by Cara Adams
He wandered back into the bedroom and opened her nightstand drawer, blinking at the array of sex toys there and the iPad. Likely she’d want those. He went back into the kitchen and collected a shopping bag then upended the contents of the drawer into it, adding the iPad on top.
By the time Stefan had finished loading the boxes in the trunk of the SUV, Dominik, Roman, and Brody, had arrived, and Magnus was looking through the kitchen drawers hoping she had a spare set of keys for Oscar. But if she did, he didn’t find them.
Brody and Roman shouldered an attacker each, Magnus carried the final bag of toys, and Dominik made sure Flynn’s apartment door was locked behind them. While the others loaded the men into their hire car, Magnus walked across the parking lot to Oscar’s space but it was empty.
Where the fuck was her car?
* * * *
By the time they reached Sofia, Flynn was exhausted and Damask’s lips were in a thin line instead of her usual happy smile. Odette led them to the taxi line, then said, “Take us to the Hilton, please.”
At reception Odette said, “One room with three beds.”
“All we have with three adult beds is a suite, ma’am.”
“That will be perfect, thank you.”
“And your luggage, ma’am? Shall I send the bellboy to get it?”
“Only if he knows more about the airlines than I do.”
“Oh, ma’am, have they lost it? Don’t worry, it almost always arrives inside forty-eight hours. Would you like me to send you a personal shopper from the boutique on the mezzanine level?”
“It’s all right, sweetie. We’re just tired and grumpy. Tomorrow morning we’ll go shopping ourselves.”
They rode up in the elevator to their suite and Odette said, “One of you can have the bathroom first while the other one orders some food. I need to talk to Yerik.” She walked into the bedroom and shut the door.
Damask looked at Flynn and said, “You go ahead and shower. I’ll order the food.”
Flynn nodded and stepped into the bathroom. There was a separate shower as well as a tub, and a bidet as well as a toilet. It was all very luxurious. She set the tub to fill, wishing she had clean underwear to change into, but the hot water would be nice anyway. After this she needed to ask about the whole werewolf thing. What did it mean?
Flynn was unable to relax in the tub. She needed to know where Kiril and Magnus were and that they were all right. The fighting had been getting quite violent by the time the men had lifted her out the window and she really hoped they were both all right.
The smell of percolating coffee had her drying and dressing herself quickly, and the three women were sitting around the tiny table in the living area when their meals arrived.
“Is everything okay with the men?” Flynn asked hesitantly as they began eating.
Odette looked at Damask. “Yerik is in Munich with Leonie, Kiril, Uwe, Jairus, and Grigori. They’re at the Emergency Room at the moment where Jairus is being treated for a broken arm.”
Flynn looked at Damask as the woman gasped, but Odette just waved her hand. “It’s a clean break. He’s fine. Shape-shifters heal much faster than humans, you know. They should be able to catch a flight here later tonight.”
Flynn filed that tidbit of information away to ask about later.
“Dominik, Stefan, Magnus, Roman, and Brody are busy packing up the house. They’ve collected some clothing for you from your apartment. They interrupted two men who were burglarizing it and have dumped the men in the national park. They untied them but were possibly a little rough with them. Both burglars were unconscious when they left them.”
Odette didn’t sound at all concerned. Flynn guessed after an all-in riot like they’d just seen today, hitting a couple of would-be burglars over the head hardly mattered.
“They need to know the name of the place where you left your car so they can collect it. Magnus was worried when it wasn’t in the parking lot at your apartment.”
“Yes, he and Kiril argued about moving it from the house you rented, but it was just as well I did have it. It was very useful.”
“Wolves are naturally very protective of their women. But it doesn’t hurt them if you stand your ground from time to time,” said Odette.
Flynn told her the name of the mall where the car was then said, “My jewelry is in the glove compartment. If they leave poor Oscar behind, could they bring my jewelry please?”
“Of course, sweetie. They plan to drive your Oscar as well as the SUV back to Werewolf Castle so it’ll be a few days before they arrive.”
“Tell me about Werewolf Castle, please. All I know is that it’s old and parts of it are being renovated.”
“Werewolves have lived there for centuries and parts of it date back to the Middle Ages. The east wing, where we live, is perfectly modern. Yerik has opened the castle as a tourist attraction and it’s how we finance the pack. The castle is open every day in summer and early autumn, but only at weekends and holidays in winter. At the moment we’re still open Fridays as well as weekends because the tourist numbers are still good. By next summer we plan to start having overnight guests to stay in the west tower.”
Flynn listened as Odette described the castle and the people in it. She was completely bound up in her story and Flynn could see her great love for the people and the place as well as her in-depth knowledge of every aspect of the business. She was amazed at how accepted she felt with these people.
Magnus and Kiril had claimed her as theirs but it wasn’t like they’d proposed marriage or anything. Yet she’d been included in the invitation to the inauguration, invited to stay at the house with the other people, and now flown around Europe with the women. They had truly accepted her as if she was one of them. If Magnus and Kiril truly wanted her she would give up her job and move to their home and their mountains. She was looking forward to seeing their mountains. Poor Dave. He’d worked her shift for her and now she might not ever repay him. Although maybe Kiril and Magnus wouldn’t want her. Maybe she was getting too far ahead of herself just yet.
* * * *
Kiril had been desperate to see Flynn, to reassure himself that she was okay, as soon as they arrived in Sofia. But it was the very early hours of the morning when they’d arrived, and the Alpha had insisted on getting them rooms for the rest of the night.
“I will ring Odette at eight, no earlier. You may all sleep, or watch television, or sit and sulk, but you are not to contact anyone until I say so.”
Suddenly Kiril’s aching head pounded even harder and his bones hurt. Silently he peeled out of his suit pants and hung his suit coat over the back of a chair. His tie had been discarded long ago. He kicked off his shoes, and, dressed only in his underwear, he stretched out on one of the beds and was instantly asleep.
When he woke the room was still dark, the drapes tightly closed, but he could hear someone in the bathroom. He sat up and stretched, pleased that nothing hurt, and very aware that he was damn hungry.
In the other bed, Jairus was still sound asleep, and stretched out on two armchairs pushed together, Grigori was napping.
Since Leonie had a room of her own, the person in the bathroom had to be the Alpha. Kiril slipped off the bed and checked his cell phone. It was already after eight. He wondered if Flynn was annoyed that she wasn’t at work. He wondered if she’d called in ill or what she’d done. He wondered what she thought of the fiasco that had been the inauguration ceremony. Fuck he wanted her. Needed her. Until he held her in his arms, he couldn’t be sure she was safe and well.
* * * *
As soon as the house was cleaned thoroughly and closed up, Magnus had delivered the keys to the rental agency and then returned the hire car to the airport. Next, they’d taken the men they’d found in Flynn’s apartment, who’d been tied up in the garage all this time, up to the national park, knocked them unconscious, stripped them naked, and left them there.
Their final task had been to drive to the mall and collect Flynn’s car t
hen to point their noses toward home. Magnus had thought poor old Oscar wouldn’t be able to maintain much speed, and Dominik was determined the two cars should travel together, but they found that although Flynn had been correct when she said the car began to vibrate at high speeds, they were able to stay just below the vibration level and make good time. With five of them they were able to change out drivers regularly, and they had plenty of leftover food and drinks from the house, so they didn’t need to stop much.
Apart from the fact that they really needed Oscar as well as the SUV to carry everyone’s luggage as well as themselves, Magnus hoped Flynn would agree to quit her job and live with them at the castle. Since she loved the car, having him here should make her more comfortable about choosing to stay.
Seventeen hours later they were driving over the one-lane bridge across the moat, and into Werewolf Castle.
The SUV and Oscar were crammed with luggage, having all Flynn’s things, plus all the luggage that thirteen people had brought with them, so Roman called ahead and asked for a luggage trolley to be waiting for them in the outer courtyard, which it was, and Kiril was sitting on it waiting for them. The castle was not open on Mondays, so the parking lot only held the cars of the pack members, and the barbican was locked.
“You made excellent time,” Kiril said to Magnus looking at his black eye. At least he could see through it today. Well, a bit anyway.
“We didn’t stop, just kept going,” grunted Dominik, opening the trunk of the SUV.
“Where’s Flynn?” asked Magnus.
“They were all having showers, washing their hair, changing their clothes. Girl stuff,” Kiril replied.
“So is she staying in the priests’ house with the other human women?” Magnus was disappointed. He wanted her with them.
“Only until you arrived. Now that you’re here we can go to the Alpha and get our mating approved.”
“Why don’t you both go do that? We’ll handle this,” said Dominik.
“Thank you.” Magnus couldn’t wait to see her. He knew the other men all felt exactly the same about their mates, and he appreciated Dominik’s offer. Besides, they really needed to speak with Flynn, to check she didn’t hold against them that they hadn’t mentioned their wolf selves to her.
“How did she take the shape-shifter thing? I mean, she does know, doesn’t she?” asked Magnus.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her to talk to. I think she must. Odette must have said something when they arrived here. But I just don’t know. Odette and Yerik arranged for us to be collected from the airport in different groups so as not to attract attention.”
Kiril swiped his card and held the gate open for Magnus, then they walked together across the inner courtyard the short distance to the priests’ house. Although men were not banned from the house, no man ever entered it since only the human women stayed there. A man waited outside and texted the woman he wished to speak to. They sat at one of the tables in the courtyard while they spoke.
Magnus texted Flynn, then wondered if her cell phone was even with her. She seldom seemed to use it, and he knew she kept it switched off at work. Perhaps having it switched off was so ingrained a habit, it wouldn’t be on now. But no. She appeared at the door almost immediately, wearing a medieval costume. Of course. All her clothes were still in the SUV in boxes.
“I’m so glad you’re both here. Although not uninjured I see. Have you other damage I can’t see?” she asked.
“I was hoping you’d have a close look at us both later this evening and check for yourself,” said Magnus, his dick hard at the sight of her here, in his home.
“Only if I can see you in your wolf form first. When were you planning to tell me about that?”
“The secret was not our own to tell,” said Magnus wondering if she was angry with them after all.
“I understand that.”
“You aren’t angry with us?” asked Kiril.
“Not angry, no. But I was a little surprised when the ceremony went berserk.”
“I was so worried about you.” Magnus desperately wanted to take her in his arms but wasn’t sure if she’d agree. Everything was suddenly so complicated. Oh, fuck it! He grabbed her and pulled her to him, kissing her hard on the lips then turning her so Kiril could kiss her, too.
“We wanted to tell you about the wolves, we really did, especially when we saw the ones in the national park,” said Kiril.
“I understand, I really do. I worked it out from some things people said. And I really like the castle. I haven’t seen much of it yet. We’ve only been here a few hours. But the mountains and the castle are beautiful.”
Magnus dropped onto one knee and took her hand. Kiril copied him holding her other hand. “Marry us please, Flynn. Mate with us and be ours forever. I love you so much. I can’t bear to be apart from you.”
“I nearly died of fear that you’d be hurt yesterday. Please mate us so we can keep you safe. I love you more than I can say,” said Kiril.
Magnus looked into her eyes and saw the sparkle in them and the way her lips tilted up at the sides. He heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn’t angry with them. She would agree even if she teased them a little first.
“I hear there’s a very nice dungeon here in the castle. I want to see you both in wolf form, and then I want to play a scene, a proper BDSM scene, in the dungeon. After that I’ll answer your question. But I do love you both.”
“Ah, woman, we love you even when you’re determined to make us die of waiting,” said Magnus kissing her again.
She flung her arms around both of them. “I was so worried about you both, too. I love you so much. But I do want that dungeon scene.”
“Done deal. Let’s go now.” Magnus tucked her tightly between them and they headed across the courtyard into the castle.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Adams adores erotic romance, especially ménage, BDSM, and shape-shifters. One day, someone said to her, “Why don’t you put them all in one book?”
So she did.
For all titles by Cara Adams, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/cara-adams
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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