Chapter 567

Nina

I huffed out a breath as I hoisted the oversized cardboard box higher in my arms, carefully navigating my way through the living room. Strings of fairy lights poked out haphazardly from the top, and I could feel the weight of glass jars and other assorted decor inside shifting precariously with each step.

With my jaw clenched in determination, I made my way toward the patio doors, intent on getting everything set up for tonight’s end-of-summer party. Of course, it would have been easier with a certain someone’s help, but duty had called Enzo away.

Duty.

I hated that the Schreibers were still sending scouts to bother us. I hated that they had slipped through our fingers, always one step ahead. And I hated that I wasn’t any help.

But I could set up a party, at least.

Almost as if on cue, I felt the solid warmth of his body at my back, those familiar calloused hands easily taking the bulk of the box’s weight from me.

“Where do you think you’re going with that?” he chided with a low chuckle, maneuvering around to set the box on the coffee table. “You know you’re not supposed to be carrying too much.”

I rolled my eyes at him, but noticed the way his gaze drifted down to my swollen belly. At nearly six months pregnant, I was really beginning to show now; but I wasn’t a complete invalid.

“I’m fine, Enzo. I’m still capable of carrying a box when you’re not around.”

The skeptical quirk of his eyebrow told me he didn’t believe that for a second. “Sure, sure. But now that I’m here, at least let me do it for you.”

Pursing my lips to keep from smiling, I gestured vaguely toward the backyard. “Can you start stringing those lights along the fence line? And be careful with those mason jars—I want them lining the steps up to the patio.”

Enzo nodded, already getting to work as I stepped back to admire the progress I had made so far in transforming our backyard into a twinkling garden oasis for the night. It was shaping up to be the perfect setting for one last big summer hurrah with our friends before...

Well, before everything changed.

A strange melancholy tugged at my heart as I rested a hand on my belly, feeling the reassuring flutter of movement beneath my palm. In a few short months, everything would be so different. Our little one would finally enter the world, and I’d be finishing up my first semester in medical school proper, all while leading a secret double life as the Alpha Queen of the werewolf realm.

But that wasn’t the most pressing matter on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about our little girl who, in eighteen short years, would… change.

If the ritual actually went to plan, on her eighteenth birthday she would lose her personality—her hopes, her dreams, her very essence. All of it would be gone, replaced by everything that had once made Selena... Selena.

It was a sobering thought, one that I still grappled with daily despite knowing that it had been the only way to save both the baby and myself.

“Hey.” Enzo’s voice dragged me out of my head as he brushed past me, a tangle of fairy lights in his arms. “You’ve got that look on your face again.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he just tsked lightly and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Don’t try and tell me you weren’t thinking about... you know. After the baby’s born.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose; damn this mate bond of ours. It really did feel as if he were reading my mind a lot of the time.

“You got me. I just can’t help it sometimes,” I admitted quietly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—I know we were just doing whatever we could to keep our baby safe. But the thought of losing who our daughter becomes in the process…”

My throat tightened, and I trailed off. Enzo didn’t need me to finish that thought. He knew exactly how much it pained me.

Striding over to me, he cupped my face in his calloused palms and fixed me with that intense, searching gaze of his. “Nina, listen to me. We’ve got a long road ahead of us before anything like that happens, yeah? Eighteen years. And who knows—maybe things will turn out differently than you’re expecting.”

He managed an easy smile, although I could see the faint worry lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. Enzo had never been fully on board with the ritual, but he knew just as well as I did that we didn’t have much of a choice.

“Eighteen years,” I muttered. “It’ll go by much faster than we realize.”

“Not if we cherish every moment.” He dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss to my lips, gently sucking on my lower lip ever so slightly as he pulled away.

I managed a tight nod and a bashful smile, averting my gaze. “You’re right. And maybe we will find a way.”

Nodding, he pulled me close once more, burying his face in the crook of my neck as his arms tightened around me. For a few blissful moments, we just held each other, swaying ever so slightly in silent communion. It was peaceful, grounding... familiar.

At least, until the sharp tug of something snagging at my legs forced me to break away with a snort of surprise. “What the—?”

Enzo frowned down at me in confusion, only to let out a startled yelp as I gave an experimental yank at the string of fairy lights now tangled hopelessly around his ankles. Bursting into laughter, I continued my playful tugging until he was practically tripping over his own two feet in an effort to stay upright.

“Nina!” he cried out in mock protest, gasping for air between peals of helpless chuckles. “Quit it, woman!”

“Oh no, I don’t think so,” I shot back impishly, failing to stifle my own fit of giggles. “In fact…”

With a mischievous grin, I flicked my wrists and threw the cord around his neck, unceremoniously yanking him close so that our lips were nearly touching.

“Well, well,” I murmured, running the index finger of my free hand along his sharp jaw. “Looks like you're at my mercy now, Alpha.”

Enzo gaped at me for a beat, then let out a low, rumbling growl as the triumph blazed hot in his deep brown eyes. Before I could react, one of those thick arms of his looped firmly around my waist, pulling me flush against his sturdy body.

“Careful,” he murmured. “You might talk the talk now, but when it gets down to brass tacks…” His words trailed off huskily, his hips grinding against mine.

I felt a low whimper tickle the back of my throat, then, as his hand gently stroked the small of my back in that way I always liked. I found myself smiling, biting my lower lip as I carefully tugged on the fairy lights once more.

“Do you think we have time for—”

Suddenly, the sound of the doorbell ringing from inside caused us both to look up, our heat having been cut short. I let out a soft sigh as I released Enzo from the tangle of fairy lights, deciding to save our delicious tasting of one another for later.

We’d have the rest of our lives together, after all.