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Joy rises first. Fear follows. Want curls beneath both. I hold my purple notebook against my chest and smile at them, bubbly and nervous and awake in my own body for the first time.

“I want to build a nest,” I say. “Then I want to take notes.”

Ezra smiles as though hope is a living thing. Theo’s purr deepens until it feels as if it becomes a part of me.

“Good,” Theo says. “We can do both.”

Chapter 6

Theo Heron

Pepper hugs her purple notebook to her chest. The porch light catches the dark spill of her curls and the flush in her cheeks. She’s wearing my shirt and not much else, the hem brushing her thighs, her scent winding through the evening air in soft curls of peppermint, vanilla, and rosemary. Ezra stands in the doorway behind her, solid in the shade, watching her as if she has just invented spring.

I look at the notebook. “You’re taking notes during your first heat?”

Pepper lifts one shoulder. “In my defense, I’ve wanted data on this for years.”

Ezra smiles. “That’s the most Pepper answer possible.”

She brightens, then turns to me again. “I also want soft things, low light, enough room to burrow, and maybe one dramatic window. I’m discovering my designation has strong opinions.”

I set her bags down inside the hall. “I can work with strong opinions.”

Her gaze slips upward, thoughtful. “Can you carry me while I inspect options?”

The question lands low in my body.

Pepper’s eyes widen. “You can say no. It just occurred to me that my feet feel strange, and the floor seems very far away.”

“I don’t want to say no, little rabbit.”

“Little rabbit?” Pepper cocks her head to the side.

“You’re curious, energetic, and adorable. It fits.”

That earns me a soft little smile, bright as a struck match.

I lift her carefully, one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees. She makes a surprised sound, then settles against my chest with complete trust. My shirt rides higher on her thighs. Her notebook presses between us. Her scent thickens instantly, warmer now, touched with a need that reaches for me with both hands.

“Biological urges are silly,” she murmurs.

Then I walk down the hall.

Pepper loops an arm around my neck and sighs. “Actually, this is excellent.”

Ezra laughs and grabs the supply bags. “I knew she’d come around.”

We try the guest room first. Pepper takes one look at the square bed, the polite curtains, and the tidy lamp table and wrinkles her nose. “It feels like I’m visiting my eighty-year-old aunt.”

“Next room,” I say.

Our bedroom gets a longer look. Pepper studies the heavy dresser, the dark quilt, the worn chair near the window, and the clean linens that leave little room to hide.

Her scent flickers sweeter.

My alpha takes notice, and my dick hardens at the thought of her shared between us in our bed.

Her lashes lower. “This one feels dangerous for unrelated reasons.”