“Not until I’m done, buddy.” I step around to work on the other half of his face but stop when I notice the way they’re all regarding me.

Well, not all. Koen is just his habitual, long-suffering self. The others, though, watch us open-mouthed. I smell a surge of panic. Sudden alert. Sphincters clenched tight enough to make diamonds.

“Are we . . . are we being attacked by the Vampyres?” I switch my hold on the razor to use it as a weapon, ready for an invasion. So ready. They don’t need to know that earlier I pulled a muscle while combing my hair.

“It’s hardly evidence that you two are not in a relationship,” Xabier points out, “the way she takes liberties. Gives you orders.”

“Is it?” Koen sounds bored. “You three just showed up to my house to tell me what to do, and last I checked, I’m not fucking any of you.”

“Stop moving,” I murmur, going back to shaving him. “Or I’m going to nick you, and they’re going to think I’m pregnant with your triplets.”

Koen stills, but the corners of his lips twitch. “She’s not taking liberties, she is given them. If anyone here is questioning my authority, it’s you.”

“We are not,” Anneke says. “But we are concerned. Must we remind you— ”

“No. I don’t need to be reminded of shit. But if you want to anyway, go ahead. I know it’s a cherished hobby of yours.”

“Koen knows why the rules are there,” Karolina says, diplomatic. “Better than anyone. He has never given us reason to doubt him.”

“He hasn’t,” Xabier agrees. “But he did not have a mate before.”

Koen grunts. “When the pack reunited, I promised that if I found her, I’d immediately inform you, and I did. The day I met her. I am the reason you can be on me like stink on shit. Unfortunately, she’s also a hybrid in need of protection, which I won’t withhold just to convince the Assembly that nothing is happening.”

“Plus,” I ask, “wouldn’t you be able to smell it?”

Karolina quirks her head. “What do you mean, Serena?”

“Well, two of the seconds are together, and last night I could easily tell that they regularly exchange bodily fluids.” I finish running a warm cloth against Koen’s cheeks and step back, searching for missing spots. I’ll be sad, if he ever holds me again, without the scratch of his beard against my skin. I was . . . yeah. Into it.

This was a fun activity, though. My favorite in a while. There’s something nice about being close to my Alpha. Taking care of him, as he does of me. Breathing in his soothing scent, preparing for what’s to come, comfort for—

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Where did my brain go just now? How long was I silent?

“I guess my point is”— I clear my throat— “that your nose would tell you if something was happening between us.”

“Maybe they have a cold,” Koen drawls. “Maybe that cold made their brains leak out of their ears.”

“Koen, given your history— ”

“My history?” He stands, suddenly towering over all of us. The little strands of chopped hair still clinging to his shoulders silently slip to the floor. Xabier, who spoke last, takes a step back. “Do tell me more about my history. What have I done to warrant these doubts?”

“Your— ”

“Think very carefully before you finish that sentence.”

“Hey.” My hand meets the hard heat of Koen’s stomach, and I quietly slip in front of him, ignoring the additional helping of befuddled looks it earns me. “Listen, you may not know me, but Koen has been your Alpha for years. There’s no need to treat him like a fuckboy.”

Three pairs of eyes blink at me. From behind me, Koen asks, “A what?”

“A fuckboy. Just, you know. A boy. Who fucks.” God, Misery’s right. Some things simply do not translate to the Weres. “What I’m trying to say is, he told me that nothing would happen between us on the day we first met. And I’m not about to try to disintegrate his free will with my magic cunt. Okay?” I hold Xabier’s eyes until he nods his agreement, and while he doesn’t look happy as he storms out, he’s at least gone. Anneke makes to leave afterward, marginally more reassured.

“I trust you, Koen,” she says. “I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t. But I want to remind you that no other Were is strong enough to hold the Northwest together, and if your worries about Constantine turn out to be true . . . We are in your hands, Alpha. Keep that in mind.” She slips outside with considerably less stomping, leaving us to stand in a long silence, and me to wonder, who the hell is—

“Who told you about the covenant?” Koen asks me.

Hands on my hips, I turn around. “I find it interesting that you didn’t tell me yourself, since you’re so big on the truth.”

“Didn’t come up.” I see forced indifference in the tension of every single muscle in his body. “Who told you?”

“I have my sources.” I give him my best cryptic, superspy smile, refusing to throw Amanda under the bus.

“Isn’t she lovely to have around,” he tells Karolina, wrapping a hand around my shoulder. His touch hits me like a small supernova, lighting up a million nerve endings. Heat licks down my arm, up my spine, pools in my belly. “She’s high maintenance. Talks too much. Can’t mind her business. The very opposite of how I like my pack members— seen but not heard.”

I snort. “He doesn’t like to see them, either.”

“Yeah. True enough.”

“Fascinating.” Karolina’s gaze alternates between us. “You said it’s not mutual? You’re not her mate even though she’s yours?”

Koen’s nod is detached, like he’s confirming something inconsequential. Yes, leeks are indeed my favorite seasonal vegetable.

“And yet she doesn’t feel the pull to obey you.”

“Should I?” I ask brightly.

“Not quite. The rumor that an Alpha can brainwash other Weres into doing his bidding is vastly exaggerated— there is no magic compulsion. But our instinct is to avoid defying them. I definitely cannot remember the last time I saw a Were give Koen orders, even one as simple as ‘sit down.’ ”

“She’s not fully Were,” Koen reminds her.

“And I’m not the only one. You three came over just to yell at him.”

“We are the Assembly. It’s our job to hold the Alpha accountable— we are trained to go against our nature.” She rolls her eyes. “Though this was an unnecessary execution of our duties.”

“Let me guess,” Koen drawls, “Xabier and the giant pole that lives up his rectum had a bad dream and convinced Anneke that I was a step away from eloping with Serena and becoming a deadbeat Alpha, so you followed them here to make sure I didn’t dissolve them in battery acid.”

Karolina tries not to smile, but her relationship with Koen seems to run deep. “I can neither confirm nor deny.”

“Is the rest of the Assembly going to be balls deep up my ass?”

“Not Conan— you know how little he likes the covenant. Jerzy, maybe. He’s busy dealing with the Canada pack, though.”

“He knows my offer for help stands, right?”

“Of course.” Karolina turns to me. “Serena, let me introduce myself properly. I am the leader of the Moon Craters huddle. Saul, whom I believe you know, is my younger brother.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say.

“After all of this is over,” she asks, “where do you plan to go?”

Rotting down a dark hole, preferably inside a mushroom death suit is not an acceptable answer, is it? “My sister lives in the Southwest.”

“Ah, yes. The Vampyre? Well, should you change your mind, you are welcome in our huddle. You were a financial reporter, right?”

“Before. Yes.”

“We’ve been doing more and more business with the Humans. We could use someone with your background.”

“Oh. That’s really cool. I . . . I’ll give it a think,” I say, somewhat sad that it’s a lie. I try to camouflage it with a smile. “I’m sure I’d thrive there. I mean, I get along with you and Saul. It’s gotta be a sign.”