AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My whole life, my dad made one thing clear: nothing is set in stone. While most shifters live and die by fate, he proved that you didn’t have to. When he became Alpha of the Lakeview Pack, he refused to ask the Luna for the name of his fated mate, deciding that he wanted to choose his mate on his own. That was just the beginning of Paul Booker taking shifter traditions and turning them on their head.
Honestly, I feel kinda silly that it took me so long to remember one of the biggest life lessons he taught me when I was still a pup: the Alpha makes the rules. My dad did. Jack Walker certainly had. Why couldn’t Ryker?
He gives me a sly look. “Are you sure you’re not just throwing Jace at me because then he’ll be too busy to tail you?”
If that was my only concern, I never would’ve mentioned the idea. Part of being in a pack is looking out for one another instead of covering your own ass; if I was only looking out for me, I could’ve stayed a lone wolf. If Jace takes the role of Beta, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was more determined to keep his Alpha’s mate safe, but at least he’d also use his protective urges to watch out for our other packmates.
So, instead of pointing that out, I just ask, “Tail me? Tail me where?”
“Whenever you’re in Muncie. Because, remember, sweetheart. Even if Jace is in Accalia, Bobby and Dorian can always stand outside of that blood bar of yours to keep an eye on you when I can’t.”
“And why would I be at Charlie’s?”
I’m still smiling, which usually would have Ryker guessing that something was up. Every time we talked about my determination to stay in Muncie after we were mated, smiling was definitely one expression that I never pulled. Scowling? Sure. Snarling? Oh, yeah. Smiling? Nope.
But I’m smiling now, and Ryker’s voice turns hesitant as he says, “Because you work there.”
I shake my head.
He blinks.
My smile widens.
Okay. Maybe I should have told him that I was heading into Muncie to officially let Charlie know that I wouldn’t be coming back. He had figured as much—even though I was a shifter, not a vamp, the second I got mated, he knew I’d eventually leave—and there were no hard feelings. If I decided to come back, there was always an apron and an order pad for me, and Hailey made me promise that I would keep in touch.
I said I would, and considering I still want to hear about how her fling with Dominic Le Croix is going, I really mean it. She swore she was working her way toward getting her own fang, and I hope she does. Hailey will only be happy when she’s settled down with a vampire; even if her forever isn’t with the Cadre vamp, then at least with one who deserves an awesome human like she is.
If I was being honest, I think I kept it a secret because—until I did quit—there was always the chance that I could go back to my old life. Ryker stopped pushing me the second I wore his mark, but with our bond cemented, I could sense just how much he wanted to.
A mating is a give and take. I’ve taken enough. It’s my turn to give.
Now, Ryker knew about my plan to let Elizabeth use the townhouse that he had purchased for me before we made our mating official. While she hasn’t committed to joining the Mountainside Pack—for now, she’s still choosing to go lone wolf—I know that Ryker likes the idea of keeping her close. And it wasn’t like I could go back to my old room at Aleks’s apartment. I think he thought that I’d keep my job, but return to Accalia whenever I didn’t have a shift.
And maybe I could have.
Or maybe I could finally accept that Accalia was my home now.
No. Not Accalia.
Ryker was.
“I’m here now. With the pack. With you. For good.”
A slow smile begins to grow. “You’re not going back?”
“Maybe for a visit every now and then. Someone’s got to check in on Elizabeth, and I still want to keep my friends.” And, yes, Aleks is one of them. After everything that happened in the Wolf District, I no longer have to worry about his feelings for me, and I finally have my friend back. “But I’m not going to stay there.”
“You mean it?”
“Why would I?” I ask, scooting closer to him. Tipping my chin up, I meet his gaze. “I chose my forever when I chose you.”
I was hanging onto my old life in Muncie because I couldn’t bring myself to believe that I’d really have a future in Accalia. Even after we performed the Luna Ceremony, I had my doubts; my wolf might’ve been all in, but my human side still nursed the pain of Ryker’s rejection. And then I had to watch him fight not one, but two alpha challenges. For a few awful seconds, I was sure that Elizabeth’s touch would snap the bond between us. I was so sure I would lose him.
True, I didn’t, but I knew right then that I would never let anything come between us ever again.
And that includes me.
“Gem—”
