War’s laugh boomed through the room as he flicked off the TV and stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. “Now who’s stealing whose thunder, little brother?”
Thane’s eyes lit with excitement and challenge. “Trust me, there’s nothing little about me. And unlike you, Warrik, I can actually back up my claims.”
My head was on a swivel between them. I had no doubt either of them could back up their claims. Both men were beyond capable of bringing any woman to her knees.
“I seem to remember otherwise...” War met my stare, his eyes licking up and down my body. “Isn’t that right, Trix?”
I shook my head. “You guys are ridiculous. You can put away your fucking rulers now; I’d like to go for a run sometime before next year.” I headed for the bathroom, feeling both pairs of eyes on my back. I paused in the doorway and faced the brothers. “Are we doing this sharing thing for real?” I gestured between the three of us. If Gareth were here, I’d have included him, too.
They eyed each other, some wordless conversation seeming to pass between them. Thane answered first. “I thought we’d made our intentions pretty damn clear before. Or do you think we go around spiriting away every pretty shifter that bats her pretty eyes at us?”
War grumbled, raking a hand through his dark hair, not that there was much of it in its buzzed state. “What he’s trying and failing to explain is, yes, we’re doing this sharing thing. I’ve lived too long to let my brother come between me and who I want, even if I have to deal with looking at hisannoying-ass face every day.” Thane sneered but didn’t argue.
My heart thundered, and I had no doubt that War could hear it. He could probably sense every drop of blood that swam through my veins at high speed. We’d never had a real conversation about what the fuck was actually happening here between the four of us or what happened that night.
Everything was happening so fast. I was a novice shifter girl in a strange city, following my famous cousin around like her shadow, when all of a sudden, three incredibly different Darkling males began to protect, kiss, fuck, and woo me.
I thought Serenity was crazy for taking on multiple partners at once, but it wasn’t unheard of. There were a few mated pairs that later found out they had more than one bond out there. I’d only ever witnessed such things in TV dramas. There were many, many conversations between my cousin and me about the logistics of it all. She only had so many holes…
I cleared my throat when I realized that they were both watching me in silence, waiting for me to say something—anything at all. But I had nothing. What the hell was I supposed to say to a declaration like that?Welcome to the squad? Go team? Shit…
So I did the opposite of that. I turned tail and slunk into the bathroom of shame, closing and locking the door behind me. From the other side, I could have sworn I heard two low chuckles.
Snow stuckto the ground last night instead of melting halfway through the day. The air smelled crisp, my breathpuffed out in hot clouds as I panted, and my muscles stretched with pleasurable pain. It had been too long since I’d let my wolf out.
Warrik ran ahead of me, little more than a blur of color against the snowy backdrop. As a wolf, I could track and follow him as he led me around the perimeter of the property. Before we left, I watched him drink a small vial of daylight potion and laughed while he tried and failed to hold in a gag. I appreciated the shit he had to go through to operate during the daytime, but it was still funny as hell to watch.
I could smell where the property ended, telling me to stay within a strict boundary. There was also a very faint crackle of magic acting as a shield around the whole area. It wouldn’t stop a person from entering, but Thane would know if anyone crossed over it.
Thane opted to stay behind at the cabin to try and get a hold of someone in my pack. Hopefully, he’d at least be able to reach August so that we could get some kind of update about my cousins. Maybe they had more info on Estelle’s whereabouts and who the fuck helped her escape. I knew there was still the whole Nightingale clan to contend with. Witches and warlocks that had followed Estelle for centuries and who, despite her crimes, might still be loyal to her above the humans.
We must have run the perimeter of the property for two hours before I caught Gareth's scent. Not the lingering one that zigzagged through the trees all over the woods, left behind after days of wandering aimlessly, but the fresh scent of a wolf shifter closing in fast.
I kept my pace, powdery snow spraying up beneath my swift paws. A dark shape leapt from the treeline beside me, and a second later, a russet-colored wolf was running alongsideme. Gareth was much bigger than me—almost twice my size, actually. Serenity told me once that Gareth was technically an Alpha. He and August were born with the same level of dominance as one another, but Gareth, being slightly younger, always let his cousin take the reins and never wanted to lead a pack of his own.
I understood why he felt that way, and had I been born an Alpha, I might have made the exact same choice. There was no way I could bear the responsibility of so many lives. August had done so for centuries, and he was good at it. It was the role he was literally born into, but it took a special sort of personality to carry on for so long. I recognized that capability in Gareth, but there were some scars that just ran way too deep. Scars that changed a person and made them rethink their priorities.
We carried on deeper into the woods, skirting a small lake that served as the northern border of the property. Across the water, I could just barely make out a few scattered houses. More like lake cabins, with protruding docks and boats tied to them. It was quiet out there. Even quieter than Blood Moon Pack lands. We were higher up in the mountains than I’d ever been before. Even the air felt thinner and crisper. I could easily stay in this place forever and be perfectly content.
I laughed, and in wolf form, it sounded more like a sneeze. The thought of Trix from one year ago contemplating leaving society and living in the deep woods was laughable. I used to live and breathe city life. I thrived on the hustle and bustle. I dedicated so much of my time to civil rights, protesting, and fighting for equal rights. I had friends in my activism groups who used to be like family. I had a whole-ass life back in Noc City that I turned my back on.
I wasn't sure if I should feel guilty for turning tail and leaving. I just couldn’t go back to what I was before. I wasn’t that girl anymore. The fun-loving, carefree girl who went to clubs alone and slept with whoever she wanted. I wasn’t the girl with the megaphone marching in the streets, demanding that Darklings be treated fairly. That spitfire of a woman was gone, and in her place was a broken shell of a person that tried to glue herself together, but some pieces would never, ever fit quite like they used to.
6
“So,does this mean Gareth is technically our dog?” I mused aloud, breaking the silence that evening as we sat in various places around the fireplace.
Three pairs of eyes snapped in my direction at once. Two of them were bemused, and the other was devoid of all emotion. To my surprise, Gareth followed us indoors after our long run in the woods. Nobody questioned the wolf, not wanting to spook him into taking off again. This felt like a step in the right direction.
He laid on the floor in front of the fire, warming his fur after all day out in the wet snow. He wasn’t asleep this time, though. He just faced me, never taking those bright eyes off my face.
War ran a palm over his face, trying to stifle a smile, and Thane didn’t bother trying to hide his. “Why don’t you find a tennis ball to toss around for the poor lad, and we’ll find out?” Gareth’s head popped up, and he glared at Thane, a low rumble filling the room as he growled at the warlock.Thane clicked his tongue. “Simmer down, boy. I was only joking.”
Gareth huffed, still growling. He stood up and shook out his fur, and I tensed, thinking he was about to take off through the bedroom window that War had left cracked open just in case he needed to. But he didn’t make a move to leave. Instead, he padded toward me, rubbing up against my legs before settling at the base of the chair I was perched in.
I set down the book I’d been reading, even though it was just starting to get interesting. It was a trashy, old romance novel about a Viking falling in love with a pirate’s daughter. Love stories like those never really happened in real life, but it was nice to escape sometimes and pretend.
When the humor faded, as did Gareth’s rumbling growls, a somber blanket seemed to fall over the cabin. I leaned forward, reaching down to stroke Gareth’s fur with my fingertips. He stiffened under my touch, but a moment later, his muscles relaxed as he allowed me to touch him. War and Thane just watched in contemplative silence before glancing at each other. Thane nodded his head at the unspoken communication.
