“I don't like it, but I'll deal,” Trevor said softly.
“So, you won't tell him?”
“No, but if we fail tomorrow, Minn Elska, then you must,” he said soberly. “I won't share you with a man who you don't truly love.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “Now, can I go pack?”
“One more thing.” Trevor slid a hand around my waist and eased me closer. Then he buried his face in my neck and breathed in deeply. “Okay, now you can go.”
I turned my head and kissed him tenderly; loving the way our wolves rose inside us to brush against each other through our lips.
“Now, I can go,” I whispered against his lips, and he grinned.
“But be fast about it,” he added.
“Demanding men,” I muttered as I stood. “I wonder if all of my husbands are so aggressive.”
“They can't possibly be,” Trevor huffed. “You can only have so many alphas in one group before things start getting tricky.”
“How many alphas do the Froekn have?” I paused in the hallway.
“A lot,” he admitted. “But there's an alpha hierarchy. My father rules, then his three eldest sons—with me at the top—and then it trickles down from there by age and strength.”
“Why couldn't we have something similar?”
“Because it's different when all the alphas have mated with the same woman,” Trevor said. “Frankly, that never happens with Froekn; wolves mate with one person for life.”
“Hmm.” I wandered off.
“What does 'hmm' mean?” Trevor called after me. “Vervain?”
I smiled to myself as I continued to my bedroom; I had a feeling that most of my husbands were alphas. Regardless of what Trevor said, I simply prefer strong men. I couldn't see myself falling for a beta type. But, you never know; life can take us to strange places.
“Like Tartarus,” I murmured as I yanked off Aphrodite's dress.
I tossed the thing in the hamper and grabbed some underwear. I was not a woman who enjoyed walking around without panties on. The tightness of the dress had made being braless bearable, but not wearing panties felt indecent. It made that dress seem even trashier.
“Sorry, Dolce,” I murmured, “but you're going to be reserved for intimate evenings at home.”
I put on a loose, cotton dress and then gathered my things. As I did, I heard Trevor talking to someone. I stopped to listen—wondering if he was on the phone—and realized that he was talking to Nick. Perfect timing. I snatched up Nick's carrier and returned to the living room.
“Is he coming with us?” Trevor asked.
“Yeah; I thought it might be best to take him to Duat for now,” I said. “Hey, fur face,” I said as I crouched down.
Nick sauntered over and rubbed against me.
“We're going on a trip,” I said as I scooted him into the carrier. Then I thought of something. “Will it be okay to take him through the Aether?” I asked Trevor.
“Perfectly safe,” he assured me. “I know of several animals who have made the trip; including myself when I've been in wolf form.”
“I hope it doesn't scare him too much,” I said as I set the carrier beside Trevor. “I'm almost ready; just let me grab a few spell components in case I need them.”
“No problem.” Trevor put Nick on his lap and leaned back on the couch. “We're good.”
Nick made an annoyed sound.
“On second thought; best to hurry,” Trevor said. “It looks as if I'm not the only demanding male here.”
“No kidding,” I huffed as I headed back down the hallway. “I'm surrounded.”
Chapter Forty-Three
When Trevor and I returned to Re's palace, we found it decked out with flowers and silk. There was also a crowd of gods milling about. They smiled and congratulated me as Trevor and I made our way through them, and I thanked them automatically. My mom raised me to be polite.
Finally, we found Re. He was directing a bunch of feral-looking men dressed in suits.
“All you have to do is walk around with these trays and stop when someone wants a drink,” Re was saying.
“They've been servers before,” a man said to Re.
This man had similar features to Re but a colder look to them. Amazingly, he appeared to be even more arrogant than Re; holding his chin in a constant, slightly-lifted position. His eyes were black but had swirls of color moving over them; a hypnotic look that intensified when he set his stare on me. I flinched.
Anubis. Re had been right; I had painted him perfectly.
“This is your bride, I presume?” Anubis asked with a lifted brow and disapproving tone.
“Wow; we haven't even been introduced and you already hate me,” I tried to cover my unease with humor—as usual. “This is a great start.”
“Vervain, this is my grandson, Anubis,” Re said as he moved beside me and took my hand. “Anubis, perhaps you could give Vervain a chance before you discredit her simply because of her race.”
“Fine.” Anubis sighed and then bowed his head to me. “Nice to meet you, Vervain.”
“Nice to meet you too, Anubis,” I said stiffly. Then I turned to Re. “Now, maybe you can tell me what all of these people are doing here, why you're dressed like that, and what exactly I'm being congratulated for.”
“Can you see to your jackals, Anubis?” Re asked.
“Of course,” Anubis said. “Leave it to me.”
Anubis turned back to the other men and started directing them on how to serve drinks and appetizers. Re led me upstairs, and Trevor followed us. The upper level of Re's palace was thankfully empty, but Re took us into his bedroom and shut the door anyway. Then he looked pointedly at Trevor.
“I think I'm going to check out the view
