Ohhhh, yes, I am. Just because you like to block me doesn’t mean I’m not every bit a part of you. You know it’s true.

This was the first time I’d initiated a discussion with the asshole. I was suddenly regretting it because I was the one who sounded unhinged.

“Are you nervous about the ceremony?” Evie asked softly. “You shouldn’t be.”

I huffed out a laugh. “I’m fine.”

Fine? I wasn’t fine. I just realized she was far more than a friend to me, and it hit me like a brick to the head. Now I was terrified. What if she didn’t want something this serious? What if she just wanted to play around? I was no longer playing. She was it for me.

Thankfully, her attention was drawn to her sister. “And what was that back there with his cousin, Nico?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Evie laughed and butterflies—yes, fucking butterflies—burst into mayhem in my stomach. I had to play this cool. Jesus. We just slipped over from friends to dating last night. And now, Alpha was giving me caveman thoughts. Lots and lots of them. The most prominent was me kidnapping her and putting her in a castle, high in some far-away mountains.

A simple cabin will do.

This was madness.

A rough chuckle. When we’ve claimed her enough times to plant our seed, then maybe we can come down from the mountain.

Fuck! He was insane!

I don’t think I’ll be satisfied till she’s swollen with our cub.

This isn’t the prehistoric age, you Neanderthal.

I’ve told you before. A wolf wants what he wants.

Nice. I don’t even know if she wants kids. Shit! Why are we even discussing this? We haven’t even gone on one single, fucking date.

If you’d let me take over, I’ll make her ours. She wouldn’t complain. I can promise you.

You’re not getting one goddamn second alone with her. Not again. Not after last time.

Coward.

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. What’s going on with you and that werewolf?”

“Nothing. Why don’t you just shut up about it?” Violet pointed. “Get off at this exit.”

I exited toward the sign to Bayou Sauvage. Evie had texted me and told me we’d conduct the ceremony in the woods because when I shifted, I’d have some stored bloodlust to take care of. I’d need to stay in the woods and hunt for at least a week. I’d given instructions to Missy that I would probably be gone for a while so she should take care of the gallery. It wasn’t anything new for her since I did this at least once a month on the regular.

“Oh, now look who wants to shut up,” said Evie, smiling. “I think Jules would totally enjoy hearing about your reaction to her new live music guy.”

“Sissy, come on. There’s nothing to tell.” Violet jutted her chin in the air, trying for nonchalant. Wasn’t working.

Evie laughed. “There’s loads to tell. Mateo, didn’t you see the way Violet totally overreacted at your place?”

“Yep.” I was going to support whatever came out of Evie’s mouth. “Not to mention Nico’s obvious interest.”

“Fine!” yelled Violet, her cheeks pink with anger. “What do you want?”

Without a pause, Evie said, “You take my closing shifts for a month.”

“A month!”

“And clean Z’s litterbox.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She huffed, arms crossed over her chest as she stared out the window. “How long for Z?” she mumbled.

“I think a month will do.”

“That’s really shitty, Sis.”

“Well, so was what you did last night to me.”

“What did she do?” I asked, concerned now.

“Nothing!” said Evie, shooting Violet a glare.

Violet’s cat-eyed gaze narrowed, but she smiled like the bad kitty she was. Then we all were focused on the road. Violet pointed, so I veered onto a gravel road heading deeper into a wooded area. Bayou Sauvage was part woods, part wetlands and swamp. It would indeed be a good place for me to get lost once I shifted. Even now, tension hardened my muscles with the simple thought of shifting and hunting.

“There.” Evie pointed to a silver SUV parked along the side of the road where a hiking path led into the trees.

I parked, then we piled out and headed toward the well-worn path. I could see just fine in the dark, but Violet shone the flashlight on her phone ahead of us. Evie gripped my hand, lacing her fingers with mine and squeezed. I felt the constriction all the way up to my chest where it tightened around my lungs and breathing became difficult.

“Don’t be nervous,” she whispered. “Though I’ve never done a spell like this, I know it will be fine.”

“And what happens when…if…” I licked my lips and cleared my throat. “What happens when I shift? You’ll need to protect yourself.”

I felt like a fucking asshole. I was warning her against what was essentially myself.

Now, you finally admit it.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. If things go awry, Jules can null you temporarily. Then we’ll leave you here to, uh, take care of wolf business.”

You’ll need to stay, love, if I’m going take care of all my wolf business.

I forced a smile at her and squeezed her hand. “Good to know.”

We walked side by side into an opening. There was a circle of tall white candles but nothing else.

“Hi, Mateo!” Clara waved, beaming a sweet smile.

Jules gave me a stiff nod in greeting and stepped closer. “Glad you made it on time.”

I glanced up at the full moon in a clear night sky. “Are we going for a certain window to do this in?”

She shrugged. “I just hate it when people are late.”

“She’s got a long list of pet peeves,” said Evie at my side.

Jules frowned. “I just like people to be respectful of others. And, yes, maybe I’m particular about the way things are done.”

Evie raised her brow, glancing around the clearing. “Yeah. We know.”

“Well, let’s do this,” said Violet, moving to stand on the opposite side of the candle-lit circle where Clara was.

Jules took up a position farthest away.

“Take off your shirt.” Evie held out her hand.

I froze for a second, not registering why.

She smiled. “I need the connection. Your DNA, your smell.”

Ah. Gotcha. I pulled the long-sleeved black T-shirt over my head and passed it to her.

“Nice,” whispered Violet.

“Shh!”

That must’ve been Jules, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Evie because hers were eating up my torso in rapid detail. Her pulse quickened at the base of her throat, and I wanted to lean forward and suck it. Then find and kiss and suckle all her pulse points.

“This might not be the right time,” I whispered, stepping closer.

She hugged my shirt to her chest. I waited for her gaze to sweep back up to mine, wanting her eyes on mine before I went on.

“But I’d like to ask you over to my place for dinner after this is done.”

Her green eyes looked brown in the dark, but her pale skin glowed under the moonlight. “A date?”

“A date,” I confirmed.

Rather than tell me yes, she eased closer and lifted onto her toes. I was leaning down for her when she swept a kiss to my lips. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

“Aren’t you breaking the ‘no werewolf’ rule?” I asked, nodding behind us where her sisters watched.

She grinned. “But you’re worth it.”

My God. This girl.

She stepped back. “Now, get your”—she waved her hand to indicate my chest area—“wolfy self into the circle.”

“I’m not wolfy yet. That’s the problem, remember?”

She huffed out a breath. “Move it, Mateo.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I didn’t know how this worked, so I stepped over the tight wall of candles and moved to the center to face Evie. She put the T-shirt to her nose, closed her eyes, and inhaled a deep breath. I’m not going to lie. It was kind of erotic.

Kind of? I want to see her make that face on her knees in front of me.

Shut it, Alpha. You’ll have free rein soon to go hunt and kill to your heart’s delight.

Not soon enough.

She whispered a chant I couldn’t quite make out, catching only a few words—unbind, nature’s toll, right the wrong, wolf in chains.

Her sisters glowed with their magic, somehow amplifying Evie’s as she did her work. A sudden wind whispered through the grove where we stood, circling us, guttering the candles but not blowing them out. Evie’s muttering grew more feverish, and my body felt suddenly limp. As if I’d just run a marathon, my legs wobbled and buckled beneath me. My knees hit the cool ground, the dewy grass soaking through my jeans. My muscles felt soft, my bones heavy, my mind adrift, floating in the soft waves on the wind.

Evie spoke louder, her voice resonating with trembling magic. “Show your mark and loose his soul.”

Pain! Spine-cracking, gut-punching, mind-numbing pain.

Chapter 23

~EVIE~

I sucked in a sharp breath. My sisters and I all jumped at once at the piercing howl of agony bellowing from Mateo’s upturned mouth. His hands were in his hair, his face contorting with excruciating pain. But he wasn’t shifting. He was writhing. I couldn’t stand to watch. It was unbearable. I almost choked on the final command to break the curse, but I summoned it again.

Willing the magic piercing and binding him to obey me and not its maker, I raised a hand out to him, the other still clutching his shirt close to my breast.

“Show your mark and loose his soul!” I screamed into the whirling wind.

I gasped. So did my sisters—taking a step back—as a blinding red flash burst from Mateo’s body, illuminating hundreds of signs etched in magic on his skin.