I search for the nearest enforcer, landing on Tobin at one of the middle tables. “You go with them. Take Dane to the patrol cabin.”

Tobin steals another cut of grilled meat for the road and hustles down the aisle between tables.

“Is there anyone else who believes this bullshit rumor that Avery is a witch? No?” I stalk the length of the hall. “Good. Let me assure you, I’ve investigated the matter myself and can confirm these rumors are unfounded.”

“She’s a Morgan,” says one of the elders loyal to my father.

“She’s pack.” The wolf rides my words as I cast my dominant stare around the room until all I see are bent necks. “My worthy, goddess-blessed mate. You’ll all forget your scorn of the Morgan name. And this is the last I want to hear otherwise.”

Silence gives way to murmurs of assent. Some are approving, like Candace from maintenance group C and Alisha from the healer’s cabin. There’s much less opposition tainting the air than there was at the start of dinner. I watch the Blackburn clan table for any other signs of challenge. Their heads are bowed to expose their necks. I’m almost disappointed.

I glance at Liam and without a word from me, he nods in understanding. This is why he’s my beta over anyone else. Because if I were to fall, I’d want him leading in my stead.

The door bangs behind me on my way out. I didn’t bother pulling on what’s left of my shredded clothes, calling the wolf forth before I’m down the steps. My paws land in the grass and I take off into the tree line.

20CADEN

When I reach a clearing with a deep pool at the foot of a smaller set of falls cascading from a rocky outcrop, I shift back. The cool water in the natural spring is a welcome balm to ground me when my position becomes too much to bear on my own. I come to this spot whenever I need to clear my head and get away from the burden of being Alpha.

No one knows about it, not even Liam. It’s downwind, and anytime he’s near enough to know he’s around, I go find him first to keep the spring a secret.

The only person I’ve ever thought of sharing this place with is Avery. When I first stumbled on it, I thought of bringing her here many times.

A rough sigh leaves me after I dunk beneath the surface. I swim around until the last of my adrenaline from fighting Dane burns off, then settle at the pool’s edge to unwind. Raking damp hair from my forehead, I peer at the moon cresting behind pine trees.

My thoughts often turn to my father when I’m here. Particularly when I’m questioning if what I’m doing is the right choice.

I wish I still had him here to guide me when I’m at a loss for how to manage the pack. He was a stern man, but he loved us and instilled a strong sense of fairness in me and Callie. My fingers skate over my scars, a memory surfacing of the reprimand he gave me for interfering with the challenge.

He believed no one was above our laws, not even the alpha’s family. I respected him above all else, even when I didn’t feel ready to take over.

I wonder if he’d be proud of my dedication to this pack if he were still alive. If I’m living up to his expectations.

Not that I wanted to shoulder them in the first place. I didn’t want the responsibility of Alpha, with everyone relying on me. Except as the oldest and his only son, I was the heir apparent and raised to succeed him.

The alternative was to let one of my cousins be named heir if I didn’t accept. I couldn’t fathom my father’s legacy sullied by Lorne taking over with Cormac whispering in his ear. They’d run Silver Falls into the ground and undo all the good Dad did for us.

It’s why, when it came down to it, I accepted my duty to care for the pack and do everything in my power to continue building a prosperous, comfortable community.

Finding my fated mate never factored into any of my goals for leading them. It takes all my dominance to cultivate everyone’s respect as their alpha. When the bond first awoke, my greatest worry beyond my misplaced anger at her was obliterating my efforts to run the pack smoothly.

Navigating how to continue as I have been when any little slight towards my mate makes me fucking feral might prove difficult.

I want them all to see the things my wolf has from the beginning and fought me fiercely over when I denied it. To see what I’ve realized for myself once I stopped blinding myself to her. How strong and resilient she is, raising her sisters alone and enduring the treatment of the pack, still offering her help to those that needed it. How amazing it is that she tamed the most inhospitable parts of this mountain and bent it to her will to provide where I failed her.

She’s more than worthy as a mate—as my mate.

Perhaps then I’ll feel less inclined to decimate half the pack’s numbers for as little as giving her a look I don’t like. No matter what, I need to snuff out the idea spreading throughout the community that I’ll be choosing anyone else.

The mere thought annoys my wolf. There is no one other than our fated.

He’s tempted to track down Avery and reassure himself she’s safe despite not being directly involved in tonight’s incident. My lips twitch. More like he just wants to rub all over her as much as she’ll let him.

My eyelids grow heavy as I imagine her hands stroking my fur. Letting me nuzzle her tits. Pulling her in close to straddle my lap to watch those pretty lips part for me. Those nimble fingers exploring my chest, mapping the bumps and valleys of my abs and following the trail of hair lower before touching my cock.

A rumble climbs my throat and I circle my hand around my erection. I tip my head back with a ragged groan.

Claim. Need to take what’s mine.

There’s no fighting a scene my imagination has always conjured, long before I knew she was my fate. Golden brown hair I want to tangle my fingers in. An expressive mouth I want to claim for myself. Defiant amber eyes that have always made my heart beat harder, even when I thought she deserved my hate.

Avery’s always been in my fantasies. The first female I took notice of. The first one I thought of kissing. The one who haunted my dreams with things I thought I couldn’t have in reality.

It shouldn’t have blindsided me that she’d turn out to be my mate when deep down this draw to her has always been there. Bonds awake at random, yet the strongest always sense some sort of pull prior to fate revealing its intentions.

A thrumming warmth floods my chest, urging me along now that I’m not resisting this like my life depended on it.

Distant memories surface one after another, brighter and clearer with her gorgeous smile and that laugh—that incredible laugh that never fails to light my heart on fire.

The way I’d reorient myself subconsciously whenever she was around before a tether ever tied me to her.

How I needed her attention on me, whether I realized it or not, because whenever she gave it to another male I didn’t like it.

I recognize it now. The signals were always there that she was mine.

Once I’ve earned her back, I’m claiming my perfect mate. I’ll erase the night I rejected her from her mind, overwrite every second until I’ve proven to her I’ll spend the rest of my days worshiping her.

My lips and tongue will know every inch of her body.

My hands will memorize the softness of her skin, the swell of her hips and breasts, the quiver of her thighs when I wrap them around my head to devour her.

My cock will only know her fingers, the heavenly tight heat of her pussy.

Fuck.

I tighten my fist and quicken my pace, imagining what it will be like to knot her. To be locked inside her and feel her stretched around me, her nails scrabbling as she clings to me, beautiful features contorted with a silent cry of ecstasy. Her arousal so thick in the air I can taste it on my tongue. My stomach concaves with desire, a jagged breath tinged with pleasure punching from my lungs.