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“Nobody meant to hurt you,” Archer murmurs, brushing his lips over mine. Warmth sparks over my mouth, and I smile, leaning in for another, more thorough kiss. It’s weird, knowing that I just had sex with Ridge and kissed him until my lips were swollen, only to stand here now with Archer’s warm lips moving against mine. But the weird feeling isn’t a wrong one—just a different one.
“I won’t lose you.” Trystan’s voice is rough. He leans over Archer’s shoulder to steal a kiss of his own. Trystan’s kiss is forceful, not at all sweet like Archer’s, but it makes my toes curl.
“We won’t lose you. We can’t,” Ridge murmurs, kissing my shoulder from behind.
I look around at Dare, who’s pressed up against my left side with one hand tangled in my hair. I’m hoping he’ll speak up, say something to make up for the way he’s made me feel and the way he abandoned me. He looks much better than he did before his trip to the healer, and I’m glad to see some of his original spark back.
But he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have any platitudes to give me, or even any assurances.
How can I still have feelings for him after the way he’s made me feel? Dare thinks I’m the enemy. I’m a monster that he ran away from at the first chance he got. Yet, he’s here now. Not just with us, but standing beside me.
I brush my fingertips over one of his healing wounds—a raw slice of new skin on his bicep. Dare leans ever-so-slightly into my touch as if drawn to my hand, but still, his eyes are dark. Brooding.
Tortured by my presence.
I shove that thought aside. For now, I’m surrounded by all four men, and my soul feels complete.
15
Sable
I awake in a cocoon of warmth and limbs.
Light spills through the break in the curtains over the window, arcing across Archer’s face. He’s lying in front of me, one hand resting on my hip as he sleeps. He looks almost angelic in the golden morning sunlight. It turns his blond hair luminous, like a halo around his sharp, handsome face. In sleep, his expression is just as soft and kind as ever.
All four men slept in the bed with me last night, refusing to leave my side. I got the feeling they all wanted to reassure me that they wouldn’t leave me. Staying with me seemed like a kind of promise that they’re serious about not driving me away, even if I’m unable to pick just one of them to be my mate.
Lying in a giant pile was a bit awkward to get used to—arms, hands, and legs in weird places, like we were a pack of puppies trying to find the right way to lie on top of one another in a basket. But after a while, I got used to the feeling of sharing my space. Now, I don’t think I ever want to sleep alone again.
I’m the only one awake right now, surrounded by their still forms and soft breathing. Trystan’s head is resting on my side, his long lashes dark against his skin. He’s lacking his usual sardonic, knowing look with his eyes closed and his jaw slack with sleep, and I feel like I’m seeing a completely new side of the alpha. This is the side of him I glimpse in the moments he’s doing his best to care for me—this is the man who spilled orange juice in his hurry to make sure I was hydrated.
Dare is on the other side of Archer, lying on his back at the very edge of the bed with his face turned toward the window. It still stings how he lay down over there last night, making sure an entire person was between his body and mine, as if he didn’t trust himself to fall asleep touching a witch. Next to Archer’s sunlit, golden angel good looks, Dar
e’s scruffy day-old beard, mussed dark hair, and ruddy complexion make him look like a devilishly handsome demon. I wish I could touch him. I wish he could trust me.
I don’t even trust myself.
I recognize without seeing him that Ridge is curled against my back, sharing the space with Trystan. Ridge’s breath tickles the tiny hairs at the nape of my neck, and his fists are tucked against my back. I flush as I remember last night. The two of us in this bed, naked, our bodies entwined and his hard length deep inside me. A niggle of desire awakens inside me at the memory.
Archer’s eyes snap open, his pupils narrowing to pinpricks as he focuses on me.
Oh, God… did he smell my arousal? Heat rises in my cheeks. There’s no privacy here, not surrounded by men with senses like theirs. One dirty thought, and I’ll have four horny shifters ready to scratch that itch.
To his credit, Archer doesn’t comment on what awakened him so suddenly.
“Good morning,” he says softly. “How did you sleep?”
“Better than any other night ever.” My lips curve up a little in a grin.
“Wolves know there’s safety in numbers,” Archer tells me, sliding a hand to mine. We entwine our fingers, and he goes on. “You’ll never sleep as comfortably as you will on nights you’re surrounded by others.”
“Wolves are really on to something.” I sigh lightly, keeping my voice low so as not to wake anyone else. “What do you think witches know about sleeping in packs?”
Archer gives me a sad smile. “I don’t know. They do form covens, so they obviously believe in some kind of social bond. But I doubt it’s the same as the bond wolf packs have.”
I chew my lip, brushing my thumb back and forth over the side of his hand. “Sometimes I want to know more about them, just so I could understand myself better. But sometimes I think I’d rather not know anything. The more I learn, the more real it will make all of this. Ignorance is dangerous though. I can’t afford to just ignore the witch magic inside me and hope it all goes away. It won’t.”
He squeezes my fingers. “We’re going to help you. I’ll teach you everything I can and help you hone your powers, no matter how long it takes. What if we start working on your magic today? And go from there.”
