Page 23 of Crescent Warrior

The growl threatening to leave his throat warned him that he was going to go feral, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The man was touching her, his arm wrapped comfortably around her shoulders, and he needed to get him the fuck off. Ambrosia waved at the smiling man while muttering,

“Get your wolf under control, Cole. We can’t have that shit here in front of all the cops.”

The warning did nothing for him. It wasn’t until Hippolyta disentangled herself and walked inside the house that he felt like he could breathe again. He followed Ambrosia, who hugged the man next.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite girl,” he enthused.

She smirked at him, shaking her head as she patted his cheek. “You couldn’t handle me, Brandon.”

He gave her an earnest look. “But man, it would be one hell of a ride.”

Ambrosia laughed, turning to gesture to Cole. “This is our friend Cole, from back home in Greece. I’m sure Lyta told you we’re heading back there soon.”

“Not to stay, I hope,” Brandon said quickly, reaching out his hand to shake.

Gritting his teeth, Cole controlled the desire to break every bone in his hand.

“No, of course not. This is home now,” Ambrosia said with a firm nod.

Cole didn’t like the sound of that. It made him feel like Hippolyta was too far out of his reach. His home was in Greece. Logistically, he needed to be there. How would that work if she insisted on never seeing him?

Even with the pack all reuniting, Cole was already prewarned by Castor that it could be temporary and at least some of them may have to return when the looming threat of the scentless Bloodthirsty was behind them.

His jaw tightened with annoyance. Could he find some way for someone to replace him? If he begged Uncle Pollux long enough, maybe he would give in. He didn’t have a mate yet, unlike his twin, and was easily one of the strongest wolves in the pack. He could handle the responsibility with no problem.

Cole’s eyes narrowed on the back of Hippolyta’s head. He knew he wasn’t good enough for her. He knew that he didn’t deserve her, but he wanted her. He wanted her with everything inside of him and he needed to, at least, try. If he didn’t, he would regret it every day.

He had already lived that way for far too long. He wanted to look back on this time in the future and remember that he gave it his all. Following her, he watched as she was greeted by everyone, welcomed into the fold.

The realization that following her on the camera for years didn’t give him any real insight to her life hit him hard. She had friends that he didn’t know. She could have a lover and he wouldn’t have a clue.

The thought made him feel his teeth elongating in his mouth with the need to mark her and kill whoever the hell was touching her, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He needed to focus on her and not his urges that were begging him to kill every man that was looking at her in the room. That would be a massacre. They all seemed to gravitate toward her.

“Well, aren’t you a big girl now?” his mate cooed to someone in front of her.

She bent forward, the dress slipping up inches on her luscious thighs. He was going to move forward to block her from the view of everyone in the room when she stood again, her arms filled with a toddler.

“Oh, you caught her, Lyta.” A dark-haired woman ran up to her, her face flushed. “I don’t know what got into her. She just got up and ran away.”

“She probably realized Aunty Lyta was here.” His mate laughed, lifting the little girl into the air, and receiving toothless giggles in return.

The hassled mother tried to take her back, but the little girl was having none of it, refusing to budge from Hippolyta’s arms and screaming her displeasure.

“I’m so sorry,” the woman murmured, the color deepening in her cheeks.

“For what? I love hanging out with her. Go take a break.”

The relieved smile as the woman walked off made Cole grin. He remembered how easily babies were swapped when he was younger, handed over by haggard parents to whoever was willing to take them at the time. He moved forward to his mate’s side and saw that the girl was happily resting on her arm, sucking on a thumb, as Hippolyta rocked her.

The baby babbled at him when he came into view, reaching out a tiny fist. He lifted his hand, and she grabbed a finger tight, her grip strong. Hippolyta watched them, looking away into the crowd as the baby cooed.

“How do you know everyone here?” he asked quietly.

“They’re our contacts with the human police,” she answered, keeping her voice just as low. “Can you find Rosi? She gets bombarded by the men here and probably needs help to find us.”

“And you?” The question was innocuous enough, but he knew she would understand what he meant.

“That hasn’t been your business in a really long time.”

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