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My little witch had fallen asleep on the way home from the city last night, after breaking into that witch’s apartment, and I’d carried her upstairs and back to our bed.

My gaze moved over her delicate features, and something clutched me tight behind my ribs. I craved her constantly, her touch, her scent, the sound of her voice. Christ, I loved talking to her…even when we were arguing. I wanted to know what she was thinking all the time, listen to what she had to say—

“I think Ash likes your mate,” Dirk said. “She’s a good judge of character, and she doesn’t suffer fools. The pack will follow her lead.”

That was why I’d put them together, that and Asher had always had more of a level head when it came to Iris, and thankfully, it looked like it was working. “I hope so.” I turned to Dirk. “How did the patrol go tonight?”

“There were several demon clusters close by, but they stayed back.” Dirk did not look happy.

I understood why. Our pups and adolescent pack members needed to be watched closely whenever they were outside. The risk of them being snatched by a demon was still too damn high. I wanted my people to be able to run these forests freely, and one day, my own children, but that wasn’t an option yet.

I glanced at Iris again, and my territorial instincts skyrocketed. She was reluctant to have my pups now, but she’d change her mind. I shouldn’t have mentioned getting her pregnant so soon, but the words had slipped out before I could stop them. My wolf had rushed forward, and I’d wanted to claim her in every way possible. And selfishly, I thought getting her pregnant would make her more likely to fit in here—and more likely to stay.

Dirk’s youngest son Wren ran up to his dad, and the warrior lifted him to his shoulders. “We’ll take another look tonight. We’ll find them, wherever they’re hiding.”

“Good, keep me posted.”

“Hey, Dirk,” Iris said, joining us.

Dirk grinned and inclined his head. “Iris.”

The urge to kiss her was great, so great I didn’t even try to resist.

She was mine, in every way now, and she’d been gone all fucking day. I needed to be close to her now. Hooking her around the waist, I hauled her to me and sucked on her perfect lips, and when she didn’t open for me fast enough, I took her chin, opened her mouth, and swiped my tongue inside, desperate for the taste of her again. I couldn’t get enough. If she’d been here, I wouldn’t have been able to stop kissing her.

When I finally lifted my head, she blinked up at me, her cheeks turning pink before her gaze shot around the room.

“They don’t care,” I said, dragging my nose up her throat, breathing in her scent, it was now mixed with mine. I held in my snarl of possessiveness. Fuck, I could smell how ripe for fucking she was. “You’re my mate, petal. Mate’s kiss.”

She nodded but still looked unsure. Fuck.

I didn’t want to hold back, I couldn’t when I was with her. But then, I’d known she was mine a lot longer than she had. I was ten steps ahead of her, and maybe I needed to give her some time to catch up. “You had enough to eat?”

“Yeah, I’m stuffed.” Then Iris smiled her sweet crooked smile up at Wren, her cheeks still pink. “And who’s this?”

The boy smiled back as Dirk’s mate, Belinda, rushed over, and ignoring Iris, inclined her head to me, lifted Wren from his father’s shoulders, and rushed away.

I frowned, and Dirk winced a little.

“Do we have a problem?”

“I’ll talk to her,” Dirk said, looking uncomfortable.

“Oh,” Iris said, looking between us and then at Belinda’s retreating back, working out for herself what had just happened. “No, please, don’t,” she said to Dirk, then looked at me. “It’s fine. I get why some of your people are wary of me.”

“Sort your female out,” Asher said to Dirk, joining us and also not missing what just happened. “She disrespected the alpha’s female right in front of him. Not cool.”

Iris looked anxious. “Ash, it’s fine.”

“Nope, not even a little bit. She knows better.”

Dirk scowled at Asher, and she scowled back.

Iris’s hands were clutched in front of her, her discomfort obvious. Fucking hell. “Ash is right,” I said to Dirk. “If Belinda has a problem with my mate, she can come to me, or complain to you about it, but it does not touch Iris, understand?”

“Yeah, Drave, of course.”

Iris’s gaze shot to me. “You can’t make people like me, Draven. I’m a big girl, I can take a little rejection.”