Again Quinn howls, and the others join in, until I’m laughing and begging them to stop.

“You still have to wait until I’m done at the office,” I tell them, hands on my hips.

There’s still so much to do going through past years’ records and tidying things up, and I want to get everything squared away before a possible baby comes. I’ve set up a system that will make it much easier going forward to keep the finances in order, as long as the boys stick to their schedule. It’s still tricky getting them through projects by deadline, but they’re working on their time management skills.

That night we have a ceremony, just the five of us, under the full moon. On paper, I’m married to Leon, the leader, the alpha, but I know I’m bound to all of them.

When the words have been spoken, they all tilt their heads back at once, noses pointed to the moon.

“Awoo!” they howl to the stars. “Awoo!”

Quinn takes my hand and quietly leads me back to the house. We all make our way silently down to Leon’s room, to the big bed.

When I’m bared to them, Leon traces a hand down my thigh, and he drops down into a low crouch to lick me there. Then, he opens his mouth, and I find his fangs are even longer than before.

“Tiff,” he murmurs, dragging them along my soft flesh. “I want to claim you now. For all of us. Is this what you want?” His big blue eyes travel up to mine. “To be ours? To be our queen? To have us forever, and someday, have our pups, too?”

My answer comes out firm and decisive. “Yes.” I’ve never been more certain of anything. “Please.”

Leon opens his mouth and then bites down on my thigh, hard. It breaks my skin, and I yelp as blood wells up around his fangs. His eyes roll back in his head, and he groans as he licks it up. He looks like he’s lost in a trance.

When he’s finished sucking on me, Leon steps aside, and Quinn approaches me next. He crawls onto the bed in his big, awkward werewolf form, and lowers his head to the same spot. There he licks up more blood, smearing it around with his big tongue. He lets out a hungry moan.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I’m so glad we found you, Tiff. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“You, too,” I say, running a hand down his cheek, then over his curly hair. “My big, sweet golden retriever.”

His pulsing cock is leaking all over the bed. “Leon,” he says, “please, I?—”

“You’ll have to wait,” Leon responds firmly. With an obedient nod, Quinn gets back up. It’s Jace’s turn next.

“Beautiful Tiff.” He runs his hands down my body, and when he reaches my mound, he glances over my pussy before traveling to the spot where Leon bit me. Then he prostrates himself in front of me and sucks on the bite, drawing my blood into his mouth. When he pulls away, his lips are red and his pupils are huge and black.

“Ever since that first date, I knew you were the one for me.” He sighs with contentment and kisses me on the lips. I wrap my arms around him, remembering it fondly.

“I think I knew it, too,” I say, as he kisses me again, then steps away.

“Eli,” says Leon, nodding.

Eli turns me so I’m facing him on the bed, then gently pushes me down so I’m lying flat. Bending down, he brings my legs up over his shoulders, and kisses all along the inside of my thigh. When he reaches the bite, he pauses, and kisses there, too.

“Ours.” He sips gently at the wound, then covers it with his hand. “I know I wasn’t the easiest to wrangle, but thank you for not giving up on me.”

I stroke his hair. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It all happened how it was supposed to.”

Eli sits up to strip off his shirt, then his jeans, and the others all follow except for Leon, who sits down in a chair nearby, watching us.

“Eli,” he says. “Go first. Make love to her. Show her what she means to us.”

With a sharp nod, Eli runs his hand down from my breasts to my hips. There he pins my thighs down, spread wide, and drops his head between them. He licks me there slowly, tenderly, just flicking his tongue back and forth over my clit. He puts one finger inside me, lapping me and pumping me with it, until I’m moaning. Before I can finish, though, he pauses and withdraws.

“I want to be inside you when you come,” he hums, kneeling between my legs.

His cock is hungry for me, dribbling white from the head. He eases his way inside me slowly, looking into my eyes as he does. He gathers me up tight in his arms and thrusts with a steady, languid rhythm, building me up slowly, brick by brick. The burn from the bite has morphed into something different, something delicious, that’s making heat spread like wildfire across my body. Eli smiles that small smile of his as I creep closer to the edge, as each of his strokes rubs the head of his cock over my soft channel.

When I do reach my finish, it’s powerful but quiet, and I wrap my legs tight around Eli’s slim body, moaning and rocking. He kisses me thoroughly as it sweeps me under. He has such a tender heart, and I love seeing it filled up.

But I didn’t take his knot, not yet. When he’s ready to finish, Eli pulls out with a grunt and empties himself on my belly, gasping. Then he wraps his arms around me, hands tangled in my curls, and kisses me with all the soft love in his heart.