“Yes, even though you’re already pregnant. The knot will happen regardless,” I replied, though I wouldn’t know.
I’d never given anyone my knot before.
So she would be my first—and my last.
There was something comforting about that, and it deeply pleased my Primal.
Ivy shifted, but eventually nodded. “Okay. I can be prepared for that. I think,” she murmured.
“You took my cock fine, wife. And although I might not have a knot like the Primal, you handled my swell with no difficulty,” the demon king said, grinning from his position at the end of the table.
If looks could kill, I had a feeling the ancient male would be ash under her dark stare. “That was unnecessary.”
The male shrugged lightly. “Have you struggled withanyof your mates?”
“Well, no, but?—”
“Then you will have no problems with him.” The demon leaned forward, eyes burning like embers flickering free of a fire. “And we can all tell you enjoy the idea of takinghis knot.”
Ivy’s jaw ticked, cheeks burning. Somehow, the scent of her arousal grew from his challenge, and it took even more effort to not allow my Primal out.
I had to clamp down on every instinct I had when her eyes swung to mine. There was a deep consideration in them, an understanding.
My hands formed fists on the table, nails digging into my palms as I watched her come to some kind of understanding.
“Okay,” she murmured, standing. “I can’t run, so you’ll give me a head start, right?”
My breath escaped me in a rush as the shift ripped at my insides. “For as long as I can hold back my Primal,” I replied tightly, cock pulsating in my pants, “yes.”
Ivy looked around the room for a moment, shrugged, and went to the door. “Better to do this now than wait,” she said, before throwing open the door and slipping outside.
The demon rose as well. “We shouldn’t watch,” he said, “but it perhaps would be better if we were within earshot if anything happens.”
“Yeah, because we need to listen to our mate take aknot,” the wolf muttered, pushing out of his chair, glowing eyes swinging to meet mine. “You good?”
I gritted my teeth and nodded. “My Primal is…clawing for control,” I ground out. “But she doesn’t move very fast.”
Adrian snorted. “She’s pregnant with twins and doesn’t have her magic. You’ll need to give her time to make it to the trees. I love her, but running is not her strong suit.”
Rowan moved to the window. “Well, she made it down the stairs. I’ll let you know when I don’t see her.”
“Why are you helping?” I asked, staring around the room. There were mate circles back home, but the relationships between the circle were…formal. They shared a mate out of necessity more than anything. They had to like one another for it to work—not necessarily be involved, but they had to have respect, and that took many, many years to achieve.
From the window, Rowan said, “Because she’s our mate.”
“She also will give a very long, very passionate speech eventually about our ability to get along,” Adrian added.
“Yes, once all of this is over, there will befamily nightswhere we will need to not fight—for her sake,” Maeve said, glancing down at me as she rose from her chair. “If we don’t, then it stresses her out. Makes her worry.”
“And we don’t need her worrying about our ability to respect one another as her mates,” Elias finished.
Before I could utter a response, the door to the patio opened. “She’s out there, Primal,” Rowan said, turning to me. “Go find your mate.”
The shift happened before I could stop it, ripping apart my body and turning me from man to beast. Flesh was replaced with the thick skin of my Primal, hair sprouting along my arms and legs, limbs lengthening—teeth sharpening.
In a matter of moments, I was outside, and the hunt began.
85
