“It’s gorgeous.” We follow her into the death box. “Are you okay?” I focus on her.
“I’m not fond of traveling in a box,” I mumble, and she squeezes my hand.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” She smiles softly.
“We would rather be in the open,” Bane says, and I meet his eyes.
Small spaces bring back bad memories for all of us.
“At least Rylee’s place is open,” she says.
“You haven’t asked if the man is hurt?” I ask, keeping my focus on her as we move.
“Well, I assumed he was.” She meets my eyes. “You throw a wicked punch.”
“You don’t care?”
“About Dan?” She snorts. “Not especially. He was a dick.” Bane chuckles.
“He was that.” Thankfully, the doors open, and we follow Haven.
“Where are Hunter and Remy?” she asks, opening the door to the apartment.
“They are helping Ryker and Bash clean up the mess I made.” I don’t look around the space, but keep my focus on our confusing mate.
“Are they coming here when they’re done?” She enters the code to lock the door.
“No.” Bane wanders toward the couch, pulling off his jacket, and laying it across the cushion. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you.” Blunt as always.
“I appreciate it.” She frowns. “I don’t think having all of you here would, though.”
“You're surprised,” Bane says.
“A little,” she admits.
“It’s the bond at work,” he says softly.
“The bond,” she mumbles, releasing my hand and walking toward the kitchen. I flex my fingers, missing her touch. “How do we complete the bond?”
“Once you decide to, we bite you,” Bane says, and I shake my head. “We'll mark you as ours. Any shifter will see you are taken, mated to the four of us. This usually happens during sex.” Haven cups her neck, leaning against the island.
“What happens when you bite me?” she whispers.
“Our mark will begin the transformation,” Bane says.
“Into what?”
“A jaguar.”
“I would be like you.” She looks between us.
“Yes.” I watch her carefully. “If we don’t complete the bond, you would stay human. Eventually, you would die, and we couldn’t allow that.” I thought Bane was doing a shit jobexplaining the process, but I’m not doing any better. “It would hurt us to go on without you.”
“Does it hurt you now? What if I don’t want to be changed?” She wraps her free arm around her waist. We both hesitate to give an answer. “Tell me. I’m a big girl. I need to know.”
“Yes, it hurts,” I grit out.
“Not in the way Law hurt Dan.” Bane walks toward her. “Our animals are impatient. It takes more energy to control them. Every second, we're trying to give you time. If we're forced to be away from you, it would be torture. Having any male other than the four of us around you is nauseating. I was proud of Law for taking care of that man. He couldn’t be allowed to walk away without punishment.” He stops in front of her, grasping the hand on her neck, pulling, and placing her arm to her side. “We're part animal, but we try to act civilly. Sometimes we can’t.” He slides his hand to the base of her throat. “It’s our job to protect you. Keep you safe. Until you decide to complete the bond, we'll be close, watching. Waiting. Please don’t ask us to leave you. That would hurt us more.” Her lips part as he flexes his hand, his finger rubbing against her pulse. He stares at her a minute more before backing away. “Where’s the bathroom?”
