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“Yes,” I breathe, and then his hot tongue swipes across my skin in a slow drag. I can’t help my pathetic little gasp or my shiver at his answering groan. Slick pours from my pussy when he spits on the bite, then massages the pheromone-thick saliva into my skin with the alarmingly dexterous tip of his tongue. Warmth blooms from my bite, down my neck and across my chest, filling me with feelings of love and devotion.

He sucks my scent gland into his mouth, massaging it, cleaning it, savoring it. When he finally retreats from my neck, he gently blows on the wet skin, soothing the heat that built there. As soon as his face lifts, I capture his mouth in a kiss and spell out my appreciation and relief with my tongue. His arms wrap tight around me, pulling me closer to his warm body, and I marvel at how perfect and right this feels with him.

When the kiss ends, my body is so slack and relaxed that I can’t even keep my eyes open. It seems that the stress and recovery of the past two days are still chasing me across the Wilds.

“Thank you for everything,” I mumble.

“Rest, baby,” Dair rasps, and places a kiss on my forehead.

So, with a full belly and fuller heart, I sleep.

[ 27 ]

DAIR

The Wilds

As the tent brightens with the dawn, my body slowly wakes, registering the sweet omega tucked warmly into my side. Her chilly little nose roots around in the cotton of my shirt, inching deeper into my armpit with a soft sigh. A gentle purr vibrates my chest as contentment washes through me. I am thankful that the night was uneventful so that Raine got the chance to rest. I worry about what today will bring, but there’s no way to avoid getting more supplies.

The birds are already singing, calling us to meet the day, so I carefully extract myself from the cozy cocoon I’ve made with Raine and exit the tent as silently as possible. Immediately, I trip over something, or rather, someone lying on the ground.

A low groan punches out from the heap, and I freeze in place, suddenly very aware of the familiar scent of rich tea that I missed over Raine’s own sweet perfume. Except, Ferris’s signature scent is now different, darker, more developed, more dominant. My wolf growls with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.

You didn’t tell me he was out here, I chastise my wolf.

He grumbles back, he deserved to sleep in the dirt.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growl. “I told you the offer to come with us ended as soon as we left Grand Prairie.”

Ferris unfurls himself from the ground, stretching his arms above his head. His shirt rides up his abdomen, exposing his narrow hips and the distracting muscles there.

“Things have changed,” he says. “I am never going back to Grand Prairie.”

“That right?” I drawl, eyes narrowing. “Tell me, what act of the gods finally made you realize that you were fucking up your entire life? Was it the realization that you’d never see your scent-match again? Or did you finally remember that you never tended the bite you left on her neck?”

Ferris pales. “What are you talking about?”

“Raine has been in recovery from bond sickness because you never healed her bite.” He rushes to push past me and into the tent, but I stop him with a firm hand to his chest. “It’s too late for that,” I say, but not unkindly. “I had to tend it so she didn’t get worse.”

“I didn’t know,” he breathes.

The look of total ruin on his face is nearly enough to sate my anger toward him, but even knowing he’s hurting isn’t enough. I watch as waves of loss and anger pass over his expression and ask again, softer this time, “What are you doing here, Ferris?”

“I was already going to leave with her,” he admits. “I couldn’t find her, so I followed our bond to the breach, and it became obvious that you’d already left. River tried to stop me, tried to bark at me,” he hisses. Even without knowing the full scope of his past, I get the sense this is a huge betrayal, and I have to swallow down my wolf’s enraged growl. He continues, “I overpowered his bark, punched him in the face, and told him I was never coming back.”

I control my reaction by swallowing down the pride I feel for him finally standing up for himself. “Did you leave for her?” I ask.

He takes a moment to really think before answering. “Yes, I left for her, but I also left for me. I’ve denied her the love she deserves, and I’ve denied my own instincts for too long. I think . . .” he whispers, “if I had stayed, it would have killed me.”

I nod once, both my wolf and I are satisfied for now, but I tell him, “You’re going to have to work for this, Ferris. She might be your scent-match, but right now, I’m the only one she trusts. You understand where the three of us are headed, right? One day, she’ll wear my matching bite on the opposite side of her perfect little neck.”

His eyes flash with heat, whether from jealousy, competition, or something else, I’m not sure yet. His nostrils flare wide, but he nods. “I understand. I’m going to prove to her, to both of you, that I am serious about this.”

Bramble crunches around us right before Tore’s massive wolf crashes into the campsite. Ferris snarls, somehow managing to shove me back against the tent while he stands in front of me in a protective stance with a handgun he pulled from gods know where. His pheromones pour from his skin, warning the wolf off. Cute, my wolf huffs.

I place one hand on his shoulder while I slowly disarm him with the other. “Relax, killer. That’s only Tore.”

“What?” he asks, then his body stiffens as the wolf melts away to reveal a very naked, oddly erect Tore.