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A huge basket was sitting on my bedside table. A basket filled with chocolate.
Gourmet truffles, chocolate pretzels, brownies, cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries…but it was the center of the basket that made me gasp.
Chocolate wolves, made with such incredible detail…
“Oh my God, that one’s Ryker.” I cracked up. Only Ryker had a tail that bushy. I recognized more wolves as I peered at them. Of course, the white chocolate wolf was Kyla, who was the color of snow when she shifted.
“This is incredible,” I breathed. I could feel Nathaniel’s pleasure radiating down the bond, and I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Did you do this?”
He shook his head. “I had nothing to do with it. But when Ryker thanked you for saving me from the book, you told him to say it with chocolate… From the look of this, the packdid.”
Warmth spread through my chest. Someone must’ve snuck in here and put it next to me. Of course, Nathaniel would have woken up for that, but he’d allowed them to surprise me.
I got out of bed, leaning down to examine the gift basket once more. Each time I looked at the wolves, I noticed more details. “That one is you.” I pointed at the wolf in the middle. “It’s the biggest of them all.”
Nathaniel was watching me, a satisfied smile on his face.
“I need to thank them,” I murmured. It was such an incredible gesture.
“We have a pack lunch,” Nathaniel told me. “Hunter and the others invited your father and your uncle, too.”
Because they were now considered family as well. I practically purred with contentment, right before anxiety took over. Nathaniel got out of bed, wrapping his arms around me.
“It will be fine. Your family will fit right in with the chaos. You’ll see.”
I nodded, but my mind was on the one person no one had mentioned. “What are we going to do about Gabriel?”
“According to our spies, he’s on the run. He’ll be mobilizing the mages and likely planning to wage war. Now that we’ve taken down HFE, he’ll know we’ve discovered how he’s getting his power.”
I reached for my robe. “His back is up against the wall. The best way to neuter him is to remove his access to that power.”
“Yes. As much as I’d prefer Kyla hadn’t gone running off to Guatemala, she had the right idea. We free that demigod from the mages, and they’ll be powerless.”
Anticipation clawed through me at the thought. All these years, and the mages had presented themselves as the good guys, keeping humanity safe from the paranormals. When really, they were power hungry liars.
“Enough thinking about our enemies,” Nathaniel said, pulling me into his arms. “Let’s go have lunch with our pack.”
Our pack. My family. Mymate. It sometimes all felt too good to be true. But it wasn’t. This life was mine.
We showered, and by the time Nathaniel was done with me, I was a sated, limp, and sleepy. I dropped my towel, reaching for jeans, and he went still in that wolfy way of his.
“Don’t even think about it. I’m starving.”
He prowled toward me. “I want to see you chained up for me again. I want to hear youbeg.”
And just like that, I no longer cared about lunch.
Someone banged on the door. “Hurry up, you two,” Ryker growled. “Tobias will punish us all if lunch gets cold.”
Smiling up at Nathaniel, I looped my arms around his neck. “Go tell them I’ll be right there, so I can get dressed. And then later, maybe I’ll cuffyou.”
His eyes darkened, but Ryker was knocking again. Nathaniel slid an irritated look toward the door, and I chuckled.
“Don’t be too long,” he said, stalking out the door.
I reached for my jeans and T-shirt. Downstairs, the pack were gathering to celebrate the fact that we were all still alive.
Growing up in the coven, I could never have imagined this life. And when they kicked me out…a part of me had floundered—no matter how badly I wanted to pretend I was okay. The pack wasn’t a family of secrets and lies, determined to keep me small and ignorant about my power. It was a family who had already welcomed my father and uncle to lunch. A family who protected innocents. A family who would never turn their backs on me.
