Dawn arrived with all the subtlety of a freight train crashing through a china shop.
Samantha woke to the sound of her mother's voice echoing through the estate, cheerful and far too loud for whatever ungodly hour it actually was. "Rise and shine, lovebirds! We have a blood ritual to prepare for, and apparently that requires seventeen specific herbs, three types of crystals, and something called 'moonwater' which better not be what it sounds like!"
Through the bond, she felt her mates' collective groan—Marcus's scholarly dread at improper magical terminology, Kai's wolf's instinct to burrow deeper into the blankets, Callum's dragon's irritation at being disturbed mid-sleep.
"Your mother," Marcus mumbled into her hair, "is terrifyingly efficient."
"She raised me," Samantha replied, already extracting herself from the tangle of limbs. "Efficiency is her superpower. Also guilt trips and casseroles, but mostly efficiency."
