I pulled back. “But I made you unhappy. That isn’t fair.”

“I wasn’t unhappy. I acted on instinct. Loup don’t like to share.”

“But you do it for me.” I stared at him in wonder. “You all give yourselves to me fully, and it’s time I do the same. No more. Our family is complete, and my heart belongs to you guys. There will be no one else.”

He sighed. “Fee, that isn’t how it works. You can’t shut off your heart. We know that, and if at any time we can’t cope, we’ll let you know, but thank you.” He twisted a tendril of my hair around his finger. “If this thing with you and Uriel matters, if you have a connection, then I’ll accept it. But when you’re here with me in our pack house you’re my mate. You can’t come here reeking of another male. The pack won’t stand for it.”

He had a point. “It won’t happen again. I promise.” I snuggled against him and closed my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you for a moment.”

“You’ll never lose me,” he said. He stroked my hair. “But I’m worried that if we don’t find Hunter soon, we might lose him.”

I sat up. “You have a lead?”

“We did, but it went cold. I think he’s in real trouble, and as much grief as he’s given me in the last decade, all I want is to have him home.”

“It’s the Tribus, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “There’s more. Petra did some research on the Tribus. It isn’t as simple as we thought. The female Loup in a Tribus must mate with each male in human and Loup form to seal the Tribus. You’ve mated with me in human form and Hunter in Loup. If we don’t find Hunter soon, if we don’t complete the Tribus, the Loup who hasn’t completed the mating will die.”

I ran my hands over his chest. “But I haven’t mated with you in Loup form yet. Does that mean—”

“Yes.”

I climbed off the bed. “Get up. We need to go, now.”

He sat up, his expression confused.

I swallowed a sob. “Dammit, Grayson. You need to mate with me as a Loup. I can’t lose you. I won’t.” I took a shuddering breath. “I’m worried about Hunter, of course, and we need to find him, but we do this first. Once we’ve made sure you’re safe, we’ll reach out to Hunter. If we do it together, maybe we can find him in the Vista.”

Hunter was my mate too, but I loved Grayson. I loved him with every fiber of my being, and right now, if I had to choose between him and Hunter, he’d win, hands down every time.

I held out my hand and he grasped it, allowing me to tug him out of bed. “Now. We do it now.”

He grinned down at me, his expression feral and hungry. “I know a place we can run.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Cora

“It’ll be fine.” I pat Uri’s shoulder. Ooh, he has some muscle going on there. “Fee and Grayson will sort it out.”

He stands with his palms braced on the table, his expression stony. “This is my fault. I should go speak to them and—”

“Nope. No, you do not want to do that right now.”

“She’s right,” Dean says. He flicks the kettle on, then leans back against the countertop, arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging enticingly. “Have some tea, sit.”

Uri pulls out a chair and does just that, but he looks troubled. “I should have known better than to come in here with an alpha mate’s scent on me.”

Dean grabs mugs and makes tea. “They’ll work it out.”

The confidence in his tone gives me hope. I know how much Grayson means to Fee, and I know how much Uri is starting to mean to her, but it isn’t my place to matchmake. Not when it comes to the delicate dynamic of Fee’s relationships.

I don’t envy her, that’s for sure. Three guys are a lot to handle. I’ll be happy with one.

My gaze flicks to Dean again, and I catch him watching me, and the urge to walk over to him and kiss his sexy mouth rushes through me.

Instead, I step away from the counter. “I’m going to shower before dinner.”

I head upstairs to my sanctuary and straight into the bathroom. The shower is temperamental in this room, one of the reasons no one has claimed it. There’s no tub, just a stall, but I haven’t had any issues with it.

Until today.

It clanks and clunks but nothing more. No water. Not a drop.

Fuck.

I stride out of my room and smack bang into Dean. He grabs my shoulders to steady me.

“You okay?” His rumbling voice sends shivers down my spine.

“My shower won’t work.”

“Use mine.”

He makes it sound so easy, but to me, it means being naked in his room. Okay, so it’s in his bathroom, but still. Naked.

He’s looking at me with a slight smirk as if he can read my mind, and I’ll be damned if I let on that the idea of showering in his room gives me tingles down there.

I nod curtly. “Thanks.”

He strides off, and I follow.

His room is dark wood, beige and brown throws, and cedarwood scent. No, don’t focus on the bed. I head straight into the bathroom, turn on the shower, strip, and get in, and then realize I forgot my fucking clothes.

Shit. I shower quickly, using his shower gel that smells of…well, him. And then wrap a towel around my body and tentatively open the door. My plan is to make a mad dash to my room, but I’m confronted with Dean’s naked back. He’s stripped off his shirt and is doing bicep curls with some weights.

Macho thing to do, but does he have to do it now?

I tiptoe out of the bathroom, intending to slip by him.

“You forgot to bring clothes,” he says.

Fuck. I cross my ankles, holding the towel close. “Yeah. I’ll just go get changed in my room.”

He’s looking at me as if he wants to strip me with his gaze, and I’m tempted to drop the towel. I mean, why the fuck not? I want him, and he looks like he wants me.

He scoops his T-shirt off the bed and prowls closer. Heat skates over my body at his proximity.

“You still owe me a date,” he says, his voice low and intimate.

“Oh, the Italian place?”

“Yes, although right now, I’m tempted to forgo the date and fast forward to afters.”

“What makes you think there’d be afters?”

He smiles, his dark gaze sweeping over my face and lingering on my mouth. “A Loup can only hope.”

I’m so focused on his face, the neck of his shirt is over my head before I realize. He urges me to thread my arms through and then surveys me with satisfaction.

“I like you in my clothes.” He reaches up to touch my mouth lightly with the tips of his fingers. “I like you a lot, Cora.”

My heart melts, and I bridge the distance between us, grab his nape, and pull him in for a kiss. Stubble rasps at my skin, a contrast to the softness of his lips as they slant over mine.

He tastes like sweet coffee, and I tip my head back, throwing myself flush against him to deepen the kiss. His hands slide into my wet hair, fisting and holding me captive as he plunders my mouth. Heat spirals down to the apex of my thighs, wet and throbbing.

“Cora?” My name is a question slipped in between kisses.

I know what he’s asking. “Yes.”

He tugs the towel down, leaving me bare underneath the T-shirt. Yes, I want him to touch me, to slide his hands under the cotton and skim his palms over my skin.

I want his fingers, his mouth, and his cock.

I grind against it now, letting him know just how much I want him.

Ice blasts the backs of my legs, and then I’m yanked away from Dean.

He stares over my shoulder in stunned horror, and then thunder clouds his expression. “What the fuck?”

Jasper hugs me to him, his arms bands of steel. “Not tonight,” he bites out. “Tonight, her wet cunt is mine.”

Dean takes a menacing step toward us and stops, immobilized by Jasper’s power. “Let her go,” he demands.

Jasper’s grip on me tightens so that the ridges of his abs are pressed into my back.

“Oh, but we have a deal, Cora and I. She traded her body to help her friend, and tonight it belongs to me.”

Dean’s face wrinkles in disgust; it’s a fleeting expression, but I catch it before he can smooth it over. My throat seizes up.

Dean’s eyes widen as if he’s realized his faux pas. “Cora…I…"

I turn my face away. “Let’s just go.”

I can’t look at him. Not anymore.

We materialize in my room in the pack house. Jasper releases me abruptly, and I stumble forward, righting myself stiffly. My limbs are hot with fury, and my eyes burn with the threat of tears of shame.

I face him, lifting my chin and meeting his piercing eyes. “You want my cunt, huh? You want to fuck me because of our deal. Fine. Let’s get it over with then.”

My chin wants to tremble, but I clench my jaw. Like fuck will I cry.

I grab the hem of Dean’s T-shirt and make to tear it off. Jasper blurs, and then his fingers are around my wrist, holding me immobile. Holding the T-shirt down.

“What?”

He grips my jaw with his free hand and pulls me closer, so our mouths almost touch. “Stop it,” he says. “Stop crying.”

I blink back tears. “I hate you.”

His mouth turns down, and his eyes darken. “I know.”

And then he’s gone.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Fee

Grayson and I returned to the pack house exhilarated but exhausted. The world was turning gray when we climbed back into bed with the night scents clinging to us. We curled around each other, skin moist with dew.

“Are you ready?” Grayson asked, his voice already thick with sleep.

I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his jaw before snuggling close. “I am.”

We drifted off together, bodies entwined, and slipped into our Vista.

It was a moonlit night as always in our special place. A time for us to run, play, and be free, but not tonight.