I look over at Zeph curiously, my eyebrow raised in surprise. “You always come to me in your dreams,” he tells me, and goose bumps crawl up my arms. “I knew you would have been trying to get to us, and I kept searching for reasons that would explain why you couldn’t. I knew there was a gate in the Amaranthine Mountains. We couldn’t find it, but the thought that maybe you were not in our world wouldn’t leave me.”
I thread my fingers through his and squeeze his hand, my gaze filling with warmth and gratitude. He never doubted me. I was so worried that they would think I abandoned them or left without caring about what it would do to them. I wouldn’t have blamed them if they did. After I tried to sever the bonds, it wouldn’t have been a farfetched thought. But they never doubted, and that fact means more to me than I can say.
“So how did you three decide to come here?” I ask, looking to each of them in turn.
“That was my doing,” Wekun chimes in. “I couldn’t see you or feel you anymore, but I was hoping that if I brought them to this world, and you were in fact here, maybetheycould. Our ending up here was an odd coincidence though. I was on my way to meet with friends I was hoping could help, when your mates felt you.”
I close my eyes and let the gratitude I feel wash over me. “Thank you, Wekun, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you, but I owe you everything,” I confess as I open my eyes and fix them on his champagne-colored gaze.
“We owe you everything,” Treno and Zeph correct at the same time, and I try not to chuckle and point out that their bromance is blossoming into a beautiful thing.
“Well, I was hoping I could ask for your help in trying to figure out what I’m being blocked from seeing. The only thing that I can think is that I’m in danger for some reason, and your Sept is tangled up in it all in some way. I know you’re in a hurry to get back and strangle Cree with her own innards, but I was hoping you’d stick around for a while.”
I look to the guys in an effort to gauge their reactions.
“If you need help, we are here for you,” Zeph states simply.
“It’s the least we could do after all that you’ve done for us,” Treno adds.
“I like pizuus, so if we can have more of that, I’m in,” Ryn teases.
I laugh. “Pizza,” I correct, saying it slowly.
“I know, that’s what I said,” he replies, confused.
I crack up—oh man, this is going to be so much fun.
My text alert chimes, and all three of the guys stare at my phone warily.Oh yeah, so much fucking fun.
I open my messages to see I have a new one from an unknown number.
Hello Falon, this is Teo. I’d like to come by and make arrangements for our cars. Let me know what time works for you, and my pack and I will stop by. I think there might be some other things we should all discuss.
I read the message a second time and then shoot off a reply. I’m not sure what he thinks I’d want to discuss with his pack, but whatever, a job’s a job.
Hi Teo, I’m available whenever. Text when you get to the shop and I’ll meet you.
My phone chimes immediately.
We’ll be there in thirty.
I get to my feet. “I have some work that needs to be done, so I’m just going to hop in the shower. Do you guys need anything? More food? Coffee?”
Ryn, Treno, and Zeph all get to their feet, and I start shaking my head. “No, you guys cannot come in this time. I need to be dry and presentable in twenty minutes,” I warn them.
“I can work with that,” Treno declares salaciously.
“How long is a minute again?” Ryn asks, and I bark out a laugh and hold up an angrythis is not happeningfinger.
“I’m serious,” I tell them, and then I leap over the back of the couch and sprint for the bathroom. If I can get the door locked and myself clean without any orgasms, it will be a miracle. Can I get an amen!
27
“Shit, I’m fucking late,” I growl as I pull the wifebeater over my head and thread my arms through it. I pull on a mustard yellow slouchy sweater over it and fluff my just-dried hair.
I pretty much have an orgasm every time I use conditioner now, which really makes things difficult when I’m trying hard to get in and out of the shower quickly. It also doesn’t help when your mates break down the door and proceed to try and give you more orgasms. What can I say, I’m a weak woman.
Speaking of asshole mates, they all tromp down the stairs behind me in sweats that aren’t nearly long enough for their incredibly tall legs, and shirts that are way too tight. But I figure my new potential client and his pack will prefer that over them being naked, so here we are. I make my way to the front of the shop and look out the window to see eight coat-clad bodies. I look around at my front lobby area, which is currently being dwarfed by my massive gryphon mates, and decide to conduct whatever this meeting is in the two garage bays I have open. I go through the side door, a chill running up my spine at the drop in temperature from the well-insulated lobby to the garage.
