She’d just stepped back to declare me perfect when I heard Kellan and Finley arriving home.
Noise picked up on the lower level, and I recognized a few voices: Warrick, Kenzo, and Christian for starters—along with other unfamiliar males. Possibly more of the team.
Slade had texted me after I’d missed his calls advising that he would see me tonight at Luxuria, and that next time I’d better answer my damn phone.Bossy fucker.
“Okay, you ready to drop those alphas’ jaws to the floor,” Cora said, doing her own little twirl, her lavender silk dress floating nicely around her body. We both wore heels, though mine were in the form of little black boots and hers were purple stilettos.
“You did an amazing job glamming me. This dress is so perfect that I want to be buried in it, okay?” I looked around for what I needed to bring and asked, “Should we grab coats?”
Cora shook her head as she left the bathroom. “Nah, I don’t want to cover these gorgeous dresses. We’ll go from the car to the club in seconds.” Our metabolisms kept us warm most of the year, though mine was never quite as efficient as other shifters.
In the black wrist purse Cora provided with the dress, I added my phone, a lipstick for touchups, and cash. Hunter had left a bunch of cards on my side table earlier, and I eyed the shiny Amex sitting amongst many other shiny credit cards, all with my name on them. I wasn’t quite ready for that part of pack life yet, but it was nice to know they were there in case of an emergency.
At the top of the stairs, laughter and rumbling voices grew louder, and I tried to ignore the flutter of butterflies in my stomach. This was a night to celebrate and count our goddess-given blessings that we were alive and together.
The Rogers pack might be out there, hiding behind their council, but we’d eventually figure out how to take them down. I should have made them pay years ago for what they did to Mom. Not because she deserved revenge, but to stop them from ever hurting another shifter. By staying quiet, I’d allowed them to continue in the world, wreaking destruction and havoc.
I shuddered to imagine what they’d been up to in the last ten years.
“Are you okay?” Cora asked, and I realized I was clutching the railing at the top of the stairs, lost in my darker thoughts.
“Oh. Yeah.” I shook my head and loosened my grip. “Sorry, got lost in the past for a second there. I think I need a drink.”
She linked her arm through mine. “You and me both, girl. Come on, let’s get our guys.”
With the first click of our heels on the step, the noise cut off below, and a crowd of giant males made their way to the base of the stairs to wait for us.
Warrick stood front and center, his eyes wide and his smile wider as he dragged his gaze over Cora, eating her up with eyes that were liquid pools of darkness. “That’s exactly how a mate should look at you,” I murmured.
She released a few heavy pants before nodding. “My alpha certainly has a way with non-verbal communication.”
“He does?—”
Hunter and Kellan pushed in through the crowd, and I was seized by a pair of hungry gazes. Kellan had his hand pressed to his chest, jaw slightly unhinged as he stared up at me. I took in his blue button-down shirt and black slacks, and felt my heartbeat quicken. Whenever I saw him dressed up, it all but took my breath away. Goddess above… he was stunning.
The lights from the foyer highlighted the gold in his blond hair, casting a glow over my golden boy. He watched me as if I were beyond his belief, a sight he never expected to encounter and had no idea how to process. It was enough to have me stumble over my own feet.
Then there was Hunter, whose predatory stare had my breaths coming out even faster than Cora’s.
The darkly handsome shifter wore an inscrutable expression. His eyes blazed with gold, and he looked… ravenous. Hunter was also dressed nicely in a black button-down and slacks, his hair tousled and ready for me to run my hands through it.
With a sudden lurch forward, he stalked up the stairs, and I was frozen to the spot, locked in the stare of a predator.
CHAPTER 39
EMME
Hunter hauled me up into his arms, hands tight on my ass as he charged up the stairs, and I swore I heard Cora’s laughter following us. I found myself pressed against the wall just out of sight, with a background symphony of Kellan’s rumbling growls as he warned the others toshut the fuck up. There were shuffles and mumbles as the crowd dispersed.
The pack didn’t really let outsiders into their house much, and I doubted this group would make it past the front foyer.
Hunter buried his face against my throat, biting down into the skin, and I let out a low shriek, but he didn’t break through. It was another one of those temporary claims, situated on the opposite side of Kellan’s permanent one. “Mine,” he snapped, his chest heaving. “You can’t go out looking like that tonight without my claim on you.”
My core clenched on nothing as my hips surged forward, desperately searching for any sort of friction to ease the need, but Hunter had me pinned thoroughly, his massive frame holding me in place. “Hunter,” I moaned, my voice growing harder as I demanded, “Make me come.”
His face remained buried against my skin, and I swore he let out a low laugh. “I like when you use your words, little omega. Makes me want to give you exactly what you demand. While also leaving me with a need to punish you for your smart mouth. It’s a quandary.”
“Is it though?” I gasped, half out of my mind. “You can easily do both.”
