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Three weeks later
As I park my Jeep in front of the Alpha’s cabin, all I can think is: I can’t believe I just did that.
I probably shouldn’t have. Not without running it by Ryker first, at least. As my mate, I owe it to him to be honest and upfront with him about what I do, but when it comes to Muncie… I needed to handle that on my own.
And if “my own” included Jace and Dorian racing alongside my Jeep as I navigated down the twisty mountain terrain, I’ve given up on fighting that battle. These days, my quartet of guards has dwindled down to a trio, but even if Duke is still keeping close to Trish, Bobby, Dorian, and Jace are convinced that I need them to watch my back. Why argue? After everything that happened in the Wolf District, I’ve finally realized that life’s a lot easier when I’m not going lone wolf.
After I ran from Accalia, hiding in plain sight in Muncie, I never thought I’d have that luxury again. Now I have a possessive mate who fought a challenge to the death to cement his claim on me—twice. I have loyal guards who would lay down their own lives to protect me. Dozens of packmates who love me, not because I’m Omega Gem or even Alpha Gem, but because I make their Alpha happy.
I have a pack that knows who I am, what I’m capable of, and they welcome me anyway. And if my asshole of a birth father decides to risk his neck by coming after me again, I know that they’ll stand behind me.
Even if they didn’t? With Ryker Wolfson at my side, Jack Walker will never stand a chance. I proved that in California, and I’ll do it in Accalia, too, if I have to.
But not Muncie. The Fang City belongs to the Cadre, and I belong to the Mountainside Pack.
As soon as we crossed back on pack land, Dorian yipped his goodbye before the sleek black wolf disappears into the shadows of the trees. I didn’t see the brindled wolf at my side or in my rearview, but I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on Jace these last couple of weeks. I sensed him near enough to catch a hint of his dominance the rest of the way to the cabin I share with my mate. Once he gave his word, he stood by it, and if that meant delivering me to the front door, he would.
Another battle not worth fighting. Even though his return to the pack made it possible for Ryker to head out to the wolf district, Jace still blames himself for abandoning me. Nothing short of ordering him to get over it will stop him from brooding, and I can’t do that to him again.
It’s bad enough that I never mentioned that I kinda, sorta took the choice out of his paws in the first place. Once I gave him the order, his wolf would never let him refuse me. I guessed that from the first time my howl controlled him, then when he and the other three offered themselves up to watch me, but I was always careful to keep the command from my voice.
To save him and get the message to Ryker, I let myself do it. I had to. He was watching my back, but I had to do the same. No way was I going to let him be another one of Wicked Wolf Walker’s victims and, if he stayed any longer, I had no doubt in my mind that my bio-dad would’ve used him against me.
Doesn’t mean that I don’t think Jace is a powerful protector. I do. He’s an asset to Mountainside. It’s just… I wish that I wasn’t the one he felt compelled to protect. As I proved time and time again, I can take care of myself, and if I can’t? I’ve got Ryker. He’s all I need, and he’s mine forever now.
Mine.
Forever.
A small grin tugs on my lips as I kill the engine and pocket my keys. I start walking toward the front door, waving my hand as I sense Jace heading away from the Alpha’s cabin. Now that I’m home, he’ll run off to join a patrol, checking in with some of the other wolves that Ryker has watching Accalia’s borders.
The Mountainside Pack is smaller than the Western Pack, but we’re a tight-knit community that relies on each other. None of our packmates have come out and said it, but I’ve put a target on our back. First, it got out that I was the only female alpha. Now, the shifter world is buzzing with how I challenged the Wicked Wolf of the West and won. Add that to Ryker’s show of dominance when he took down Theo and any wannabe alpha is going to try to rise up against us.
Try being the operative word there, but still. We can’t pretend the danger isn’t real. And after the way Walker ordered Trish to be grabbed off of pack territory by one of our own, Ryker has made pack security a priority ever since we returned from California a few weeks ago. He’s determined to keep his pack safe, and if just the thought that another supe might come after me again has him nearly feral, I give him a pass. I know how hard Ryker is working to rein in his protective instincts when it comes to me, and I get it. Even as tightly bonded as we are, the calculating Alpha keeps waiting for something to wedge itself between us.
Elizabeth Howell and her Luna-touched gift really fucked with him. Even though we now know that even she can’t break our bond without consent, the fear I felt pulsing toward me was a wake-up call—because it wasn’t just me who was afraid she could do it. After all the times he seemingly rejected me, I was terrified that our bond was shaky at best. Turns out, Ryker had his own doubts when it came to me.
And why wouldn’t he? I left him for more than a year, and when he found me, I rubbed my relationship with a vampire in his face. I made him chase me for weeks before I agreed to mate him, only for Ryker to believe I did it as a big ol’ “F-U” to Jack Walker. Even after I got him to understand that all I’ve wanted for the last eleven years was to be his mate, I still made it clear that I had my life in Muncie, he had his in Accalia, and we would just have to make our mating work like that.
I saw it as regaining control. How much do I want to bet Ryker saw it as rejecting him instead?
My trip to the Fang City was a long time coming. The relief coming from my wolf made me realize that I wasn’t just fighting Ryker with my insistence to keep some distance. I was fighting my inner self.
I’m so freaking tired of fighting.
It’s not goodbye. I made friends in Muncie, and I’ll treasure those relationships. But, at the end of the day, I’m a wolf shifter. Alpha or omega, it doesn’t matter. Once we choose, we mate for life. And me? I chose Ryker Wolfson a long time ago.
Reaching inside of myself, I follow the tug of my bond to the back of the cabin. No surprise that Ryker’s in the den. I told him earlier that I had to run some errands, and though he would’ve known instinctively where I went, he gave me a scorching kiss before telling me he had some things he had to take care of himself.
I know what he’s doing. He’s been looking for some sign that Jack Walker is getting ready to cause us some more trouble. Whether he’s building a new pack or licking his wounds until he could issue another challenge, we don’t know, but we’re both pretty sure that he’s not about to slink off into the woods and disappear for good. My look’s too shitty for an easy ending like that.
Oh, and then there’s still the whole “Mountainside is without a Beta” issue that’s been nothing but a headache for more than a month now.
At least I might have an idea that could take care of that problem for us.
As I stride around the side of the Alpha’s cabin, I have the strangest sense of déjà vu. Since I’ve been back in Accalia, this isn’t the first time I’ve taken this path, or even the twentieth, but for some reason, I’m suddenly thrown back to almost a year and a half ago.
I had been furious, heat blazing off of my skin even though that May night on the mountains was cool. The skirt of my sundress swished against my thighs, my wolf pushing so hard against me that it was all I could do to keep my claws sheathed—and I didn’t even manage that considering I ended up sticking all five of them in the meat of Ryker’s chest not too long after I burst into the den.
