I almost bit him. That night, these were the only words that breezed through my head that I tried to keep locked down. At the height of our sexual chemistry, my teeth, fangs, or whatever freak of nature you want to call them, elongated and all I wanted to do was to pin him to the bed by his throat and bite—just a little.

What had happened? My tongue probed the tip of my canine teeth; they felt normal now. How on earth do I tell Paul what I had almost done right after the most sensual night of my life?

Me: I almost bit you—hard. Whoops.

Imaginary Paul: And why would you do that, Peach?

Me: No freaking clue, Paul. Was hoping you'd tell me. What If I try and do it again? You can run fast, right?

Imaginary Paul: I am all for being dominated in the bedroom, but I'd rather you not do that, Peach.

Didn't I need a full moon or something, an Alpha, or an impending death situation? Wait, had Paul almost made me come so hard I did almost die? Plausible. I shook my head. This was the exact reason this conversation for one was staying well within the confines of my mind. It made no sense. I was making no sense.

I kicked off the blanket that clung to my feet. My skin still flamed underneath and it never occurred to me before now, that this heat may be something linked to the wolf within me, much like my need to bite my new boyfriends. Stop it. Shut the hell up. Shhh. 

Several hours later, I woke to the glare of a flashlight.

"Remember, you said you trusted me. This is it." Paul grinned. The bed bounced as he sat up, leaving the shadow of Luke at the end of the bed. They were both already dressed.

Cupid is a psychopath.

Paul cut me a sideways glance from the opposite side of the room that said he'd heard that. I propped myself up on my elbows, groggy after only being asleep seconds before their intrusion.

"What time is it?" I said.

"Four am," Luke said. "Wear something warm. It will get chilly."

"Wait, why will it get chilly? I have the internal body temperature of Barbados now. Where are we going at this god-awful hour?"

Luke grinned, and I wasn't sure why. "It's a wolf thing. We are going to the lake house in the woods. It's about time you met the rest of my pack. It's remote. After last night, you'll be safer there."

I couldn't help but think if that would make Paul safer...from me. If I did bite him, hypothetically, the pack could just ravage me to shreds and ensure I didn't need to be embarrassed about it the next day.

Luke was still grinning like an idiot until I realized the bed I was in wasn't his. Paul bent and kissed my forehead. "So what?" he said, his expression softening into adoration. "We had mind-blowing sex. That won't surprise anyone."

Biting my lip, I forced the flush that was creeping into my cheeks away. Luke stood straighter. His gaze slid down to our locked hands, and he nodded once in approval but his tight smile never met his eyes.

Luke took a long, pointed breath in as Paul stood to leave. "You smell different, Paul."

"Tell that to the woman currently warming by bed. She scented me last night. Even when I tried, I failed, but she nailed it the first time." He shook his head with a look of awe on his face.

Luke went ashen.

"What do you mean you tried to scent me first? Why did you fail?" I interrupted.

Paul shrugged. "Beats the shit outta me. Betas can scent other Beta's, Delta's, omega's. Maybe it was because you were wriggling so much." He smirked.

"I managed it," I replied with a grin.

Paul looked back to his brother. "Did you hear what I said?" Paul repeated.

"And then what happened?" Luke finally spoke.

My eyes bounced between them both trying to understand what either was getting at.

"What do you mean and then what happened? Then nothing."

Luke's eyes seared into mine with a questioning look. My head began to ache and I knew it for what it was.

Get out. I said. There would be no way he would find out what I embarrassingly almost did. The throb in my temple eased.

"I will leave you to get dressed in whatever you find comfortable, Barbados."

I smiled and watched him leave the room.

Where in hell were they taking me, and why did it have to be so goddam early? A darker thought crossed my mind: no one goes anywhere in a hurry unless they have to.

What had changed to urgent while I slept that now warranted us to pack up and leave? No longer seeking answers to every question that popped into my head, I decided to go with the flow because that was trust, and I had sworn my allegiance the night before to Paul.

After dressing and cursing both men as loud as I could, I met them both outside. The engine was already running. The door of Luke's red pickup truck was open. Paul sat inside, patting the seat beside him.

There was a gnawing knot in my stomach as I slid in next to Paul. Luke sat on the driver's side, looking nowhere as excited as Paul. Luke reached forward, turning up the radio.

There was no longer confusion where Paul and I were concerned, not after last night. My body still tingled. It hadn't been just sex. It was more than that. The intimacy superseded everything else. There was a simplicity to those moments—but the kind that alters you by morning. This string of beats, woven together, could make a person believe that love could last forever. We were together now—that's simply how it was.

The truck charged down the ocean highway. Outside, it was still pitch-black, but the sun would rise soon. Paul cupped my hands in his and warmed them but they no longer needed it. I was having a hard time comprehending the sudden location shift, why it was necessary, and what help it would prove.

"We've been talking, Dana." Paul squirmed in his seat, unable to get comfortable, and I knew I wouldn't like what came next. "We can't resolve our issue with Lucille, with Antoine being a problem, but we can take you off-grid. You will have the protection of the pack. There are not a lot of options left. There is only one..."

"Which is?" They both fell silent, leaving only the weather forecaster on the radio for sound. Someone needed to speak before all of my worst-case scenarios flooded the vacant space in my head that waited for their words to come next.

Paul turned to me. His eyes softened as if he were about to relay bad news. I'd seen that look on his face before, and I'd never been a fan. "You need to meet Lucille again but in your wolf form."

"You're nervous. Don't be. You are safe, and you'll remain that way," Luke said.

Paul's eyes soul searched mine.

The thought of being with Lucille alone again chilled the blood in my veins; throwing in Antoine speeded the freeze. It had never occurred to me before that I could be anything other than what I was. Now, I had to contemplate being a wolf.

"Paul, why don't I remember being a wolf?"

"You don't remember any of it?" he asked.

"No, I was angry, scared, and then nothing until I woke up."

"When I walked in, Antoine looked poised for a heart attack. Your shift must have taken him off guard if he can even begin to reason it as such. If that was your first time and it was prompted by a fight or flight response, then my only guess can be that there was a disconnect between your human and wolf self."

"Just like Lucille?"

"In a way, perhaps."

"Am I at risk of permanently disconnecting like she did?"

"I wouldn't see why, you came back, didn't you? You were great. You were wary of me but never tried to attack me and when you shifted back after Antoine fled, it was almost as if your human form needed to recover. I'll be honest, I've never seen someone shift that quickly before, well, not if you exclude Luke. It took some amount of convincing before Luke would even believe it had happened."

"I guess that feels the same for me now."

"I have one question for you. Do you trust me one hundred percent?"

I nodded. It was no longer a question I needed to ponder. My heart and head were in sync.

He lifted my chin and kissed me before whispering. "For the first time, I can feel you trust me, Dana. You don't know how happy that makes me. I have a surprise for you."

"I can't take any more surprises."

"Don't be a stickler. Close your goddamn eyes." He smiled. Never had there been a day in this town where that smile had not earned him what it wanted. My heart was already nodding as my brain mentally slapped it for being biased.

My eyes closed, and he turned my hand palm up before placing something cool and heavy inside before he let me open them again. It was a revolver. My jaw dropped wide as if I'd lost all muscle function in my face.

"Listen, this comes from a place in my heart that wants to keep you safe. Empower yourself"

"It's not a bunch of flowers..."

"You want flowers? I'll buy you roses but also have this gun. Think about it, could have protected yourself from Antoine with one easy shot at close range. You'll feel better knowing you have it, and so will I."

"Or he could snatch it and use it on me. Did you think about that?" I read something else in his eyes. "What else is there? There is something you're not telling me. What is it?"

Paul sighed. "Nothing we can't handle; remember that." His body tensed, perhaps bracing for me to fly off the handle and pound at his chest. "Carlyle thinks he saw Antoine parked outside the house last night."

"While we slept?" What had been his intention? Did he think he could swoop in and steal me from under their noses? The glaring answer was that he had never tried. That told me, despite my reservations, that the haven the brothers were creating, above all odds, was working.

He cocked an eyebrow. "We weren't sleeping. Don't worry. He left as Carlyle spotted him. He's a brave son of a bitch. I'll give him that, and —"

"I'll take the gun," I said, cutting him off. That would explain why we'd not been interrupted. I never wanted to lay my eyes on Antoine again. A bullet with his name on it was neither here nor there. It would be a done deal if I saw him again.