Ecstasy Untamed by Pamela Palmer Page B

known him a day. Have you even been . . . this is none of my business . . . intimate?”
    Faith’s cheeks heated. “No. Not even a kiss.”
    “There you have it.” She patted Faith’s knee and straightened. “You don’t know what’s between you, yet. He’s probably too screwed up with the raging testosterone new Ferals are known for to be thinking straight. Give him a little time.” She shrugged, a small, knowing smile lifting her mouth. “Speaking as the mate of a former asshole, sometimes they’re worth all the trouble.”
    “There’s another consideration,” Delaney said. “Hawke’s seen something in you that he responds to. Maybe it’s just sexual attraction, maybe it’s more than that. But you made him smile and laugh for the first time since he got out of that trap. Tighe commented on it. Taking that away from him right now might do him more harm than good.”
    Faith shook her head, her heart contracting. “I can’t be what Hawke wants me to be.”
    “You don’t have to be anything to him,” Delaney assured her. “But having you around has been good for him. It’s gotten his juices flowing again.”
    Olivia snorted. “His juices ?”
    Skye and Kara giggled. Faith laughed.
    Delaney hooted. “God, you have a gutter mind, Olivia. I didn’t mean literally.” Still grinning, Delaney turned back to Faith. “All I was trying to say is, don’t take all this too seriously, or too personally. If there is one thing shape-shifters love to do, it’s draw claws and fight. They’ll take any excuse, and a woman is the most obvious of all. Males have been fighting over females since the dawn of time.”
    “It’ll work out, Faith,” Kara said earnestly. “You’ll see.”
    “And if for some reason it doesn’t,” Delaney added, “you’ve got us. We’ll help you in any way we can.”
    Faith’s eyes burned, her chest swelling with a sharp longing to stay, to be a part of this rare friendship. “Thank you,” she said softly.
    “How about some wine?” Kara asked, hopping off the bed. “I’ve got a new red I’m dying to try. Sorry, Delaney.”
    “No problem. I brought fudge. Enough to share.” Delaney grinned at Faith. “I’m pregnant. No one thinks a little wine can hurt a Therian baby, but I’m not taking any chances. I’d rather have the fudge anyway.”
    When the glasses were filled, and a plate of fudge sat on the bed in the middle of the circle, Skye lifted her glass. “To friendship.”
    “To sisterhood,” Kara added.
    Delaney lifted her water bottle. “To the best friends I’ve ever had.”
    Olivia nodded. “Me, too. And to Faith. May she find happiness, as we have.” Her gaze met Faith’s. “Selfishly, I hope you find that happiness in Feral House. You fit in nicely.” Her smile was warm and genuine and bloomed inside Faith.
    As she sipped her wine, as the discussion turned to the celebration feast being planned for after Maxim’s first shift, the longing to stay sharpened until it was an ache inside her. But Hawke’s face rose in her mind, the way he’d looked at her in the hallway, the fierce need in his eyes. The tenderness. And she feared there was no good solution but one. She had to leave. For all three of their sakes.
    Maybe after he’d settled down, Maxim would seek her out again. Maybe they’d have another chance. By then, Hawke might have found a mate of his own. The rivalry would be over. Perhaps then she could return and be part of this sisterhood once more.
    And perhaps some things were simply never meant to be.

Chapter Five
    A n hour before sunrise, Hawke stood in the foyer among his brothers. Like the others, he’d stripped to the waist and left his boots in his room. To a man, each wore nothing but a pair of pants or jeans and the golden armband adorned with the head of his animal.
    This morning, Maxim would get his own armband during the ritual— the Renascence —that would bring him into his animal. The band would appear during his first