“All right, Brumster. One more lap.” I followed him to the oak tree, its budding branches pointing at constellations Ko could name and Cas could probably shoot down.
By the time we circled back to the kitchen door, my jeans felt two sizes too small. Brumous tilted his head as he waited for me to open it. He didn’t understand, of course. He was too busy being adorable and innocent. I, on the other hand, was a fang-rotted mess of testosterone and overactive imagination.
Koa’s shadow hunched over the kitchen island. Bro was always lurking like some broody anime antihero. Metal hissed against metal as I entered, his shoulders blocking whatever shiny thing he was fondling tonight.
As the wolf headed for his water bucket, I drifted closer and saw the freshly etched letters on the handle of Ko’s favorite dagger.Serafinain a looping script that didn’t match his usual brutalist aesthetic.
“Oh, ho!” I vaulted onto the counter beside him, picked up the cookie jar, and sighed to find it empty.Guess I shoulda expected that. “So you finally named your stabby girlfriend! That’s either creepy or weirdly sweet.”
“Told you she loves me.” He stroked the blade with disturbing tenderness, his thumb brushing the blade’s spine like a lover’s jawline.
“Uh-huh. And what does our beloved think about you getting frisky with cold steel?”
“She’ll understand when this opens Arabesque’s throat.” The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t look up from polishing the hilt, black hair falling across eyes nearly as dark.
Laughter died in my throat as the kitchen door opened and Cas emerged like a sleepwalker who’d fist-fought a hurricane: eyes a little wild, blond strands escaping his ponytail, sweater missing, black t-shirt askew.
“She asleep?” Koa sheathed his dagger.
Cas blinked at the fruit bowl.
“Changed bandages. Debrided wound. Replaced sutures. Administered antibiotics.” The words fell like sterilized instruments onto stainless steel.
“Replaced, administered, blah, blah.” I mimed jerking off with one hand. “Tell us the part where you played doctorfor real.”
The barstool creaked as Ko leaned forward with wide eyes.
“Didyou fuck her?”
Air whistled through my teeth. Even Brumous froze mid-slurp, and Cas’ ears flushed crimson.
“What? We’re her mates, and she’s our beloved,” Ko shrugged. “It’ll happen when she’s ready. I talked with her about it during our secret chat—”
“Koa. Our girl can barely lift a fork right now,” I decided to intervene after a glance at Cas’ face. “Unless you’re into Victorian maiden roleplay—”
“Just wondering when we’re going to stop pretending we don’t all want to pin her to the nearest flat surface.” His grin showed too many teeth.
“Speak for yourself, horndog,” I tried, but my laugh came out strangled.
“Bullshit. You think we don’t know you jack off listening to her murmuring in her sleep?”
“As if you don’t do the same—”
“Stop it.” Casimir’s fist hit the island hard enough to overturn the knife block. “What do you want me to say? That she bit through a washcloth trying not to scream? That I had to watch her cry as I hurt her?” His breathing jagged, he scrubbed both hands down his face. “Volunteer next time. See how arousingyoufind it.”
Brumous whined. Ko’s grin fell.
“Hey.” I slid off the counter.
“Don’t.” Cas flinched when I gripped his shoulder.
For three heartbeats, he stood rigid as a cadaver as we hovered in that fragile limbo between ribbing and ruin, then he collapsed intome, shuddering breaths burning my neck. Koa’s arms encircled us both, sandwiching Cas in a brotherly vise. We stood tangled like that, three parts of a broken mechanism trying to fuse.
“Whataren’tyou saying?” Ko’s voice softened to a blade’s whisper.
And Casimir trembled. Actual full-body shakes.
Night’s teeth! What happened between him and our beloved?!
