When the laughter faded, Nolan’s gaze drifted.“Caleb Blackmore.He walked away when Adrian burned.”
Brielle snarled.“Because he’s a fucking coward.”
Saffron’s hand tightened in his.“He won’t stay gone.Neither will the Council.Adrian’s finished, but Caleb still breathes, and the others will rally.They’ll come for us again.”
The words fell like a shadow across the room, truth no one wanted to admit.
The knock at the door startled them all.Every witch and wolf tensed, but Ursula rose first, her steps careful as she opened it.
A man in a crumpled suit stood there—a balding, overweight white man, with glasses that looked too small for his face, sweat beading on his brow despite the cool air.
Ursula froze, recognition flashing across her face.
“Karl Jameson?”she asked, her tone confused.Behind her, Liam and Jacob surged to their feet, growls vibrating in their chests as they stepped protectively into the doorway.The man raised both hands quickly, voice shaking.“Please—listen.I’m not here to harm anyone.”Nolan recognized him then as the lawyer from the fire, the one they’d thought had been working against them.He cleared his throat nervously and held out a folder.
“I needed to come myself,” he said.“Adrian Veynar was never the true owner of this building.I’d been fighting him in court to prove it.These documents ...the rightful deed belongs to you, Miss Johnson.By bloodline and covenant.”
Brielle blinked, rising to her feet.“Me?”
The lawyer nodded.“Yes.And thank you, all of you—for standing against Veynar.My partner is a shifter, a mountain lion.What you did ...it kept him, and all of us, safe.”He placed the folder into her hands with a trembling smile.“It’s yours.Truly.You have owned the land since it was bequeathed to you almost sixty years ago, but I have fudged births and deaths in the titles for you until now.It was left to you and your descendants by a woman called Margo Brown, a direct descendant of one Marion Rourke.”
Saffie and Ursula gasped, turning to stare at Brielle, whose eyes had gone huge.“Who was she?”
Saffie dropped her mates’ hands and walked to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.“She was the young orphan you saved from Marcus’s men.”
Brielle looked down at the folder.“Wow, okay, then.”She looked at Jameson.“Um, thank you, I guess.Uh, can you please put the title in the names of all of us?”
Isaac and the rest argued, buy Brielle would not be swayed.
“It will be my pleasure.”Jameson bowed slightly and left.
The coven clustered around as Brielle opened the folder, reading the lines of inheritance and title.She lifted her gaze, voice fierce and steady.“Not just mine.Ours.This building belongs to all of us.”
Emotion shimmered in Ursula’s eyes, Willow pressed her hand to her chest, and Saffie smiled her beautiful smile that had his heart swelling in his chest.
Isaac leaned close, murmuring against Saffron’s hair.“Our apartment’s ready.Renovations are finished.”
She turned her head toward him, her smile soft, the need to be alone with them evident.Nolan stood, scooping her easily into his arms.“Then it’s time to go home.”
The others let them leave, their goodbyes quiet, their relief unspoken but palpable.
Their apartment smelled of fresh paint and polished wood, the walls warm with golden light.The space was theirs now—hard-won and long delayed.Nolan carried Saffron across the threshold, her laughter soft against his throat.He didn’t set her down until they reached the bedroom.
The bed dominated the space, newly dressed in crisp sheets that smelled faintly of lavender.Nolan placed her gently on the ground, and the three of them stripped quickly before climbing up onto the bed, his eyes locked on hers.“We almost lost you,” he whispered.“Never again.This bed, this home—it’s forever now.You, me, Isaac.Always.”
Isaac sat on the edge beside her, his hand cupping her cheek.“Forever,” he echoed, the word a vow.
Saffron reached for both of them, pulling them close, her smile breaking through the exhaustion.“Forever,” she whispered back.
The city outside was still scarred by battle, but within those walls, they were whole again.
****
Nolan’s hunger unfurledslowly, a deep thrum of need entwined with relief and gratitude.He kissed her belly, then lower, his tongue teasing, worshipping her as Isaac reclined against the pillows, with Saffie lying across his thighs, up on one elbow, slightly twisted toward him.Saffie’s hand stroking Isaac until he was hard, the lucky bastard.Her moan vibrated through her entire body and against Nolan’s mouth when Isaac gently guided her lips down to take him into her mouth.The room filled with the sounds of their pleasure—her wet muffled gasps, Isaac’s growls of pleasure, Nolan’s muffled groan as he tasted her.
“Beautiful girl,” Nolan murmured, lifting his head just long enough to look into her eyes.“Let us make you feel how loved you are.”
Saffron’s reply was breathless, broken between licks of Isaac’s cock.“I ...I do.I feel it.Gods, I feel it.”
