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“A lot of people don’t know what our responsibilities are. We do a lot of dangerous things. It comes with the job. It shouldn’t take long.” I put my hand on Lucian’s thigh and leaned against him. “Are you ready to be free of me?”

He put his arm around my shoulders but didn’t say a word.

Lucian drove home after they had gone to the jail and unlocked the cuffs, his thoughts spinning.

He felt the absence of not having her at his side.

Though he’d offered to accompany her to Austin, it was against protocol.

Probably for the best. The last thing he wanted to do was screw up a good thing, not to mention he had work to do back at the house.

He always knew the Council had a dangerous job, but the past twenty-four hours had revealed much more than he could’ve ever imagined.

The sun seemed brighter today—the sky bluer. He couldn’t believe the most beautiful woman in Storybook had chosen him as her lover. It made him feel like a king.

Their arrangement removed any fear of rejection.

No pressure, no strings attached. They both wanted the same thing: a temporary physical relationship without expectations, and that was a weight off his shoulders.

There had once been a time when he didn’t believe in dating outside his Breed, but after living with a diverse group of people in his last home, his perspective changed.

Lucian respected that she didn’t want to sleep with every man she dated.

Choosing someone she trusted to fulfill her needs was a smart call, especially in a small town like this.

People were always looking for any reason they could to replace an official who wasn’t benefiting them.

Now that she was getting what she needed on the side, she could focus on finding a worthy mate who wasn’t just interested in seducing her.

Chitahs had different courtship rituals. Some males abstained from sex to show they were willing to win a female’s heart without manipulating her through sex. Lucian hadn’t slept with many women, but that wasn’t something males shared, so he lied to people about his sex life.

A blue jay swooped alongside his car, but Lucian was too lost in his thoughts about last night to notice.

Why did he trust his inner animal around her?

Usually he was afraid of losing control and always had to rein in his emotions to keep from flipping his switch.

Eden made him feel confident enough to let himself go, and man, it felt fucking amazing.

He rubbed his eyes after turning on to their private driveway. During their ride to the jail that morning, Eden’s guilt about not seeing her father spoiled the air in the car. Lucian felt responsible since he was the one who had stupidly cuffed them together in the first place.

If Tak finds out, that’s it. I’m toast.

Tak was a great guy and had a sense of humor, but that only stretched so far. Lucian didn’t want this mistake following him around.

As the house came into view, he thought about the arson on Eden’s property. Had he not been shackled to her, he would have hunted down the scumbag and given him a taste of Chitah venom—just enough to hurt.

He parked Hope’s sedan, walked through the front door, and was hit in the face with the smell of panic and frustration.

The wood floor glistened with water. Towels were strewn around Krys and Virgil, who were on their knees by the game room entrance. Although Virgil’s jeans were rolled up, his pants were still wet.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Krys growled.

Intense emotions burned Lucian’s nose, and he rubbed it. “What’s going on?”

Krys stood and flung the wet towel into an oversized bucket filled with more wet towels. He gestured to Virgil. “Ask the Tasmanian devil.”

When Virgil stood and sauntered over to the bucket in his bare feet, he slipped and fell on his back.

Krys wagged a finger at him. “That’s karma.”

“It’s not my fault! Who puts a swimming pool in the house?”

Krys’s shirt and pants were soaked through, and water dripped from the ends of his long hair. “Hope’s in labor. They set up the pool in the game room for her to give birth in, and guess who decided to shift?”

Virgil crawled to his feet and grabbed the last dry towel before draping it over the baseboard. “My wolf got excited. He loves water.” His unapologetic answer didn’t match the guilty scent he was putting out.

“Taz jumped into the pool with her and contaminated everything. All hell broke loose when everyone tried to pull him out.” Krys stripped out of his shirt and flipped back his long hair.

Meanwhile, Virgil pretended to dust something off his pants.

“He bit down on the plastic,” Krys continued, “and the entire fucking thing deflated. Water everywhere. If we don’t soak this shit up, it’ll ruin the wood, and I’m not about to redo the entire floor.”

Virgil snorted. “You don’t like being on your knees?

” He turned his attention to Lucian and gave him an appraising look.

“Well, where have you been all night with that five-o’clock shadow?

” Virgil stepped across the towels and closed in on Lucian.

“We called, but nobody answered. Very mysterious. You always check your messages.”

“I got tied up.”

He lifted Lucian’s bruised wrist. “You don’t say. Tell Virgil all about it, and don’t skip the details.”

Lucian snapped his arm back. “I was busy working.”

“On who?” His hyena laugh filled the empty room. “Lighten up. You’re more serious than a bag of snakes. I’m just glad to see you’re finally pounding something besides that keyboard.”

Krys flung his shirt at Virgil’s head. “Get cleaning.”

“What’s your catastrophe?” Virgil nonchalantly wrapped the T-shirt around his neck. “If you want to punish me, I’m available between the hours of seven and twelve. You people need to find your inner peace and calm down. It’s just a little H 2 O.”

Krys lifted a wet towel and dropped it into the bucket. “It’s no sweat off my back, but just wait until Tak gets ahold of you later. They’ve been planning this shit for months, and you tore it up in all of five fucking seconds.”

“Blame my wolf.”

Lucian stalked toward the center hall. “Where is everyone? Did they buy another pool?”

Krys caught up with him. “That ship has sailed. It’ll take too long, and she’s about to give birth any minute. The Relic’s here.”

As if on cue, they froze at the most guttural scream pouring out from the back hall.

“They’re in Tak’s oversized tub,” Krys explained. “Next time you’re out all night, call. We thought you drove off a cliff.”

Krys stepped into the bathroom by the back door to get more towels, and Lucian headed toward his room. As he neared Tak and Hope’s bedroom, another long moan tore free. Powerful emotions wafted from the open door.

Mercy flew out and smacked into him. “Holy mackerel! We thought you were dead.” Then she sprinted toward the kitchen. “Bear! Make sure they don’t use all the clean towels!”

When Krys emerged from the bathroom with a handful of fresh towels, Mercy snatched them and hurried back into the bedroom.

Krys and Bear stared at each other for a beat.

“Use old blankets,” Bear suggested. “Not the good ones, and leave the quilts alone. We’ll hang them out in the sun to dry.

” Bear stroked his beard. For a big guy who panicked if his muffins were burning, he was surprisingly unflappable under the circumstances.

Then his eyes lit up. “I’ll get the box fans out of the storage room upstairs. That’ll dry things up.”

Lucian turned the corner and shut himself in his bedroom.

He changed into a white tank top and jeans.

The emotional scents in the house were overpowering, but not entirely awful, though everyone’s anxiety and stress soured the wonderful smell of excitement and anticipation.

Instead of putting yesterday’s shirt in the dirty clothes, he balled it up and tossed it next to his bed. It still carried Eden’s scent on it.

When he finally emerged from his room, Catcher barked excitedly from inside Hope’s bedroom.

Lucian lingered by the open door, listening to the voices coming from the bathroom to the right. Milly was coaching her. “ Push! That’s it—you’re doing great. Push .”

He caught a scent that didn’t belong to his packmates, and when he heard a woman’s voice in the bathroom, he assumed it was Hope’s mother.

Cecilia emerged from the bathroom and joined the other women on the brown sectional to the right. The charm bracelet on her wrist jingled noisily as she wrung her hands, and it briefly reminded Lucian of the shackles that were now on their way to the higher authority.

“Who’s here?” Lucian asked quietly.

Cecilia gestured to the open door. “Tak, Milly, and Hope’s mom. Hope doesn’t want anyone else, so we’re here in case she needs us.”

“What about her father?”

“She wanted him to stay home.”

Probably for the best. Her old man was a seasoned Packmaster who had a tendency to take over every situation, which wouldn’t fly in another pack’s home. Had he seen the inflatable pool explode, Virgil might be outside digging his own grave.

Melody nervously rocked her leg. “Her dad’s coming later on—after the birth.”

Hope’s moan turned into a feral scream, and Melody bit her fingernails. They were childhood friends and closer than sisters could be, and Lucian smelled her fear above all the excitement.

“That’s it, beautiful,” Tak cheered from the bathroom. “I got you.”

The girls leaned forward with their attention locked on the open door. Hope bit down on her scream, water splashed, and Milly announced, “It’s a boy!”

Everyone jumped to their feet.

“That skin-to-skin contact is good bonding,” Milly continued. “Tak, do you want to cut the cord?”

Sighs of relief sounded.

Lucian stepped farther inside the bedroom, his heart ticking like a stopwatch. “Why isn’t it crying?”

Melody jumped up and down as if she had springs on her feet, her pink hair flapping around like cotton candy.

She clapped her hands on Lucian’s shoulders, and her elated scent was like flowers in his nose.

“Alphas hardly ever cry at birth. Tak told me a month ago that he sensed an alpha, but he didn’t want to spoil the surprise for Hope.

He said the energy difference between alpha girls and boys is stronger than regular babies, but he still wasn’t a hundred percent certain. ”

Lucian’s eyebrows popped up. “And he entrusted you with that secret?”

She rocked on her heels. “Not exactly. I overheard him and Lakota talking one night, so he had no choice but to spill the beans.”

Alphas were a big deal. With Shifters, they had a higher probability of their first child being an alpha, but the odds went down dramatically with each subsequent birth.

Lucian didn’t see what the big deal was, but to them, it was assurance that their child would have a future paved out for them.

Alphas might one day take over the pack or form a secondary pack if the existing one outgrew itself.

Regardless, they had more opportunities.

Catcher whined from the open bathroom door. His tail swished back and forth, and he hopped in a circle before rushing to Robyn and licking her arm.

A split second later, Lakota’s wolf bounded into the room and practically knocked over Melody. Joy rocked her baby, smiling warmly as everyone waited to see what would happen next.

They listened to the faint sound of splashing and laughter, and when the baby let out his first singular cry, everyone smiled and got teary-eyed. After what seemed like five or ten minutes, Tak emerged with the swaddled infant.

The expression on his face was one of great pride. “This is my firstborn.” His eyes glistened, and the emotions in the room smelled like a bouquet of love. “I have a son.”

Lakota’s wolf craned his neck and sniffed the baby.

Lucian observed the infant’s brown skin and dark hair as he tried to decide who it resembled more. Its eyes were closed, and it looked like it had a sideways smirk on its face. “He looks like you.”

“Tall, dark, and handsome,” Tak said with a cheerful smile.

Melody was the first to swoop in. After she kissed both Tak and the little one, she rushed into the bathroom to be with Hope. The pack filed in to greet the newest Arrowhead packmate. When Virgil entered the room, he shifted and submissively turned belly up at Tak’s feet.

“What’s the name?” Bear asked.

Tak kissed his son’s chubby cheek. “The naming ceremony is tonight. Don’t make plans.”