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“Both.” The lie tasted like copper on my tongue. I didn't tell him that the only thing I was truly worried about was another male wolf getting a whiff of the smoky vanilla scent clinging to her skin. I didn't tell him that my beast was currently so territorial he wanted to piss a circle around the entire cabin. “The Volki are losing capital. They’ll be looking for leverage. They know she’s an asset from Sterling. I want them to find nothing but Blackwood teeth if they start digging through files.”

“We’ll hold the line. No one gets past us.”

They disappeared back into the trees, reverting to the silent, golden-eyed sentinels of the woods. I stood on the porch for a long beat, the steam still rising off me. I’d told my men I was protecting an asset. I’d told myself I was following protocol. But as I looked back towards the cabin, I knew the truth. I wasn't guarding a resource; I was protecting the shiny new toy that I didn't want to share.

I'd let Nell work through the task I'd given her for a couple of days. I'd check in on her every night. Let her get used to me. My scent in her space. My voice in the dark. The slow, deliberate accumulation of my presence until her body started making decisions her brain hadn't signed off on.

You didn't rush a woman like Nell. You circled. You got closer each time. A touch here. A look held a beat too long there. Enough heat to make her aware of the temperature between us without giving her anything to hold on to. You brought her to the edge of wanting and pulled back just before she could act on it — once, twice, as many times as it took until the edge was all she could think about.

A woman like Nell didn't beg easily. That was what made the hunt worth the patience.

The morning she tells me the task is finished, I'd crook my finger, and she'd fall on my cock. After fucking her blind, I'd let her go. She would have her company, and I would be getting married.

I pushed into the main house. The smell of home-cooked food brought me back down from my aroused state.

"You missed dinner, Magnus. I assumed you were brooding in your cabin."

"Just clearing my head, Ma," I leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek.

Mei Ling Blackwood was small in the way the eye of a storm was small. Her hair had gone silver at the temples, spreading through the black in a wave so elegant it looked like a decision rather than age. It made her look wise. She had always been the smartest person in any room she entered, including rooms full of alphas and lawyers and men who believed their own reputations.

One of my first memories was of watching my father watch her. He always waited until the room cleared before he sought her out, his voice dropping to a private register, seeking her counsel. Fenrir Blackwood never made a consequential decision without her.

"Eat. You're too thin." She put a plate of lo mein and cut steak that barely kissed the fire on the table. "Should I have a plate sent to your cabin?"

It was work not to go still and betray my surprise. Of course, my mother knew everything. She swiped two fingers through that gray streak, placing the hair behind her ear as she regarded me.

"No, Ma. It's taken care of."

The less I said, the better. I picked up the utensils, aiming to use the food as a weapon to stop this interrogation, when my phone buzzed. Looking at the caller ID, I debated briefly whether I could avoid this interrogator. If I did, she would only put the phone down and come flying over here.

"Where is she, Magnus?" Addie’s voice was so loud I might as well have put it on speakerphone.

"Resting."

"Nell needs a friendly face after her shock."

"You're on your honeymoon, little sister. You tend to your husband. I'll tend to your friend."

"What do you mean by tend to?"

"Nell saw things in that park she wasn't supposed to see. There are protocols for humans who witness the shift. You know that, Addie. I'm following the rules."

This was all technically true. Addie didn't need to know I'd be veering off the protocols by leading Nell into my bed.

"She’s my best friend," Addie countered, her voice softening. "I vouch for her. She won't tell a soul."

"I'm not worried about her telling anyone. I'm worried about people coming after her. Did you know Sterling was doing business with Volkov Industrial?"

I could feel Addie's surprise coming through the line. "No, I didn't know that. At least not before yesterday. Elias said he uncovered a plot between some of the families aimed at the Blackwoods."

"Nell built the infrastructure."

"She didn't know⁠—"

"I'm aware. Which is why she is under my protection. Trust me, Addie."

"I do. I know you're a fair man, Magnus. I know you won't hurt her."