The sound of bones breaking was something I’d never forget as I watched his back arch, the shoulders round before they retracted, and there was a small boy standing there once more.

I truly couldn’t explain how the sight didn’t make me pass out, but only the lack of fear in the room from the men kept me contained.

They were my baseline, and their fear wasn’t for the boy. It was for my sister.

That was the only fear that didn’t belong to the child, a kid I knew was called Daniel, which resonated around the room.

They loved Sabina, that much was clear. In fact, they loved her with a ferocity that I didn’t think I’d ever come across before. I could say that with ease because a love this true, this powerful? Multiplied by three? Such a revelation. Such an intense, visceral thing to come across.

I’d never envied anyone anything.

It wasn’t in my nature.

I knew that if a girl was pretty, it came with the price of being treated differently by men—and not always in a positive way.

I knew that if a guy was great at playing the guitar, the reason for the rhythmic notes that he was capable of crafting together was a past that was shrouded in sorrow.

Everything that could be envied, came at a cost.

But for the first time in my life, I understood envy.

I understood it and recognized how lacking my own life had been for such a ferocious emotion.

It made me feel like my heart had been carved out of my chest and the emptiness inside was just waiting to be filled.

It was enough to take my breath away.

When the howls ceased, the bewildering, haunting notes that belonged in a Dracula movie disappearing with an abruptness that had me gulping, I watched as Eli strode from the window over to Daniel.

“You two stay here and guard Sabina,” Eli commanded.

He was the elder of my sister’s men, but there was a distinct blood tie between them all. I didn’t wonder if it was creepy for her to be sharing three brothers, it just felt right.

Natural.

Even if now I understood Austin’s joke about ‘brother husbands’ because that was exactly what they were.

That being said, there was nothing disturbing going on, but what there was, was a tying together of three separate distinct strands which were being braided into one entity. That braid was tied around her, shoring her up, defending her and protecting her from anything and anyone that could harm her.

Again, envy hit me.

To be so loved, to be so cherished, was a thing of absolute beauty, and knowing what she’d gone through, what had my mother in tears and deep in her cups every other night, I was glad for her.

Relieved.

If anyone deserved a break, it was her.

“I should come with you,” Ethan ground out.

“No. If the Rainford alpha wants to challenge me over Daniel, there’s nothing you can do. I’m more powerful than him. A challenge shouldn’t present a problem to me,” Eli stated, his tone assured, relaxed, as he placed a strong hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Son, you need to calm down.”

Daniel reached for him, burrowing his face in Eli’s chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around Eli’s stomach. The move disarmed my sister’s mate, that much was clear, but it didn’t stop him from holding the boy tighter to him.

“I’ve kept you safe this long, haven’t I, Daniel? What makes you think I’m going to stop now?”

Daniel gulped. “I-I did something bad, Eli. Something stupid. I went to see my mom’s grave. That’s why he’s here. That’s how he knows about me.”

Eli’s eyes narrowed as he twisted slightly to glance at his brothers. I felt the braid around Sabina light up in a way that was startling, one that informed me they were sharing a method of communication that wasn’t open to me or to Daniel. It was unique to their bond.

It made her gleam gold, like the light of the sun gently illuminating her, and I saw her spirit, deep inside, the part that was beast as she rolled over, deep in this unnatural slumber.

The light of their communication had me reaching over to touch her ankle. When I connected with her, I realized why she still slept.

They were protecting her to the point of her being unable to get out.

The notion had my eyes popping wide open, making me realize I’d closed them without even having known it.

“You need to let go,” I whispered, my voice low and husky as I sensed Sabina’s spirit rattling around inside her. “She isn’t as weak as you think.”

“What do you mean? Let her go?” Austin snapped, and that was the first time I’d heard him be anything other than cordial to me, so I knew to tread lightly.

Thus far, Sabina’s most easygoing of mates had treated me with a lot more levity than the others. The last thing I needed was to have him turn against me. I was here on Sabina’s request. Eli and Ethan were dubious, and Austin trusted Sabina to the point where she could lead him into hell and he’d hold her hand for the ride.

That wasn’t because he was weak.

That was because he had faith.

And that level of faith was enough to suck the breath from my lungs.

“You’ve bound her up so tight in whatever makes your wolves so powerful, hers can’t get out.”

“She needs to shift?” Eli barked desperately.

I knew it must take a hell of a lot to get a man like Eli to sound that way, and once again, toxic feelings overwhelmed me.

They were unhealthy and ridiculous, but I’d never experienced anything as strong as this before. I’d dealt with murderers and narcissists and desperate mothers with sick children, everyone and everything from all walks of life, but nothing compared to this.

Nothing.

“I think that might be the solution,” I confirmed softly, not wanting to get their hopes up, but I could sense how tightly confined Sabina’s inner spirit was and I knew she needed to be let out.

“How do we do that?” Ethan asked, tone gruff.

“Maybe if we shift too, it will trigger hers?”

Austin’s suggestion had Eli’s brows lowering. “Maybe. But she’s strong. You know she’s strong enough to stay human.”

“But she’s at her weakest now,” Austin muttered.

Eli sighed. “Might as well try it.”

“Maybe do it in tandem? Will that help?” I suggested, even though I had zero idea what was actually happening. I mean, I wasn’t even a fan of Supernatural, and if the Winchester brothers couldn’t get me excited about all things paranormal, then there was just no hope for me.

The brothers shared a glance, then shrugged, but it was Austin who clarified, “We’ve done this before, and it never affects her.”

The inference being that it should.

I hummed at the thought, packed it away in my head for a later date, then gasped as all three timed it and turned from very handsome men into very large, overly large—hellishly large, in fact—wolves.

Gulping at the sight, especially when, with a shriek, Daniel morphed into a smaller wolf too, I nearly backed up into the wall. Which was ridiculous. These creatures meant me no harm, and I knew that. Rationally. Of course, rationale had flown out the window.

Sure, I knew that the things that went bump in the night were true—I had powers that most people would claim didn’t exist, so why shouldn’t there be other things out there?