I shuddered thinking of the avatar of Anubis. Sharp as a scalpel. Colder than ice submerged in the Arctic. Deadlier than any weapon. Cunning, militaristic in his strategy, patience, and intent on inflicting the most casualties, pain, and destruction. Hell, the man should have been chosen by Set, Slade’s god.
Castor piled more ingredients on the counter to refill the emptying salad bowls. “Can you chop up more cucumber, Sorceress?” The nickname returned in the privacy of the house.
Bikers had huge appetites and ate like a damn starved army as Slade said. The club easily spent a thousand dollars on food and drink for the festivities.
My appetite went up in flames at thinking about Colton.
Castor slid up behind me, wrapping me in his dark embrace, calling me from my disturbed thoughts. “Sorceress, I want your mind on what I’m going to do to you after midnight, not on that asshole.” His dark voice dripped with dominance.
Midnight. Too far away. Once the clock struck that hour, we’d cheer, hug, and kiss, then shut down the party. No more celebrations going into the wee hours, especially when kids were involved. Slade would let the men do that sort of thing at the clubhouse and not his personal home. For now, Mia needed routine and stability. Maybe when we moved into the new house in two months we might reconsider.
Castor’s long, curly hair tickled my cheek, and I played with it, loving the silkiness in contrast to his gruffness. I leaned into his warmth, letting it burn away any worry of our enemy because I wanted to celebrate tonight and worry about shit another day.
But the next thing Castor said made my stomach explode with nerves.
CHAPTER2
Aaliyah
“You’re cominginto your second shifter heat, Sorceress,” Castor crooned. “I can smell it.”
I squeezed my legs tighter. “Shit. Really?”
Worst possible timing. My first shifter heat turned me into a horny bitch. I rubbed at my belly, not ready to go there again.
“It’s about two weeks away.” Castor gripped my hips, forcing them to circle with the movement of his body rocking to the tunes. “You smell good now, but when you’re in full bloom, it’s incredible.”
I didn’t doubt his sense of smell. Last time it was spot on, although his ibis shifter possessed the weakest sense of smell, hearing, and eyesight of all my men. Part of being a member of the lamest shifter club. My poor ibis man.
Me, I had keener range, thanks to my falcon, and thanks to my cobra shifter, began to sense vibrations, like when Mia snuck up to the cupboard to steal a cookie. I already caught her three times, and she laid low for a while, thinking I would forget. Nope. Not with this memory. She had to be careful with her diabetes not to overload on sweets and raise her blood sugars.
Dammit, if Castor smelled my shifter heat, the others were bound to as well. They’d be all over me like honey, my scent their drug, my every need taken care of to ease my shifter’s demand to mate. All well and good for a weekend of fun, if it wasn’t for Slade dropping hints like there was no tomorrow.
On Christmas Eve he said,“I want you drenched in our cum and pregnant.”The man couldn’t get any clearer in his intentions.
Shit. A visit to Doc Schriever was in order to get some birth control pills. I didn’t trust that Slade wouldn’t sabotage the anti-pregnancy potion Castor brewed for me. Slade’s War god did anything to conquer me and win.
Uncomfortable at the idea of getting pregnant right now, I squirmed, trying to move back to the counter to slice up vegetables for the salad.
Castor’s clutch on me tightened. “You know what that means?”
I groaned and slapped my forehead. “I don’t want to know.”
Castor said it anyway. “Slade’s jackal will go wild and rut and try to put a baby in you.”
I got the distinct impression my dark, dominant man tried to change my mind. The man who feared to jump all in. One toe in with his shared bank account and surname.
“Fuck. Not what I wanted to hear.” I wriggled again with no hope of getting out of his hold, his fingers digging into my hips, bound to leave red marks.
“You don’t want my baby in your belly, Mrs. Redding?” Not even the use of myofficialsurname on paper broke me out of my fretting.
I hit his forearm. “Stop competing with Slade! I don’t want either of you to take it too far.”
He released me and backed away, letting me get some air. “You’re no fun, Sorceress. I think he’d look handsome with no teeth.”
Silence between my dark mate and me strangled the kitchen. Hating it, I sliced cherry tomatoes, the zipping of the blade through fruit the only sound.
“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, Sorceress.” Castor abandoned the carrot sticks he sliced and came to me again, sliding his arms around my waist, leaning his chin on the top of my head, nuzzling into my neck. “We jest, that’s all. We know we can’t force our beautiful, stubborn mate into anything she doesn’t want to do.”
