A fist slammed against the heavy oak.

"Open the door, Iris."

Zephyr's voice went straight through the wood, hard as iron.

My spine locked. My feet rooted to the carpet.

Behind me, warm hands clamped around my waist. Kael pulled me flush against his chest, his mouth grazing the crook of my neck.

"Don't answer," Kael whispered into my ear.

"Stop," I breathed, trying to wrench free. "He's right there!"

Kael didn't let go. His fingers slid beneath the hem of my silk shift, calloused palms skimming up the bare curve of my thigh. He squeezed my hip, his thumb dragging across my skin until a hot spike shot straight between my legs.

"Tell him you're sleeping," Kael murmured against my earlobe, his teeth catching the soft flesh. "You don't want his cold hands on you."

"Iris!" Zephyr pounded the door again. "I know you're awake. Mira said you took supper an hour ago. Unlatch this door."

Panic seized my throat. Kael's hand wandered higher, his fingers parting my thighs, teasing the soaked rim of my heat. He pressed his front against my lower back, fully erect, letting me feel every inch of how much he wanted me to make a noise.

"Zephyr, please," I shouted, my voice trembling. I shoved Kael's chest with my elbow, but he only chuckled, low in his throat. "I'm... I'm unwell. The fever came back. Come back tomorrow!"

"You said that three days ago," Zephyr barked. "I am not waiting until tomorrow. Unlatch it, or I will take the door off its hinges."

"Kael, stop it," I hissed, twisting in his grip. "He'll slaughter both of us!"

Kael slid two fingers straight between my folds, pumping them once, hard. A muffled gasp tore from my lips. His eyes flashed silver in the dim light, reckless and hungry.

"Let him break it down," Kael whispered wickedly. "Let him see how wet his brother makes you."

"Get under the bed!" I shoved him with everything I had, tears of terror stinging my eyelids. "Get down, or I swear to the Goddess, I'll tell him myself!"

Kael studied my face for half a second. The mocking grin slipped, replaced by an irritated scowl.

"You're no fun when you panic, Princess," he muttered.

He dropped to his knees, slid onto his belly, and dragged himself beneath the heavy velvet valance of the four-poster bed. The fabric fell back into place, hiding him completely in the shadows of the floorboards.

My chest heaved. I smoothed my shift down, ran shaking fingers through my hair, and crossed the room.

My fingers fumbled with the heavy iron bolt. I pulled it back.

The door swung inward.

Zephyr stood in the corridor.

He seemed to swallow all the light from the hallway torches. Tall, broad-shouldered, and rigid as carved stone, he wore a black linen shirt open at the throat, exposing the thick muscle of his chest. His features were sharper than Kael's, older, weathered by command. But his eyes were the same chilling shade of gray—only while Kael's burned with wild fire, Zephyr's felt like a freezing gale.

Zephyr stepped past me into the bedchamber without an invitation.

I backed up, keeping my arms crossed over my ribs. "I told you I was resting."

"You've been hiding behind these doors for six months, Iris." He stopped near the center of the rug, turning slowly to face me. "Why are you always hiding from me?"

"I am not hiding."

"Then what do you call this?" His gaze raked down my body, lingering on the high lace collar pinned tightly at my throat. "I summoned you three times this week. You sent Mira with excuses. You spend your days staring at the trees and your nights locked in this room."

"I took ill during the journey from the south," I lied, forcing my voice steady. "My wolf hasn't adjusted to the northern chill. I need rest."

"You look flushed, not sick." Zephyr took a long stride toward me, closing the distance until I could smell the leather of his bracers and the crisp mountain wind clinging to his hair. He reached out, his knuckles brushing my cheek. "Your skin is burning."

"It's just the fever."

His jaw hardened. "You're my Luna, Iris. The pack council wants to see you at the banquet tomorrow night. They're whispering that the southern princess looks down on Blackthorn blood."

"I don't look down on anyone," I muttered, looking away from his piercing stare. "I'll attend tomorrow. Just... let me sleep tonight."

Zephyr didn't move. He lowered his hand, his eyes scanning the quiet room.

Then, his head tilted. His nostrils flared.

The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

"What is that?" he asked quietly.

My heart stopped beating. "What is what?"

"The scent." Zephyr took two steps toward the hearth, his brow drawing into a deep, furious knot. He inhaled again, deep and sharp. "Cedar. Crushed pine needles. Cold snow."

Blood rushed to my ears, roaring like a waterfall.

"Mira brought fresh boughs from the woods this morning," I stammered, stepping between him and the bed. "To clear the air. To help with my lungs."

"Don't lie to me." Zephyr's voice dropped to a dangerous rasp. He turned his head toward the four-poster mattress. "I know my brother's scent. Why does my Luna's bedchamber smell like Kael?"

"You're imagining things, Zephyr."

"I don't imagine scents, Iris." He took another step forward, his eyes fixing on the foot of the bed. "Kael was supposed to be running border patrol at the eastern ridge."

A faint scrape sounded from beneath the wooden frame.

It was tiny—barely the brush of a boot against stone—but to an Alpha wolf, it was a thunderclap.

Zephyr snapped around, glaring directly at the dark fabric draping the floor.

"What's under the bed?" he demanded.

"Nothing."

Zephyr took a violent stride toward the mattress.

If he lifted that valance, he would find Kael. He would smell the sex clinging to the sheets. He would kill Kael, and then he would execute me for high treason before the sun rose.

I didn't think. Instinct took over.

I lunged forward, grabbed both lapels of Zephyr's black shirt with my fists, and yanked him down.

I smashed my mouth against his.

Zephyr stiffened instantly. His body went rigid as granite, shock freezing him in place.

I kept my lips pressed to his, desperate, clumsy, pouring every ounce of terror and false heat into the seam of his mouth. My fingers twisted into the fabric of his shirt, anchoring him, keeping his eyes away from the floor.

"Zephyr," I whimpered against his lips.

For one terrifying second, he didn't react.

Then, something snapped inside him.

A deep growl rumbled from the depths of his chest. His broad hand shot up, fingers tangling viciously into my hair, gripping the back of my neck to hold me still. He shoved forward, slamming my spine against the thick timber of the bedpost.

The tentative contact shattered into absolute violence.

Zephyr parted my lips with his tongue, tasting me with a ferocious, starving hunger that stole the breath straight out of my lungs. He kissed me like a man dying of thirst, bruising my mouth, his teeth catching my lower lip until I tasted salt and iron. His other hand dropped to my waist, hauling my hips up tight against his pelvis.

He was rock-hard. The heavy ridge of his cock pressed through his trousers right against my core, pinning me to the wood.

Underneath the bed, inches below our boots, Kael lay in the dark, watching, smelling his brother taking my mouth.

Zephyr's fingers tore at the tie of my nightgown, ripping the collar open to expose my bare chest to the cold room. His mouth left mine, dropping hot, wet bites down my throat, heading straight for the scarred mark on my collarbone.

"Iris," he groaned, his voice wrecked with sudden desire. "Fuck... finally."

His hands gripped my thighs, hiking my silk shift up to my waist. He was seconds from lifting me onto the mattress. Seconds from ripping his trousers down.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

The heavy thuds hammered against the bedroom door.