“Wow. Well, I’m okay.” I held out my leg and wiggled it. “Briar healed me. It was just a scrape.”
“Good morning,” Briar greeted him.
Lake became more reserved, his walls creeping back up as he nodded. “Morning.”
They stared at each other in silence before both averted their eyes. Both were kind of introverted and socially awkward.
“So.” I clapped my hands together once. “Who wants breakfast?”
Lake’s ears shot up. No doubt thinking about omelets. God. He was too cute.
“Breakfast would be lovely.” Briar kissed my temple before going over to the wardrobe in the corner. He picked me out a shirt and pants for the day, which made my heart swell. It was his love language, I think. Doing small acts of kindness for those he cared about.
“Thank you,” I said before removing the towel. Both of them had seen me naked, so I didn’t think twice about changing in front of them.
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Briar then said.
The shift in his tone gave me pause.
His lips curved into a half-smile. “Maddox will be sad he missed this.”
“Missed what?” I asked, not following.
Briar glanced at Lake, then back at me. “The two of you had sex.”
Still clueless, I stood there staring at him, one leg in my underwear. But then it clicked together in my head. “Oh god. No.”
“Yes,” Briar said.
“But Lake was a virgin,” I responded. “And I’ve only been with you and Maddox since taking it last time. Do we really need it?”
“Need what?” Lake asked, looking between us.
“While that may be true, we can’t be too careful.” Briar adjusted his glasses. “Both of you should drink the tonic just in case.”
He was right. Iknewhe was. It didn’t stop me from whining about it though. Sighing, I faced Lake. “I hope you don’t mind the taste of flowers.”
***
“I can still taste it on my tongue.” I shuddered. “I need more coffee to wash it down. I may die.”
“You drank it over an hour ago.” Briar laughed as he stirred sugar into his second cup of tea.
“It’s a taste you never forget. It never goes away. The herpes of medicine.”
Lake stood at the kitchen window, expression calm. “I liked the taste. Reminded me of when I was a boy and used to pull up flowers and eat them. Unfortunately, they were the flowers in my father’s garden. They tasted the best.” He softly smiled. It had a sad edge to it. “He could never bring himself to whip me for misbehaving though. His heart was too gentle for it.”
Too gentle to spank his son, and yet, the people of Bremloc had marked him as a criminal and watched as he was dragged to the town square and beheaded. Simply for being a demi-wolf.
“He sounds like a great guy,” I said, walking over to Lake. “I wish I could’ve met him.”
“I wish the same.” Lake’s gaze moved to me, softness touching his purple eyes. There was a hint of sadness too. “He would’ve liked you.” His palm slid against mine before he linked our fingers. “I believe you’re the type of person he hoped I’d find someday. Someone with a compassionate and joyful heart. Someone who pushes me to come out of my shell and who makes me want to be better.” He dropped his gaze to our joined hands. “You called me yours last night and said you wouldn’t let me go. I don’t want to let you go either.”
A lump wedged in my throat.
“You won’t have to let him go,” Briar said, stepping up on my other side. He handed me a fresh cup of coffee and kissed my temple. His favorite spot. “Evan belongs to all three of us now. And we belong to him.”
My eyes misted over. I was so happy. In love. All that was missing in that moment was a grumpy captain.
