I throw a few more punches and a couple of quick kicks. Mia coos loudly like she’s cheering me on. Or she wants attention. Or both. I lower myself down onto the ground and pull her into my lap. “Someday, I’ll be strong enough to protect you too, Mia.” But first, perhaps one of my greater c
Mia sits on the ground, clapping her hands together as I walk one direction, stop, turn, and then head in the other direction. I’ve paced the room so long my hip joints are starting to ache, but I can’t convince myself to sit still. Beau said whatever is happening to Neil at the hands of his fathe
I feed Mia a little more. Steven finishes his noodles but makes no move to leave. He’s building up to something. I can tell from his constipated look. “Out with it then,” I say. “Oh.” He drops his head a little, like he’s embarrassed I called him out. “I was just thinking…” He clears his throa
“Stay out of this, Wyatt,” I snap. “It’s not my fault if you can’t handle the truth. You are a slut, plain and simple. Everyone knows you are attempting to seduce the brothers one by one.” “That’s not true.” Any relations I have had with the brothers have been mutually consensual. No one is sedu
“Come inside, Chloe,” Neil says. He’s not looking at me. It isn’t until he says my name that I realize he’s addressing me at all. I jump to follow the order, eager to get away from Wyatt. This feels something like a rescue, and I’m not about to look that gift horse in the mouth. I duck into Neil
I am struck speechless by the sheer amount of bruises covering Neil’s bare chest. His usual attractive physique is hidden behind splotches of red and purple. Angry, swelling marks and cuts with drops of blood. “This is a lesson?” I ask. Outrage swirls inside of me, making my gut clench uncomfortab
I melt into the kiss. Neil doesn’t break it, even as he rises from his chair and wraps his arms around me. He pulls me into him. When my hands touch his bandaged chest, I pause. I break the kiss enough to say, “I don’t want to hurt you.” “You won’t,” Neil says into my mouth, and closes the dista
He pulls my pants down the rest of the way, then removes them totally from my body. Then his fingers hook over the waistband of my panties. My breath catches as he slowly tugs my panties down. With those out of the way, joining my pants behind Neil on the bathroom floor, my clit and core or expo
I’m happy because I have four hearts beating alongside mine.“Do you feel it, too?” I ask. “My connection to each of you?”I blink my eyes open once more. I want to see their faces, their reactions.Neil has his hand over his own heart. “It’s strange. It’s like part of you is inside of me.”“Me, too
In the darkness of my mind, I floated, surrounded by the comforting embrace of love. Distantly, I could feel another presence, one that grew stronger and stronger, the more I focused on it: my wolf.As I thought of her, she appeared before me as if I willed her into being. Maybe I did. We are in my
Damn alpha wolves and their heightened senses.“I’ve already made my choice,” I say. “Honestly, I think I made it a long, long time ago.”Archer relaxes marginally. Steven starts to smile.Neil turns to me, worry still on his face. “You say that now, Chloe. But the pull could be strong…”“I don’t ca
The eve of my birthday, I rest in bed and stare at my ceiling. It’s late, near midnight, but I still have my bedside light on.With my feelings shared and grown with Neil, Archer, and Steven, I didn’t expect to spend any night alone, especially the one right before the day that could change everythi
I awake to a sharp knock on my bedroom door. Neil’s arm is still draped over me but some distance had inched between our hot bodies in the night. I’m able to slink out from under his arm without him waking.Naked, I quickly stop by the bathroom to throw on my fluffy bathrobe. Then, after glancing ba
They.Beau glances at me and see my incredulous look. “What do I need to go out every night? Can’t a man just enjoy staying home for a change?”“You can do whatever the hell you want,” I say.“Good, then.” Beau slumps down on the couch. He stretches out, lifting his feet up and into my lap. “Now tel
For the rest of the morning, I desperately try not to think about Neil. Whoever he’s in love with, I won’t be offended by it. The hurt I feel has nothing to do with this new person. She must be great for her to have won Neil’s affections.The hurt is my own loss, my own problem. I let my feelings fo
After Steven and I have cleaned ourselves up with a quick shower, we fall back into bed together, giggling and laughing all the way. My now, Steven has discovered a few of my tickle zones, which he is exploiting. As revenge, I touch the places I now know make him shiver.For a while, nothing seems l
His hands fumbled with the buttons of his own shirt. Such usually steady hands are rendered useless by his nervousness.“Allow me,” I tell him. I lightly bat his hands out of the way before replacing them with mine on his shirt buttons. My times with Neil have served me well. I’m able to undo all th