She stretched out, then curled on her side. She didn't expect to sleep, but shut her eyes anyway.
"Lift your head," Vishous said. When she did, he slid a rolled-up towel under her ear. "This is better for your Page 268
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neck."
"You're very kind."
"You kidding? Cop would kick my ass for letting you be uncomfortable."
She could have sworn Vishous brushed his hand down her hair, but then figured it was in her mind.
"What about you?" she said softly as he sat on the other bench. God, he had to be as tired as she was.
His smile was remote. "You don't worry about me, female. Just sleep."
Surprisingly, she did.
* * *
V watched Marissa pass out from exhaustion. Then he tilted his head and looked into the PT/first aid suite. From this angle he could see the soles of the cop's much larger feet. Man... Butch really was one of them now.
A card-carrying, fanged-up, warrior male who looked like he was going to stand at about six-six, maybe six-seven. Wrath's bloodline was definitely in that boy-and V wondered if they were ever going to find out why.
The door to the Equipment Room swung open and Z walked in, with Phury right behind him.
"What happened?" the two of them asked in unison.,
"Shhh." V nodded at Marissa. Then in a quiet voice he said, "See for yourself. He's in there."
The two went to the doorway. "Holy shit..." Phury breathed.
"That's a big one," Z muttered. Then he sniffed the air. "Why is Wrath's bonding scent all over this place-or is it me?"
V stood up. "Come outside to the gym, I don't want to wake either of them."
The three walked onto the blue mats and V shut the door most of the way behind them.
"So where is Wrath?" Phury asked as they sat down. "I thought he was here to witness the whole thing."
"He's busy." No doubt.
Z stared at the door. "That cop's big, V. That cop is really big."
"I know." V laid himself out flat on his back and took a drag. As he exhaled, he refused to look at his brothers.
"V, he's really big."
"Don't even go there. It's too early to know what he's going to be like."
Z rubbed over his skull trim. "I'm just saying. He's-"
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"I know."
"And he's got Wrath's blood in him."
"I know. But look, it's too soon, Z. It's just too soon. Besides, his mother isn't a Chosen."
Z's yellow eyes grew annoyed. "Stupid fucking rule if you ask me."
Chapter Forty
Butch woke up on the gurney in the midst of taking a deep breath in through his nose. He was... smelling something. Something that pleased him greatly. Something that made him hum with power. Mine, a voice said in his head.
He tried to shake the word off, but it just got louder. With every breath he took, the single syllable repeated in his brain until it was like the beat of his heart: Involuntary. The source of his very life. The seat of his soul.
With a groan, he sat up on the table, only to lurch off balance and nearly fall onto the floor. As he caught himself, he looked down at his arms. What the-no, this was wrong. These were not his arms-or... shit, his legs either. His thighs were huge.
This is not me, he thought.
Mine, came the voice again.
He looked around. God, everything in the clinical room was crystal clear, like his eyes were windows that had been wiped clean. And his ears... he looked up at the fluorescent lights. He could actually hear the electricity going through the tubes.
Mine.
He inhaled again. Marissa. That scent was Marissa. She was close by-His mouth opened of its own accord, and he let out a deep, rhythmic purr that ended in a growled word: Mine.
His heart pounded as he realized the control tower in his head had been completely overtaken. No longer logical, he was being ruled by a possessive instinct that made what he'd felt toward Marissa before look like a passing fancy.
Mine!
He glanced down at his hips and got a load of what was doing in his now way-too-small boxers. His cock had grown along with the rest of him, and it was punching out at the stretched-thin cotton. The thing twitched as he looked at it as if to get his attention.
Oh... God. His body wanted to mate. With Marissa. Now.
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As if he'd called her name, she appeared in the doorway. "Butch?"