“Still standing?”
I turned. Cale stood a few feet away, arms crossed, expression unreadable. He was in his usual attire—black shirt rolled to the elbows—forearms still smudged with dirt and dried blood. A large gash curved near his jawline. Probably from thesame ambush that had cost us a pack member and lit Wolfe’s temper like a fuse.
“You’re hurt,” I said. “How?”
He touched the cut absently. “It’ll heal.”
“Not what I asked.”
That earned me the ghost of a smile. “You sound like him when you talk like that.”
I didn’t answer that because I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment or a warning.
Cale let the silence stretch, then spoke again, quieter this time. “You did good with them tonight. The Blueridge wolves—they listened.”
“They were bleeding and hurt. It’s easier to listen when you’re scared.”
“No,” he said, voice firm. “It’s easier to listen when someone makes sense.”
Thatdidcatch me off guard. I looked away, toward the tree line. “The merge has been difficult for all of us. The attacks haven’t helped with that.”
“True. But packs adjust, and they don’t need to agree; they just have to follow. And they are.”
“For the most part,” I added and failed to hide the bitterness in my voice.
The bond tugged again—sharp and sudden this time. Wolfe must’ve reached out. Not consciously, maybe. Just a reflex. Like the way pain echoes when you bump an old bruise.
I didn’t reach back. The less we felt the tie to each other, the better it would be for us both. “I should sleep,” I said to Cale, already turning away.
Cale didn’t stop me. He’d only been here a few weeks, one of the new ones from Stonefang Pack, but I didn’t find him as abrasive and rough as some of the others. He was capable and confident but not overly confident. He was a welcome changefrom some of his packmates. He didn’t scoff at our ways or mock us for our traditions.
As I walked, I heard him say one last thing—soft, almost too quiet to catch. “You’re carrying it alone. Just don’t forget you don’t have to.”
I made my way to the pack hall, intent on sleeping there again. I knew Wolfe wanted me in the house at his side, but lying beside him at night was torturous. While I fully intended to stay away from him, my body betrayed me every time, and I would wake up curled into his side after having slept like a baby. I don’t even think he knew, which was the only thing I was grateful for.
And then there was the…longing. The insatiablewantto be doing a whole lot more thansleepwith him. I knew it was the mate bond, and I knew we were making it worse by not having sex, but he’d come in and taken over everything. My pack, my home. He didn’t get to take my body too. Not until I was ready to accept him.
Yes, he was my alpha. Yes, he was my mate. But I neededtime. I needed time to grieve the loss of my dad and the loss of my pack. They weren’t the same. Some were struggling with the changes, some were adaptingwaytoo quickly, andIwas struggling with the fact that more than half of my pack weren’t struggling at all.
Killian appeared at my side, and I hadn’t heard him approach at all, which pissed me off. Most things about Wolfe’s second-in-command pissed me off. He may look like a gift from the Goddess, with his muscles and youthful face, but his eyes were as hard as his nature.
“If I were a rogue, you’d be dead.”
See? Absolutely no redeeming qualities at all.
“Why are you here?” I’d lost all sense of courtesy whenever this male was beside me.
“Where are you off to?” he asked, and I could tell how much it pained him to sound casual. I knew the feeling well of forcing myself to be nice to someone I didn’t like.
I stopped and turned to face him. “Cut the BS. Save us both time and energy, okay?”
He shrugged like my honesty didn’t bother him at all. “You need to go home.” I gaped at him. Killian didn’t care. “Your mate is at home, and you should be too.”
Asshat.
“My home was the pack hall before your alpha walked into my pack and ruined it,” I hissed at him, seething at his audacity.
Killian didn’t react to my anger. At all. “You see, that’s the operative word, right there.Was. Itwasyour home beforeouralpha walked into this pack and took control of it ashisright bynamedsuccession and the Goddess’sblessing.” He looked me over. “This pack willalwaysbe fractured if it sees thematedpair not able to co-exist.” Steely blue eyes bored into mine. “He isn’t asking for miracles,” he added, his voice firm but low, “but you say you care so much for this place?—”
