The next morning, we wake at dawn. Our bodies are still thrumming with pleasure, still high off the night we shared with Remedy.

I sit up and pull on my boxers. Callum meets my eyes and I nod. We need to talk.

East spoons Rem, their bodies curled together as one, and my heart constricts at the sight of them.

Last night we made love for hours. All four of us taking turns—Rem’s mouth against mine, my cock buried inside her, her tender pussy coming against my hand. And East and Callum taking their time as they took control in their own way. They took her the same way I did, their cocks deep inside her pussy, coming against their mate. Each of us making sure Remedy was getting everything from the night she may have dreamed of having.

East, as if reading our minds, stirs. He gently moves Remedy out from under him and sets a quilt over her. Her skin is a sight to behold, so damn soft. And she may have a battered heart—but her body is soft and supple.

The three of us leave the cave; the early morning fog is thick and the sun nowhere to be seen.

“Is it gonna be weird?” East asks. “All of us sharing her? I know in theory we had talked about it… but now…”

“Now it’s real?” Callum shrugs, pulling his jacket. “I fucking hope not. Because now, she’s…”

“Ours,” I finish for him.

“Exactly,” Callum says.

“I’m your what?” Remedy asks, stepping out from the comfort of the cave, into the early morning chill. She has the blanket pulled around her shoulders and her eyes are knit with confusion.

Callum, East, and I share a look. Jaws tense, mouths tight. We can see that Rem is a firecracker and the last thing we want is her running. Pushing a hand through my hair I know it’s gonna be a lot for her to take in.

“Should we eat first?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “What’s going on? You’re all acting spooked.”

“You need to understand something,” East says. “And it might feel a little overwhelming, is all.”

Rem pulls the blanket tighter around her and narrows her eyes. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

Smirking Callum says, “Fine, you don't want us to ease you into the information?”

“Nope.”

“Well,” he begins. “We’re wolf shifters, remember last night––”

Rem cuts him off. “Yeah, I remember. The whole bear attack thing was pretty traumatizing. I don’t think I’ll forget that for as long as I live.”

“Right.” Callum sighs. “As wolves, when we mate, we mate for life.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “What does that mean?”

“Well, when we mate… when we make love, it creates a bond that can’t be broken.”

She purses her lips. “Um. Okay. What does that have to do with me?”

“Last night we—“

She scoffs. “We did not make love. We fucked. We screwed. We did the freak nasty—but there was no love. And I am no wolf and I don’t mate for life. You might move as a pack, but me? I’m a loner.”

“You were,” East clarifies. “You were a loner. But now we are a unit. A family.”

“Okay, look, I know we didn’t do any ancient Ayahuasca rituals where we got blitzed—but I think you’re seriously smoking something. We’re not a family unit. We lost our virginities in a crazy sex spree. That’s not love. That’s called an orgy.”

She may be all fire and fury, but she’s also wrong.

“Not here, in these woods,” I tell her. Trying to lay it on gently. “When you entered these woods last tonight, the rules changed.”

She shakes her head. “No way. You sound crazy, do you realize that?”

“Rem.” I reach for her, but she’s already backing away, into the cave.

“Don’t come in here,” she hisses. “I’m changing.”

I move back, giving her space.

“So now what?” East asks. “We can’t force her to stay. Otherwise, we’re just like everyone in our old pack. Everyone we hate.”

“We can’t let her go,” Callum says forcefully.

“Agreed— but we aren’t keeping her prisoner,” I say. “She’s her own person.”

East swallows. “She’s also our mate.”

“Then how do we convince her to stay?” Callum asks, his voice making it crystal clear that he’s pissed off.

“Wild wolves must roam free,” I tell them, repeating words as ancient as our wolf blood.

“So, we let her go?” East asks.

I nod. “And we let her return in her own time.”

“And what if something happens to her?” Callum asks.

The three of us tense at this possibility. “Then we follow her,” I say, “because, hell, we can’t let that happen. She’s our responsibility. Our mate.”