Several of the female Carnage Wolves howl in approval of their Alpha’s words and I join them, pleased that he chose to add that final jibe.
He doesn’t wait for Alpha Crane to reply, he steps in front of me, presents the other Alpha his back, and kisses me with a fierceness that knocks me off my literal feet.
Fortunately, Volt catches me. But then he spins me and kisses me just as intensely.
I’ve forgotten how to breathe by the time Caius takes my mouth.
My stomach clenches with a desire that permeates the air.
Volt presses his nose to my neck, inhaling deeply as he rumbles in approval. “Please tell me I can fuck her in this field.”
“That would require removing her clothes,” Tieran says, his nose in my hair.
“No,” Caius says against my mouth. “We’ll devour her in the den.”
My lips curl at the mention of our den.
It’s a new one in Black Mountain Pack territory surrounded by fir trees with a little creek that runs alongside it and a lot of land for running.
My mates surprised me with the beautiful home just last week. And it’s absolutely perfect.
Apparently, Tieran’s father gifted it to the clan several years ago, the intention to be a gift for whenever they returned. Tieran requested several renovations, one of which kept us from being able to move back as soon as he originally wanted.
But that allowed us to say goodbye to Carnage Island properly.
I miss it. Yet I also don’t.
My home is where my mates are, something I hum into all their minds.
If Volt wants to take me in this field right now, I’ll love every minute of it. Because it’s him. Because Caius and Tieran are here, too.
However, their possessive energy tells me that’s not going to happen.
Because Canton is watching us.
Which I realize is why they all decided to devour me within an inch of my life.
I don’t even look at him. He no longer matters.
I only have eyes for three men.
Tieran. Caius. And Volt.
My Carnage Wolves.
My Alphas.
My mates.
One Year Later
I stand beneath a tree, watching Clove as she spins around the yard with our daughter in her arms. Technically, the baby has Volt’s genetics, not mine, but all three of us consider that little girl ours, just like Clove.
She’s as beautiful as her mother.
The tenderness of the moment keeps me from interrupting as I don’t have the best news to deliver. I don’t want to spoil their fun.
Clove giggles as the baby babbles at her.
Then Volt swoops in to steal the little bundle of love away. He does it with a huge grin that makes Clove laugh harder, but his dark eyes catch mine and I know he’s done this for me.
He can sense that I need to talk to her.
I’ve kept it from the mental connection, not wanting to risk Clove overhearing it in my thoughts.
But he reads me almost as well as Caius does.
“I’m going to go see if I can’t coax our little beauty into taking a nap,” Volt says, a purr already igniting in his chest. “Then maybe mommy will reward me by engaging in some adult playtime afterward.”
He coos the words, making Clove blush and hush him at the same time. “Shh. You can’t say things like that in front of Serena.”
“Why not?” he asks innocently. “She doesn’t understand me yet.”
I smirk. Even if she could, it wouldn’t stop him.
I have a whole new appreciation for my father’s relationships now and why he didn’t bother hiding his affections.
It’s impossible.
I’ll never try it with Clove. She’ll forever know how I feel. Caius and Volt are the same.
She sighs as Volt disappears with our daughter, then she wanders over to me with a knowing look. “You want to talk about something,” she says.
I smile, but it doesn’t feel as genuine as it should. “What gave me away? Me or Volt?”
“Both,” she said. “But mostly you. It’s in your eyes.” She cups my jaw and traces my cheekbone with her thumb. “What’s going on?”
I clear my throat. “It’s about your father,” I say, not wanting to beat around the bush.
Her brow furrows. “Alpha Nick?”
I nod.
“What about him?”
I’m not sure how to politely state this, so I just voice it. “He’s dead.”
Her eyebrows shoot upward. “What? How?”
“He ingested silver nitrate.” I clear my throat. “I’m still not sure how it happened, whether someone gave it to him or if someone poisoned his food. But he’s gone.”
Clove blinks at me. “Oh.” Her brow pulls down. “I… I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
Yeah, I wasn’t sure how she would feel about it either.
That’s why I didn’t want to deliver the news. She asked for him to be imprisoned while she debated what to do with him. Then life sort of escaped us with her pregnancy, taking over the pack, and everything else. Time works differently for our kind since it’s typically more on the infinite scale.
A year doesn’t feel like that long to wait on a decision.
But apparently it was too long for Alpha Nick.
“I think I’m relieved,” she says after a beat. “He wasn’t a good shifter.”
“No, he definitely wasn’t.” Something my dad is still beating himself up about because he should have noticed the signs, yet didn’t.
It’s an oversight I’ve taken into consideration with my monitoring of the pack. Caius is helping me find ways to better look for signs of such activity. It’s not infallible, but it’s a start.
Clove presses her nose to my chest and I purr for her in response, my arms automatically wrapping around her in a hug.
We stay like that for several minutes, her body melting into mine.
I kiss the top of her head, happy to just exist for a few minutes.
Maybe it’s a moment of silence for the father she never really knew.
Or maybe it’s a moment for the mother she misses.
Regardless of the point, I’m there for her. Holding her. Giving her my strength, just like an Alpha should.
She sighs, her nose coming up to nuzzle my throat. “I love you, Tieran,” she says softly.
“I love you, too, Clove,” I reply, smiling.
We don’t often exchange the words.
But it doesn’t make them any less true.
Our clan’s love pours into Clove every day.
Because she’s our beating heart.