“Go play your favorite game.”Feeling the hum of anticipation in his belly, Andrew gave his alpha an innocent smile. “I have no idea what you mean.”Hawke pointed a finger at him. “I want my calm, collected lieutenant back by the end of the week, or I’m packing you in a box and shipping you to fucking Siberia.”Andrew grinned. “I hear it’s nice there this time of year.”

“From behind her back, Sarah brought out a set of Matchbox cars, which she handed to Jonah.“What's this for?” He asked.“I just wanted you to have something to play with while you're here,” she said. “Do you like them?”He stared at the box. “This is great! Dad . . . look.” He held the box in the air.“I see that. Did you say thanks?”“Thank you, Miss Andrews.”“You're welcome.”As soon as Miles approached, Sarah stood again and greeted him with a kiss. “I was just kidding, you know. You look nice, too. I'm not used to seeing you wearing a jacket and tie in the middle of the afternoon.” She fingered his lapel slightly. “I could get used to this.”“Thank you, Miss Andrews,” he said, mimicking his son.”

“Georgie: I feel stupid.Andrew: What are you talking about, you feel stupid? You just walked in here and insulted me for ten minutes.Georgie: That was different. I was mad.Andrew: You have to be mad to talk?Georgie: No, come on—I don't know—Andrew: I could make you mad.Georgie: No, you couldn't. You're too nice.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: —Andrew—Andrew: Fuck you. Come on. Fuck you.Georgie: Yeah, fuck you too.Andrew: Fuck you.Georige: Fuck you.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: You look really stupid saying fuck you—Andrew: Fuck you. Fuck you! Fuck you.Georgie: Andrew, stop it. Cut it out. It sounds weird when you say it. You shouldn't talk like that.Andrew: You talk like that all the time!Georgie: I'm different. I mean, I know how to swear. You don't. It's like, fuck you. Fuck you. Or, you know, fuck you. It's just—you know. You got to know how to say it.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: Forget it. You look really stupid. You look the way I look when I try to talk like you.Andrew: You've tried it? Really? I must have missed that day.Georgie: Oh, fuck you.”

“In the end,” Callum said, his voice soft, gentle, “it all comes back to you. You protect them [your pack], you love them, you live for them, and someday, you die. That’s what it means, Bryn-girl, to be what we are [to be Alpha]. It’s lonely. It’s impossible. It’s all-consuming.” It is what it is.”

“God damn it, don’t you do this. You have no idea how badly I want you right now. I’d love nothing more than to bury myself inside you, and feel you lose yourself around me as you scream my name; the very idea of fucking the woman I love, finally, after ten thousand years – of having you feel just what it is you mean to me – is so hard to bear I’m all but fallen at your feet. But I’ll be damned if it happens here of all places. I’m not going to screw you in Hell, Mary. I gave in and took your blood, and God knows you have the power to bring me to my knees, but when I love-fuck you, I want to do it in my home. So do you think you could humour me just a little longer?”She gaped at him. “Did you just say, ‘love-fuck’?”

“I’m bored of this. I want to hear about you. Favorite color. Go.”I laugh. “Green.”“I’m green!”“Fuck yeah you are.”“Why are you laughing? Isn’t this what friends do?”“Interrogate each other?”“What? Uh, sure. I don’t know what that means. But yes.”