I turned to my three wolves traipsing alongside me as we strode in beast form toward the border between Terra and the Den. Oryn carried my bag in his mouth, the one with the ingredients to remedy the toxic river. He’d killed the priestess, done what I probably couldn’t have. But he’d had his own reasons for finishing her off, and I couldn’t deny the world was a better place without her.

Walking through the woods was a million times easier this way, light and swift. I was a wolf! With a gorgeous silver coat too.

Behind us, a dozen wolves trailed; a few carried their fallen warriors in human form on their backs. My heart bled to know their families had lost a member. These hunters had given their lives to eliminate the monster ruling Terra. Who knew how the royal family would react to discovering her dead. But we weren’t hanging around to find out. Considering no guards from the battle had survived, I prayed a search party wasn’t coming for me. But then again, other guards could have been patrolling the markets or the woods. Still, they’d have no clue it was me who’d spurred the killing. Could just have easily have seemed a random wolf attack, and that was why we’d leave Terra quick. Still, the priority was helping Oryn’s pack.

I stepped over foliage, the prickly forest floor not hurting my paws. What amazed me more was how quickly my body had healed from the knife wound in my chest once I’d changed into my wolf. Heavens… Me, a shifter. That part still dominated my mind, as I couldn’t believe it.

We made a small detour to Bee’s place and dropped off Santos. He’d fainted from a knock to the head. But other than a few cuts, he was fine, which made me all kinds of happy. Now he had to keep a low profile for a few weeks.

At the border, several wolves worked as a team and pushed two dead logs over the wolfsbane shrubs, flattening the plant. They’d created a narrow passage in no time.

Their strategy told me so many things. Like how the shifters could have easily crossed into Terra whenever they’d wanted, but they hadn’t because they’d had no intention of fighting or killing us. The real maniac was the priestess, and just knowing she was out of the picture eased the heaviness from my shoulders. Sure, the danger wasn’t gone, but it was a reprieve to catch my breath, work out what I’d do next without her death sentence for me breathing down my back.

Besides, I now had a family to consider.

Wolves crossed over into the Den, followed by Oryn and Nero. Once Dagen and I passed through, he stood in my path, blocking me.

He shifted into his human form, his sizzling energy caressing me, and as if my wolf sensed the change, already I felt her retreat inside me, vanish. My legs wobbled and I fell on all fours, fur retreating from all over my body with haste, my limbs shortening. But this time, the agony of a transformation no longer hurt but felt like I’d pulled off a raincoat stuck to my skin with sweat.

Dagen lifted himself to his feet and took my hand into his, drawing me to my feet.

I glanced at the rest of the pack, heading onward toward the open field, while we remained beneath the shadows of the pines.

“Now that we’re alone, I need to apologize,” he began.

I shook my head. “No, you don’t. For what?”

With a kiss to the back of my hand, he drew me closer, our naked bodies plastered tougher. “For doubting you and scaring you earlier. And mostly for calling you ‘vile.’”

My mouth opened, but he pressed his mouth against mine, and my world faded beneath his heat.

“You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” he said, our foreheads touching. “I want you in my life, if you’ll have me.”

I stared into his gaze, lost, and my heart drummed with the excitement that Dagen had offered himself to me. “Hell yeah. There was never any doubt in my mind.”

He laughed. “I know. Just wanted to hear it from your sweet voice.”

A howl came from across the open field, and I snapped around, only to find the wolves strolling, while Nero stared back at us. Dagen took my hand and we hurried to catch up with the pack. With so many of us, any wolves we encountered should have proven easy foes to beat, but still, we moved at a swift pace.

By the time we reached the top of a cliff near the river with mountains behind us, we stopped. I was out of breath, but then again, we’d been rushing up and down slopes.

Oryn transformed with such ease, it looked graceful to me. He approached me. “Sharlot, the river flows downstream from here, and it’s the best location to ensure we cleanse the source of the river.”

I nodded, but exhaustion washed through me. What I wouldn’t give to sleep a whole week. Cuts and bruises littered my body, blood still dribbling from the wound on my chest, but it amazed me how little pain remained. No wonder wolves kept fighting with their endless stamina. Yet my job wasn’t complete here.

I crouched near the edge of the river and Oryn brought me my bag.

“What can I do?” he asked.

I collected the parcel I’d prepared in the store and turned to him. Desperation crammed behind his eyes. “Bring me an affected wolf so we can try to see if this will work.”

He nodded and vanished behind me past where the other wolves stood.

In all honesty, if this didn’t prove the solution, I was lost. I’d scanned Grandma’s book and no other cure offered a solution to the poisoning. The priestess had said she’d bought the toxin from the Darkwoods realm. Heavens, that could be anything, and with her dead, we’d never find out. My stomach knotted, but I had to think positive.

Pulling out a bowl from the bag, I bent toward the current and scooped water into it. Around me, nature was at its most glorious. The sun might have been descending, but the golden hues lit up the pines and glistened across the river.

I lifted the pouch with prepared herbs and opened the tied cord. With no idea how much was needed to cleanse such a large pool of water, I’d tripled the quantities. But rivers were enormous and what if the cure washed away before the wolves drank it? That was why only the wolves in a certain part of the Den had been affected over a specific period. The poison washed downstream. And what if my quantities weren’t enough?

“Time to do this,” I whispered to myself before pouring the contents into the bowl. They floated across the surface of the water, and I placed my palms over them, needing to inject a huge round of energy into them. Enough that it covered the waters, maybe even lingered on the banks and affected the stream for a few days.

A snap of energy rolled down my skin. It zapped out from my fingertips, infusing the contents. I poured my power into the mixture, never stopping, imagining wolves drinking it and healing at once.

A wave of dizziness captured me, and I stopped. Okay, I’d pushed myself, so I climbed to my feet and tossed the amplified water from the bowl out across the river.

The moment it touched the water, a sizzling spark snapped across the surface, as if it had been struck by lightning.

Someone gasped behind me, and Nero was there, whispering in my ear. “What was that?”

“Hopefully the solution to help Oryn’s pack.”

An aggressive snarl erupted, and I spotted Nero and Dagen carrying a thrashing wolf. Dagen held a hand around its mouth.

I snatched my bowl and filled it with the cleansed water, then rushed towered them. “Put him down,” I said. “We need him to drink this.”

Oryn held his head. Jaws snapped. The animal growled, his throat rumbling, saliva frothing at the sides of his mouth.

I leaned closer and poured the solution into his jaw. He shook, spat it out, spraying all of us.

“Keep trying,” Oryn said.

Once again, I dribbled more down his throat, and that time he swallowed. So I kept feeding him mouthfuls.

But when the wolf’s eyes rolled upward, I said, “Release him.”

And we all stepped back as the afflicted wolf shuddered.

I held my breath, and I reached over, grabbing Oryn’s hand.

Within moments, the animal’s body trembled. One leg kicked outward, stretching, then the others, his spin elongating, ears shortening.

“Yes, it’s working,” I called out.

No one moved, the four of us staring as the former wolf now resembled a female who had to be in her forties. Well, she was a female, not a male, as I’d referred to her earlier. She glanced up at us, panic gripping her features. “Oryn?” Her voice squeaked. “What’s happening?”

He knelt near her and helped her up. “Nexy, you are okay and safe now.”

Joy beamed in my heart because it meant the remedy had worked.

Nero was by my side and lifted me into his arms, spinning me. “Little lamb, you did it.”

I laughed, unable to stop because for the first time in too long, something had gone right. “Now we get all the affected wolves to drink the water.”

Oryn reached me as Nero dropped me to my feet. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“You owe me nothing,” I said.

“Yes, I do.” He reached over and kissed me. “I owe you my life, my future, my love.”

It hurt to smile so much and having three men stare at me with admiration left me jittering with excitement.

“Me too,” Nero added.

“And me.” Dagen squeezed my hand.

“Each and every one of you are mine,” I said.

Nero burst out laughing. “So now you know what we’ve been talking about earlier, hey?”

I nudged him in the gut. “It feels incredible. But what now?” I asked.

“Well,” Oryn began, “I will get as many of my pack to drink the water as I can.”

“I and my wolves will come with you to help,” Nero piped up.

“Me too.” Dagen squared his shoulders. “We do this now.”

Oryn stared at me, his eyes softening, almost calling me over to leap into his arms. “Dagen, how about you stay with Scarlet? Mend her wounds. We shouldn’t leave her alone until we know the wolves are healed.”

Dagen stared at me with an evil grin and nodded. He enveloped me in an embrace.

Within moments, everyone took off in different directions, and by the time Dagen and I entered the cabin, a strange sensation filled me. This house had changed my life for eternity. If I’d never fallen over that cliff or met these shifters, would I have lived my entire life never knowing the real me? Never comprehending that wolf blood ran through my veins? Or about the priestess torturing her people and wolves endlessly?

I turned to Dagen, who collected me into his arms.

“Finally, I have you all to myself,” he purred in my ears, and I trembled with desire. The emotion hit me so hard, my knees weakened.

“So you think this will work? All of us together when we live so far apart?”

Dagen picked me up in his arms, holding me like a baby, and carried me toward the living room where I’d first woken up when I first arrived in the cabin. He kicked the door shut behind us.

“We may each rule territories and live in different places, but we also share a property in the middle of the Den to catch up on pack affairs. So we could all bunk up there.” He winked, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well, I was thinking I might lie low until things settle down in Terra.”

“You’re not going anywhere until we know it’s safe. After you went off alone to your store in the night, one of us will accompany you. And that’s not negotiable. You’ll stay with us until then.”

This was happening… Us together and maybe living together. Though what about my shop? I’d have to wait until they appointed a new leader of Terra.

But when Dagen lowered his lips to mine, I forgot every worry and let myself float on his desire.

He lowered me to the rug in front of the fireplace and hovered over me.

I chewed on my lower lip, my whole body buzzing with anticipation. Yes, everything had happened at tornado speed, and for once I felt at peace. I understood the role I played, and rather than question my attraction to the shifters, now… I craved them, and I experienced no hesitation in taking what I desired.

“You going to keep staring at me?” I asked. “Or are you going to give me what you’ve kept away from me for too long?”

A sexy growl rolled across Dagen’s throat, and I shivered at the huge man laying over the top of me, the hunger in his eyes, the hardness pressing against my stomach.

“You have no idea what you’ve unleashed, do you?”

I shrugged and giggled. “I’m ready for everything you’ve got.”

Dagen crawled down my body, his tongue on me, flicking my nipples and taking mock bites of my flesh.

On my back, I moaned, unable to believe my luck that I’d end up not with one amazing guy, but three.

“Hey,” Dagen said as he lightly slapped the side of my thigh. “You’re still in my mind, so focus on your man right here.” He smirked and widened my legs, his head lowering. “Your scent is intoxicating.”

“I think we’ll always be connected.” I smiled while a shiver ran the length of my body at seeing this huge, powerful man kneeling between my thighs. He slid his tongue along my silkiness, stealing my breath.

Air gasped from my lungs as I moaned.

His mouth latched on to my clit, sucking, pulling at my inner lips. Thinking was impossible.

I raised my pelvis, rocking back and forth with the sexy rhythm of his passion. Writhing beneath him, my body responded to Dagen, sparking into a blaze. I swooned, lost in a world where I intended to remain forever.

“Yes. Oh, shit.” I shuddered, my body caught in its own ecstasy.

“That’s it. Rub your sexy pussy in my face. Cum in my mouth.” He latched on to my sensitive folds, sucking so hard, I lost it.

I cried out as he claimed my body. I belonged to him. He owned me.

My muscles tensed as he licked over my entrance. He pushed me open wider and his tongue fucked. His thumb rubbed my clit.

Heat burned through my body. My nipples pebbled so tight, they hurt, and I needed more. One last roll over my hub, and I fell apart.

A scream streamed past my throat as an orgasm rocked through me.

“Daaagen!” I screamed his name.

His tongue was relentless and licked up every drop.

I collapsed onto the floor, panting, while he lifted himself, his mouth and chin glistening. His smile belonged to the happiest man in the world.

“Come here.” He sat on the rug, stretching out his legs on either side of me, so I got onto my stomach and crawled toward him.

I straddled him, and he curled my legs around his hips.

“I like to watch,” he said as he pulled my hips closer. With his cock in his hand, he ran his tip along my slit.

“Yes. Let me feel all of you.” I leaned back on my hands to hold myself.

He pushed into me, and I gasped as he placed my legs over his shoulders. “Now hold on, little one.” With his hands behind him for support, he lifted his hips, deepening his penetration. Spreading me wider. Heavens… he was huge.

I lifted my butt, and he ground into me in circles, touching parts no one ever had before, his gaze lowered to between my legs.

“Hell.”

“That’s right.” He laughed and plunged into me, his hips raised off the floor slightly and together we moved. He slammed into me so forcefully, I trembled from each euphoric thrust.

His face held the most intense expression as he fucked me. Damn, the swear words now rolled in my mind as if I were a sailor.

I shook, moaning, loving that Dagen forced me so wide.

He glided an arm around my back and drew me closer, his cock still buried deep inside me. “You’re so beautiful. I plan to fuck you until exhaustion takes both of us.”

“Challenge accepted.” I curled my legs under me and slid up and down.

With his hands on my hips, he moved me faster over his shaft.

My breaths raced.

“Love how your body tightens around me.”

“Aha.” And the moment he leaned closer and grasped a nipple into his mouth, I mewled. Tightness coiled in my stomach, and I trembled with the orgasm shaking me.

“That’s it,” he groaned. “Squeeze my cock with your pussy.” His eyes rolled back as I exploded and he pulsed inside me at the same time.

I collapsed into his arms, our bodies sweaty, hearts racing, and I couldn’t stop smiling. He held me hard and whispered, “I think I’m falling for you so fast, it scares me.”

Pulling back, I cupped his face and kissed his lips. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You are everything. All three of you own my heart. And a week ago that would have terrified me. Now, I can’t imagine my life any different.”

He leaned close and kissed me, soft and passionate, his fingers digging into my flesh as if he couldn’t get close enough. And I knew the terror of thinking something was too good to be true. But damn it, after everything we’d gone through, the universe had forced us together because we were meant to be. Now and for eternity.