But the world was still there.
And the trouble hadn’t left.
I traced the slope of her shoulder, down to the curve of her hip, and rested my palm low, protective. Possessive. Her breath was steady, warm against my chest. But the bond between us…it was louder now. Alive. I could feel the echo of her dreams in my ribs. The twitch of her pulse beneath my fingers. The sharp flicker of her wolf, even in sleep.
She wasmine. Fully. Completely.
And if the Council thought they could tear her from me now…they’d have to kill me first.
My jaw tensed. The bond had settled me. Centered me. But it hadn’t tamed me. No, it had given me something worthunleashingfor.
There was still traitors out there. Still blood owed. Still wolves under my protection who were asking questions I didn’t have answers to.
But for this moment—just this one—I let it go.
Rowen shifted slightly in her sleep, her fingers tightening on my forearm, her wolf brushing against mine like she could feel the weight pressing in on me.
I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Sleep, mate.”
The calm wouldn’t last. But it didn’t need to. Because I was ready. Let them come. Let them try to break what we’d forged. Let them plot from their high-backed chairs and whisper through their spies.
If they thought I wouldn’t bend and burn and bleed for my pack, they were fools.
I was an alpha.
Bound.
Unbroken.
Unforgiving.
And I would not be moved. Not from Stonefang and not from the Hollow. Andneverfrom my mate.
My body ached in the way it only ever had after battle—every nerve hummed with her, with us. My wolf was quiet now, sated, curled in the heat of our bond.
But I couldn’t rest.
I stared up at the ceiling, one arm holding her close, the steady rise and fall of her chest grounding me. Soothing me.
The air felt different. I hadn’t figured out how yet. Just that it had changed. And not because of us.
I felt it in my gut before I heard the sound—light footsteps, the shift of boot on stone just beyond the house.
I was up, pulling on my pants before the door to the bedroom opened slightly.
Diesel stood there, tension written all over him, his eyes never looking down at her on the floor. “We’ve got a problem.”
Rowen stirred behind me, soft and sleepy. I looked back once—just once—as she curled into the warm blankets I’d left behind. I didn’t want to wake her. Not yet.
I stepped outside, shutting the door behind me with care. Diesel didn’t wait. He turned and walked outside, his boots already crunching over grass as he led me toward the tree line.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I traveled all night,” he said. “Didn’t stop.”
That told me enough. He didn’t speak again until we were well away from the house, past earshot, near the edge of the territory with no houses around it. The trees whispered above us. The moon was low.
Then Diesel turned, jaw set. “The Pack Council is moving.”
