Her head is lolled back over my arm, putting her heart-shaped jawline on display. I have the strong urge to press my lips to the space beneath her ear—to trail my tongue down her throat, over the shallow valleys and curves of her collarbones, all the way to the soft mounds of her breasts, until she wakes up. But I do none of those things, against the better judgment of my cock, which stirs between my legs.
Instead, I just watch her sleep.
I haven’t been able to do anything but doze off and on throughout the night; my mind keeps churning over everything that’s happened. First, my brother challenging me to a duel for the alpha. Then Sable’s witch magic causing a near riot among my pack. Even our trip to her hometown didn’t give us any good answers.
I’m glad that monster is dead though. Her “uncle.” Tearing into that man’s carotid was the best decision Trystan ever made.
And he’s clearly not losing any sleep over it either. His face is resting against Sable’s hip, and his legs are tangled in Archer’s. Dare’s arm is across Sable’s waist, and his fingers are resting against me, so that we’re all touching, forming a circle around our mate.
It’s a tight fit, all five of us in this bed, but it feels right. I don’t mind Dare’s hand on me, and I don’t mind the way Archer is sandwiched between me and Sable. Not that I ever thought I’d be sharing a bed with three other men, but with Sable at the center, it makes sense. The mate bond declares that we all belong with her, which means we all belong together, come what may. The other men and I aren’t bonded like mates to each other—not like we are to Sable—but it’s a bond, nonetheless.
We’re a unit.
A family, really.
Not gonna lie—I’m all right replacing my piece of shit brother with these guys. The few weeks we’ve spent together have made me come to like them as people, more than I ever did before. Even before Lawson fucked me over, Dare, Trystan, and Archer had started to feel like my brothers. Real brothers, the kind that have each other’s backs.
Strange fucking feeling, man.
Sable mutters in her sleep, and I look down at her as she turns her head and nuzzles into my arm. I smile and fight the urge to touch her face, but the grin falls quickly from my face when blackness crawls across her skin.
My pulse jumps, and I almost pull away. It takes every last bit of my willpower to remain where I am, my arm still tucked beneath her face as that magic snakes over her pale flesh.
Those little signs of the witch inside her almost repulse me, and I know it’s because I’ve been programmed to hate witches. But this isn’t just any witch. This is Sable. My mate. So I shove aside the discomfort and reach out to rub my hand up and down her arm. Slowly. Tenderly, as if I’m attempting to soothe the witch away. Still lost in sleep, she mutters something else under her breath. I can’t make out the words, but eventually the black magic fades.
I lie beside her for a little while longer, watching her chest rise and fall with her breaths. The magic doesn’t come back. She’s sleeping peacefully. Fuck, I would too if the man who tormented me my whole life was finally dead and gone. I hope she’s having good dreams, her mind finally able to rest after all those years.
There’s not a chance in hell I’m falling back to sleep at this point. Not with my head in turmoil and those black marks on her skin haunting me every time I close my eyes. I extract my arm from beneath her, thankful that Dare still has her cocooned in his embrace. At my absence, she rolls over, and Trystan flings his arm around her hips until she’s encased between the two of them. They’ll keep watch over her.
That’s another thing I have to get used to, I remind myself as I grab a t-shirt from the dresser in the dark. I tug it on over my head and root around for a pair of pants. There are four men dedicated to keeping her safe now.
Instead of feeling like I’m in some kind of competition with them, I like it. There’s a constant urge inside me to protect my mate, to watch over her, and even though I realize I can’t be with her every second of every day, it’s good to know she’ll be safe while I’m gone.
That there are three other men who would do anything to keep her safe.
I leave through the front door, pausing on the front stoop to suck in a deep lungful of cool mountain air. Then I jog down the three steps to the front walk and head down the street.
The village is quiet and mostly still, since most members of my pack are still sleeping. The sun is barely beginning to lighten the horizon, and the last of the night’s stars are still winking high overhead. This cusp between late night and early morning has always felt a bit otherworldly to me, good for clearing my head so I can let go of my problems. It’s just about the only time of the day or night that I can be fully alone—no pack mates making demands of my time, no responsibilities hanging over me. Just me, the sky, and the wind in my fur.
I’m on the edge of the village, just past the council meeting house, and am about to tug off my clothes so I can shift when I hear footsteps behind me. Turning around, I watch as Grady O’Connell approaches, his footsteps heavy on the dirt road. He’s at least twenty years older than me, but he’s got the height and width of an NBA player in his prime.
It’s pretty
