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Way to go, Gem. Gloss over Trish and jump right to the ceremony that was interrupted when Ryker was forced to rip her brother to shreds.
She drops her eyes to the floor. “That’s part of the reason I asked to meet with you. I’m the only family my brother had left. It’s on me to apologize for him. I—”
I hold up my hand, cutting her off. My claws unsheathe as I do.
Audrey glances up in time to notice.
She gulps.
I flex my fingers, forcing my claws to retract. Anger has a way of letting my wolf manifest while I’m still in my human form, but I don’t want Audrey thinking that I’m angry at her.
Nope. There’s only one wolf responsible for what Shane did and that’s him.
When Audrey offered to help plan my mating and host the afterparty for the pack, that was her way of making amends for poisoning me with mercury. Even then I knew she was only doing what she thought was best for the pack so it was easy to let it go. But Shane… he only ever wanted what was best for Shane.
“Don’t apologize.”
“But—”
“Nope.”
“Alpha—”
“Gem,” I say firmly. “And I’m not accepting any apology about this from you because you have nothing to apologize for. You’re a devoted packmate and you’re loyal to my mate. Plus you helped set up my Luna Ceremony. I told you. I owe you, Audrey.”
The worry on her face melts away as another expression replaces it. Her mouth hangs slightly open, almost in awe. “Do you really mean that?”
Why does she look so surprised?
“Of course I do.”
A small, shaky smile spreads across her pretty face. “Ryker’s not the only one who’s lucky to have you. The rest of us… the pack… we couldn’t have asked for a better mate for our Alpha.”
It’s my turn to be a bit taken aback. Because that? That was the last thing I expected to hear from anyone that wasn’t Ryker or one of my guards.
“Thanks. I, uh, I’m glad I came back, too.”
And isn’t that the understatement of the year?
Later on, after I spend another half an hour chatting with Audrey about everything and anything, she leaves the den a lot more confident than she was when she first arrived. She only thanked me two more times, and I nipped one final apology in the bud before she jotted down my number. Then She promised she’d invite me and Ryker to a meal with her and her mate. Considering how shifters say more with food than they do with words, it’s obviously her way of welcoming me to the pack.
I’m looking forward to it.
You know what? This Alpha couple thing might not be so hard after all.
* * *
It takestwo days to get through every name on that list.
On the third day, I join Ryker, sitting with my heels propped up on the edge of a desk he added to the den just for me, almost antsy now that I don’t have anything to do. Now that I’ve met with any packmate who wanted to congratulate me on my mating and welcome me to the pack—because, seriously, that was what most of my visitors wanted to tell me which, okay, is better than an apology—I’m back to feeling like my paws are tied.
As much as I tried putting off the meets, the last two days were a pretty good distraction. I couldn’t really obsess over what my bio-dad was planning to pull next—at least, not entirely—while I was busy with my new mate-ly duty.
Every night, when I went home with Ryker, he told me about any reports he received. To work off his own aggression, he ran patrols around our entire territory, even pushing it to River Run, the pack nearest to us. I haven’t join him yet, but I plan on it soon.
It might be easier if there was some clue behind what the Wicked or any of his goons are up to, but there isn’t. Ryker’s map is completely x’ed out. Though I don’t want to ask, since there’s nothing anyone will let me do about it, having Bobby Danvers as one of my guards makes Trish updates unavoidable. Ten days after she disappeared, it’s as if she vanished off the face of the earth.
Between my mate and me, we both realize what that means. With Walker and the Western Pack involved, the only way she could disappear so completely was if Barrow dragged her all the way across the country to Walker’s headquarters: the Wolf District, a secluded yet militant shifter community hidden in California where Jack Walker rules over his pack with a silver fist.
