He should probably also be paying attention to his surroundings. He didn’t do either.

“It’s not happening, Marco. I don’t need a mate.”

“You’re marrying the guy, Emmy. Do you really think your wolf is going to let you ignore the bond?”

Rocco drew in a sharp breath as a surge of satisfaction ripped through him.

He’d suspected there was the potential for a bond between them.

It was the best explanation for the way Emmy had gone off at Brand and Andy.

But the wolf had been so cagey, he hadn’t been certain.

Now, it was confirmed. A potential bond.

Part of him was pissed that Emmy was resisting it, but he was no stranger to the people who loved him pushing him away.

Even his family had let him leave. It didn’t mean they loved him any less.

It still hurt, though. A much bigger part of him, the possessive part that had always scared his partners off, was revelling in the knowledge that finally there was someone who could match him obsession for obsession.

Finally, there was someone who would fight to keep him, if he could just break through this initial resistance and complete the bond.

Dammit. Was he going to have to thank Blaze after all for this sham of a marriage?

He’d been determined to weasel his way out of it.

Been determined not to let someone else decide where he lived and what he would do with his life ever again.

None of that mattered now. Because the smouldering need he’d had for Emmy had now been stoked by an influx of explosive oxygen .

He would seduce the wolf until he couldn’t resist, fight him for the dominance they both craved, and submit when he least expected it. He was going to do everything to win the wolf over.

A creak of metal nearby had him blinking back to awareness on the rooftop.

He’d been so focussed on his fiancé, his mate, over the other side of the city that he’d taken his eye off the ball.

Luckily, his glamour had held, because he was forced to slip silently past the woman who’d come to investigate his position.

As he glanced back at the window he’d been watching Brand through, his eyes met those of the treasurer.

The fire witch wouldn’t be able to see Rocco, but something told him the other man had noted his power somehow.

Fuck. Hopefully, it wouldn’t blow back on him.

Jogging back down the stairs to street level, he made his way several blocks over to where he’d left his bike. Without conscious thought, he headed southwest, following the draw of his power to Emmy.

A prickle of awareness ran over his skin as he drove down the long driveway toward the Lunetti packhouse and through the tunnel formed by the pack’s apartment complex that screened their Alpha’s home from view and formed a natural barricade against attackers.

Not that it had prevented the D-2S from getting some shots off there if word on the street was to be believed.

He couldn’t make out the sentries he knew would be watching him with his inferior human senses, so he drew on his magic just in case, maintaining a connection to his power so he could respond in a heartbeat if he needed to.

No one challenged him as he pulled up to the mansion where Marco and his blood family lived. Rocco hadn’t stayed there yet. They hadn’t got around to agreeing on a day. Perhaps tonight would be the night.

Silas, Marco’s second-in-command, came out to meet him as he dismounted his motorbike.

He looked the most relaxed Rocco had ever seen him.

Usually, they only saw each other when things were tense between the families.

That afternoon, Silas was wearing jeans and a collared shirt that had been left unbuttoned, baring his tanned, muscular chest to his inspection.

“Don’t let Emmy catch you looking at me like that.”

Rocco grinned. “Whyever not?”

“Because I’m not interested in fending off my cousin’s fangs.”

Rocco’s smile broadened. “Me neither.”

Silas had been turning away, ready to lead him somewhere, but he spun at Rocco’s words, eyes widening before swearing under his breath. “Mess with him and I’ll lock you up in our basement. You’ll never see the sun again.”

Rocco cocked his head. “That’s a weirdly specific non-violent threat. Any reason for that?”

“Shut it. He’s out the back. We’re having a bachelor party for him.”

Rocco followed along after the imposing shifter as they circled the main house, waving at the packmates who were glaring at him from their apartment balconies.

“They don’t seem very welcoming. Aren’t they coming to the party?” Rocco asked. Not that he was surprised at the animosity. They were from rival families, after all.

Silas’ gaze flicked to the apartments, but he didn’t slow down. “They’re judgmental pricks. I’ll be having words with them later.”

“Don’t feel like you need to speak to them on my account. No skin off my back if they don’t like me.”

Silas huffed. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Rocco. You weren’t even supposed to be here.”

Rocco’s brow furrowed as he worked through what Silas meant. Those shifters had been avoiding Emmy ? Were they really so petty ?

“They’d disrespect Marco that way?” he asked.

“They think they’re protecting him. Emmy’s been away a long time. They don’t know him anymore,” Silas said.

“He’s still pack.”

Silas glanced over his shoulder at him. “Yeah, he is. I’ll make sure to point out to them that even the human understood that better than they did.”

Their conversation lapsed as they rounded the corner onto a grassed area that led out to the forest beyond.

Long tables of food and drink had been set up, and picnic blankets covered in plush cushions were scattered around.

Various family members were chatting as they ate, but more had taken wolf form and were chasing each other as they slipped in and out of the trees in the distance.

A huge black wolf loped toward them as they approached, shifting in an impressive display of speed and control when he was a few feet away. Completely unfazed by his own nudity, Marco reached out a hand to clasp Rocco’s in greeting.

“Welcome,” Marco said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Couldn’t stay away,” Rocco admitted.

“You’re family now. You can stop by whenever you want,” Marco said, grabbing a pair of sweats and pulling them on before heading over to one of the tables to swipe a bottle of whiskey and three glasses.

The water witch, Cal, had slipped closer as they talked.

He wasn’t in the wolf form Rocco had only seen that one day in the forest when he’d helped take down the earth witch mated to Emmy’s dad.

Rocco could see the mistrust on Cal’s face.

The faint buzz of awareness of the other powerful witch connecting to his magic confirmed Cal saw him as a threat.

“Relax, Calder. I’m not here to cause trouble.” It was sort of true. He was only here to tug at the tail of one specific wolf.

“Let go of your power, then,” Cal growled.

“He’s fine, Cal. He’s surrounded by wolves, and his magic is the only fangs or claws he has,” Marco said, passing Rocco a whiskey.

“If he was a wolf baring his fangs at you here, you’d be putting him in his place already,” Cal pointed out, stepping closer.

A blur of motion broke from the trees, and suddenly Rocco found himself pushed back a step from the water witch as another wolf put himself between them.

He might’ve been concerned if he hadn’t already sensed his magic on the wolf’s body—on Emmy.

His fiancé, what he could see of him from behind anyway, was stunning as a wolf.

A little smaller than Marco had been, but with similar dark fur.

His tail was quivering straight and high, close enough he could’ve reached out and run his fingers down it.

Cal sighed and waved a hand in surrender. “Fine. But I’m watching you. Don’t even think about using your power against the pack.”

Another wolf with jet-black feet and tail approached them, nuzzling into Cal’s hand as they talked. That would be his mate, Luca. Ignoring the pair of them, Rocco crouched down, setting his drink aside.

“Emmy, look at me.”

His fiancé, his mate, growled at Cal one more time before twisting around to face him.

The beautiful wolf’s eyes glowed gold, and his tongue lolled slightly as he met his gaze.

Emmy lunged forward, and before Rocco had a chance to do more than lean back on one hand, a rough tongue swept up the side of his face.