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Mila

The navigation app sent her south, and she soon found herself on the tall bridge leading to Coronado Island! Whoever this Gio was, he must be rich or in the military because those were the only people who lived here.

She was driving slowly, intimidated by the height of the bridge and the narrowness of the lanes. Halfway over the bridge, a massive bird suddenly landed on the large passenger side mirror!

With a startled screech, Mila almost drove into the next lane. “What the hell?”

Someone behind her blared a horn at her slow speed, then whipped around her. If she wasn’t so busy trying to keep the van steady and being seriously disturbed and distracted by the big bird's behavior, she might’ve waved to apologize to the angry driver.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked the bird. It was staring intently at her with large, yellow eyes. It took her a moment to recognize the species. It was a sea hawk, but people out here called it an osprey.

Why in the name of all things holy had this bird decided to land on her van?

“Bird, that’s not a good place fo—” her words were cut off when it started violently pecking at her window. She didn’t think it was possible, but the bird shattered the window and flew inside!

Once again, she almost crashed the van, but thankfully she was going so slow now that it was easy to correct before she went into the barrier that kept traffic from plunging into the Pacific below.

There was no place to pull over on the bridge so she had no choice but to keep going, even if it was at a much more sedate pace than the rest of the traffic around her.

“Babette?” she called out, scared the large bird would kill the little canine. When she managed a glance back, it was to find both of them staring at Carter!

She’d told her mom San Diego was a magical place, but this wasn’t what she’d meant at all.

“Is Carter a Disney princess?” she asked the air around her with a shake of her head. She forced herself to focus on driving. It wouldn’t do any of them any good if she killed them all in a car accident.

She let out a massive sigh of relief when she got to the other side of the bridge where the old toll booths stood, closed and empty. She was finally able to pull over. Shoving the van in park, she turned in her seat to fully see what was going on.

The sea hawk had pulled the covers back, revealing most of Carter’s naked body. The bird seemed like it was surveying Carter’s injuries. When the avian looked up and focused bright amber eyes on Mila, she got the distinct impression of impatience.

“You broke my window,” she mumbled, unable to look away from the bird's gaze. “I’m going to make you pay for that in fish!”

The creature's head drew back, as if surprised at her words.

“This has to be a dream,” she mumbled at the same time her phone reminded her that she needed to “Turn left in .4 miles.”

“If you peck him or hurt him, I’ll deep fry you!” she warned the bird before turning back around and shifting the van back into drive.

“Were there rude birds in any of the fairytales?” she mused, following the phone’s directions. “If there were, I missed it.”

“You have arrived.”

Those words were accompanied by her pulling into the driveway of what had to be a very expensive home. She could hear the ocean behind her through her broken window. The briny scent she’d come to associate with the beach filled her nose.

The house was three stories with several balconies. The front was modest, but she had a feeling the real elegance was hidden inside. Every window was lit from within, so someone had to be home.

She opened the door to get out but before she even put a foot down, the bird was winging out of the open door and flying up to the roof of the house.

Was this a trained sea hawk? Wait, could someone train a bird to break a car window and examine someone for injuries?

Before tonight she didn’t think a bird smaller than an emu could break a window to begin with. Or she was going to wake up and find out that she’d had a spiked drink, and this was all some kind of drug induced hallucination. Damn fancy French water!

“I need to start writing novels,” she muttered as she finished sliding out of the van. “If my brain made all this up, I need to put it to work!”

She was almost to the front door when it swung open, and a man rushed out. “I’m Gio,” he explained, grabbing her arm and walking her back to the van.

She was too startled to talk. Not because of Gio’s sudden appearance or him grabbing her.

It was that he had the same amber eyes as the osprey.

Gio

He’d woken from his daytime sleep with a bad feeling.

Carter was gone, and he’d felt deep intention coming from the wolf shifter.

Normally that didn’t bother Gio, Carter did everything with strong feelings, it was part of being an alpha wolf.

This time felt different. Carter’s intentions felt far too focused on a goal, and he wasn’t even fully healed yet.

Gio was absolutely sure Carter was off doing something he didn’t want Gio to know about.

That was probably the worst part, the secret. Carter didn’t keep many secrets, but when he did, it was because he knew Gio wouldn’t approve.

Now he was hurt again! Gio was ready to chain him to their bed to keep from leaving again.

“Um, you can let go of me,” the woman said. “I need to unlock the back door.”

Of course she did. Gio wanted to smack himself. He was being an idiot. This poor girl was human. When Anatoly called him, he’d explained that this woman was unaware of their world. He couldn't understand why Anatoly or Zan didn’t drive Carter back, then he’d set eyes on Mila.

She was meant to be part of his flock.

She had to be the reason Carter went off on his own.

The wolf found a mate and was wooing her to bring back to him to join the flock.

How he’d gotten tangled up with McConnell's durmin was a whole other question entirely, but according to his brief discussion with Anatoly, this little human might’ve saved Carter’s life.

“Mila?” he asked, letting go of her arm and giving her a little space.

“Yes, that’s me. I’m Mila,” she said as if reminding herself. “And you’re Gio and this is Carter.” She unlocked the back doors of the van and swung both of them open, revealing what Gio already knew from having invaded her vehicle in his osprey form.

Looking back, he realized that had been the height of stupidity.

He could’ve accidentally gotten them all killed, or at least her.

The problem was that the moment Carter was close enough for him to feel the wolf’s location through their bond, he couldn't deny the instinct to go to his wounded flock member.

As much as he was worried about Carter, he needed Mila to know something.

He captured her gaze with his. “You’re welcome in my home and in my life, Mila.”

Her mouth dropped open at his words. They must not have been the right ones. How much more could he mess things up today?

“I’m going to get Carter,” he said, climbing into the van and picking Carter up. Cradling the larger man to his chest, he carefully climbed back out, murmuring gentle words of comfort the entire time.

He could feel the effort Carter’s body was putting into keeping his soul trapped inside his flesh. He was expending huge amounts of magic and needed Faith’s assistance.

She should be there soon to care for the wolf shifter. Until then, Carter could pull magic from Gio. Their link wasn’t as strong as most vampires and flock. They needed to be touching for Gio to help Carter.

Mila sucked in a breath as he carried Carter to the front door. “You’re strong.”

He ignored the comment as the little dog from earlier jumped from the van and rushed to follow him inside.

“Babette!” she called out. “We can’t go in there!”

That’s when Gio realized she intended to leave. That wasn’t acceptable. He paused in the doorway of their home and looked over his shoulder at her.

“I can’t do this alone,” he said, forcing his will on her. He didn’t want to use thrall on a future member of his flock, but he didn’t have a choice. He felt his magic flow out of him and soak into her aura. “I need you to come inside and help me.”

To his utter shock, she hesitated. No mere human should be able to withstand him! He was old enough and powerful enough that she should be falling over herself to do as he asked. Anatoly had warned him that she was resistant to thrall. Gio thought the vampire was exaggerating. He’d been wrong.

“Please Mila,” he begged, giving up on using thrall on her. “I’m scared for Carter, and I’ll need help caring for him. Your dog Babette is already inside. Please join her.”

His plea worked where his thrall hadn’t. She slammed the doors to the van shut and hurried after him. “We should really take him to the hospital,” she said.

“He has a condition,” Gio said, improvising as he led her into the house. “Hospitals aren’t prepared to treat him. His doctor is on her way. She’ll be able to treat him better than any hospital.”

Mila’s eyes went wide. “That’s horrible, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” he said. “Our bedroom is upstairs, I’ll need you to open the door for me.”

She made a sound of agreement and followed him up the stairs. “Our bedroom? Does that mean you share? Are you guys together?”

Gio knew that question was much bigger than Mila simply asking about sleeping arrangements. She wanted to know what their relationship was. He wanted to be honest, but most humans didn’t understand how his people commonly ended up with three, four, or five partners in a relationship.

Deciding to use Carter’s favorite technique, he pretended he didn’t hear her. “This door, please.”

She moved past him and opened the door. When they’d had the house renovated, Gio had the builder's knock down a wall and combine two rooms to make a new, larger bedroom. Along with the walk-in closet and private bathroom, it took up most of the third floor. Carter had said they didn’t need so much space but then never complained about the large bathtub, massive shower, and room for all his motorcycle clothes.

The man loved his leather! It made picking out presents for the alpha wolf easy.

The sheets on the bed were still rumpled from earlier when he’d gotten up in a panic and gone looking for Carter. Mila stood by the door as he lay Carter down. Babette jumped up and made herself comfortable on the pillow next to Carter’s head.

Standing up, Gio surveyed Carter’s naked body. He was filthy from fighting in some dirty alley and there was drying blood all over him. Normally Gio wouldn’t want anyone near his wolf while Carter was naked and vulnerable, but Mila didn’t count.

She was theirs, she simply didn’t know it yet.

“There are towels and washcloths in there,” he said, nodding his head to the en suite. “Could you wet several washcloths and bring them out? I know Carter would like to be clean.”

When she didn’t do anything, he looked over to find her staring at Carter’s cock. Even soft it was a monster, laying against his right thigh. Gio fought a small smile.

“Mila?”

She jerked and swung her gaze to him, her fair face flaming red. “Washcloth!” she shouted and disappeared into the bathroom.

Her loud declaration caused Carter to rouse. “Mila?” he whispered in a hoarse voice.

Gio went to him. “You’re home and safe. Mila’s here too. Faith is on her way to fix you up again. When you’re all healed, I’m going to kill you!”

Carter tried to laugh but ended up gasping instead. “Hurts.”

“I know,” Gio said, feeling a muted version of Carter’s pain. If he could feel it this much, then Carter’s current injuries were even worse than yesterday’s.

Mila came back into the room carrying several washcloths in one hand and a towel in the other. Her face was a little less red, and she was working hard to keep her eyes focused on Carter’s face.

“Here,” she thrust both washcloths at him.

He took one. “I’ll work from his feet up, why don’t you start from his head down?” Gio said, feeling Carter’s enjoyment of this idea despite the pain. “We’ll meet in the middle.”

Mila opened her mouth, probably to refuse, but Gio turned and began to studiously clean Carter’s large feet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her gently start cleaning blood and dirt off Carter’s face.

Although the alpha wolf wasn’t stable enough to pop an erection, he was definitely enjoying Mila’s hands on him.

If anything, this would give Carter the motivation to obey Faith’s instructions this time. Otherwise he wouldn’t heal and be able to show Mila all his best features.