Chapter Thirteen
The lounge of Ursula’s apartment smelled faintly of sage and antiseptic, the remnants of healing spells and the aftermath of battle.
The coven crowded into the mismatched couches and armchairs, each clutching mugs of tea that steamed into the quiet morning air.
Saffron sat between Isaac and Nolan on the couch, their hands locked around hers, neither of them willing to let her go for even a moment. Not after what had almost been lost.
Conversation started slowly, fragments of memory from the fight tumbling out.
“You dropped that one demon off the terrace in a single swipe,” Isaac said, his mouth twitching at the corner. “Haven’t seen you move that fast in decades.”
Nolan smirked faintly, brushing his thumb over Saffron’s knuckles. “And you tackled two of them at once. I swear, you’ve gotten reckless in your old age.”
Willow groaned from across the room, shaking her head. “You two sound like you’re comparing plays after a football game. That was war.”
“Maybe,” Nolan said, his voice quiet. “But we lived. And sometimes remembering how we fought helps remind us why we’re still breathing.”
Ursula blew out a breath, dark eyes glinting. “And don’t forget Brielle and Liam. I thought you two had somehow learned how to teleport.”
Liam chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Driver wasn’t fast enough, so—”
“Liam threatened him,” Jacob interrupted.
“Did not,” Liam muttered.
Brielle snorted into her tea, her bruised face still mottled but her smile wicked. “Wasn’t Liam. Amazing what a little purple flame can do when waved under the nose of a cab driver.”
The room broke into laughter, brief but needed, the sound easing the tension still coiled tight in their bodies.
When the laughter faded, Nolan’s gaze drifted. “Caleb Blackmore. He walked away when Adrian burned.”
Brielle snarled. “Because he’s a fucking coward.”
Saffron’s hand tightened in his. “He won’t stay gone. Neither will the Council. Adrian’s finished, but Caleb still breathes, and the others will rally. They’ll come for us again.”
The words fell like a shadow across the room, truth no one wanted to admit.
The knock at the door startled them all. Every witch and wolf tensed, but Ursula rose first, her steps careful as she opened it.
A man in a crumpled suit stood there—a balding, overweight white man, with glasses that looked too small for his face, sweat beading on his brow despite the cool air.
Ursula froze, recognition flashing across her face.
“Karl Jameson?” she asked, her tone confused.
Behind her, Liam and Jacob surged to their feet, growls vibrating in their chests as they stepped protectively into the doorway.
The man raised both hands quickly, voice shaking.
“Please—listen. I’m not here to harm anyone.
” Nolan recognized him then as the lawyer from the fire, the one they’d thought had been working against them.
He cleared his throat nervously and held out a folder.
“I needed to come myself,” he said. “Adrian Veynar was never the true owner of this building. I’d been fighting him in court to prove it. These documents ... the rightful deed belongs to you, Miss Johnson. By bloodline and covenant.”
Brielle blinked, rising to her feet. “Me?”
The lawyer nodded. “Yes. And thank you, all of you—for standing against Veynar. My partner is a shifter, a mountain lion. What you did ... it kept him, and all of us, safe.” He placed the folder into her hands with a trembling smile.
“It’s yours. Truly. You have owned the land since it was bequeathed to you almost sixty years ago, but I have fudged births and deaths in the titles for you until now.
It was left to you and your descendants by a woman called Margo Brown, a direct descendant of one Marion Rourke. ”
Saffie and Ursula gasped, turning to stare at Brielle, whose eyes had gone huge. “Who was she?”
Saffie dropped her mates’ hands and walked to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “She was the young orphan you saved from Marcus’s men.”
Brielle looked down at the folder. “Wow, okay, then.” She looked at Jameson. “Um, thank you, I guess. Uh, can you please put the title in the names of all of us?”
Isaac and the rest argued, buy Brielle would not be swayed.
“It will be my pleasure.” Jameson bowed slightly and left.
The coven clustered around as Brielle opened the folder, reading the lines of inheritance and title. She lifted her gaze, voice fierce and steady. “Not just mine. Ours. This building belongs to all of us.”
Emotion shimmered in Ursula’s eyes, Willow pressed her hand to her chest, and Saffie smiled her beautiful smile that had his heart swelling in his chest.
Isaac leaned close, murmuring against Saffron’s hair. “Our apartment’s ready. Renovations are finished.”
She turned her head toward him, her smile soft, the need to be alone with them evident. Nolan stood, scooping her easily into his arms. “Then it’s time to go home.”
The others let them leave, their goodbyes quiet, their relief unspoken but palpable.
Their apartment smelled of fresh paint and polished wood, the walls warm with golden light. The space was theirs now—hard-won and long delayed. Nolan carried Saffron across the threshold, her laughter soft against his throat. He didn’t set her down until they reached the bedroom.
The bed dominated the space, newly dressed in crisp sheets that smelled faintly of lavender.
Nolan placed her gently on the ground, and the three of them stripped quickly before climbing up onto the bed, his eyes locked on hers.
“We almost lost you,” he whispered. “Never again. This bed, this home—it’s forever now. You, me, Isaac. Always.”
Isaac sat on the edge beside her, his hand cupping her cheek. “Forever,” he echoed, the word a vow.
Saffron reached for both of them, pulling them close, her smile breaking through the exhaustion. “Forever,” she whispered back.
The city outside was still scarred by battle, but within those walls, they were whole again.
****
Nolan’s hunger unfurled slowly, a deep thrum of need entwined with relief and gratitude.
He kissed her belly, then lower, his tongue teasing, worshipping her as Isaac reclined against the pillows, with Saffie lying across his thighs, up on one elbow, slightly twisted toward him.
Saffie’s hand stroking Isaac until he was hard, the lucky bastard.
Her moan vibrated through her entire body and against Nolan’s mouth when Isaac gently guided her lips down to take him into her mouth.
The room filled with the sounds of their pleasure—her wet muffled gasps, Isaac’s growls of pleasure, Nolan’s muffled groan as he tasted her.
“Beautiful girl,” Nolan murmured, lifting his head just long enough to look into her eyes. “Let us make you feel how loved you are.”
Saffron’s reply was breathless, broken between licks of Isaac’s cock. “I ... I do. I feel it. Gods, I feel it.”
Isaac’s voice was hoarse, his head falling back. “Kitten, you undo me.”
When Isaac couldn’t hold back any longer, he tugged her up, urging her astride him.
She slid down onto him with a cry, her nails clutching his chest as he filled her.
Nolan watched, enthralled, stroking himself until he could hardly stand it.
When Isaac caught his eye and nodded, Nolan grabbed the lube and a towel, kneeling between her legs.
“Just a little cold, kitten,” he warned before placing his lubricated fingers against the ring of muscle of her ass.
He slicked her carefully, murmuring soft assurances, sweeping his fingers in and around, preparing her to take him.
After he could comfortably get three fingers inside her, and she was happily pushing back against him, clearly wanting more, he stroked himself until he was ready.
“Tell me you want this,” he whispered, his hand resting on her hip.
She turned her head, sweat gleaming at her temple, and smiled even as she trembled. “Always. I want you both inside me now.”
Isaac held her steady, his lips pressed to her throat as Nolan slowly slid inside her, stretching her around them both. She gasped, her eyes rolling back, her body clenching hard.
“Gods, kitten,” Nolan groaned, clutching her hips. “You’re perfect. So perfect.”
They moved together, the rhythm ragged and desperate, then smoother as her body adjusted.
Each thrust was love, each moan devotion.
Isaac whispered promises against her skin, Nolan urged her on with raw adoration.
They reached the edge together, her scream echoing as their bodies convulsed, climax ripping through them in shattering waves.
Nolan collapsed onto his side, his legs shaking. “Fuck,” he panted, grinning weakly. Isaac snorted, giving him shit even through his own ragged breathing. “Wobbly, old man?”
“Shut up,” Nolan laughed, staggering to his feet to grab a cloth. He returned and cleaned Saffie gently, reverently, before crawling back into the bed beside her. Isaac tucked her against his chest, Nolan curling around her back. Their glowing handfasting tattoos pressed together.
“Married,” Isaac whispered. “We’re married. We survived.”
They drifted in and out of sleep, waking only to make love again, slower this time, tender and full of whispered vows.
When darkness settled over the city, Nolan brushed her damp hair back and scolded her softly.
“You should have told us what needed to be done. We could have helped you to be prepared.”
Saffie shook her head, eyes luminous. “It had to be done, and there was no way to prepare for that. The Goddess had a plan. And I trusted her.”
“Yeah, well, she could have been a little more communicative, too,” Nolan said sharply. He would never forget what it felt like to hold his dead mate in his arms, and he was not sure he could forgive the Goddess for that.
Before she could answer, the door to their private patio burst open. Moonlight flooded the room, silver and blinding, before the curtains rustled back into place and the door closed on its own. The three of them stared in silence.
Nolan huffed out a breath. “Huh, okay, I guess she hears everything.”
Saffie giggled. “Yep! That was the Goddess herself, reminding you that she has always been watching over you.”
“That is kinda creepy,” Nolan said with a shudder. “Cool as shit, sure, and it is nice to know that she is there, but creepy nonetheless.”
The three of them laughed then, relief and wonder threading through the exhaustion. They clung tighter, their hands tangled over the glowing marks on their skin, and pledged to love each other for eternity beneath the Goddess’s silver light.