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“Pfft…” she said with a smile. “We all remember what it’s like to be newly mated.

Bit of an occupational hazard working here.

I’ve seen many girls here find their pack.

” She looked a little misty eyed at that.

“Now, someone said you might be adding to yours? What’re you looking for?

Big and muscly? Though you already have that.

What about someone a bit more streamlined, if you catch my drift?

Or adventurous?” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

I just blinked as my boss tried to hook me up with several strange men, then ended up walking back into the kitchen and ferrying out trays until they were all distributed.

“Come here,” Maisie said when I came back in, finding that was the last of them.

“Let’s get rid of this.” She untied my apron and tossed it into the dirty clothes basket.

“Now…” She pushed my hair back over my shoulders, pinched my cheeks gently and then rubbed them, then stood back and surveyed her handiwork. “Beautiful!” she said.

“Stop man handling the girl,” Sheila said.

“I know what I’m doing,” Maisie shot back. “I got you catching Nerida’s eye, didn’t I?”

Sheila snorted at that, then said, “Well, she’s out there now. Can I go on break?”

“Off you both go, but dinner prep when you get back, alright?”

“So, Nerida,” I said as we walked through the doorway, feeling like I needed to act like a normal person and make small talk. “Is she your girlfriend?”

“She’s my sun and moon,” Sheila said dreamily. “Come and meet her. Your boys will wait for you until the end of time.”

She grabbed my hand in hers, dragging me along. I shot a frazzled look across the crowded hall where the guys had taken a seat in a secluded corner. Their heads jerked up as they worked out where I was headed, then they picked up their plates to follow.

“Here she is!” Sheila bounced up to a table where a very pretty girl with long tumbling brown hair sat next to several guys.

Nerida’s eyes transformed when she looked up and saw her love.

I felt almost uncomfortable about being a spectator to it, something incredibly intimate and intense passing between the two of them when they locked eyes.

“Well,” Sheila said in a breathy little tone. “Nerida, this is Flick. Flick, this is my Nerida.”

I watched her bounce over to Nerida’s side and wiggle her way into position beside her on the bench seat.

“Hi, Flick,” Nerida said, wrapping her arm around the other girl’s waist. “Take a seat.”

“Hi,” I said belatedly and slipped onto the empty bench.

“This is Mick, Sen—” Nerida said, beginning to introduce the others.

“We’ve met,” Sen said smiling as those grey eyes burned into mine. “You’re trying things out in the kitchen?”

“Um…yeah,” I said. “Kade’s started at school, and I figured it was time to start pulling my weight.

Ophelia thought it might be a good opportunity, working here to…

” Mick, Sen, and Shaun, the guy with the cereal from this morning, all went very still for a moment, hands pausing mid slice of their food.

“To meet some of the guys before the full moon.”

“Thinking of adding to your pack?” Mick was a big guy, very similar in colouring to Finn, with those grey eyes and auburn hair. Eyes that seemed to take all of me in with one sweep, a smile indicating just what he thought about that. “You’re Mon—Peter’s mate?”

“Yeah, she is,” the man himself said, appearing by my side and sitting beside me with Aidan on the other, until I was sandwiched between them. Something that reminded me of what had happened the other night, the two of them stroking me while I worked each one of them in my?—

“Congrats, Pete,” Mick said. “Couldn’t think of anyone more deserving. Your mate is beautiful.”

This was said more to me than him, Aidan’s hand dropping down to take mine and rub my knuckles with his thumb.

“She’s everything,” Peter replied. I felt him turn and press his lips to my temple, but my attention was on the wooden tabletop, my eyes following the whorls and twists of the wood grain. They had to, as today, his words, Aidan’s hand around mine—right now, it was all too much.

The guys in Rick’s friendship group had a weird relationship with their partners.

They sat around constantly deriding them over beers.

From domestic chores to work to sexual performance, they used to talk at length about their shortcomings, mine included.

It seemed almost a currency within the group, to share a ‘fucking missus’ story, something guaranteed to get the guys laughing at our pathetic foibles.

The sound of Peter’s voice, the almost reverent tone, was so alien that I struggled to get my head around it.

“Well, congrats, you big lunk!” Nerida said. “Now, let’s get our girls something to eat. They’ve been on their feet all morning.”

Nerida was being nice, I knew that, but I felt curiously naked when they all got to their feet and went. I could feel the ghost of Aidan’s hand against mine, even after they were gone.

“So, Flick, tell us about how you met our Pete,” Mick said.

Obviously, he hadn’t gotten the message, if the pained looks Sheila and Sen gave him were any indication. Shaun kept his eyes on his plate, methodically mowing through the food, as if we weren’t here. But I straightened. I could talk about this, I already had countless times with Ophelia.

“My husband beat me and my son,” I said, proud of the way my voice cut through the background chatter.

“I was on the run in his car, when Aidan and Peter found us. I thought…” I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“I thought my Tirian was some kind of delusion, but when I got out of the car, I walked up to Peter and I bit him. Somehow, I just knew that’s what I—we needed. ”

Silence fell across the table. Mick regretted asking, I could see that, his eyes stark against his now paling skin, but he was not the most stricken.

Shaun had given up all pretence of eating, his fork landing on the table with a clatter.

He looked like I had slapped him, his face as white as a sheet.

He swallowed, dragging his staring eyes away, and then blinked as if to bring himself back to the here and now.

He drew out his phone with a shaking hand, unlocking it and scrolling through the screen before getting to his feet.

“Sorry, I need to get going,” he said, putting his cutlery neatly across the plate and picking it up. “A thing’s… It’s been nice meeting you, Flick.”

And with that, he strode off.

“Fuck,” Mick said, “I’m sorry, Flick?—”

“Just go and grab us some sandwiches,” Sen said, shoving the other man gently with his elbow. Mick nodded and then got to his feet.

“Flick, I’m—” Sheila started to say.

“It’s fine. Not everyone will have gotten the memo yet,” I said, and as the words came out, I realised they were true.

I saw myself approaching Rick with the ashtray in hand, almost as if it was happening to someone else.

Why wouldn’t she strike back? I thought.

He just kept on going and going. Calling the police would have done little. He was friends with one.

Sen nodded, as if he could see my mental dialogue and he agreed with it.

“Shaun, he’s a little touchy about the whole mating thing,” Sheila said.

“We thought… It looked like Jules was going to take him as hers but…that didn’t end up happening.

It’s one of the risks. Sometimes, our Tirians don’t accept some of the potentials.

Mine loves Nerida,” she said, giving herself a little hug.

“I never thought I’d pair up with another woman but… ”

Sen smiled and shook his head at her expression, but that faded away when he met my eyes.

“So, my beast might reject Aidan?” I said.

That would not happen. He is good for the cub and for you. You should mark him before someone else sees his mate potential , she replied.

“We have a thing we call heat fever,” Sen said.

He reached across the table, slowly, taking my hand when I didn’t flinch away.

That same tidal wave of warmth went up my arm, rushing through my body.

Perhaps he’d be offended, but it wasn’t him I thought of as it washed through me.

I felt my nipples pebble under my clothes, my body softening and swelling at his touch.

No, it was the boys, on either side of me, kissing every inch of me, right up until…

I gasped, something that had him smiling slowly.

“You can feel attraction, have great sex, like Jules did with Shaun, but becoming someone’s mate takes a whole lot more.”

The raspy tone of his voice sent shivers up my spine. Well that, and he was still holding my hand. Sheila’s eyes went to the size of saucers as she glanced from one to the other of us.

“You’re…” she said, waving her finger back and forth.

“No, but I’m hoping Flick’ll let me take her out to see if we’re…”

There was something of a lazy predator about Sen, like he’d lie in wait with endless patience, waiting for me to stick up my head out so he could gobble me up. But his end goal was for something that both of us would enjoy.

I could see it, clear as a bell in my mind, what it’d be like with the three of them. They’d stretch me out tight, the boys holding me down as Sen prowled over me, taking tiny little bites from me, until I spread my legs and begged for a whole lot more.

Goddamn… I swore to myself. Is this because I’m enjoying sex for the first time in years? Because I’m dripping…

The Great Wolf provides , my Tirian replied obliquely. You have suffered more than most of her children, so she gifts you this.

What? Sen?

No. Stroke your finger along the man’s palm.

I frowned as I did just that.

It felt insanely intimate, his eyes staying on mine the whole time I did as she asked.

I caught the moment it registered, his pupils expanding, his breathing becoming ragged, and a low moan escaping those full lips, as if against his will.

He frowned then, glancing down at his hand and mine, but when he looked back at me, his eyes shone green.

“Come out with me, Flick, please. I’ll…” He shook his head. “I dunno what I’ll do, but I’ll look after you and make sure you have a good time, I promise.”

Sheila looked at the two of us as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Flick?”

The urge to say yes, to any and all that he offered beat down on me like actual blows.

I wanted it, him, all of them, and a flush of heat washed through my whole body, leaving me feeling limp and delicious.

I looked at him through heavily lidded eyelids, taking my time, noticing the way the fabric of his t-shirt stretched tight over his taut muscles, the clawing of his other hand as he dug his nails into the table to stop himself from launching at me.

He felt it too, I guessed, from the tense set of his shoulders.

“Yes,” I said. Just one little word, but it felt like I was agreeing to so much more.

A life of pleasure and fun, of desire and need, of support and love and caring for people with my whole heart, while they held it like the precious thing it was.

Not necessarily with Sen. That was yet to be seen, but to this life, of having mates, of surrounding my child with an array of people who would love and care for him as I did.

“Everything OK, Flick?” Peter asked.

“Oh, it's all OK, isn’t it?” Aidan said, brushing his nose against my neck before pulling away. He put a laden plate before me. “You smell…creamy.”

“And you’re gonna enjoy that when she gets home,” Sen said, not entirely friendly. Then he smiled, breaking that brief moment of tension and turning to me. “Tell me I can come and get you tonight.”

“Kade will be in bed and asleep by seven-thirty,” I replied.

“Eight o’clock too early for you?”

“Will you guys be OK?” I said, shooting both of my mates a look.

“You wanna see how things go? I’m OK with it. Sen’s a good guy,” Peter said. “I’ll pound his head into the ground if he hurts you.”

“And I’ll kick him when he’s down,” Aidan said. “But this is a good idea. We need to trial you spending time away from Kade, get him used to the idea. I say we tell him what we’re doing.”

I nodded. “If he reacts… He’s been doing so well but…”

“I’ll understand,” Sen said. “Hell, I’d be happy just hanging around and watching a movie if it comes to it. That be OK with you fellas?”

“You promised Kade those MCU cartoons. He hasn’t forgotten,” Aidan said.

“Right, right. Well, I can be around at five-thirty. Bring some dinner and the DVDs. I’ll meet Kade and get to know him better, then if you feel like it, I’ll take Flick out.”

The words were like a cold face washer on my forehead, taking away some of the ever-present heat. Nerida and Mick had filed back to the table, glancing around, no doubt trying to determine what had just happened.

But the moment was over. I was left feeling flushed and slightly embarrassed, like I’d been caught doing something horribly intimate.

“Eat,” Peter prompted, shooting me a sidelong smile when he saw how scattered I was. I jumped when his hand landed on my thigh, nearly choking on a mouthful of food when it slid upwards.

“Well, until then,” Sen said. “I’ve gotta go…deal with something before going back to work.”

The guys all laughed in a way that made it sound like they knew exactly what that meant, but Sen’s smile was full of heat and good humour when he got to his feet. He grabbed the roll Mick had brought him and nodded to us before filing out.