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her mother’s eyes but her father’s quiet mien? She cocked her head to the side, watching Alexios with pleasure.
    “Oh my God. He marked you,” Maddy said urgently. All laughter suddenly quieted.
    “What?” Sasha asked, coming out of her thoughts.
    “Your neck.” Selene pointed at Sasha’s neck with an accusatory glare.
    “Oh.” Sasha covered the area with her hand. “If you mean bit me, then yes.”
    “He bit you?” Selene questioned.
    “Yes. His teeth looked a little sharper than normal, but that was it,” Sasha returned. For some reason she didn’t want to tell them what Cirro had really looked like the night before. It had been their moment, and it had been beautiful. Sasha hadn’t understood what all of it meant, but she hadn’t felt threatened. She would ask Cirro about it later, not have it as a discussion between her and her friends.
    “Pietr!” Selene yelled and Maddy took Alexios out of the room. Pietr, along with Beth, Adelis, Drea, and Lauren, came running from different sides of the second floor. When they saw Sasha they slowed down in wonder, starring at her neck.
    “Well, I’ll be dammed,” Pietr whispered.
    “Problem,” Selene hissed. Did she just freaking hiss? Sasha thought, but was too wigged out to ask.
    “What is it? He’s mated her, things will settle down,” Pietr answered as he came to sit next to his fiancé.
    “Mated?” Sasha asked.
    “Oh shit,” Pietr said.
    “Yeah, like I said. Problem,” Selene reiterated.
    “Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on?” Sasha questioned.
    “You had sex with Cirro last night,” Pietr stated.
    “I don’t think that’s any of your damn business,” Sasha argued.
    “I’m afraid it is. Did he ask you to be his mate? Tell you anything?”
    “I am not answering these questions,” Sasha said belligerently.
    “Sasha, please. This is important. Tell us what happened last night,” Selene begged. Maddy came back into the room, finishing her call on her cell phone.
    “They’re heading back,” she said to Pietr.
    “Please,” Selene urged.
    “Fine. I had a bad dream, Cirro came in, we made love, he bit me, end of story. Happy now?”
    “No. What did he say before he bit you?” Pietr asked.
    “Nothing. He asked me if I was sure before we had sex…He said…something about ‘as his mate wishes.’ Is that what you guys are talking about?”
    “He didn’t tell her.” Selene nearly screeched.
    “Be calm, my love.”
    “Fuck that. Screw his hang-ups about a human mate. She deserves to know. He should have told her before he bit her!”
    “You didn’t have an easy entrance into our life either. Cirro has always struggled with the possibility of having a human as a mate. He didn’t want that to happen. But if his mate needed him last night, he would have been helpless to deny her, or deny the instincts that told him to claim her. He’ll be taking this hard too.” Pietr tried to placate Selene.
    “I don’t give a rat’s ass, P. He should have made time. You told me before we slept together.”
    “We didn’t have much choice. You almost died.”
    “Died?” Sasha cried, her mind a whirl. They were talking about humans like they weren’t human . Mates like they were animals. She stood slowly from the couch, nearly stumbling over her own feet. Cirro’s face had changed, his eyes going golden right before he bit her. She hadn’t thought about the canine-like teeth at the time. They’d been, well, a turn-on. She’d wanted to feel his bite, take in his savagery. She needed it hard and rough. She’d wanted it. But she didn’t understand what was happening.
    “Lauren,” Selene said.
    “I’m on it,” the blond returned, and moved, quicker than Sasha ever thought possible. She was near Selene one minute, and then the next right behind Sasha and holding her by the arms in a viselike grip.
    “Let me go,” Sasha cried, struggling.
    “Selene,” Pietr said in a warning tone.
    “No, Pietr. She