He’s a motherfucking powerhouse with too much whimsy and a laughable amount of conviction.

And we had no idea he even existed.

The wolf inside me has been stirred all night, because there have been two very large threats right under our noses, and we only saw Idun. The world is truly different, and has been, but we haven’t bothered to pay attention.

I thought only Damien was truly out of touch.

I hate how fucking stupid I feel right now.

“The world is a little different these days,” Violet tells Idun, ignoring Talbot.

“January Violet Carmine, I need to feel certain your monster is—”

“Stop using all my names. And stop acting like you haven’t always desperately wanted to be Damien’s beta. It’s obvious by now. Even to me,” Violet tells him, while the world continues to leave us behind, moving forward too fast for us to keep up.

Well, two of us, that is.

Arion and Damien are striding alongside Violet and Talbot as though this is a typical Wednesday afternoon.

The triplets pop up, and grin at Idun’s head, as they start singing, “Ring around the rosie!”

“There will be no more of that tonight. Seriously, I’m at my limit,” Violet cuts in, jabbing a finger at them.

She cuts a tired, almost sad look to me.

“I’m in control. Mostly. But I don’t know how to make them shut up. It’s embarrassing, because people won’t understand she’s not telling the whole truth about what’s in my head. Sometimes, she just fuses idle, petty, subconscious thoughts with something else and comes up with her own take with expressing my feelings.”

Only about half of that ramble made sense to me.

She’s adamant in assuring us of that—

“So all the creepy stalking and overt perversion…is that your suppressed desire, Little Monster?” the sexual deviant muses, while Violet continues to hold Idun’s head in a sling. “Because I can make your monster really come out if that’s your thing.”

“How is it possible you’re already okay with this?” Violet asks him very loudly, giving him an incredulous look. Flippantly, she gestures to the vampire, before adding, “Him, I get. But you…you’re too suspicious and overbearing when it comes to alpha stuff. You’re the one who points out the pecking order more than anyone else. Why are you already okay?”

Damien’s lips twitch, and his gaze drops to the sling.

“Because the bitch has been dethroned,” Damien says, his smile only growing, as his eyes light up. An almost sinister look crosses his expressions. “And you have a weakness for my power, because Talbot fucking forgot about me.”

Fuck. Me.

Judging by Vance’s look, he just thought the same thing.

Arion’s expression is one of nonchalance, since he hated his turn atop the wheel of power. He was happy to never revisit it.

None of us wanted the role, aside from Idun.

“Once. I forgot about you once,” Talbot cuts in.

Vance pales when Damien turns to flash a grin at all of us.

“That means you fuckers can’t ever leave me out. Or single me out. Or fuck me over. She can kick your ass. I can delicately hand her ass to her, though. That means I’m technically more alpha than all you pricks.”

The bastard actually grins.

I’ll punch him later. I’ll also punch Vance, because my lip still aches from that sucker punch he delivered me.

Anna purrs as she sidles up next to him, and Damien smirks over at her. “I bet you want to claim me now, don’t you, Hyde?” the deviant says, fucking flirting with Violet’s monster.

Anna’s grin only grows.

“Don’t talk to my monster like that. I’m not ready for that,” Violet says, studying him like he’s a fool. “Seriously, I’m dangerous. Claiming you wouldn’t be a good thing, because I’m not in as much control as I’d like to be just yet.”

She lifts Idun’s head, as if reminding him of what she’s capable of. I stroke my beard again, since…honestly, I have no idea what to say or do.

I’d really like to know how Damien’s already caught up to everything.

It’s incredibly inconvenient to find all that wet, bloodstained fabric clinging to her body to be so…distracting. My gaze rakes down her chest, to where some raindrops are sliding down the small valley between her very accentuated breasts.

Her damn monster is truly fiendish if this was done on purpose.

“The world has ended and started anew. With one battle,” Vance states on a shaky exhale.

“Because I’m that dangerous,” Violet says in agreement, nodding over at him as though she understands the severity of these past several hours.

“You let Anna take over because Idun took me,” Vance says, even though I swear he’s already said it before.

As if lost in thought, he takes a seemingly unconscious step closer to Violet, tilting his head to study her.

“Of course I did. Sometimes the panic is very internalized, and I do a great job of keeping it suppressed, but when you went missing—”

She stops talking, swallowing the rest of her words, and takes a calming breath.

“I’m the only one you’ve claimed,” Vance goes on, as though he’s entered an entirely new realm of thought process than the rest of us. “It was interrupted by Damien, and then…”

His words trail off.

“And then you didn’t call because of the whole guilt thing you had over killing my ancestors and stuff,” Violet says, grimacing. “There’s really no way to cushion the blows of all our complicated histories. It’s a fucked-up world, and we’re all monsters.”

“You…spent all that time feeling dejected by the man you’d just claimed, not even realizing what you were going through,” Vance goes on, speaking in a nearly hushed tone.

“But then we had the basement days,” Violet says, looking anywhere but at him. “It mostly made up for all the rejection I felt, because I think that was pretty much finishing up what we started, not that either of us knew that. I swear I had I no idea.”

“The only reason you got claimed was because Anna tricked her. Not because you’re the one she wanted the most,” Arion is quick to interject, clearly missing the actual point to the moment they’re having. Arion moves his attention to a slightly uncomfortable-looking Violet, before adding, “She was fighting me, and her monster almost made her claim me to end the internal war she had going on.”

“Really, really not the time for competitive egos, Arion,” Violet grumbles, her eyes deliberately averting Vance’s.

I admit. I’m starting to feel jealous. I thought I was her first mate. I’m still reeling from the fact Idun is still a severed bunch of body parts, while Violet casually moves on, talking about herself instead of the monster everyone has talked about for centuries.

Damien’s on board. Arion practically needs held back. Vance is still somewhat struck by the fact he got her first, while expecting to go last. Fucking tosser.

Why didn’t it claim me when I was claiming Violet? Why do I now feel dejected? I damn near want to drag her up the steps and force her to claim me.

The, presumably, Hansel and Gretel children start laughing with the creepy triplets.