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WALKING ACROSS PACKEDsnow slick with ice in satin slippers wasn’t easy. Tor had offered to carry her, but Eilea knew her mates would be even more enraged to see her in his arms, so she held onto his elbow, wincing with each slippery step as they walked to the front of the house.
They knew she was home, for she’d spied Geri watching her from their bedroom window, eyes narrowed, not even bothering to help her and Tor. She could practically feel his fury radiating down on her like the glare from a noonday sun.
Nice crown. Have fun?he projected to her through thought.
I can explain,she answered back, but he didn’t reply as he yanked the curtain shut.
Holy flame, she’d left one hell only to return to another.
They rounded the corner to see Uncle Joe and Agent Roy Miller throwing bags in the back of her uncle’s truck.
Her uncle’s eyes widened when he saw her. “Eilea!” He strode toward her, moving fast for an elderly man. She winced when he hugged her, for her very full and sore breasts were on the verge of exploding. He pulled back with a frown, grasping her shoulders and looking her over from head to toe. He had a few more gray hairs and extra eye wrinkles. Had she caused that? “You okay?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m fine.”
He glared at Tor who stood behind her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Thunderfoot,” he grumbled.
Even her uncle was pissed at Tor if he called him by his last name. Her uncle and Tor had become almost as close as brothers after working several decades together.
Tor nodded. “Joe.”
She let out a grunt when he took her in another fierce hug. “We thought we’d lost you.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you.” And truly, she was. That hadn’t been her intention, but she couldn’t delay. Her sons needed her. She squeezed him back before pulling out of his arms. “What are you doing here?” she asked, then cringed. She already knew the answer.
He thumbed toward Roy Miller, a young agent who still had his boyish looks and worked almost as hard as her uncle. “We were about to take your mates to Romania.”
She clucked her tongue at that. They would’ve never survived the haunted forest, much less found their way to her. “Fools!”
“Says the nursing mother who ran off to hell by herself.”
She looked up at her alpha, Boris, who glared at her from the top of the porch, her other mates flanking him.
“There was plenty of milk in the freezer.” She nodded toward Tor. “And I wasn’t by myself.” Were they expecting her to grovel for saving her children?
Her uncle stepped away from her as if she carried the plague. “We have to get back to work. We were in the middle of a deployment.” He nodded toward Tor. “And I don’t want to be around when your mates mop the floor with him.”
She cringed at that, mouthing her apology to Tor as Roy hurriedly stacked the bags back on the porch and jumped into her uncle’s truck. They sped away as if the hounds of hell were chasing them.
Tor turned up his chin and clenched his fists, his face unreadable as he locked gazes with Boris.
“Are your sons safe?” Boris asked her.
“Yes,” she answered, “thank you for asking.”
But he wasn’t paying her any heed. He was still glaring at Tor. Her mates’ battle cries rang in her ears. They shifted and moved so fast, she didn’t have time to stop them. She screamed when Tor shoved her out of the way, right as all four of her wolf and protector mates landed on top of him, attacking him like starving wolves on a carcass.
“Stop!” she cried, blasting them all off with a burst of magic. They flew off Tor with howls, their backsides smoking.
Tor hadn’t even shifted to protect himself. What had he been thinking? He let out a groan, one hand on his ribs and another flying to his bloody nose.
When her mates turned to charge Tor again, she hit them with another blast of magic, this one immobilizing them.
Only their eyes moved as they looked at her with alarm, standing there with claws raised and fangs exposed, snow dusting their white fur like they were freezer-burned hides. Her magic hadn’t been this strong before, but she hadn’t had access to her demon memories. With those memories came thousands of new spells that manifested at the snap of her fingers. She doubted they were impressed by her strong magic, though. They were probably too furious to care.
Let. Us. Go.Jovan’s snarl echoed in her head.
Give me a minute,she slurred, forcing a note of indifference into her voice. She knelt beside Tor. “Let me heal you.”
