“Thinking about getting me into bed already?”

“I always want you in my bed. But more than my bed, the lodge is your home. You know that, right?”

She fusses with the bundle of sage she’s preparing to hang for drying, head bowing. My nose twitches with the change in her scent. It sharpens with bitterness, putting me on edge. She’s nervous, but why?

“What’s wrong? Have I said something to upset you?”

“No. It’s not that I don’t want to be at the lodge. It’s—you’ll think it’s silly.”

I rumble, hugging her tightly to take away her worries. “No I won’t. Whatever it is, tell me, mate. You can tell me anything.”

She spins, eyes shimmering. “Of course I want to be with you. And providing the best for my sisters is always a priority for me. They’ve really enjoyed spending time with Callie and being more integrated in the pack. They come up here way less than I do now, and they’ve pretty much moved into the lodge.” She sighs, rubbing her forehead. “Part of me is reluctant to move out of the cottage. Like I’m losing it if I leave.”

My heart twists. My wolf grows agitated and panicked, scratching at the veil between us. He senses she’s distressed and wants to protect her. I pull her close.

“You were in survival mode for years. This is your cave. The safe space you carved out for yourself. You won’t lose it. I’d never take this from you.”

She huffs, snuggling against my chest. “I know. See? This is why it’s silly. I know you aren’t. You’re helping me convert it into my shop.”

My lips brush her head. “You don’t have to move into the lodge if you’re not ready. Or if you’d rather, I… There’s a cabin I’ve held—it’s near the commons off the main road. You’d have everything… I mean, until—if—you wanted…”

She quiets me when I struggle to finish the alternative suggestion. “No. I want to be wherever you are. Forever.”

I blow out a relieved breath, the tightness in my chest unraveling. “Thank fuck.”

“When you said that, I think it finally helped me realize what I need.” Her smile is equally soothed. She surveys the room. “Can we do it today?”

“Right now. Give me twenty minutes. Start packing.”

I kiss her, then I’m out the door, shifting to my fur the minute I’ve shed my clothes to race for reinforcements.

When I return in my truck, I have Callie and Liam riding with me to help move everything.

“Avery!” Callie bounds up the steps. “Caden says you’re finally moving down to the lodge officially!”

Liam comes around the truck while I drop the tailgate. “You’re going all domesticated on me.”

I grin. “I’m a mated man. Trust me, if you ever find yours, you’ll see how blindly you’re walking around until they smack you right in the chest.”

I illustrate it by thumping his sternum. He grunts, shaking his head with a smirk.

“Nah, I’m good. That True Mate shit’s not for me.”

“You say that now.”

Avery comes out with a basket overflowing with clothes and pushes it into my arms. My world reorients as it always does when she’s near.

“It’s not much,” she says. “Just the essentials. Callie’s packing the rest of Lena’s books she left here.”

I drop the basket on the bed. “Not just the essentials. This isn’t a weekend away. Bring it all. Come on.”

“I don’t have a lot,” Avery says as I usher her back inside.

“We’re taking everything,” I insist. “And whatever you don’t have, I’m getting for you.”

“I find it best not to argue with him when he’s like this,” Callie says. “He’s stubborn.”

“Oh, I know it,” Avery responds fondly.

It doesn’t take more than an hour to get everything loaded in the truck. Callie chats Avery’s ear off on the ride back to the lodge, planning a girls’ weekend with her sisters. Liam takes off once we get her stuff inside. Callie spots Taryn across the commons and skips over to join her friend. Beatrix is at lessons and Lena’s reading at Alma’s while she naps the afternoon away.

It leaves me alone in my den with my mate.

“We can put all this away later. Want a drink?”

“Sure.”

I take her hand and bring her to the lounge. The room where I like to relax is decorated with cushy leather furniture and dark accents. I get us two glasses and pour us each a finger of whiskey.

Avery strolls around the room. She’s been here before when her dad was the pack beta.

She moves a pillow from a couch to an armchair by the fireplace, then rearranges the stack of quilts in the basket beside it, flinging two from the pile. When she’s finished, she emits a little grumble and goes back to drag the armchair to the opposite side of the fireplace.

I rub my chest, my wolf growing excited. My mate is nesting. Viewing the lodge as her den, making it just how she likes it.

“Those blankets need to go. They don’t smell right. And this.” She points at the couch. “This needs to move. It’s all wrong.”

“Tell me where you want it.”

She peeks at me. “You don’t mind?”

“Nope. I’ll spend all night moving anything you want. It’s your home, mate. If you’re not happy with it, then I’m not either.”

Her lips twitch with a hint of a smile. “Okay. Can you pull it this way, please?”

“Like this?” I hoist it by the leather armrest and adjust it.

She bites her lip, tilting her head. She shakes it, moving around to study the room from a different angle.

“No, it needs to be more towards the window. Can you⁠—?”

I nudge the furniture, watching for her cue. She relaxes, relief smoothing her pretty features.

“Yes. That’s better.”

My wolf purrs. It fulfills him to please her. I’m right there with him.

We move room to room until we make it to my—our—bedroom. This one she has the least to change after spending so many nights here. I didn’t realize it before, but she’s been making this space her own bit by bit.

34CADEN

The Pack Summit comes after the first decent snowfall on Silver Mountain.

I spend the week before we leave checking and double checking my proposal, dragging Liam along the perimeter line daily, issuing new patrol routes for scouts, and taking the entire enforcer roster through drills to ensure the pack’s safety while I’m away.

There’s no sending a pack representative in my stead, an alpha must be present. I’m worried about leaving the packlands when things have been strained amongst my people. Lorne’s bullshit has been simple enough to thwart when it was only him and my uncle disapproving of my rules, but now he’s created fractures that could easily snap.

They’ve been quiet after I stripped his rank, but my gut tells me things aren’t over with the trouble they’ve caused.

Avery reassures me when she wanders into my office late in the evening and settles in my lap that everything will be fine—the pack under Hodge’s watch while we’re gone and the summit we’re traveling to.

Each Alpha is allowed three enforcers to accompany their group. Liam and two of our older lieutenants from my father’s time, Angus and Benedict, are with us. We also bring a small handful of appointed volunteers from each pack to manage the welcome feast. Taryn landed herself a spot on that list weeks ago with another one of her stunts. It makes Callie happier compared to her usual boredom being dragged to these gatherings.

The journey isn’t far for us, roughly half a day’s run from Silver Mountain. Other packs venture from the edges of the region to meet in the central location deep in the forest. Rather than drive until the roads end, we shift, able to cover more ground faster. Our clothes are divided amongst us in packs we sling over our wolves’ backs. When we’re close, we give up our fur.

We arrive at the summit’s neutral grounds, snow giving way to a magically preserved oasis untouched by cold seasons as we pass through towering archways with greenery wrapped around the columns. It’s sacred land that belongs to no pack.