Beckett

Allie and Pria leaned against the car with their hands shoved in their pockets and their shoulders touching. Every so often, Devany snuck a glance at the two, her attention lingering on Pria longer than Allie. During the car ride over, I told her Pria had been revealed as my mate during a mate run and the fact that we suspected someone had faked it. I had hoped it would help her lower her guard around me, or at least not believe me to be a cheater; instead, she had raised her walls higher, shutting down and not speaking the rest of the ride.

"Where is he?" I demanded, gravel crunching under my boots as I marched over to Pria.

"He'll be here."

"When?"

Allie wrinkled her upturned nose. "Someone is antsy."

"Someone is sexually frustrated," Pria whispered in return.

"Watch it," I snapped, glancing across the road.

Devany sat under a tree, picking blades of grass and shredding them between her fingers. She wasn't looking at us, but her pink cheeks suggested she heard what Pria said. It took a while to get used to the enhanced hearing.

"Why didn't you tell her the rest of it?" Pria asked, thankfully lowering her voice until I had to lean forward to hear her.

"The rest of what?"

"That it's not just that I'm not your mate, but that you think she's your mate."

"I think she would run for the fucking hills if I told her that right now. It's barely been twenty-four hours since she shifted for the first time. Let her process one thing at a time. Besides, without a claiming sign from the goddess, it's just a guess."

"And how you do you expect to receive a sign from her?" Allie asked. "It's not like you can participate in the mate run."

"That's not really my biggest concern right now," I muttered.

Pria folded her arms over her chest and raised a brow. "That's literally why we're here. To figure out how someone faked our claiming. I don't know about you, but I fully intend to make it public when we have proof. I'm tired of stealing moments with Allie."

Allie cupped Pria's face and kissed her tenderly. For a moment, Pria didn't respond, but then she sank into the embrace with a moan that sent me walking in the opposite direction. They had no qualms about PDA, even borderline pornographic PDA. I'd stake my life on them being true mates.

"Hey," I said softly, lowering myself onto the grass beside Devany.

She dusted dirt and leaves off her hands and pulled her knees to her chest. Instead of responding to my greeting, she jerked her chin toward the couple making out against the car. "So you two really aren't together?"

"It's never been like that for us, and not just because Pria has zero interest in men. She's like a sister."

"But why would someone go to such trouble to make you think you were mates?"

"To keep us from our true mates."

She looked at me then, and all the air whooshed out of my lungs. Her beauty had awed that first night in the bar, but it was nothing compared to how she looked now. The sun bathed her face in a golden light that revealed every tiny freckle across her nose, and her lavender hair hung loosely around her shoulders in soft curls. Her plump bottom lip bore teeth marks from where she'd been chewing on it. Another freckle rested in the deep v of her Cupid's bow, spilling into the rose pink part of her upper lip.

But that wasn't what made her look so different. It was the awakening of the magic in her blood. Every human flaw was gone, and behind her pale purple eyes, the beast that lived inside of her stared back at me. Hungry. Powerful. Intoxicating.

This woman was perfect. Every part of her called to every part of me. Being so close to her right now, drinking in her curves and smelling her scent on the wind, nearly undid me. At the pack house, I'd told her that once tamed, wolves never took control again, but my wolf was doing his best to make me a liar. My skin grew tight, and my heart pounded.

"Beckett, are you okay?" she asked, lifting her hand to touch my face.

I grabbed her wrist and snarled, "Don't."

Hurt and confusion filled her expression. She snatched her arm away, and I cursed inwardly. There's no way she would understand what was happening to me. Every mated wolf I had ever talked to spoke of the drive to consummate the bond, and it would only get worse with time and especially around the full moon. Yet another reason Pria and I never made sense.

Devany would experience the need too, though I suspected right now she was too distracted by all the other changes. It was better this way. Sex complicated things, and I could control myself until she was ready. Until we knew for sure this was what we both wanted because no mate bond could make you love someone. I'd seen enough miserable pairs to know that.

"Someone's coming," Devany said.

She flinched away from the hand I offered to help her up, and she jogged across the road to join the other women. I swallowed a growl of frustration as I followed her. It was going to be okay once we got her the charms to hide her Alpha Marks. When she was out of immediate danger, I would explain everything to her.

When Liam climbed out of the late model Mercedes, I sent up a prayer of thanks. That prayer quickly turned into a curse when he looked at Devany. It was easy to tell when a man was interested in a woman, and he did nothing to disguise his attraction to her, raking his eyes from her head to her toes as he approached.

"And who is this delightful creature?" he asked. "Because I thought I knew everyone in your pack."

"Devany Sterling," she answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she smiled at the witch.

"No," Liam said, green eyes flashing with a spark of power. "That's not your true name."

"It's name that was on my baby blanket."

"Hmm. A little orphaned wolf." He sniffed the air, and he tensed. "A new one."

"Okay, so we can get back to all that later," Pria said, jumping between Liam and Devany. I could have hugged her because one more word spoken between the two of them in a flirtatious tone would send me over the edge. "We actually asked you here about our mate bond."

She filled him in on our suspicions. His expression gave nothing away, and when she finished, he walked back to his car and pulled out a backpack. Rummaging around in it, he pulled out a moonstone charm tied to a leather string.

"So is it possible?" Pria asked when he came back to our group.

"It is, and I suspect I know who did the spell. I'll need to confirm it before I tell you who."

"And how much is that going to cost us?" I demanded.

Liam's gaze drifted back to Devany. I bristled until I noticed he wasn't looking at her the same way. The heat had faded, and its place was cool curiosity.

"This one will be on the house."

Allie shocked us all. "Bullshit. You never do anything for free. Something has to be in it for you."

"Oh, there is something in it for me. Witches that use their magic to meddle in the affairs of the goddess piss me off, and I would like nothing more than to nail their asses to the wall. And that's all you need to know. We can touch base in a couple of days. Same place. Same time."

While the girls climbed into the car, I prepared to ask him about a charm for Devany. Before I could speak, he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. He pressed the moonstone into my hand.

"Here. This will do what you need. As long as she's wearing it, no one will see the marks."

I didn't bother to ask how he knew. Fucking witches. "Thank you."

"Thank you for not punching me in the face. I know how wolves get about their mates, but I didn't catch on at first."

"Fuck," I said on an exhale. "It's true. She's the one."

"She is. And anyone with two eyes can see it. Much less magic."

"Thanks, man."

"For her, anytime. I know it goes without saying because she's your mate, but protect her. At all costs. She's at the center of something big."

Thinking of her royal marks and mysterious birth, I knew he was right. "As long as she's with me, she'll be safe, and I don't intend to let her out of my sight."