Page 77 of Oakheart

He’d have come out if he’d been there. Even if he was slow, Evie wasn’t.

Before panic could set in, movement beyond the trees caught my eye, a flash of dark hair and long limbs.

“Cash!” Evie’s cry cut through the square and she bounded out of the forest from the direction of the new houses and across the space to leap through the air. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and her sheer velocity had me spinning us both around until her feet hit the dirt.

She grinned up at me, her emerald eyes sparkling with tears. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We smelled blood and I thought?—”

Fast, she shook her head, unable to put words to the horror of it.

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m fine, I swear. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I’m sorry I didn’t come find you.”

She kept shaking her head, letting out a wet laugh. “It’s okay. Aleks let Leo know while we were still making our way back. I knew you were okay, just?—”

She made a little muffled sound, then dove in and squeezed me as tight as she could. Her thin arms had surprising strength, and I wheezed as I hugged her back. I couldn’t begrudge her any bit of air she wanted to squeeze out of me.

I looked past the top of her head to see Pa leaning hard on his walking stick, coming out of the woods. The way he smiled at me was soft and sad, and understanding unfolded between us from a tiny bunched up thing that’d lodged in my heart like a bullet, into a broad, smooth sheet on which every decision we’d ever made was written out so plainly that it all made perfect sense.

Why he’d protected me. How impossible it was for him to regret it, even when I wished he hadn’t.

How even though I hated that he’d been hurt, he wouldn’t have done a single thing differently.

It was love, and family, and even though I wasn’t Evie’s father, she was mine and the way I loved her was too big to explain. It covered everything. I could’ve lost a leg or my pack or my life, and if she was okay, it wouldn’t matter.

Even Aleks—I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything or anybody, but even that couldn’t come at her expense.

How lucky was I, that he and his family had fought for mine? They’d made us stronger and kept her safe when I couldn’t.

I held Pa’s eye, and his chin dipped subtly. My heart squeezed hard, and I pressed a firm kiss to the top of her head.

I might never be able to tell her how sorry I was that I’d taught her how to run before I’d shown her how to play gin rummy, or that she’d spent so much time hiding when she should’ve been standing in the sunshine, but things were going to be better now. I’d make them better if it cost me everything I had.

When her arms loosened, I slipped my hand into hers and squeezed. Taking half a step back, I turned to Aleks. “I should go catch up with Pa.”

He frowned, and his hand looped around my wrist. It wasn’t a possessive grip, but nerves had curled my hand into a loose fist. We were in front of the whole pack, and I didn’t know where I fit or what I could have.

It wasn’t like when it was just Viktor and us, and I’d slept comfortably with my face smooshed against Viktor’s shoulder and Aleks curled around me from behind, his hand slipped under my shirt to mindlessly stroke the smooth skin he’d healed just by existing.

I’d been happy then, but I wasn’t under any illusions that I could complicate things for him now. Nobody sane would want another alpha like Grant or Reeve, but that didn’t mean everyone would accept me beside him.

Maybe it was better for me to stay out of the way, get back to building.

But standing there in front of everybody, he held my wrist and slipped his fingers beneath mine to press into the cup of my palm.

“Just a second,” he said. “I’ll come with you.”

He turned to the gathered crowd and scanned all of them. “Does anyone intend to challenge me tonight?”

He waited, and there was no answer. A few people shook their heads. Many of the women were staring at him, wide eyed, as if the foundation of their worlds had shifted and they didn’t know what to do with it.

I thought anyone who’d dare challenge him had died back in those woods north of San Francisco, but I held my breath, hoping I was right.

CHAPTER 38

Aleks

No one spoke,not even a quiet mutter, and utter silence fell across the whole square, insects and birds the only noise. No one wanted that attention on them, even if they weren’t happy about what I was offering.

After a moment, I nodded. “If you wish to leave, please do. If you ask, I will drive you to Boise, or to Payette or Sawtooth if you wish to petition them for entry into their packs. Do not stay and try to cause unrest.”