Deslen answered, all smiles and softness, as he brushed his nose against her hair. “When it comes to mates, jaguar saliva neutralizes any toxin. I licked the wound clean with my magic, and it closed up.”
I bet you fucking did, was on the tip of my tounge, but Nova’s voice came out fast, sharp, cutting through the tension.
“It wasn’t just the cut. I couldn’t reach my wolf. It was like—like something had slammed a wall between us.” She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I could feel her, but I couldn'treachher.”
With all of us in thought, heavy silence dropped over the room until Nick threw his hands up. “So he licked your leg, it healed, your wolf came back, and you fucked a stranger?”
Nova’s head snapped to him, and she took an angry step toward him when a low growl vibrated from his chest.
Deslen moved before I could blink. Tall, naked, and furious, he slid right between them. His easy grin was gone, replaced with a frown carved in stone.
“First,” he said, his steady voice edged with something primal, “my mate was hurt. I was going to do anything to make her feel better.Anything.” His golden eyes flicked toward Nova, softening. “Second, we didn’t fuck. She gave me permission togive her pleasure, making her feel grounded in the middle of all that chaos. I won’t let you twist that. Not even if you are my mate-brother.”
The words landed like a blow you didn’t see coming.
Nova’s eyes lifted, a flicker of warmth breaking through her guarded expression for just a heartbeat. I caught it, the spark of memory, the quiet relief she’d felt with him. My gaze slipped to her arm, where inky truth bloomed against her skin. I already knew what he said was true… she did, too.
Nick looked like he was splitting apart from the inside out. His face flushed bright before folding into something raw, something filled with shame and confusion. Deslen’s calm tone seemed to dismantle him piece by piece. For once, I was glad to keep my mouth shut.
“Mate-brother?” Nick barked, his voice cracking. “You keep calling me that! I don’t know what that even means, but Idon’thave a mate!” Nova’s jaw clenched, but that fear flickered in her eyes.
Nick’s gaze darted between us wildly, desperate for someone to save him from the truth already clawing its way out of him.
Conrad’s voice came next, almost gentle. “Well, I know thatI’myour mate,” he said, eyes locked on Nova. “At least one of them, it seems.”
He lifted his hand slowly, reaching toward her. She flinched, and a slice of pain crossed that controlled face. Still, he pressed on, fingertips brushing the skin at the back of her throat. “My mark is here.”
Nova flinched and gasped, a sound that was half-breath, half-recognition. Her eyes burned as he pulled back, his gaze daring her to deny it.
The words spilled from me before I could stop them. “You know I’m your mate, Nova.” My chest tightened as her shoulders bowed like the truth was too heavy. I exhaled, feeling the fight drain out of me. Acceptance tasted bitter, but it was the only way forward. “And as much as I hate to admit it,” I jerked a thumb toward Nick, “this confused bastard’s your mate, too… whether he can admit it or not.”
Nick’s jaw worked soundlessly. Nova’s breath came in short bursts, eyes darting between us like a trapped animal.
“And him,” I said, nodding toward Deslen. “He’s the last one. The final mate.”
I dragged a hand over my face, fingers catching in my hair, tugging just to feel some pain on the outside.
Conrad’s brow furrowed. “How do you know that?”
I pointed to Nova’s arm. “Because that’s showing.”
Everyone looked down.
From her forearm, dark lines spiraled upward, covering her bicep in inked vines that curled into four buds of wolfsbane. Each one was pulsing faintly as if alive.
Nova stared at them, her shoulders slumping. “Oh, fuck.”
The resignation in her voice said everything. She didn’t have to say it out loud. She and I both knew what that meant.
“What?” Nick’s voice cracked, pitching higher as his panic bled through. “What does that tattoo mean?”
Nova’s head snapped toward me, seeking, trusting, and, for just a heartbeat, I soaked in it. That look. The silent pull between us. Shestillturned to me first, even when surrounded by the others. That was something no number of mates could ever erase.
I’d been there before all of them as her childhood friend, her second, her anchor when everything else spun out. The tightness that had been coiling in my chest every time I saw her giving them her attention eased just a little.
“Tell them,” I said quietly. The words weren’t a command, just a nudge. It was her truth to speak, and they should hear it from her.
Her face fell. Chin dipped. The silence stretched until it snapped, then the words flowed out of her. “I had a mate-blocker tattoo put on after I became the Rossey boss.”
