Then Brumous trotted out to join us, flopping on the ground near my feet and rolling over, his yawn showing every one of his mouth razors.
“Thatis a dire wolf.” Angelo’s gray-green eyes locked on the pup as his hands drifted toward the guns holstered at his waist.
“Observant.” I leaned down and gave Brumous the belly rub he was angling for. “What gave it away? The size of his claws or all the teeth?”
“What happened to him?” Emerson tensed as he studied Brumous.
“Ever hear of Arabesque Harrow?” Koa asked, and Brummy raised his head, his ears back and his nose wrinkling in a snarl.
Angelo’s spate of Italian, complete with violent hand gestures, was answer enough.
“Yeah, she experimented on him. Tortured him, starved him, messed with his mind,” I explained. “Been piecing together bits of his memories through telepathy. It’s not pretty. Oh, and call her Harrow bitch. Her name turns my good little murder floof into just murderous.”
“He’s suffering,” Angelo murmured.
“Physically?” Cas jumped in, his eyebrows raising in alarm. “I examined him and didn’t find any broken bones or—”
“He’s far too thin, but no injuries,” Angelo explained. “His mind, however… Well, he’s no longer whole. Mercy might be kinder.”
“Not an option,” Ko decreed. “He’s‘ohananow.”
“Although this one is unusually small, dires grow larger than alpha wolves.” Emerson’s gaze softened, but anger still simmered beneath the surface. “You realize that, right?”
“We’re aware,” I drawled, leaning back in my chair. “But Brumous has already proven himself. He’s earned his place here with us and our beloved.”
Angelo looked like he wanted to argue, but Emerson caught his eye, shaking his head slightly. The unspoken conversation between them was fascinating, like watching two predators decide whether to pounce or retreat.
“Wait.” Then Emerson’s brown eyes narrowed. “Did you sayourbeloved? All three of you found your beloveds?”
Casimir went statue-still. Koa’s grin dimmed to something tender, vulnerable.
“Yeah.” I raised my left hand and twisted it so my golden ring caught the light. “All three of us. One woman. Can’t believe I lost the legal husband title. I should’ve insisted on Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide.”
“That’s what you get for wearing lace and ruffles,” purred Koa, smugly polishing his wedding band with the hem of his t-shirt.
“We still need to replace the photographer’s bag,” Cas deadpanned, running his thumb over his own ring.
“Can’t wait to meet the girl.” Emerson grinned. “Should I warn her about your weapons collection?”
“Says the man married to a walking armory.” I nodded at Angelo. “How many weapons you got on you right now? Fifteen? Twenty?”
“Twenty-two,” he said without missing a beat.
“Well, congratulations, boys,” Emerson’s chuckle was warm and genuine. “Welcome to family life.”
“We’re loving it so far.” I gave them my best smile. “Too bad you missed the wedding yesterday. It was epic.”
“Wish we could’ve been there, but we’ve been neck-deep in a job at Lake Champlain.” Emerson shrugged. “King Julian called us a few days ago, telling us to come to the palace as soon as we wrapped that up, so you’re lucky Evermere is practically on the way to Ohio, or we wouldn’t be here even now.”
“Practicallyon the way. Sure, let’s go with that.” I leaned back in my chair, drumming my fingers on the armrest. “What’s the wolf king want from you this time?”
“Don’t know. He just said it’s very important.”
“Then I’ll make a long story short. We arrived at Evermere expecting to find our arranged bride. Instead, we found our beloved beaten, bruised, and barely conscious. Turns out, herlovelystepmonster, the Harrow bitch, ordered her daughters to attack our beloved. Oh, and bitch slapped some kind of spell on our girl so she couldn’t spill the tea on any evil schemes.”
“A whisperbind, maybe?” Angelo’s eyes narrowed, his Italian accent sharpening as he muttered under his breath. “That’sveryexpensive magic. What is the Harrow bitch hiding now, I wonder?”
“We know she’s working with a rogue werewolf who we’re fairly sure she ordered to attack our beloved,” Ko explained.
