I sighed. “I’m not a possession, I belong to no one.”

The clearing of a throat had my lips twitching. I couldn’t help but tilt my chin and meet Braxton’s stare.

“Okay, I maybe … sort of … a very tiny, little, minute amount belong to Braxton Compass.” The other quads faces fell. Oh shit balls, they were tugging on my heart.

“Fine, I belong to all of you, as long as you know you belong to me also. And … Louis is part of that. He is my brother from another mother. We are cool in that way.”

Braxton placed his huge, warm hand on the center of my back, his thumb ever so gently rubbing up and down my spine. “I like brother much better than when he was trying to date you, which could only end one way: blood, guts, and magic splattered all over the floor.”

I snorted, surprised Louis didn’t call Braxton on that statement. The sorcerer must have noticed my expression. He gave a nod, his demeanor content. “I will not argue with his possessiveness. I would not have accepted any less strength from your mate. Braxton is a good fit, he is worthy.”

“I concur,” said my father, and my heart warmed that Jonathon was happy with my mate.

He wasn’t actually that over-protective most of the time. Really, he had spent a lot of my life grieving for Lienda, or absent running his packs and council. But he was a wonderful father, and I would never ask for anything more. And speaking of wolf-mother, in a smooth motion mine stood and walked over to me.

Seeing the look in her eyes, I started to protest, but she swooped in before I could. I was pulled into the warmth of Lienda. And it was kind of nice. I let myself have a real mother-moment for just a few seconds.

I pulled away when I reached the limit of my hug-time; Lienda looked really happy.

Mischa was practically bouncing in her seat now. “Can we unlock the dragon mark? I’m so ready.”

I growled as my thoughts were dragged to that moment my mark was released, to that vampire who’d had his hands all over me. The emotions were dulled now. I was mentally healthier, and thought myself lucky I had been saved before anything worse had happened. As a shifter, I was naturally resilient, my wolf stepping in when I needed a break from human emotions.

“You might want to take her outside,” Braxton said. He curved an arm around my waist and lifted me back into him, his expression shuttered. “There was a veritable explosion of energy when Jess … when I found her in that room.” That explained the expression, he was having the same dark thoughts as me.

“That is a sound idea,” Louis said in his I’m-an-ancient-supe dialect.