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I’m going to help you shift back. It’s easy, okay? Just listen to me and follow my lead.
I nod my head, but the gesture feels strange and unnatural to my wolf. My gut tells me wolves don’t often nod.
Reach inside. Archer’s soothing voice guides me gently. You should feel your human side like a glowing light inside you. Once you step into that light, you’ll shift.
Closing my eyes, I do as he says and dive deep into my own consciousness. There’s wolf everywhere I look, taking over and absolutely brimming with strength. I like the way she makes me feel—as if I can do anything. Be anyone.
Then, finally, I see what Archer is talking about.
The glowing light radiates from the very heart of me like a flashlight. My human, I guess, nestled snug within me as long as the wolf has control. I reach for the light, letting it wash over me, feeling the warmth suffuse every inch of me. As the magic of the change shimmers through my body, I catch one last glimpse of my consciousness and realize there’s a dark corner I didn’t notice at first.
Inky black smoke filled with the sensation of power.
The witch, settled firmly beside the wolf.
I open my eyes to find my bare knees and human hands—and all the rest of my naked body on full display for the four shifters to see.
My skin burns, and I grab the blanket off the back of the couch, sliding it down over my body. Too late, of course. Ridge and Trystan are both looking at me like I’m a buffet they’ve had before and can’t wait to have again, while Archer and Dare are both gazing at me with a hunger that—in wolf form—would probably include drool.
It doesn’t help that every one of them is naked too. I can’t even think straight this close to so much bare skin.
“So.” Trystan finally clears his throat, breaking the tension in the air. “What the hell just happened out there?”
“That’s a really good question.” I chew my lip, tugging the blanket around my chest and tucking it under my arms. “I honestly don’t know. The wolf just rose up and took over. It came out of nowhere.”
“Did it have a trigger?” Archer asks. “Like your witch magic?”
“I-I don’t know,” I say, thinking back to the moment when I changed. “I realized that half the pack stood against us, siding with Lawson. All I could think was that my mates were in danger. And I couldn’t bear that. My wolf leapt out of me, ready to protect you.”
The tension returns swiftly, and all four men stiffen. They each take a step toward the couch, their gazes riveted on me.
“Say that again,” Ridge commands, his voice gruff.
Something changes in the air. A charged feeling hovers around me, between us, as the men wait for me to reply.
“My wolf leapt out to protect you,” I say. “My mates.”
The electric charge in the air pulses, making the fine hairs on my body stand on end. My heart pounds as Ridge takes me by the elbow and hauls me to my feet, his honey eyes hooded, his bare chest rising and falling with his breaths.
“You’ve accepted the mate bond,” he murmurs, his gaze sliding to my lips. “Fully. With all of us.”
Something seems to sweep through the room, and I can’t tell if it’s my own body reacting to Ridge’s words or if there’s been an actual shift in the atmosphere around us.
As if something invisible and weighty just settled into place.
Trystan moves behind me, and his fingers tease my hair away from one shoulder so he can place a warm kiss on the sensitive area where my neck meets my shoulder. His hands slip around my body and he grabs a fistful of the blanket, gently pulling it away from my naked skin. Cool air rushes in as the blanket pools at my feet.
“My mate. Our mate,” he says reverently, his lips brushing over my shoulder. His palms slide over my stomach, inching toward my hips.
“Little wolf,” Ridge growls into our kiss.
The rumble of his deep voice and the sound of my nickname on his lips makes a pleasurable shiver run through me. He called me that the night I gave him my virginity, even though neither of us believed it to be true at the time.
But now?
Now I know that it is true, and the possessive way he says those two words makes me feel the mate bond between us all the way down to my bones.
Our kiss deepens. The hungry, steady exploration of his tongue on mine raises my body temperature. I’m so lost in his attention that I barely recognize when he breaks the kiss and steps aside, letting Archer come closer. Archer’s lips are cool and sweet, and his kiss feels slightly more desperate than Ridge’s. He’s been nothing but a gentleman to me for every moment we’ve been together, even in the moments where I practically begged him not to be.
