Okay, so she had seen a picture of Bard's brothers on Sanja's phone, but seeing all three of them together, in the flesh? It was a bit surreal.

They were obviously brothers, there was no doubt about that. Hell, they were damn near identical to one another. Which, she had known, but knowing something and seeing something in the flesh? Particularly, three rather impressive specimens of masculine perfection? Well, if Bard hadn't already laid complete and total claim on her ovaries, they probably would have been strutting the catwalk and flashing some leg in hopes of claiming one of them.

One of them was hers. Mental fist pump!

When Harper had grabbed his arm to stop him from killing his brothers, Lord help her, she had to bite her lip hard enough to draw blood to not laugh in his face when he turned that pouting, puppy-dog-eyed look on her, wolf-headed or not.

After she had separated three, she finally got a good look Bard’s older brothers. Aksel was obviously the eldest of the three, and the most serious. Wearing khaki pants, a flannel shirt rolled up to reveal muscular forearms, and hiking boots, if she didn't already know that Sam was blissfully happy with her anam cara, Harper would've begun plotting to get the two of them together. His hair was cropped short, and a faint dusting of a five o'clock shadow gave his otherwise youthful face a more rugged look. At least now she knew what Bard would look like without his beard!

In contrast to both of his brothers, Donar was obviously the more light-hearted, carefree one, despite being the middle brother. His long hair was pulled back in a pony tail that hung down his broad back, and his beard was longer than Bard's; but neatly shaped, with small braids decorated with silver beads. He wore a black Harley t-shirt that strained across his muscular chest, highlighting his lean, yet perfectly sculpted muscles and abdomen; while his faded blue jeans looked painting on as they strained to contain his thick thighs. Biker boots and a leather jacket completed his "bad boy Viking" look, but while the outfit looked perfectly natural on him. Harper got the impression it was more of a persona.

All-in-all, and hand to God, Harper preferred her Bard. He was broader, thicker, and more muscular than either of his brothers, due no doubt to his blacksmithing; while he may not be as athletically proportioned and put together as the other two, he seemed far more settled than either of these two.

Maybe they just hadn't met the right woman yet. Or man. Whatever!

As Bard stomped up the stairs, still pouting, Harper turned to confront Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

"Okay," she held up her hands to forestall whatever the two idiots had been about to say. "It's obvious my annwyl is not a morning person, and until he gets some coffee in him, I doubt he'll be anything approaching human. So, first things first, we need to find some coffee."

Donar, flashing her what she was positive he considered his best, most flirtatious smile, drawled, "Seems like you've already got a bead on brother dearest. How about I go grab us some coffees and pastries from the Coffee Fairy?"

Harper blinked, "There's a coffee fairy?" That would certainly explain why Sam had decided to settle here. They'd have to pry her away with the Jaws of Life.

Aksel sighed, then chuckled. "Yes, sort of. Café au Faé, it's a shoppe not far from here. She opens before the Faire because she knows she'll have a steady stream of customers while the workers, performers, and staff are all getting prepared to open things."

Turning her attention to Donar, Harper made a shooing gesture. "Then go, quick, before the Beast returns and decides your blood would be a suitable substitute for his morning joe."

When Donar attempted to speak, Harper shook her head, "No. It's the least you can do for waking him up and showing up without calling first."

Aksel interjected, his voice a low, angry growl, "We've tried calling for the last day now. He hasn't answered his phone!"

Leveling a steady, unflappable look at Aksel, the expression on her face must have cued Donar into her intentions, because middle brother beat a hasty retreat with a quick, "I'll go get that coffee now." Then, he abandoned his older brother and Alpha without a backward glance.

"Mr. Ulvfang...may I call you Aksel?" Harper asked calmly. "Otherwise, it's going to be confusing clarifying which Mr. Ulvfang I'm speaking to, given there's apparently a whole pack of you."

Without waiting for Aksel to speak-up, Harper continued on. "First, you need to calm down. The angrier you act, the more upset Bard is going to get, and I'm not going to have that, not in my house."

She narrowed her eyes, "And you are in my house, my shoppe, which happens to be within the boundaries of a Sanctuary. So, unless you want to deal with the Sanctuary Guardians on top of everything else, I suggest you chill the fuck out."

A bit taken back by the vehemence in her voice, Aksel's own gaze narrowed and he took a threatening step forward, fairly bristling with aggression. "Just who do you think you are, little witch?"

Unflinchingly, Harper met the Alpha wolf's gaze, refusing to show submission, despite the waves of absolute dominance he was trying to shove down her throat. Oh no, only one wolf was going to be shoving anything down her throat, and while they might share the same face, it wasn't the wolf in front of her.

Feeling her own wild power surging in response, Harper nevertheless kept a cool, calm expression on her face. "I think, I'm a lawyer, and a damn good one. Now, I suggest you put your wolf back in his cave and help me move some of these crates out of the way, because I swear to the Heaven's above, if you three break my glass, I will skin you with my bare hands and use your hide for a throw rug."

Aksel stepped back, a calculating expression crossing his face as he tilted his head, listening for something. Without another word, he turned and picked up one of the crates, just as Harper heard the heavy stomping of her Viking coming back down the stairs.

Feeling him approach, now that she knew what to feel for through the rapidly developing bond tying them together, Harper wasn't scared to death when he loomed up behind her.

"Um, darling? What's going on?"

Turning, she had to catch her breath again at the sight of him. Hair mussed from sleep, his eyes nevertheless sharp and focused, with all that bared flesh of his exposed chest right there at eye-level. Resisting the urge to glance downwards, instead she gave him a grin.

"I sent Donar to go get you some coffee and some breakfast. Apparently, there's a café already operating at full-tilt." And then, unable and unwilling to resist the urge, she reached up and patted that firm, flexing pectoral muscle. "I'm sorry, baby, I didn't realize you were a coffee person."

Bard's large hands hooked around her waist, drawing her close to him as he leaned his forehead down to rest against hers. Amusement laced his voice as he nevertheless grumbled, "And the other one?"

Harper shrugged, "He generously offered to help move some crates out of the way for me."

She may have been a little distracted as she spoke, since she was busy running both of her hands over his chest now, feeling the faint prickle of his chest hair already growing back in, despite his waxing only a few days previously. Oh, that's going to chafe. What, what was I saying? Oh, yeah!

"I explained I was a glass artist, and if you three broke anything while wrasslin' around like a bunch of idiots, that I'd have to take it out of his hide." Yeah, that's what she had been saying, and now she felt that indignation building once more. "Particularly since he's the eldest and should be providing a better example to his young brothers, instead of acting like some uncouth hooligan."

Bard's lips grazed hers teasingly, his voice a husky growl as he murmured against her lips, "Darling, we're descended from Vikings and are literally wolves. By definition, we are uncouth hooligans."

Nope, best to lay down the law now. "Yes, well, not in my shoppe you're not. You all can brawl over in your forge."

"Do you two mind?" Aksel's voice interrupted, reminding her that they weren't alone. The way Bard held her, with his large body curling around her, his forehead against hers, he truly seemed to block the outside world from intruding. Well, with some success, but he had briefly managed to make her forget there was an audience present. "We have serious matters to discuss, and you two making out like you're in a John Hughes movie is kind of creeping me out."

Okay, score one point for eldest brother, he knew who John Hughes was.

Before she could pull away and deal with the serious matters under discussion, however, Bard decided to claim her lips and give her a rather thorough and intensely passionate kiss.

Oh, it started slow and easy, but as his lips parted and his tongue teased, Harper surrendered with a whimper and a moan.

She lost track of place and time, focused entirely on the man wrapped around her, the man whose lips and touch made her burn in the best possible ways.

Bard, however, had not apparently forgotten where they were. When he reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers, with a groaning laugh and a whispered, "Good morning, darling," Harper found herself crowded back against the wall, away from where Aksel had apparently continued putting away crates.

Then the door opened as Donar clomped in, carrying two large paper bags and a tray with four monster-sized thermal mugs, emblazoned with the Café au Faé logo.

Good Lord, do none of them know how to walk anywhere normally? It's either stomping like a herd of rhinos or stalking like a damned cat!

Clearing her throat and sliding out of Bard's arms when she noticed his attention fixated on those mugs, Harper laughed and gave him a gentle shove, "Go get your coffee, then let's sit and discuss this like adults."

She could have done without all the manly grunting, growling, snapping, and snarling between the three brothers, but she did finally manage to wrangle all three of them upstairs to the loft, where they could sit down and talk.

Well, talk after the guys had gone through almost all of the muffins, croissants, donuts, and Danishes the three devoured like they hadn't eaten ever. Bard had, at least, made sure she had made her selections, a Danish and a cranberry muffin, before letting the other two beasts go.

She managed a few sips of her coffee, and although it was quite good, she didn't generally like coffee in the mornings. Quietly setting her unfinished, and massive, travel mug next to Bard's mug, who gave her a pleased, grateful grin, as she got up to make herself a cup of green tea.

Harper only really drank a lot of coffee when pulling an all-nighter, such as when studying for exams, working on a case, or driving cross-country. Otherwise, she was definitely a tea woman. With her tea in hand, she returned to the love seat and settled back down, trying not to blush and grin like a loon when Bard automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side.

Once the wolves had devoured the helpless pastries, Harper finally dared to speak, "Okay, now that I'm no longer afraid of losing a finger to a stray bite, what exactly is going on, Aksel?"

Rubbing his face with his hand, a gesture all three brothers apparently shared, Aksel sighed. "Back when the witches were let back into the 'Greater Supernatural Community,'" and yes, he used air quotes at that, "As part of the agreement they made with Audrick, they would have to foreswear the unwilling binding of any other supernatural as a familiar. Unfortunately, the Llewellyns were not only one of the biggest opponents to the agreement, but it seems they have a bit of personal history with our pappa."

Holding up a hand to forestall Harper's next question, he continued, "He wouldn't say what it was, but both he and our mother were most...unhappy that there was a Llewellyn lurking around at all. When Bard confronted our pappa yesterday rather angrily, declaring you were his mate, our father decided you had cast a spell on Bard."

"But, I didn't!" Harper exclaimed angrily, leaning forward as she glared at Aksel, and through him to his idiot of a father. "There's a big difference between a mate-annwyl connection than there is with a familiar."

Harper paused, scrunching up her face as she reluctantly admitted, "I think, anyways. To be honest, the Llewellyns are only still considered one of the Witch Families because of their connections. My grandparents only use ritual magic during ceremonies, otherwise, magic is strongly discouraged. Hellfire, they had me repress my own magic and hide it behind all sorts of charms. I had only the most basic of training, and haven't really practiced much at all."

Brow furrowed, Aksel glanced between the two of them. "Honestly? It won't matter, either way. Whether they believe you cast it willingly or not, it's considered a serious breach of the pact, so the Council will need to address it. Considering our father was formerly one of the most powerful Alphas of one of the oldest, most established packs in North America, he holds considerable sway with the Council."

"Well, fuck me and the horse I road in on," Harper muttered, collapsing back against Bard's arm as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She needed to think. This was a legal problem, and that she could deal with.

Bard tightened his arm protectively around her, squeezing her close with a low, soothing rumble as he rubbed his cheek over the top of her head. "It's okay, darling. They'll investigate, see that there's nothing wrong, and we'll move on..." He mumbled something under his breath, but Harper caught, "After I... kick... ass."

"Right, well, one thing at a time," Harper calmed herself. "First, they have to speak to the Council, then a representative would have to deliver a summons. If we can manage to convince your parents that I haven't bewitched you, we can nip this all in the bud, right?"

From the identical doubtful looks she received from all three brothers, Harper buried her face in her hands and sighed.

Unfortunately, she spoke her next thought aloud.

"What else can go wrong?"