The drive to the park is quiet. Archer drives, with Beau in the passenger seat. Neil and I are in the back. It’s still the early morning hours. The world is dark, the sun not yet risen. We chose this time so no one else would be around. We don’t want the world to know about this rematch. Neither d
“Hey!” I shout. He’s holding me too tightly for me to back out without hurting myself. It’s not that I’m against what he’s doing exactly. It’s nothing that we haven’t done before. But it’s one thing to lick each other when we are behind closed doors or alone, and totally another to do it here, out
Wyatt gives me no time to prepare, no time to react. He simply appears from behind a tree and then, with a bolt of lightning illuminating him, he dashes forward to attack. “Shit!” I shout and dodge out of the way just in time. He meant to tackle me. He was going straight for the ribs. I am holding
“You are no longer our Beta,” Archer growls, and then punches Wyatt so hard he flies backwards into a tree. The tree shatters on impact, wooden splinters shoot off in every direction. The leaves come fluttering down. Archer’s chest is heaving. Gods, how fast must he have run to get here. He clearl
Wyatt, on his knees, with Archer and Beau holding him both constrained and upright, looks like a sad, broken man. Neil has his gun on him, sights trained right on Wyatt’s forehead. By now, he’s asked his brothers what he should do. He’s likely made up his mind whether to shoot or not. But he sti
“If you hurt Chloe, she won’t be around to save you,” Neil continues. “No one will stop me.” I look at Neil, suddenly seeing him in a terrifying new light. I know the Hayes brothers are strong, and they can flex that power in all sorts of ways. I’ve seen it myself. Sometimes their earlier cruelty
Archer does end up carrying Neil, fireman style, back toward the car. I get into the backseat first, and then Archer slides Neil in beside me, carefully. I cradle Neil’s head in my lap. Archer then goes to the driver’s seat. Beau gets in on the passenger side. “Should we take him to the hospital
His hand goes slack in mine. He’s finally unconscious again. When we arrive at the Pyramid, Neil is immediately taken to his room. The doctor and nurses are already there, and begin an examination at once. Archer, Beau, and I wait in the hallway, just outside the room. Steven quickly joins us. “
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