Page 146 of The Wolf King's Mate

“You and your damn gift baskets,”I said into his mind, my voice full of gratitude as I took my seat.“Thank you.”

“It was Fletcher’s idea. I just made it happen.”

I looked at Fletcher and saw the same emotions I was feeling reflected back in his eyes. I couldn’t read his mind, but I knew he was thinking something along the lines of what I was.

We couldn’t save Simon, but we could save our parents.

We could prevent our mother from aging further, or leaving our father alone to go rogue. We could give them a chance to be together permanently.

“Thank you all for being here,” Enzo said, his voice calm and authoritative. “You all know why we’re here and what’s going to happen next. The female werewolves will be deciding when everything happens, so I’ll leave it to them.”

With that, he turned my chair away from the rest of the group to give us privacy.

As my chair spun, I met the other girls’ eyes and mouthedgood luckbefore I couldn’t see them anymore.

Enzo lifted me up long enough to sit beneath me, one of his arms wrapping securely around my waist. I had a feeling the other would go around my chest before I passed out, to keep me from falling.

My mother gave me her arm, and my wolf surged to the surface.

She gave me a warning growl, as if letting me know that she would be taking over so she could shift as soon as we recovered, and I nodded.

It was past time.

My teeth lengthened into fangs, and I bit down on my mom’s arm. The magic took hold immediately, just like it had the last time. There was a sudden drain on my energy. I slouched a little.

The world started to spin as exhaustion slowly set in. It didn’t seem to be as violent as it had been the last time. Maybe having Enzo’s arm around me helped.

Or maybe it was just the fact that I’d done it before, recently, and my body and mind knew what was coming.

I still didn’t make it very long before I passed out.

twenty-four

ASPEN

I woke up with a groan,my head pounding.

By the scent and feel of the blankets, I knew I was in our bed.

His chest was pressed against my back, his skin bare. Mine was too.

“You took my shirt off?” I mumbled.

“Your bra too. Your heart rate was better when we had more skin touching.”

“Should’ve taken my leggings off too then.”

He chuckled. “I did, Princess.”

I moved my legs a little, and realized all I had on was a pair of my spandex shorts. “Oh. Thanks.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay. Tired. Is my mom…”

“A wolf? Yep. She and your dad are happy, according to your brother.”

Relief rolled through me. “How long have I been out?”

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