The dusk light accentuated the curves of Alex's body, lying beside him still asleep. Michael ran his eyes over her shoulders, the curves of her breasts, her flat abdomen and hips hidden by the sheet. Her lips were rosy and her face serene. And he felt happy. As he had never been.
Alex's eyelashes trembled and his eyes opened. Irises of an indefinite, hypnotic green looked at him and a smile spread his lips. Those lips so inviting... he leaned in and kissed them. Soft, yielding and full, they welcomed him and parted.
When Michael pulled his face away he again felt like making love to her, but first he had to ask her something: since he had woken up he had not stopped thinking about anything else as he watched her sleep. "Do you want to be my partner?"
Alex's eyelids squinted to defend his eyes from one last capricious ray of sunshine. "Aren't they already?"
"Officially."
She raised herself on her elbow. "Is this some kind of werewolf proposal?"
Michael smiled. He liked that she was now completely part of his world. "Yes. It is our equivalent of human marriage."
"Is there also an equivalent of divorce?"
"I don't think you'll need it," he replied, kissing her sensually.
"Yes," she whispered as soon as her lips were free.
He turned his face away slightly. "Yes to marriage or divorce?"
She pulled him to her again. "The first." Then she resumed kissing him and her hands began to run down his muscular back.
Michael smiled and lay on top of her, beginning to caress her. "I promise you won't be bored for the next few centuries."
***
When he entered the meeting room Michael's face was beaming. His friends fell silent as he entered and their eyes fixed on him.
"Do you have something to tell us?" asked Andy with a smile.
"Alex agreed to become my partner."
All the boys stood up and congratulated him.
"I am happy for you brother," Christopher told him, hugging him. "We will start preparations right away. The first full moon will be in less than two weeks."
"Then we must hurry."
Christopher nodded. Then everyone returned to sit around the large glass table and their attention turned to the pack leader. "Markus is trying to do some sort of census and retrieve the data of the wolves in the pack through the contacts we have left. We don't know who the hunters' next targets will be, since the documents disseminated by Sabrina were destroyed in the Barclay House fire. All our knowledge has been put on alert, but we certainly cannot mobilise the entire werewolf population of Oldgrove, even if we knew every member of it. We must annihilate the hunters, and above all we must flush out Nereus."
"Any news on where the traitor is hiding?" Lucian's voice was cold and harsh.
Christopher shook his head. 'Not yet. Nor any laboratories. Torch every stray that comes your way. We need to find information."