Page 11 of Claimed

“Me too,” Gage says with a sigh as he follows him up the stairs.

Looking down at Cherry, I pluck at Maddox’s shirt. “I should take this shirt off her.”

“It might make her more likely to shift if she’s wearing it,” Maddox suggests, and Chase and I both laugh. “What?” he asks as he frowns at us.

“You just want her covered in your scent,” Chase laughs, shaking his head.

A smirk pulls at Maddox’s lip, and he shrugs. “Can you blame me?”

“She’ll trip over it in her wolf form,” I tell him.

He frowns, then nods. “You’re right. We’ll just make sure to keep shirts close by in case she shifts.”

“And next time, let’s put one on her before we all touch her.” Chase glances at me as he asks, “Did you get a good look at her? Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond happy it was my lap she was in when she shifted, but I couldn’t really see her body.”

“Her hair was covering most of her. It’s really long,” I tell him as I remember the way it flowed past her waist.

“I doubt she’s had a haircut in the past ten years,” Maddox says before shaking his head. “I need to make sure Trevor has everything he needs. Starting tomorrow, he won’t have me to lean on anymore.”

“Hey, did you ever figure out how Kane got all those rogues working together? Did his men reveal anything?” I ask. It’s been bothering me ever since the attack.

He nods, once. “A little. They think he had outside help. They said whatever Kane used to control the rogues involved some sort of magic, but they weren’t sure what. He apparently didn’t let them in on any of the details.”

“Magic?” Chase asks as he flops down beside me, his hand instantly finding Cherry’s side.

“Yeah, possibly a witch. There isn’t really any other explanation for it. But I don’t think any of his men knew what was really happening. The two of them that were involved only mentioned help from outside the pack but said Kane never told them who or what.”

“Where are those two now?” I ask.

Maddox looks at me, his eyes filled with vengeance. “They had less than desirable thoughts about our little mate here. They won’t be a problem anymore.”

I nod, pleased he took care of it.

He pulls his phone out to call Trevor as he moves down to the office.

“While everyone else is busy, I say we take a little nap with sleeping beauty here,” Chase says as he starts to pull the shirt off ‌her.

“Her warm, sleepy body is a little contagious,” I admit. “I could totally go for a nap right now.”

“Let’s take her upstairs, then we can lay her between us,” Chase suggests.

And so we do just that. I take her to my bedroom and lay her sleeping wolf form in the middle of the bed as Chase spoons her back, in his human form, and I lie in front of her. I don’t think I’ve slept with her like this yet. I’m normally in my wolf form, but in the rare chance she shifts, I want to be ready for her.

“Hunter?”

“Chase?” I reply.

He lifts his head so I can see him, and a smile starts to spread across his face. “We have a mate.”

I grin, my eyes turning to Cherry. “We do.”

“And I think she likes us.”

I chuckle, remembering her reaction to all of us. “I can’t believe she tried to bite Maddox.”

“I think her wolf is much closer to the surface than we thought,” Chase says as he rests his head back down and strokes her side.

“Yeah, even some of the things she said seemed more… instinctual.”