Barrett smiled, his fingers roving over my face like he couldn’t decide what to focus on. “I’ve always been yours, Eryne. From the very first moment when you saved me, your touch kept me going. Knowing my mate—” His voice cracked, full of emotion. “Knowing you were mine, that was how I fought tocome back to you. Even when I couldn’t shift to tell you what you meant to me.”
“Oh.” I looked up at him through my eyelashes. “And here I’d thought I had a new pet wolf.”
He laughed. “I’ll be your good boy whenever you want, sugar.” Barrett winked at me, and I blushed harder. His knot was still firmly inside of me, hard and keeping all of the cum inside of me.
I clenched around him, and he groaned. “Don’t do that.”
“Why not?” I gave him a coy smile.
He swatted my ass. “How long do you want to be stuck like this?”
I pouted. “Fine.” I’d be good—even though I didn’t want to be.
“So… what now?” I asked, looking down between us.
His hand pushed my hair back behind my ear. “Now, we wait for my knot to go back down, and then I’m going to take you home and we’re going to clean ourselves up—” He pulled another leaf out of my hair. “—and then we’ll reconvene with the rest of the group.”
Even though I knew it was the right thing to do, the idea of having to go see everyone after this was mildly mortifying. Especially since Ezra—and probably Damien, too—couldsmellhim on me.
I groaned. “Everyone’s going to know what we were doing out here.”
“So?” He gave me a mischievous grin. “I like them all knowing that you’re mine.” Barrett nuzzled his face against my neck. “That we smell like each other.”
“Mmm.”
I guess that wasn’t so bad.
We decided it wasn’t worth the risk of humans finding Pleasant Grove if we left the barrier down any longer, and so we’d decided to perform the spell to recreate the wards that night. Only these wards were stronger—interlaced with magic from all of our species: demons, witches, and wolf shifters.
I slumped on the couch in between Rina and Wendy, exhausted and drained. After everything, it would take a few days for my magic to replenish itself in my body, though ordinary things like levitation were still doable in small bursts.
Leaning my head on Rina’s shoulder, I watched my mate across the room. Barrett was in Willow’s living room, talking with Damien and Zain, though I could barely keep my eyes open enough to listen to them.
It had been a long day. Honestly, the last two days felt like two lifetimes. I’d been kidnapped by some sort of evil un-dead being, almost drained of my magic and life, and then Barrett had rescued me. And we’d had the most insane sex of mylife.
He looked over at me, eyes heating, like he knew exactly what I was thinking about. And then I realized that he probablydid,now that we were bonded. I ran my fingers over his mark.
Earlier, in the bathroom, I’d stared at it for a long time, appreciating the spot where he’d marked me. It was still red, but he’d been right when he said his saliva would heal it.
I liked the way it showed off his possessiveness. And he seemed to like it too, if how he acted after was any indication.
He’d almost ripped Ezra’s head off when he’d found out the reason I’d come after him—and subsequently been taken. That Ezra had revealed we were mates before Barrett could tell me. It had required all of us to pull the two apart, panting andbleeding from both teeth and nails. Ezra had been telling me the truth when he’d told me that Barrett would go feral if I touched him, barely letting me out of his sight when I tried to heal the vampire. In the end, I’d just taken care of my mate, knowing someone else from the coven could help Ezra.
Barrett felt like shit, but I knew it was just the alpha wolf in him, trying to protect his mate. An instinct that he couldn’t control. Though he was better now that we were mated. I could tell, because every time he looked over at me, his eyes caught on my mark, and his heart slowed.
I rested my hand over mine, knowing they were beating in tandem.
The door opened and closed, and a white haired man dressed in black slipped inside. I faintly recognized him from the cave when Barrett had come to find me, though everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t had a chance to say anything to the men who had helped my mate. He hadn’t been there when we’d re-cast the barrier tonight, which I hadn’t even thought about till now.
I felt Wendy sit up straight next to me, the blanket that had been draped over us falling to her lap. Looking over at her, I saw her eyes grow wide as she stood. “Cassius?” The word was barely above a whisper, as she reached out towards the white haired man, then seemed to think better of it.
He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “Wendy?”
I looked between the two of them, wondering what was going on.
“What are you doing here?” She snapped, the words were cold—so unlike my friend.
“I—”
