Sebastian caught Brenda before she hit the floor. He shot a glare at the man responsible.

“What the fuck is your problem, asshole?” He wasn’t the only one pissed.

Mike and Dale stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their fur having receded, and yet even in their flesh, they provided a shield between the newcomer and Brenda.

Morfeus’s lips curled. “Isn’t this cute, litter pups standing together. Why don’t you go fetch a bone and let the grownups take care of this situation?”

“Why you—” Dale held Sebastian back.

But Dale wasn’t about to let the wizard pull his shit. “Do you call this taking care of the situation?” He gestured to the gore sprayed all around them.

“Would you have preferred I let the creature get loose?”

“How about containing it so we could study it?” Mike countered.

“Because your studies have helped so much,” the wizard mocked. “I know about your case at the sanatorium. The one now locked in a padded room.”

Mike’s lips pressed tight. “At least he’s still alive.”

“And useless since he can’t answer any questions.”

“She can’t answer any either, but now we’re going to have to deal with the human authorities because you just had to make her go splat. We can’t hide this.” Dale had on his big boss face, giving orders, sounding all firm. It made Sebastian want to say something totally inappropriate.

But this might not be the right time.

“We couldn’t exactly let that thing”—Morfeus sneered—“loose. Imagine the havoc it would have caused.”

“We could have tried containment first.”

Sebastian kind of agreed with Morfeus when he said, “You can’t imprison every problem. Some are too dangerous.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “Would you guys knock it off? We should be working together.”

“Working together to clean up his mess?” Dale snorted. “Why should I?”

Sebastian knew the answer to this one, but Willow answered first. “You are currently implicated, given you’re presently doused in guts, and people saw you wolfing out.”

“I’m going to have you all brought up on indecent werewolf exposure charges,” Morfeus declared.

“Good luck with that. There won’t be any witnesses if I eat you.” Body poised for battle, Dale snarled the threat.

“This bickering isn’t helping,” snapped Willow. “Stop it.”

Morfeus smirked. “You should listen to the hearth witch.”

“Would you stop it with that hearth witch shit.” With her eyes flashing, Willow rounded on Morfeus. “I have had enough of your shit. My name is Willow. And I am just about as happy as you are to be working with you.”

“This is an insult,” sneered the wizard. “Pairing me with the likes of you.”

“The likes of me isn’t intimidated by you.” She leaned forward, hands on her hips.

“You should be.” Morfeus pressed his lips tightly together in disapproval.

“Who is the douchebag?” Dale asked with a glower at the man, who ignored them in favor of flicking chunks of flesh off his suit.

Waving her hand, Willow managed a very sarcastic, “This pompous ass is apparently the grand Whizziar they put in charge of the demon investigation.”

“No apparently about it, hearth witch. I am in charge. And a good thing, too, given the mess you’re all making.”

“You’re one to talk about messes,” grumbled Dale.

Sebastian chose to keep quiet. Some things weren’t worth getting his head shrunk for.

“I thought the college of wizards had no interest in coming out to the world quite yet,” Mike noted.

“We don’t.”

“Yet you’re flinging magic around,” Mike reiterated. “Killing civilians.”

“I removed a problem.”

“And made a bigger one. You can’t hide what happened here. People were taking pictures and videos.”

“This might be difficult for your dog-sized brains to comprehend, but the first thing I did before entering was erect a containment field, which, as soon as the humans crossed, erased not only their memories of the last hour but also wiped their phones of everything. No video, no proof, no scandal.”

“Some live feeds will have made it out before you arrived,” Sebastian noted.

“We are not new when it comes to containment. My team is already working on it.”

“Even if you erase everything, they’ll still talk.”

“Talk isn’t proof. And this conversation bores me.” The wizard turned away, but Sebastian still had a question.

“What did you do to Brenda?” She remained limp in his arms.

“Merely put the girl to sleep. I can’t abide noisy women.”

“On account they’re probably—usually—telling you what an ass you are?” Willow remarked.

“Be silent, hearth witch.”

“Stuff it, asswipe. I don’t take orders from you. I agreed to cooperate with the wizard collective only because the coven doesn’t know how to defend against this ongoing threat. But accepting your help doesn’t mean you get to be a douche nozzle to me, or anyone else you think is beneath you.”

“I don’t think you are beneath me. I know you are.” Said in a tone that said he really wanted to get punched out.

“For a guy with the snooty airs of an elf, you don’t look like an elf,” Sebastian remarked.

“Probably had his ears docked. Betcha his parents are proud. Not,” said Dale with a smirk.

“He’s obviously got small-penis syndrome,” Mike diagnosed. “Care to wager he drives an overpriced sports car?”

The grand Whizziar might have flushed red. His eyes certainly narrowed. “I will have you all brought up on charges.”

“Of what?” Dale said, still smirking. “Deflating your sizeable ego?”

“Interfering in a collective investigation.”

Dale looked between Sebastian and Mike. “We had no idea the library was such a hot spot for demon possessions.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention. We are actually dealing with a minor epidemic. But it shouldn’t take us long to get it under control.”

“You mean there’s more of this shit”—he gestured to the meaty entrails dripping down the walls— “happening around town?”

Willow answered. “We’ve been getting calls since last night. A few employees in the firehouse began to display odd characteristics. And a policeman, too.”

“Any idea why service personnel are being affected?”

She shrugged. “Not a clue. It doesn’t seem to be contagious at this point. And if caught early on, we can actually expel whatever it is causing them to change.”

“I’m sure it will be something they ate.” The grand Whizziar waved a hand and sniffed. “They’re human. They probably forgot to wash their hands first.”

Ignoring the wizard, Dale spoke to Willow. “Need some help? The pack is involved at this point and willing to offer our services.”

The witch shook her head. “You’re already helping enough.”

“While you’re all yapping, you do realize we’re standing in the middle of a carnage scene?” Mike remarked. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it would be healthy for any of us to be found covered in this woman’s guts.”

The distant wail of sirens punctuated his remarks.

“If you would all depart, I will ensure there’s nothing for the human authorities to find,” remarked the grand Whizziar.

“We can’t exactly walk around like this,” Dale observed, skimming a hand up and down to showcase his blood-covered body.

“That is simple enough to fix.” Willow hummed something sweet and soft then made an odd gesture in each of their directions, each twist and wave of her hands somehow dryly sluicing off the grime from their skin and clothes.

She finished with a slashing movement that cleared a path on the floor to walk on. “Try not to touch anything on your way out.”

“And hurry it up. We don’t have much time to cleanse,” sniped Morfeus.

“How do you plan to clean this up in the next two minutes?” Which was about how long they had before those sirens arrived.

“There is only one thing that will cleanse this place.” A ball of orange fire formed in the wizard’s palm. “Unless you want to be cleansed, as well, take your human cargo and move along.” Morfeus waved a hand.

“You’re just going to cremate the librarian?” Dale said, his tone a touch incredulous. “What about her family? Friends?”

“She’s no longer your concern.”

When Dale might have argued, Willow shook her head. Usually a spitfire, if she advocated silence, then they should listen.

Still carrying Brenda, Sebastian waited until they were outside to say, “That dude is in serious need of an attitude adjustment.”

“I agree, but if even Willow’s holding her tongue, then chances are he’s some hotshot we shouldn’t fuck with.”

“He’s a sociopath. He’d kill us in the blink of an eye,” Mike stated.

“And this is the guy they’ve got running an investigation?” Dale snorted. “Maybe they’re not so keen on cover-up after all.”

“Dude is a total asshat, but Willow’s pretty nice.” Sebastian might be enamored with Brenda, but he wasn’t blind.

“Willow’s the exception. Most witches don’t like Lycans.” Dale led the way to a giant truck that Sebastian instantly coveted.

The psychiatrist of their group felt a need to add his learned two cents. “It’s not that they don’t like Lycans. It’s more the fact that their cats go ballistic around us.”

“So that talk about them having cats is true?” Sebastian asked. He’d only recently learned about the witches around them. They tended to be secretive.

“Very true. Witches require a familiar to help ground them when they cast spells. While any animal can technically fill that spot, felines are the most receptive for magic and the least likely to interrupt a casting.”

Dale snared Brenda’s satchel, which Sebastian had thought to grab along with her. He rummaged inside for keys. Keys to the blessed blue truck.

“Is this beautiful beast hers?” Sebastian asked, gaping in delight.

“Yup. And she drives like a maniac when she gets behind the wheel.”

“My kind of girl,” Sebastian remarked.

“All of our kind of girl. You’re lucky we don’t punch you out for making a move on her.”

“Competition is healthy.”

“Not if it breaks your jaw,” Dale retorted. “I sent you to the library to watch over her, not smother your face in her crotch.”

He shrugged. “I’m a dog. What did you expect?”

Sebastian deposited Brenda on the passenger side, noting the lack of a proper back seat.

“I’ll drive.” He held out his hand for the keys, but Dale gave him a side-eye.

“No, I’ll drive. You’ll ride with Mike and—”

Boom. Looking back, they noted the flames shooting out of the library, their brightness momentarily illuminating the ground where Whizziar and the witch were standing out front.

A billow of smoke obscured them, and when a gust of wind cleared it away, they were gone.

And they should leave, too. Shirtless men, with an unconscious woman in their custody, were bound to draw the wrong kind of attention.

Sebastian headed for the passenger side of the car. “Let’s roll.”

“We’ll meet you at her place,” Mike added in Dale’s direction.

“We don’t all need to be there.”

But Mike wouldn’t let Dale dictate to them. “Yes, we do all have to be there. It’s time she decided who she wants.”

“What if she can’t?” Sebastian asked.

“A better question is, can we share?” Dale’s question hung in the air.

The query preyed on Sebastian as he caught a ride with Mike.

To his credit, Mike remained silent and waited for Sebastian to speak first.

“Would sharing one girl be so bad?” he asked.

Mike cast him a look. “You’d be okay with us taking turns?”

“Sure.” Sebastian shrugged. “Don’t forget, unlike you guys, after my dad died, Mom hooked up with Kent and Harold. Best thing that could have happened to her, and to me.” They’d given him twice the dad to make up for the one he’d lost. “For me, the concept of more than one man for a woman isn’t so weird, and in many cases, it works.”

“It seems weird to me,” Mike said and then sighed. “Yet, at the same time, if I had to share a woman with anyone, who better than my best friends? When you think of it, it’s ideal. We’ve been living together since college. If we each were to find a different woman, we’d probably have to move into separate places.”

“Split up the three amigos?” Sebastian inhaled sharply. “But we’re a team.”

“A team for extracurricular activities and work. We’ve never extended that to the bedroom.”

“But you’re thinking of it,” Sebastian prodded, not about to let Mike change the thread of this conversation.

“A little.”

Noting a hint of red in his features, Sebastian laughed. “Holy shit, bro, you’re serious. You’ve been thinking of it, in a dirty way.”

“No.” The ruddy color heightened.

“Dude, nothing wrong with wanting a threesome, or a foursome.”

“That’s just it. I don’t really want it. At least, not in a way that involves touching you or Dale.”

“I hear a but.”

“But I can see the erotic possibilities. Just watching would provide tons of titillation.”

“Mike, you dog, you’re a voyeur.”

The redness in his buddy’s cheeks didn’t fade, and he wouldn’t look at Sebastian. “Tell anyone, and I’ll slip you a drug that makes your penis limp.”

“Dude, that’s just mean. And who would I tell? On the contrary, knowing you’re cool with it means when we get Brenda into bed—”

“If.”

“When.” Sebastian was just that confident about where things were heading. “Nothing wrong with a little fantasy, bro. However, knowing you like to watch, I’m going to have to make sure I give a top-notch performance. Wouldn’t want to let you down.”

He grabbed Mike’s thigh and squeezed then laughed as his friend slammed his fist down on his own leg as Sebastian snatched his hand away.

“No touching.”

Sebastian laughed. “If you insist, but given the size of my junk, don’t blame me if my dick gets in your way or if it touches yours when I sink balls deep while she’s blowing you.” The length of his dick made that a possibility.

“Tag teaming her does sound exciting,” Mike admitted.

“And I promise, it will feel even better.”