Chapter 6

Six

Joshua nuzzles my neck and I drop a kiss on his nose. "Ready to see if it worked?"

His eyes snap to mine. "If?"

My smile is wicked as I hold up my fingers. "I think I want my men back."

Snap.

I don't know what I expected… but instantaneous change was not it. There's no transformation, no violent shift. They're just… men in the blink of an eye.

They study me and each other.

And I give them a moment before I say, "Everyone make it through with your minds intact?"

Johnny snickers and drags his teeth along the inside of my thigh. "Chase left his brain back in third grade."

"Hey!"

Thomas just starts laughing and the three of them get up, seemingly testing out the bodies they spend twenty-seven days of every lunar cycle in.

"They're fine," Joshua says, fingers tracing down my cheek to turn me toward him. "So what now?"

Now… I consider asking for a thank you session, but there will be time for that later.

"Did you bring any clothes?"

His brows pinch and he shakes his head. "We didn't think about it."

"Didn't trust me?" I ask, raising a brow.

"The full moon is bad luck for us… the odds weren't in our favor."

"Well, unless the four of you want to pile into my car and risk a naked drive home, I'd suggest letting me change you back to wolves for the return trip."

"Whose home?"

"I don't have the space set aside for all of you right now."

He sits up, pulling me with him. "Maybe you should think about that for the next moon."

When I raise my brow, he shrugs a shoulder. "We'll all feel safer in your company when the moon is full. At least for a while."

"We can talk about that later… but the question still remains. Naked car ride? Or fur coats?"

He looks over to the others head tipping to the side. "They don't want to go back to being wolves."

And I can't blame them. "I may have a beach towel or a blanket in my trunk. But the three of them are going to have to cram into the back seat."

"We got used to each other a long time ago."

That was how—after packing up my things, snuffing the candles and finding two towels and a blanket—I wound up with a naked pack of liberated werewolves in my car, driving past the lingering left overs of Halloween revelers.

There's a house party on their street that hasn't broken up yet, and they all cast nervous glances at each other.

"Would it be better if I parked by the garage?"

Joshua nods. "It'll take a little longer to open up, but if you'll spring the lock, we can run in before we risk exposing ourselves to anyone."

Parking, I kill the engine and look back at the four of them. I hadn't quite understood the responsibility that came with tying them to me.

"Where's the key?"