Page 34 of Enemies By Fate

“I thought you found us,” Asher quips, flopping down on the ground beside us. “Tell us, Poppy. What are you trying to say?”

“I’m a fox,” she says excitedly.

“I could have told you that. And not just because of your shift,” Warrick jests and joins us on the forest floor.

Poppy swats at him gently, dropping her head against my chest, and I stroke her long, strawberry blonde waves gently.

This is what it feels like to be loved unconditionally, to be part of a bonded pack. All that power I thought I craved, that leadership I’d believed was rightfully mine, but lost by the luck of birth order, would have never made me as content as this.

I’ll want for nothing ever again as long as I have Poppy. I see that now.

“Wait,” Asher says slowly, sitting up, and I glower at him for breaking the spell among us. Eyes narrowing, I wait for him to finish his thought, but shoot him a warning thought.

Don’t ruin it. We have a good thing here.

He ignores me and looks at our mate, his head twisted. “Are you still able to shift into other forms if you have your own?”

Poppy’s eyes widen as she considers the question worriedly. “I don’t know,” she breathes honestly, biting on her lower lip.

Suddenly, she lunges for Asher and tackles him, rolling him over in the leaves and pine needles as she shifts into his lion body.

Releasing him, she lets out a ferocious roar, which sounds more like a laugh to my ears.

She bolts toward the tree line again.I guess that answers that question!Poppy taunts us before disappearing into the woods.Catch me if you can!

Rolling my eyes, I jump to my feet and scowl at my brother. “You just had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?” I scold him as Warrick chortles and takes off after her.

“Last one to the bedroom has cleanup duty!” Warrick cries, transforming into his white wolf body, and I can’t help but laugh as I follow after them.

Epilogue

POPPY

One Year Later

Warrick escorts me downstairs like I’m made of glass, every step slower than the last one. Despite his sweet, protective intentions, I try to hide my impatience, but he’s starting to get on my nerves.

“Warrick, I love you very much, but if you don’t speed this up, I’m going to have to go without you,” I tell him honestly. “I have too much to do before Sadie and Circe come over tonight, and I’d like to get into the underground cells at some point today.”

My mate stops fully and stares at me balefully, unimpressed by me rushing him along.

“You have to slow down, Poppy. You heard what the doctor said!”

Gritting my teeth, I look at my fitness watch impatiently, noting that my blood pressure only rises when I get into these silly arguments with one of my mates.

“He said that I am pregnant with triplets, so I should act accordingly, not walk like a hundred-year-old human man.”

Warrick is not amused.

“You know, if you just brought the prisoners upstairs, we wouldn’t have this problem,” I remind him sweetly.

Warrick balks at the suggestion. “No,” he says flatly, more determined now than before. “At least not until after the babies are born. We’ve already upgraded the underground cells at your request.”

I stifle a sigh and breathe, remembering what the doctor said; I need to pick my battles, and at least I’m making some progress on the prisoner front. The renovations in the underground cells have advanced leaps and bounds since I moved in. The prisoners have normal cells and aren’t being treated like animals anymore. But there are still ways to go on both ends. My mates don’t trust them, and I know they are misguided, clinging to an outdated belief system. But we’ll get there eventually, I’m sure.

Tavric grins happily to see me, like always, particularly when I bring his favorite sandwiches in a picnic basket.

“I’ll be back to get you in an hour,” Warrick warns. He points a finger at Tavric, who is freshly shaven today and wearing clean clothes. He doesn’t resemble the same shifter I’d met a year ago, the extra weight on his face changing his entire appearance. “Don’t try anything stupid.”

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