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Coti waited until the women exited the cage, then he entered. NeNe sat with her legs drawn up to her chest, looking a little lost. “Hey, how you feeling?” he asked.

He was glad to see her eyes were no longer the black orbs of her bear. Her bruised and battered face from before she’d been taken to Fey had healed. Even from her brawl with the females from his pack, she didn’t seem to be showing the amount of damage as the other females when they’d limped out. Seconds ticked by without her answering. Coti got down on the mat next to her, then decided he needed to wrap himself around her even if she didn’t feel the need like he did.

“What’re you doing?” she asked.

Her scent was the same, the sweet combinations of nutmeg and peaches would forever be etched in his mind, reminding him of NeNe. His mouth watered, thinking of what she’d taste like, wondering if she’d have a different flavor since her turning. “I’m holding you,” he answered.

She twisted her head to the side, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. “You realize I’m not like you, like any of you, right?”

He inhaled, rubbed his jaw over her hair. Hell, in the wild, they’d say he was marking her. Shit, in the club, he was totally marking her. He’d stop just short of pissing on her, because golden showers weren’t his thing.

“Did you hear me?” NeNe nudged his abs with her elbow.

“Of course I heard you, and yes, I know you’re not like me. Nobody here is like me.” He buried his nose in the thick mass of her hair, relishing in the fact she was there, alive.

“Coti, you’re kinda freaking me out,” she said, but she relaxed against him.

He nudged her head to the side with his, nuzzling along her shoulder to her neck. His teeth ached to sink into her flesh and taste her, claim her, mark her for all to see. Goddess, he needed her like he needed air. Scratch that, he probably didn’t need air to live. “I missed you, my little warrior.”

Her hands came up, covering his where they held her around the waist. If she tried to get away from him he’d let her go, but his beasts wouldn’t be happy, neither would be the man. Shit, he tensed, waiting for her to pull his hands apart.

“I missed you too,” she whispered, running her fingers over his.

His heart thudded against his ribs while his wolf did somersaults inside his head. Shit, he imagined his two beings were rolling around and hugging each other as NeNe relaxed against him, letting him take her slight weight. “What do you say we blow this place and go back to my house?”

He heard her heartrate increase, the sweet smell of anticipation wafted off of her. “I’d like that. Um, I should apologize to the others,” she mumbled, looking around the room. “Where’d everyone go?”

Coti took advantage of her distraction, floating them to their feet. “Kellen said the party was over, so everyone left.”

NeNe turned in his embrace, blinking up at him. “Except you and me.”

“Except you and me,” he agreed.

“You still want me even though I’m—I’m a bear. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m even saying that, and it’s not like a joke. Not that I’m not a bear in the morning before coffee, but I’m a freaking grizzly bear, Coti.”

Her voice broke at the end, making his heart stutter. “NeNe, we’re all a little different, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t the same inside where it matters. Now that you know I’m not just a man, do you not still want me?” His mother’s people called their one and only a Hearts Love, while his father’s people called them their mate. Waiting for NeNe’s reply had his heart thudding hard. He was sure if she looked down she’d see his shirt moving from the pounding, but she didn’t break eye contact with him. Goddess, he wasn’t sure if he was still breathing while he waited what seemed hours for her answer.

“I’ve wanted you even when I thought you were a criminal. The fact you’re a wolf isn’t even a blip on my radar.” She stood up on her toes and kissed his chin.

He opened his mouth to tell her everything there was about him, giving her the entire truth of what he was before she tied herself to him. The jangle of keys had him stopping to see one of the pack members walking through. He paused, raised his hand in greeting, then he inhaled, his eyes widening. “Oh shit, what the hell?” He backed into the wall, fear shadowed his face.

Coti decided he’d had enough. His pack was either going to accept his mate and him, or they wouldn’t, but they wouldn’t be afraid of them. With ease, he jumped with NeNe in his arms from the center of the cage, landing in front of the young shifter. Not asking for permission, he pulled his name from his mind, making sure he didn’t hurt the kid. “Erik, you have nothing to fear from my mate or me. Reach out to Kellen. Do it now,” he ordered. The alpha in him he kept leashed rose.

Erik’s eyes were as large as saucers, but he did as Coti instructed. His head bobbing up and down while he spoke with Kellen through the pack link. Slowly, his scent went from fear, to one of embarrassment. He looked at the floor, the walls, anywhere but Coti.

Taking pity on the kid, Coti placed his hand on his shoulder. “Be at ease, kid. Things are changing around here, but it just means there’s more protection for all of us. Go on, I assume your staying in one of the apartments.” He jerked his head toward the doors that led to the housing area behind them.

“Yeah, my parents are the new managers. They took over after the, um, other couple left.” Erik nudged his tennis shoe on the floor, clearly ready to go.

The other couple didn’t leave but betrayed the pack, which led to their ultimate deaths. No, Coti wouldn’t be correcting the kid, but he’d be keeping an eye out. If he or his parents had a prejudice against other shifters, Kellen would need to know.

“Go on home, Erik.” Coti moved to the side, feeling NeNe’s hand grip his tightly. She didn’t say anything. He was proud of her for not gasping or screaming when he’d launched them into the air like he’d done. Brave mate, his wolf growled.

Erik stepped around them, his steps hurrying toward escape.

“Hey Erik. Where were you tonight?” NeNe asked.

His mate turned around, meeting the younger man’s gaze before he could disappear through the door. “I was with friends.” Came a petulant reply.

NeNe stalked him, her face up close and personal to his. “Your friends, huh? Do they happen to be from the other side of town?”

Erik pushed NeNe away, his wolf rippled beneath him. “What’s it to you? You’re not pack. Kellen said I had to be nice and treat you with respect. I will do as my alpha says but keep your nose out of my business.”

Coti let the young wolf skitter out the door, waiting for NeNe to explain what the hell just happened. She held her hand up, her finger against her lips. He gave a nod, waiting for her to join him by the door. There was a lot they needed to discuss once they got to his place, their place if he had his way.

NeNe allowed Coti to take the lead, followed him like a docile little woman when her bear was roaring at her to go back and beat the little shit named Erik senseless. She could smell her brother and his friends on him. How she could, she didn’t know, but her bear filled her with rage and knowledge as the kid passed her. “How we getting home?” she asked.

Coti looked at her and then the seatbelt, waiting like he had all the patience in the world. “My truck was here getting an oil change.” He waited with a brow raised.

“You realize I’m a damn grizzly. A little accident ain’t gonna kill me,” she snarled but snapped the harness into place out of habit and to get the big man moving.

“You keep throwing the fact you’re a bear up in my face like it’s a curse. Being a shifter is a gift, baby. Stop growling, cursing, and hating the fact you have a beautiful being inside you.”

Her bear rumbled. If she’d been a cat she was sure the bitch would have purred, rolled over, and shown her belly. “I’m not, not really. I’ve come to accept her. Rather, we’ve come to accept each other, but it’s a steep learning curve. I never did watch the discovery channel or nature shit. I don’t know dick about bears or wolves, for that matter.” She felt her beast roll big brown eyes, the image almost comical.

“Well, I would imagine what you saw on television, and what you have inside you are polar opposites. For us wolves, we’re pack animals like natural wolves. We have a lot of characteristics that they have as well, but that’s where the similarity ends. Well, I assume they do. We can link telepathically, we obviously have two forms, and our sense of humanity doesn’t leave us when we shift. If you embrace your bear, melding the two of you together, you’ll understand her a lot better.”

His words made sense, if only she’d been turned by someone she loved. Mac put a beast in her. The female was a brawler who thirsted for a fight. It took a lot for NeNe to get the grizzly behind the cage in her mind. If Lula hadn’t helped her in the beginning, she knew she’d never have found her way out. Her beast growled, her need to be free making her skin itch. “You don’t—you can’t imagine what it’s like.”

Coti’s hand landed on hers where she was inadvertently rubbing over the bite Mac had given her. God, or Goddess, that was another revelation she was becoming accustomed to, she wanted to sink her claws into the bastard who made her, ripping him from top to bottom. Only when his life bled from the earth would she feel free.

“You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to be turned like you. All I can do, all I can promise is to be here with you every step of the way. Let me be here for you?” He squeezed her fingers, the softly voiced question completely out of the norm for the huge alpha male she knew Coti to be.

“You still have some things to tell me, like how you flew us out of that cage,” she said. There were a lot of things about the gorgeous man who owned her heart that she didn’t know. He said he’d tell her once they were at his house. She prayed she was strong enough to handle whatever blows he planned to hand her. No, they may not be physical ones, but in the past however many days, she’d been through the ringer. For just a minute she’d like to breathe and pretend everything was rainbows and fluffy clouds with sunshine on the horizon. Oh, and for shits and giggles, since it was her fantasy, she wanted to be rich as fuck and Coti to love her.

They pulled into Coti’s yard, her eyes seeing clearly even though there weren’t any lights on. “I love your place,” she remarked. The log cabins many of her friends lived in were gorgeous, but the concrete and glass house suited the man.

He grunted, tapping a rhythm on the steering wheel while he waited for one of the garage doors to open. “It’s a better defensible place for my kind.” He held his finger up. “I’ll explain when we’re inside.”

His truck filled the section closest to the door. They both waited until the bay closed before Coti got out and came around to help her down. Why she allowed the gesture she didn’t know, only knew he enjoyed being the gentleman. “Thank you,” she murmured once her feet touched the ground.

“You’re welcome. Come here, let me program your palm into the sensor so you can get in or out.” He explained how the doors were all set to automatically lock behind him when he exited the house. She pressed her right palm to the faceplate, electricity tingled beneath her as the machine took her scans. The entire operation took less than a minute. When a green light popped on, he smiled. “Alright, lets see if it works. Place your hand on the center. It’s relatively simple, if your palm touches the plate, the door will unlock and open.”

Again, there was a small electrical sensation, then the door locks disengaged before the door slid into the wall. “You take safety very seriously, Mr. Sharp. How thick are these walls?”

He tapped her on the ass. “Thick enough. In you go,” he ordered.

Ah, at his rumbled words, her mind conjured up all kinds of dirty things. He was thick, everywhere. Her body went soft thinking of their one night together.

“Armina, don’t. We need to talk,” he growled.

Shit, shifter sense of smell meant he could smell her arousal. Embarrassment had her moving away from him.

He stopped her exit, his hand soft yet firm on her arm. “Don’t be embarrassed about a natural reaction, NeNe. Look at me.” He pointed down at his pants. “I had a boner since I smelled you. It’s only gotten harder as I watched you kicking the other ladies’ asses, and now, smelling your fucking sweet scent.” He inhaled. “If I didn’t think you needed to hear everything before I take you again, I’d have your pants shredded and your legs around my neck while I alternated between licking you ‘til you had nothing left to give and fucking you until my balls were empty.”

She shifted her legs back and forth. “Why does that sound like a really good plan?”

“’Cause I’m really brilliant and come up with the greatest ideas. Now, stop teasing me with your sweet pussy elixir and sit down. You want a drink?” He turned away, the bulge in his jeans clearly visible.

“Did you just say sweet punani elixir? Is that even a thing? I’m so going to file that in my bank of shit to pull out for later,” she laughed.

Coti lifted his hand, raising his middle finger. “It’s now a thing because I said so. Drink?” He held up a bottle of beer in each hand.

Suddenly, she was extremely thirsty. Nodding, she accepted the cold bottle, tipped her head back at the same time as Coti, and drank almost half the bottle in one long swallow. They both sighed. “Alright, spill.” She pointed her bottle at him.

He tipped the bottle back to his lips, downing the rest of the beer, then tossed the empty into the trash. “While you were in Fey, I’m sure you saw a lot of other beings. Dragons, obviously fairies. You remember Damien and Lucas, Jenna’s mates?”

She nodded. “Yes, they were drop dead gorgeous but looked as though they’d happily kill you and then go home and braid Jenna’s hair like nothing happened.”

Coti laughed. “If you mean they seemed like homicidal men, you might be on to something. What I mean is, did you scent what they were?”

NeNe shook her head. “I didn’t even think about it at the time. Are they Fey like Jenna?” She pictured the two men in tights with wings, snorting at the image.

“No, they’re nothing like Jenna. As a matter of fact, I’m related to them, loosely.” He turned his back to her, then spun back to face her. “Their father is Damikan, the Vampire King. Their mother is Luna, a wolf shifter. Both men are over three thousand years old.”

The bottle slipped from her fingers, crashing on the polished floor. What the hell else was he going to tell her? Demons from hell come out at night and steal babies or virgins from their bedrooms? Coti’s hands held her face between his palms, his words penetrating her brain. He’d said he was related to the men. No, the vampires.

She jumped backward, putting space between them. “So, you’re a what exactly?” Her eyes strayed to the broken bottle, then to his face. He looked like she’d gutted him. Dammit, it wasn’t her fault. Was he going to want to drink her blood? Did he sleep in a coffin? No, she remembered they slept in a bed together. Wait, he walked out in the day. So did the other men. “You lying to me? Trying to see if I’ll freak out or something? ‘Cause I’ll tell you right now, that’s not the best way to get laid.”

Coti shook his head, coming toward her. “No, and just so you know, we’re not like the movie or book vampires. The Cordells are hybrids. I guess I am too, but my mother was the vampire. She was also a gypsy wolf, but my father didn’t know about the vampire part until after they bonded. When they mated, he knew she was his, but somehow, he’d convinced himself she’d enthralled him. Her people were gypsyies who came from Romania. There are stories that they could do things that other hybrids couldn’t, but the first-born son was gifted special powers. A strength, a being of three in one.

“You’re the first born?” she asked, already knowing the truth.

He nodded. “For over a hundred and fifty years, I’ve fought the others, keeping the vampire side of me hidden, embracing only my wolf. When I was twelve, I was already a head taller than my father. He feared me, feared I’d take his place as head of our family. At twelve winters, I only wanted to please the man,” he sighed, raking his hair back from his face. “Hell, at five I shifted into a white wolf that killed grown men, solidifying fear in my own father and clan.”