“Bullshit. Look at you.”

“No, thanks.” Eric was drained of strength, and he probably looked awful. He started to dry himself off, but his hands shook so much that Jace had to help him.

“You were with a woman tonight,” Jace said, still sounding worried.

Damn it. “Can you still scent her on me? Give me the soap.”

“No, I can tell because you have love bites up and down your neck.”

The clenching pain receded slightly as Eric thought of Iona’s mouth on him, her tongue tracing the line of his Collar. He smiled faintly. “She likes to chew on me.”

“Was it Iona Duncan?”

Eric lost his smile. “Cass told you.”

“Yeah. She also told me to keep it quiet. Like I’d rat out my own father.”

Eric grabbed Jace’s offered hand and let his son help pull him to his feet. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to take a new mate?” he asked.

Jace rolled his eyes. “I’d say it’s about f**king time.”

Eric growled a laugh. He caught Jace around the neck and pulled him close for a swift, damp hug. The pain finally dissolved with his son’s warmth through the towel.

“That’s what I love about you, Jace,” Eric said. “You don’t hold back.”

“Why should I? You’re not that scary, Dad.”

Eric squeezed Jace again before letting him go. “I’ll have to work on that. Go tell Cass I’m okay.”

Jace returned the embrace, then dried off his hands on the end of the towel. “Better clean up in here before you let Cassidy in. And when you’re done, Shane and I want to talk to you.”

“Sure thing.”

My son, third in command, is getting stronger. Eric thought it with pride as Jace left the bathroom with one final worried look at Eric.

Eric also sensed the restlessness in Jace, his need to prove himself in the hierarchy. Jace was third automatically, because he was Eric’s son, but Jace was getting to the age where he’d need to show he had dominance of his own, unconnected to his father’s position in the clan.

That might entail a fight with Eric, or a battle with any number of Shifters, including Graham. Graham’s arrival was triggering all kinds of issues.

Eric’s strength returned somewhat as he dried himself, got himself to his room, and dressed again, but the incident in the shower left him shaky. He needed to find someone to talk to about it, but quietly.

No one could know of the alpha’s weakness, not if Eric wanted to avoid even more dominance fights. And Graham would use the slightest excuse to push Eric out.

Eric kissed the worried Cassidy on the cheek when he emerged from his bedroom, telling her that Jace had made him feel better, then he walked out into the dark backyard to meet with Shane.

Nicole’s wedding was a whirlwind of flowers, music, excitement, and—for Iona—sadness. Nicole stood serenely at the altar in her slim ivory satin gown, Iona holding her bouquet of pink roses as Tyler and Nicole exchanged rings.

Tyler was still obviously stunned about being an unexpected father, but the look he gave Nicole when he slid the ring onto her finger was so loving that more eyes than Iona’s teared up.

At one point in the service, Iona glanced back over the packed church and faltered when she saw Eric in the last pew on the bride’s side. She had no idea when he’d slipped in, but once she spotted him, his presence shouted itself to her.

He wore a button-down shirt and suit coat that hid his Collar, so at first glance he looked like any other man attending the wedding. But the bulk of him filled his corner of the pew, which thankfully was otherwise empty. No one seemed to notice him, thank God.

When Tyler leaned to kiss Nicole, finishing the ceremony, Iona looked again for Eric, but he’d gone.

Her heart fluttered, and the itchy feeling she’d had since her encounter with him last night ignited again. She’d dreamed of Eric all night, waking up hot and sweating, craving him.

Staying awake had been just as bad, because she could remember precisely what his kisses felt like as he pressed her into the wall, the sounds of excitement he made while she stroked him, the exact size and feel of his c**k in her hand.

She’d licked the palm that had held him, imagining she could still taste him on her. The spurt of his come had excited her. Thinking of it, lying alone in her hot bed, made her wet and aching, and she’d slid her hand between her legs to try to suppress it.

That hadn’t helped at all, and now, standing at the altar, in a church, she still wanted him. All this fertility—Nicole pregnant, the wedding ceremony, the flowers—all the symbols of matrimony and fruitfulness were driving her insane.

Even the fun of dressing up Nicole before the wedding and sharing her excitement hadn’t dampened Iona’s crazed longing for Eric. She watched the service and spoke the responses as though not really there, everything muted and fuzzy around the edges.

Only when she’d glimpsed Eric in the back had she seen clearly again, every nerve coming alive with the closeness of him.

Eric had said he’d go to the construction office to look at her blueprints. Then why had he come here? For the keys? Or another reason?

The organ started with the recessional, and Iona made herself pay attention. Nicole and Tyler sailed back down the aisle, married, Nicole stopping to kiss their mother, who was openly crying.

Iona waited for her cue to meet up with Tyler’s brother, Clay, and hurry out of the church with him. Clay leaned to her. “You look beautiful, Iona.”

“Thank you,” she said distractedly.

“Best man and maid of honor get to dance, you know.”

Iona, scanning the fringes of the crowd for Eric, barely heard him. “Sure,” she said.

Clay squeezed her arm. “Looking forward to it.”

Crap, what had she just promised? Eric was nowhere in sight, and he wasn’t in the crowd in front of the church. The tingling his presence triggered was gone as well.

Everything in Iona wanted her to rush to her red pickup and gun it to the office in hopes of meeting up with Eric there. But this was her sister’s wedding, for heaven’s sake. Nicole’s special day. Iona couldn’t just leave.

Iona slid away from Clay and went to Nicole, embracing her. “Congratulations, Nikki. Be happy.”

“I am happy.” Nicole had a hint of tears in her eyes, but she was mostly smiles. She leaned to Iona and whispered, “And maybe a little bit exhausted from last night. You threw the best party.”