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After dinner and putting the twins to bed, I finally wind down and try my best to wash away the ugly feelings I picked up in Magique City. As I towel my hair off, I see Knight sitting at our spot, smoking. I go down. He immediately makes room so I can sit
between his legs.
“Is this how big you normally are?” I ask jokingly. “You weren’t this big when we met up again.”
“Yeah, I was a little sick then,” he chuckles. That doesn’t smell like tobacco. It’s an odd lavender color when he blows out the smoke. “It’s a power booster the Lycans came up with. They don’t shift unless they want to or it’s mating season. It helps us be stronger in this form without the itchy feeling that comes with the full moon.”
“Midnight gets extra-” I clear my throat. His body shakes as he laughs.
“Yeah, that’s definitely something that happens to all of us. I’m really good at fighting it, though.”
“Same.” I feel my face heat up.
“How are you feeling now, Angel?” he asks in a more serious tone. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on my head.
“A whole lot better,” I admit. “I’m worried about the twins.”
“All the tests came back good. No damage was done. They’re very strong kids,” he says, kissing the back of my head.
“I mean not to sound cocky but they are our kids.” I laugh. He squeezes me tighter.
“You’re one hundred percent right. Sit up. I have something for you.”
“For me?” I turn around to face him.
He takes a sharp breath, his face turns pink, and he looks at me. He’s visibly nervous.
“Don’t get mad, but I went through some of your stuff trying to find something that I know you’ll like. Asking you was out of the question because then you would have known and you would have told me not to get you anything.”
“Okay,” I squeeze in next to him so we’re side by side, but there is no doubt in my mind that I am going to end up on his lap soon. “My stuff is your stuff. Just don’t touch my limited edition Toxic Rose Thorns action figures. They’re signed.”
“I saw that,” he laughs. “How did you get your hands on those things?”
“Best assistant in the world.”
“Cevin,” he nods. “That makes sense. Those things sell for fifty K a piece right now.”
“I know. Seventy for mine because they’re signed. I think it’s so cool that I have a life- size one.” I pinch his cheek.
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“You have a cool collection of limited edition shit so I found something you don’t have.”
“That’s a lie. I have everything, and how did you get into my secret box?” I growl at him.
“Baby, I’m a spy. There’s nothing in this house that you can keep me out of. None of your secret boxes are safe anymore,” he smirks and tips my chin. I push his hand away.
“I walked right into that.” I laugh, making him grin.
He holds up a little black jewelry box topped with a black satin bow. I think of all the things I own centered around this man’s band.
“Open it,” he laughs. I take it and give it a little shake, and it hits me–the charm bracelet that was stolen just before I met him. “By the look on your face, please don’t tell me you have one on.” He reaches for my hoodie to find nothing. “Oh, but you know what it is.”
“I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone about the bracelet I owned,” I say, opening it.
I still feel as excited as I did when I got the first one. It’s as beautiful as it’s always been. The white gold rope chain has little crystal shards that look like thorns. It has a rose charm, a skull with red gems for eyes, a skeleton key, and pretty divider charms to separate them. I was twenty when I got a black eye the night these were released–all to get my hands on it.
“Here.” he takes it.
I watch him put the charm bracelet on my wrist. My inner fangirl is never going to get over this. I’m convinced. In what world does this make sense?
“I broke a girl’s nose the night these were released,” I say quietly. His eyes flash red as he looks at me, overjoyed.
“You’re kidding.” he shakes his head. I reach into my pocket and look for the album of everyone who camped out that night on my phone. “Holy shit. There were a lot of people there.” When I stop at the picture of how I looked that next morning, a low rumbling sound comes out of his chest. I already have a mark on my face, but I’m smiling, holding up my arm with the bracelet on. “Where is it?”
“It was stolen out of my hotel room in London a few days before I met you. I was convinced that the owner of the shitty hotel I was staying in stole it. So I broke into her car and went home with her. I didn’t find it, and I almost missed my flight back here, getting back to the hotel on foot.”
“Angel,” he sings quietly. “You didn’t.”
“I did. I took pictures. It was so funny to me. I was in the back of her car, and she never noticed.” I show him. “Iwas so upset I couldn’t find it and I’m still convinced that bitch took it.”
“I fucking love you.” he laughs scrolling through the pictures. “I feel a little less guilty
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about your current criminal activities.”
“Thank you,” I say, toying with the charms. “If there was ever a moment when I made you doubt my intentions with your
dad-”
“Don’t even.” He takes my hand, interlocking our fingers. “It never crossed my mind, and when it was said, I laughed. I did doubt his intentions, but I knew I had nothing to worry about, and I never will.”
“That’s right.” I love that he can say that. “Also, this was kind of my first experience with dads, and no offense, but he’s awesome. So is Freddy, but I like how intense Arnold is.”
“I know you think that everyone in my family is,” he grins.
“They are,” I laugh. “Elliot went out of his way to help me with the twins‘ school stuff, even knowing we weren’t ever going to sign up for the packlands. Ashley and your other sisters have been spreading the truth about Royal Threads like crazy. All my family has done is give us headaches and turn us into murderers. Including my five- year–old daughter.”
“I didn’t think you were going to get the bad side of being a wolf. I wanted-” he takes at deep breath and releases it slowly. “I remember your sister before Darren. Before he ripped out her fucking soul. She was so full of life. She still reminds me of my little sister so much.
“When she first shifted, fuck it was so cute. It became her. It was like she had waited all this time to be exactly what she was. I mean she was fucking little asshole, but she was like you. There was nothing she set her eyes on that she wouldn’t take.
“I started her training. It’s very hard for us to focus at first because our wolves heighten everything, and at her age, she was fifteen.”
“I remember being fifteen.” I laugh, and he pulls me onto his lap.
“I guess what I wanted was that connection. For us to learn to shift together. For us to get stronger together. But when the time came, I wasn’t prepared for-” I stand a little so I can straddle him properly and wrap my arms around him. He doesn’t hesitate to pull me closer. “All I keep thinking is that I don’t want you to be like her. I don’t want you to hate becoming a wolf the way she did. It’s not easy having all this power. This shit does something evil to us.
“It feels so good to know that no matter what comes at us, we’ll always come out on top. I didn’t want that for you, and the closer you get to us, the more it’s going to latch. on. I allowed my father to help you because every time I think about it or tell myself that it’s the right thing, all I see is danger, and I hate it.”
“It’s obviously not just you and your family anymore. Eventually, I have to be more than what I am. My grandfather is going to demand an audience soon, and I’ve been thinking about- I don’t know. Learning more about them. I mean, it would be cool to know a little bit about my mom. She had friends and family at some point.”
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“Fuck.” he shakes his head. I laugh, leaning in to rest my forehead against his. His
hands slide under my hoodie. “Is it a lot to ask for you to let me keep you to myself for a while? No work, no family, just us and the twins. That’s all I wa
