“By now they’re out cold. I’ll feed them when they wake up again.”

“She’s a cute little thing, isn’t she?”

“Uh-huh.” Marci knew where this was going.

“But a wolfdog?”

Typical. Wolfdogs had the worst reputation among the hybrids, but Marci had never thought that was fair. “Seems to me she has more to worry about. Did you see that mane on him when he was looking for her? It grew in sudden, ya know? It wasn’t there when we brought him in.” She ate a bit of honey bun before asking, “How is Fabi, by the way?”

“I sent his dumb ass home.”

“That boy is dumb, Grigori.”

“Just like his father.”

“Speaking of which—”

“No. He’s not coming to visit.”

“Dumb. All of ’em.”

“Thank you.”

“You and Bold don’t count.”

Grigori stared at her plate. “You going to eat all those honey buns?”

“You don’t even like honey.”

“We both know I’ll eat anything if it’s sweet and tasty.” Then he grinned, and Marci seriously considered throwing the whole plate at his face.

A barely audible chime had Grigori reaching for his cell. He pulled it off his jeans and answered. “Novikov.”

Marci went back to her honey buns, slapping at Grigori’s hand as he reached for one. He said little more than “uh-huh” into the phone, but when he hung up, he looked positively bemused.

“What?”

“That was Kerry-Ann. Seems she got a call from Niles Van Holtz.”

Alpha Male of the Van Holtz Pack? Calling the superintendent of their town? “What did he want?”

“He’s coming here.”

“Why?”

“To get the wolfdog.”

“You can’t tell me that the Van Holtzes would have a hybrid in their Pack.” From what Marci knew the Van Holtzes were almost as bad as the Prides when it came to that sort of thing.

“He’s on his way from Washington state to New York and then here. Even bringing a bear from Jersey with him. They’ll be here tomorrow.”

“For protection?” she asked with a laugh.

“Somehow I’m doubting that.”

“You think Bold will go back with them?”

Grigori shrugged. “Probably. He’s got the Llewellyn Cup finals coming up. He won’t want to miss that.”

“You know, you could visit him sometime. Maybe watch him play.”

The polar grunted. “He could invite me.”

“Oh, my God! You two!”

“What are you yelling at me for?” He snatched the last honey bun off her plate. “And I’m taking this because you owe me.”

“I don’t owe you anything but a swift kick to the ass. Both you andyour nephew!”

“If nothing else,” Grigori said around that honey bun, “if Van Holtz comes for the wolfdog at least we won’t have to worry about protecting her.”

That was true. No one in Ursus County was a big fan of wolves, and any hybrid with more than one-eighth wolf blood was considered wolf. The poor child would be a walking target.

“Van Holtz coming here,” Marci said, looking out the window. “Won’t we need a red carpet for his arrival?”

Grigori laughed and Marci joined him.

Blayne woke up. She immediately became aware that it was now dark out, meaning she’d slept the entire day away, and that her bones had completely healed—and were about ten times stronger than they were before they were damaged—and that she was snuggled in close to Bo Novikov. Her face pressed against his neck, his cock pressed against her inside thigh—and he was sweating.

This was how they’d woken up together the first time, wasn’t it? Only there’d been no sweating because they’d both been fully dressed.

What could she say? She liked naked better.

Blayne dragged her hands up Bo’s back, enjoying the feel of his skin under her fingers. Slid her leg up his thigh, causing friction against his cock.

She felt his jaw tense against the top of her head, and she knew the sound she’d been hearing was Bo’s teeth grinding together. Smiling, she kissed his neck, remembering that interrupted kiss they’d had the night before.

When she made small swirls on his flesh with her tongue, Bo finally said, “Please tell me you’re awake.”

“Uh-huh.” She dragged her tongue up his throat to his tense jaw.

“Okay, okay,” he said desperately, “that helps. Um, uh . . . Blayne”—he groaned, his hands caressing her—“maybe we should hold off on this until, uh, you’re feeling better.”

“I feel great. Fever’s gone, bones healed, and I have way more energy than I know what to do with.” She rose up enough to look down into his face. “I need you to kiss me again.”

He peered at her with those clear blue eyes. “Won’t I be taking advantage of you?”

God, he was so cute! “Not even close. Now kiss me.”

He did, bringing his head up until their lips touched. Blayne let out a deep sigh, her tongue meeting his. Yeah, she remembered right—their first kiss had been that good. She’d worried that she’d blown it out of proportion because of what happened afterward. She hadn’t.

Bo’s hands slipped into her hair, his fingers digging into her scalp. His body came up off the bed, and Blayne was forced to sit up with him. She gripped his forearms with her hands, the fingers of her right hand taking hold of the plaster from his cast. Their kiss grew more intense, their tongues delving deeper as they fought for breath.