He chuckled. “I’ll do whatever you want as long as you marry me.”
“Absolutely whatever I want?” I asked, winking at him.
“Anything.” His voice grew husky and his eyes hooded.
I let out the groan of all motherfucking groans. “Why can’t we just have some time to be alone?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same thing basically since I met you.”
“Before or after you parked a bulldozer in front of Gran’s house and threatened to tear it down?”
“Yeah, definitely after that.” He laughed, offering me his hand. “Come on, let’s go get this over with.”
Standing, I slid the ring from my finger, admiring it while I replaced it in its box, then took his hand.
“You’re going to be stuck with me for the rest of our lives, Brock Adams,” I told my alpha.
His eyes twinkled as he pulled me close, pressing a quick kiss to my waiting lips. “Lucky me,” he said. “Now let’s go make your apprentice a werewolf.”
Well, that’s not something you hear every day, I thought as I followed him from our bedroom and through the house. Then again, nothing about our lives had been ordinary since the moment we met. It probably never would be, though I’d settle for demon free.
* * *
I thought I’d imagined the worst when Brock told me Molly’s condition had deteriorated, but nothing had prepared me for the malice that seemed to drip from her every pore. The moment Brock and I stepped through the threshold to Gran’s cabin, Molly began to snarl and hiss like a wild animal.
She sat more or less on Gran’s droopy, well-worn couch as she thrashed. Her ankles were bound with black silk bondage ties. I absolutely was not going to ask Haru or Reo how they’d come into possession of them to tie her up. The brothers and Molly had been living together in the cabin since I moved in with Brock, which meant they’d had plenty of opportunity to, uh, connect.
Haru and Reo knelt on the couch to either side of Molly, each of them gripping one of her arms tightly to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else. I could tell from the pained expressions on their faces that they were trying very hard not to harm her, but she wasn’t making it easy.
As Brock and I approached, Molly lunged forward, half coming off the couch as she did, and Haru stumbled off the furniture while he and Reo tugged to hold her back.
“Don’t bother trying to get close to her,” Johnny said. “The person you knew isn’t in control anymore, not at all.”
I flicked an annoyed look at my cousin. The way he said it made it seem like we weren’t getting Molly back, and we totally fucking were.
I looked to Cass, Tianna, Willemena, my dad, and Cho instead. Cass stepped forward, rubbing worriedly at his little potbelly. “We’ve got to hurry, Ev. The longer she’s like this, the harder it will be for her to fight for control once she becomes a wolf.”
Tianna nodded at her little impish lover. “He’s right. If she stays this way much longer, she might start to forget who she really is, even once she’s a wolf. We need to do this before any more damage can be done.”
Brock released my hand and stalked forward. “Now that I have the council’s approval, I don’t need to wait anymore.” He pulled up the hem of the form-fitting black t-shirt he wore, and when he yanked it over his head, Cho’s eyes went wide. Willemena and Tianna trained their eyes on him too, as if determined not to miss the show.
“Uh, Brock?” I said.
He looked up as he unsnapped his jeans. “Yeah?”
“Maybe you could undress in my old bedroom.”
He scanned the witches, who were staring at him, as if noticing them for the first time, then moved into my old room, not bothering to close the door behind him.
Werewolves.They were so used to being naked around each other that they didn’t give it much thought. It was the way their lives were. And it would soon be Molly’s life.
I chewed my lip. I knew she wanted to be a supernatural and all, but would she be ready for coming out of this as a full-blown werewolf? And she would come out of this—because there was no way in hell I was even going to entertain the possibility that she might not survive the shift. She had to.
Cass, always so attuned to me, spoke into my thoughts:‘Don’t worry, girl. Molly’s strong. She’ll pull through.’
I nodded roughly.‘But will she be able to fight off this demon? Will she be the same carefree, supe-loving Molly we know?’
‘Of course she will.’But a hint of doubt crept across our telepathic link, making me shiver with dread before shaking it off.
