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“Well, it can’t be overstated. So they really kissed like that in the olden days, huh? I assumed it’d be all cheek pecking and hand holding.” I shook my head. “Who’s the hussy I need to take out for teaching my mate to French like a beast?”

He threw his head back and laughed, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck and pressed his face to my throat. “Your mate is a beast,” he said against my ear and growled when I shivered. He lifted his head. “And you’d be surprised what people got up to in the olden days. I can assure you it wasn’t all pecks on the cheek and fucking with the candles out.”

I chuckled and he wrapped me tighter in his arms, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

I glanced at my little vervain, still thriving on the window ledge, and nerves ignited in my belly. “Hey…so do you have somewhere I can plant a herb garden? I thought it was time I planted that.” I motioned to the vervain.

“You can make a garden wherever you’d like, petal.”

He started tracing the vines on my thigh, and I could tell he was measuring the distance between the two. Yesterday, the space between them had been three of his fingers wide. Today it was only two.

“What if I fail?” I whispered against his chest.

He pressed his mouth to the top of my head. “You were given an impossible task. The fact you’ve gotten this far shows how strong and resilient you are. Christ, you’re so goddamn brave. If anyone can succeed in this, it’s you.”

I tilted my head back and looked up at him. “You think I’m brave?”

“It doesn’t matter what’s thrown at you or how many times you get knocked down, you keep on getting back up, you keep fighting.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Female, you are the bravest warrior I know.”

Those roughly spoken words meant everything. “And if I don’t succeed?”

His penetrating gaze held mine. “Life will continue on. Your family will still love you, Iris, no matter what.”

“But we won’t be the same. We’ll lose so much, all of us. I’d never be able to forgive myself for that.” If I failed, the devastation to my coven would be immeasurable.

“Then we’ll just have to make sure you don’t fail.” He slid his fingers under my chin. “But if the worst should happen, you’ll still have me, you’ll have this pack. Nothing will change that.”

I clung tighter to him and squeezed my eyes closed.

A scream came from outside.

I ran out of the bathroom just as Draven was yanking the bedroom door open to whoever was pounding on it.

“A feral,” Dirk said and took off.

Draven cursed and ran after him.

I was wearing Draven’s shirt, and I grabbed my pants, hopping around, trying to quickly tug them on, then ran after him.

It was mid-morning and the great hall was full of pack members, mainly females and children. It was usually the quietest time in the keep. “What’s going on?” I asked Jennifer, one of the females I’d gotten to know recently. “Where’s Draven?”

This pack was strong and brave, but there was genuine fear in her eyes. “A feral wolf shifter’s wandered into our territory. They’ve gone after it.”

Shit.

Once feral, there was no coming back. The shifter became vicious and fueled by blood lust. They became cold-blooded killers.

“Wren!” Bridget screamed out. “Has anyone seen him?” She spun around. “Wren!”

Oh fuck.

Everyone searched the room, calling his name.

“I see him. He’s outside!” Ebony cried.

Bridget ran out the door, and I ran after her. We tore around the side of the keep, and Wren was sitting on the ground across the yard, playing with his toy cars.

Bridget called his name as a vicious growl rang out across the yard. The feral entered the grounds from the opposite side. I’d never seen anything like it. Not fully man, and not all wolf, the beast was hideous. It had fur missing in patches, and its foaming maw hung open. Crazed eyes swung to Wren.