The mattress groaned as Annika collapsed on the bed. She traced her lips, still plump from Eoghan’s kiss. The man was a whirlwind and overwhelmed her completely. The madness of the afternoon swirled and battered at her sanity but he was something firm to keep her grounded.

The muffled sound of activity downstairs pushed her into motion. Annika sat up and took stock of the bedroom. Eoghan had said to shower and change.

She didn’t think the bedroom got much use. The furniture was older than anything else she’d seen in the condo and dust lightly covered the dresser and nightstand.

Pictures were tucked into the edge of the mirror attached to the dresser. It was odd to stare at her face and not recall the scenes. All three featured Eoghan in some manner and she could almost track how far their relationship had progressed by each shot.

The first was taken outside, near sunset. Eoghan wrestled with a pile of children and she laughed at the edge of the frame. Another showed them with cheeks flushed and arms tangled, feeding each other shots of an amber liquor she knew would be his favorite whisky. The final photograph was folded and worn at the edges. Their foreheads were pressed together and they seemed totally unaware of the camera.

She tugged open one of the drawers and found clothes neatly tucked away. Jeans. Tank tops. Even socks and underwear. Everything a girl could need and all of it nearly her size.

There were massively deep, unresolved issues but it was obvious Eoghan cared for her. He locked her memory away but he couldn’t bring himself to erase her entirely.

And as soon as she returned, he stepped into the role of her protector. He sat by her bed and tended her through sickness. She felt safe with him. How could she not, with a man that would go so far as to kill for her?

By the time Annika showered and changed into clothes that were only a little tight, all traces of her battle were gone. If she hadn’t washed away blood from the cut on her stomach or seen the bruises purpling on her arms, she might have thought she imagined the entire thing.

Eoghan was alone when she reached the lower floor. His men, as well as the body, were entirely gone. It was just him and his piercing eyes focused entirely on her.

The stolen moment upstairs had been a jolt to her system and she didn’t feel as weak as before. It did, however, have the downside of making her acutely aware of his presence. She thought she would be able to point to him in the middle of a crowd.

She lingered at the bottom step, unsure if she should go to him or keep the distance between them. He decided for her and crossed the living room. They were the same height and she could easily meet his eyes while she stood a step above him.

She found pride there. So much pride in his eyes. After a year of nothing but pity it was... invigorating. She felt on top of the world. She defended herself against not one, but two attackers and won the pride of her mate.

Now she just needed to remember him. All of him and their time together. It was so close, just out of reach. A flicker just at the edge of her vision. If she turned fast enough she'd catch it.

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. The rest hung loose in messy waves over her shoulders. "How's yer head?"

Could he read her thoughts or peer into her soul? There was an affinity between them, even if she couldn't tap into it. "Still blank. I’m trying, really, but it’s like everything was painted over in black. There are huge chunks missing. More fragments than clear memories."

His eyes flashed to worry and anger and settled on concern. "Ya should stay. I can have someone come by, in case Mariko comes back."

She waved her hands to emphasize her negative. "Not needed. I want to go. Maybe it'll help jog my mind."

There was a tiny moment of hesitation before he sprang into action. He hooked an arm over her shoulder and dragged her out the door. He didn't let go of her once during the elevator ride down the building or the walk through the parking garage. She felt solid and safe with his arm around her.

Once she was settled in his SUV—he held the door for her—she asked, “Where to first?”

“We’ll go see the three she-devils known as my sisters. I usually have one of the boys stop by but—”

“But with what happened today, you want to do it yourself. If Mariko will go into your own home then your sisters could be in danger.”

“Ay. They aren’t hard. Women need protecting.”

Annika sniffed. “Maybe they do. I think I proved I can take care of myself.”

“Today, sure. But what about tomorrow? Or if you get trapped somewhere? Mariko knows she can’t just twist yer arm and take ya away. She won’t be put off so easy next time.”

Annika frowned. Even if she wasn’t at full strength or knew what she was doing, really, she didn’t want to be coddled.

Eoghan shot her a look that allowed no further argument even before she could make her case. “No griping. You shouldn’t have tae take care on yer own. I won’t hear anymore of it.”

She bit back her words and crossed her arms over her chest. The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled into the driveway of a three-story home not too far from Eoghan’s building. The entire neighborhood was a mix of old and new construction. New cars dotted the street and driveways of the newer homes, while older homes were paired with cars that looked in great need of repair.

Eoghan led her to the door and let himself in with familiarity. “Who’s home?” he called to the interior.

A stampede of small feet charged toward the front door. Three boys and one girl that barely reached his thighs clamored for attention. None had the same eyes or hair as the others, but they all had the same wide smiles that beamed up at an evidently doting uncle.

“A whole passel of brats and bastarts!” Eoghan scooped up the two smallest children in each arm and planted kisses on their cheeks.

“Ma! Unca Eoghan said we was bastarts!” One of the boys on the ground tattled toward the back of the house.

“Ay, and ask him about his unsavory parentage.” A woman with bright red hair and even brighter green eyes rounded the corner. Annika saw where the wide mouth came from as soon as she grinned. “King Bastart, he is.”

“Yer a right git, Sorcha.”

The woman rolled her eyes and then leaned around Eoghan and the squirming children to eye Annika. She planted her hands on her hips and puckered her lips. “Yer back, then. Maybe ya can keep this yin in a better mood.”

Eoghan reached behind him and pulled Annika into the middle of the raucous. “Ann, this is Sorcha. Sorcha, be swell. Ann can’t remember everything. We think she got hit with that shifter poison.”

Sorcha made a face. “Ya poor thing. Donnae worry, we won’t bite. Will we, boys?”

The boys made a chorus of agreement and Eoghan continued with introductions. “We have Tam and Rory here on the ground. Logan, up here, and this little doll is Malina.”

Sorcha leaned on the banister and yelled up the stairs. “Oi! Rhona! Come see! King Bastart brought home a right bonnie lass.”

“Ma, what’s parentage?” Tam asked.

Sorcha pulled a struggling Logan from Eoghan’s arms. “It means who yer ma and da are. Ya see, my ma got real sick after she had Auntie Rhona. So sick that the doctors said she couldnae hae another bairn. So, our da went down tae the nunnery and brought us the noisiest bairn he could find. Then, a year later, our ma had Auntie Maura. But when we all asked nicely, da still wouldnae take Unca Eoghan back tae the nuns.”

“An that’s how yer ma and aunties learned that I was the favorite.” Eoghan teased and received another eyeroll from Sorcha. “Not working today?”

“I did, I did. One o’ the girls got sick-like, so we swapped shifts. I took these yins in wi me before lunch.” Her eyes shifted to Annika, then back to Eoghan. “We need tae hae it oot about upgradin’ the playground for the wee yins.”

“You said as much last time. Get me a budget an we’ll take a see.”

“Fine, fine. Ya better not let Kenna see yer hair. She’ll pin you down and cut ya good.” Sorcha stretched up and rubbed a hand through Eoghan’s dark hair that started to curl at the ends. She snorted. “Remember that time when we was just, oh, couldnae been more than eight. Ya was no bigger than Logan there. We threatened tae wallop you if ya didn’t let us paint ya up with Ma’s powder and rouge?”

Eoghan made a face. “I donnae think that needs tae be discussed.”

Sorcha nearly doubled over in laughter. “I’m going tae find the pictures. Ya looked like a clown!”

“Not my fault the four of ya donnae know what yer doing. Years o’ experience haven’t changed that.”

Sorcha raised an eyebrow and glared. “Ya try being well-kempt with the passel climbin’ ya like a tree every hour o’ the day.”

Steps bounded down the stairs and another sister made an appearance. Her hair was blonde and held in a long braid.

“Yer here, too? Do any o’ ya birds do any work?

“Yer bum’s oot the windae if ya think we just simper and lounge all day while waitin’ for ya tae appear, King Bastart.”

“That’ll do, you chancer. Ya need a thing while ya have me snagged up?”

“The camera on the north corner keeps going in and oot. I think the cable keeps getting knocked loose.”

“Awright, I’ll take a look.” Eoghan passed off the armfuls of children to Sorcha and kissed Annika’s forehead. “Don’t let them tell ya any stories,” he warned with a smile.

“Get tae work, King Bastart!” Sorcha waved him out the door and rounded on Annika. “Fancy a cuppa, then?”

Utter madness was the only way Annika could describe it. The sisters gave as good as they got, in words that sounded like complete gibberish at first. Slowly, Annika heard the words they said. It was amusing how Eoghan’s burr thickened the longer he spoke with them.

She found herself settled at a large table in the cozy kitchen. Pots and pans hung above the stove and drawings colored by children hung on the fridge. Three photographs were framed on the wall: one with an older man and woman she assumed were their parents, one of a girl alone, and the third with four girls with varying shades of red and blonde hair and one boy with a mess of dark curls.

“Your parents?” she asked politely and took the warm mug Sorcha handed to her. Berries and sweetness exploded on her tongue at her first sip.

“Ay,” Rhona answered and plopped into an empty seat. “An lovely Maura, sweet girl that she was. Ya donnae remember?”

“Hush, Rhona. They think she had a dram o’ that poison being peddled in the Harbor. Ya know the one that makes ya full human for a time?” Sorcha snickered. “Eoghan will make it right, I’m sure.”

“He cares a lot for his family, doesn’t he?” Annika barely contained her sigh. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her bracelet, fingering it out of sight of the others. A talisman from another time. Someone cared for her then, surely just like Eoghan cared for her now.

“Oh, ay. Us an the boys down at the port. He brought us over here, ya know. After Ma passed, bless her soul, he bought us all places tae run an this home tae keep.”

Rhona flicked her hair over her shoulder. “They benefit him, tae. We’re nae stupid. Sorcha takes care o’ the bairns and everyone benefits from the extra security at the daycare. Kenna makes sure everyone looks correct an what better place tae hae a parlay than a barbershop run by yer own sister?”

“An Rhona here takes care o’ the cars. We’re well paid for our discretion.”

“Ay,” Rhona sighed. “I just wish he would let us go tae the parties. There’s tae be a week o’ ring fights soon. I heard some o’ the blokes talking.”

“Don’t be such a slut, Rhona. As if we need another git chompin’ at our heels every day. Eoghan’s right tae keep yer man-crazy arse away.”

Rhona glared. “Yer one tae talk! A full three-quarters are yers! Just because ya and Kenna can’t keep a man tae save yer lives doesn’t mean I’ll be the same.”

The two descended into what felt like familiar bickering and Annika sipped at her tea. The quiet moment to herself was enough to study the rest of the kitchen. The children had a tiny plastic table set up and were happy to color or roll toy trucks over the surface.

Her head buzzed and her heart skittered in her chest. Each quick inhale filled her nose with more and more scents. Things she hadn’t been able to smell before. Things she shouldn’t be able to smell as a human.

Fur. Dog? No, that wasn’t right. It was too wild and earthy to be a dog.

One of the boys dropped to his hands and knees and threw his head into the air with a howl. Black fur sprouted on his arms and legs.

“Werewolf,” she whispered.

Rhona shot her a glance. Her eyes were nearly as clear blue as Eoghan’s. “Ay.”

“Tam!” Sorcha snapped. “What did we say about shifting in the house?”

The boy pouted and the fur on his limbs receded. “Only outside until I don’t claw nothin’.”

Malina spilled beads onto the table and Annika gasped. They were the same shape and color as the ones on her bracelet. Even the threading was the same.

“The bairns hae been pure mental about the things all year,” Sorcha explained.

The woman’s voice deepened and droned. The room swam. Annika tried to push it to the side and keep her expression normal. How many kits were made every year? How many were given to children for presents? It could have been any number of them that made the beads on her bracelet.

She tugged it off her wrist and toyed with it between her fingers as she tried to calm herself.

“Annika? Ya awright?” Rhona asked from across the table.

Annika snapped her eyes up and shook her head. The room still spun. “Sorry. Just… remembering. I have a bracelet just like the ones the kids are making.”

Sorcha’s brow furrowed with a frown. “Ay. Tam made ya one last year. Ya still hae that auld thing?”

She stood, her chair screeching across the floor as she backed away. The room wouldn’t stay still. She needed air. Fresh air not filled with the scent of shifters. She tried to remember visiting the house before and couldn’t find anything. Nothing but the beads on the table and the ones on her bracelet.

“Rhona, get the bairns upstairs, will ya? I’ll call Eoghan indoors.”

There was a flurry of activity that she couldn’t see. She shut her eyes against the spinning of the room and tried to catch her breath. Everything was happening too fast. Everything was too sudden. She didn’t know how to continue on without her memories to ground her.

“Ann.” Eoghan caught her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him. The clear blue of his eyes held concern and heat.

She whimpered and shut her eyes again. She didn’t want to see pity there. Not from him. Not after he’d been proud of her before. She didn’t want to see the disappointment.

“Stop. Don’t retreat back into yer head. Yer here. Don’t hide away from me.”

“I don’t know how to be the person you want. I don’t know who I am. I can’t sit here and have tea and gossip with your sisters when I can’t even remember meeting them.”

“Annika Leeds, look at me.” He waited until she opened her eyes again. “I want you. If ya remember, fine. If ya don’t, that’s fine too. The past is the past. We’ll make new memories. But we’ll do it together.”

“You can only feel that way because you have a past. You have something to fall back on. Thoughts, emotions, likes, dislikes. I have none of that.”

He wrapped her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head. “Yer mine,” he growled. “That’s enough to start. I’ll take ya tae a bloody food buffet and let ya sample everything there tae find out what ya like. It won’t change how ya feel about me. Yer my mate. I know ya want me.”

He kissed her again and it shoved down on her rising panic. The heat he ignited in her earlier returned in full force.

There was nothing gentle or permissive about his lips on hers. He wanted to give her new memories, not spark old ones. His tongue demanded entry to her mouth and she relented with no protest. Heat spread through her, heart pumping her utter need of him through every vein in her body.

She wanted to trust and believe him. Her body was more than willing to give over to him. He was her mate. Every time he said the word, every time he touched her, something inside her responded. It was a small spark, but still there. And still more solid than anything else from her past.

She could build on that, couldn’t she? Watching him with his nephews and niece, she wanted that. He was protective and devoted to those he let in and, for whatever reason, she was on that list.

And she was quickly discovering she couldn’t get enough of him. The dark hair and clear, blue eyes were enough to send her panting. He had muscles upon muscles and he knew how to touch her even if she only had a vague sense of what she liked. He knew and he was more than willing to show her.

But before she could sort out her thoughts and consider her options, Eoghan broke their kiss and turned her away from him. His hand locked hers above them again and he pressed his body against her.

Annika swallowed hard. His chest was solid against her back and her wrists were tight in his grasp. “I’m not going to be distracted every time you come near.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. But ya have tae admit, yer heart beat isn’t pattering nearly so high and yer breath is calmed.”

She lifted her chin. “It has not.”

Eoghan pressed his nose against her neck and inhaled. “Ay, it’s all down tae where even if ya weren’t eye fookin’ me before, I’d know ya wanted me naked.”

Her breath caught in her throat and her rebuttal died on her tongue.

He fisted his free hand in her hair and pulled her head to the side. Eoghan lapped at her neck and used his own body to keep her in position. “The things ya do tae me. The things I want tae do tae ya.”

His hand trailed down her neck and over her shoulder to palm her breast. Her nipples hardened into tight peaks when he slipped a stiff finger under the cup of her bra and grazed over the sensitive bud.

Annika swallowed the whimper that tried to escape her lips. As hot and hazy as Eoghan made her mind, nothing cleared it like the thought of not being alone in the house.

It did nothing to stop Eoghan’s lazy exploration of her body. His warm breath ghosted over her neck. Her lungs refused to work when he bit down hard. She danced under him, savoring the feeling and wanting more. More. More. That was the thought her mind latched onto and refused to move past.

“Yer mine. Yer body knows it.” Eoghan released her neck and laved away any hurt he might have caused.

Annika rolled her hips. She ached for more. Needed to feel all of him. He was ready, she could feel that much. His cock nestled against her ass. Teasing her. Letting her feel what he would give her.

A life with new memories on a bed of new sensations.

Eoghan breathed against the back of her neck. She tilted her head further to give him better access. He couldn’t hurt her. She wanted everything he would do to her.

They were mates. It wasn’t necessary to bite to claim, some part of her brain whispered. But she could tell that’s how it would work with Eoghan. Had worked. He was free with his mouth and teeth and she loved it.

Annika whimpered and tried to shove back against him. He growled and pressed her hard against the counter. He rocked his hips before relenting, tugging her back just enough to pop open the button on her jeans and pull the zipper down. Annika nearly vibrated with need when his fingers skimmed the top of her panties.

“Tell me ya want this,” he rumbled in her ear.

That, and so much more. She nodded.

“Say the words. Tell me ya want me tae make ya come on my fingers.”

“Eoghan. Please.” Her pulse raced and her fingers scrabbled against the cabinet above her head. “Make me come.”

His breath riffled against her ear in a long exhale. He slipped under her panties and sure fingers stroked the seam of her pussy, parting her lips and pushing inside.

Annika gasped and bit at her lower lip. Eoghan rocked his hand against her, slipping in and out of her heat and nudging against her clit in quick succession. He slipped in and retreated, shallow then deep, tormenting her with each touch.

Annika rocked her hips and rode his hand as much as he would allow. Shards of bliss pierced her fragmented mind, pulling together in a kaleidoscope of images of her and Eoghan. Against a desk. Against a wall. Spread out across a bed.

The first tremble of her release brought another growl from his throat and he nibbled on her earlobe. “Nearly there, aren’t ya? Do it, Ann. Come for me.”

The order paired with a deep plunge of his fingers and stroking of her inner spot. Combined, it sent her surging over the edge and tightening around his fingers. Pleasure rocked through her core and spread through her limbs. The only thing that kept her from screaming out his name was the hastily clamped hand over her mouth and the dark, cocky laugh in her ear.

“I should take ya back to the flat right now and sink between those gorgeous legs.”

Annika froze. With the edge taken off, she could think. Her body responded to him in the heat of the moment. But after, it was a bucket of cold water dumped on her head. He was a stranger to her.

“Eoghan…” She turned and met his eyes and saw the clear blue had gone ice cold.

“Out with it. I know that face.”

She closed her eyes and sighed before opening herself to him again. “That’s just it. I don’t know yours. You have the memories of our time together, you can base everything off that. All I have are vague impressions and fragments of memories. I think, until I know you better, that we shouldn’t be...I shouldn’t... I need to start over.”

She could almost see the devilishly red lightbulb go off in his head.

“I suppose it’s time for reintroductions. But let me be clear.” He trailed a hand up her thigh. “I will poke at ya.” His other hand found the small of her back and jerked her flush to his body. “I will tease ya.” He dipped his lips close to her neck and skimmed up without touching her. “Because I know how good we can be together.” His lips were millimeters from her own. “And some part of ya knows it, tae.” His teeth clicked together in a nip that just barely missed her lips.

Then he stepped away.

Annika slumped against the counter and did her best to ignore his wolfish grin. There was no denying what he did to her. He knew it. He could smell it. She just needed strength to remain resolute.

And he freely admitted he would push her buttons and wear at her resistance.

Fucking hell.

“If ya two are done actin’ like pure hooligans, ya mind letting me bleach me kitchen?” Sorcha called into the kitchen.

Eoghan threw his head back and laughed