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I take him by the hand. “Will,” I say. “This changes nothing. I promise you this wasn’t the wolf taking control. It’s just two people who happened to meet and who…shit, I have to admit it—I’ve fallen in love with her.” I frown. “There’s no more Church, no more congregation. Just my family and my pack. I’m not the man I was, but I don’t…I don’t hate the man I’ve become.”
Will opens his mouth to say something thoughtful, I’m sure, but before he can speak, a big hand slaps me on the back. I grunt as Grant slides into the seat beside me with what I can only describe as a cackle.
“Myman,” Grant says. “Who knew the virgin had it in him?”
“Not a virgin,” I grumble.
“Don’t care,” Grant says. “What a way to prove your sexual prowess to the pack, dude.”
“Can’t say I appreciate that, or that I take it as a compliment,” I glare.
“Just saying, even if they hadn’t talked to Tilda yet,everyone hereknows what her voice says like now,” Grant grins. “Am I right?”
He extends his hand for a fist bump and I just glare at his knuckles.
Will rolls his eyes. “Have you spoken to anyone else yet?”
“Just you two,” I say. “I was actually hoping for some advice from my most trusted friends…should I make an announcement to the pack, or talk to people one by one?”
“I’m personally thrilled for you,” Grant says. “Make an announcement, bake a fucking cake, scream it from the rooftops.”
“Don’tdo that,” Will says, looking at Grant like he’s crazy. “Make sure to talk to a few people first—Mateo, Suyin, andespeciallyArden.”
I groan. “She’s angry?”
“I haven’t seen her since last night,” Grant says. “She ducked out after the wedding, maybe to go hunting.”
“Do you think she’s planning something?” Will asks.
Grant snorts. “Like what? She’s just cranky, and the pack is all she has. Where would she even go?”
“I’m less concerned about where she would go than what she might do to Tilda,” I murmur.
“I get the feeling Tilda can look after herself,” Will says. “And remember—Arden has been through things we don’t know or understand. Chances are she’ll come around. She didn’t even speak the first three months she was here.”
I nod. “I’ll track her down and talk to her first. Then the rest of the pack…?”
“I can’t think of anyone else who has a problem with her,” Will shrugs.
“Kinda weird how she just…fits in, actually,” Grant says. “You think we can like, smell personalities or something?”
Will rolls his eyes, but I can’t help but laugh…because I don’t think Grant is that far off.
?
I find Arden about an hour later, returning from the woods. She’s got blood on her hands, but I scent it immediately as animal and not human—from what I understand about her history, she survived on her own after making a dangerous crossing from Europe during the New Crusade. Sometimes, she disappears for days into the woods, so the fact that she’s come back is already a good sign.
She grimaces when she sees me walking across the prairie as she hops over the border wall, nodding her head at the alpha keeping watch. There’s blood on her hands and mouth, the white top and shorts she’s wearing stained with it. Arden scowls and crosses her arms over her chest, lifting her chin to meet my gaze.
She’s smaller than me, but not so small as not to be a threat. And I’ve seen her fight—she’s tough.
“You already know what I want to talk with you about, don’t you?” I ask.
She narrows her eyes. “You’re taking in the Crusader.”
“Not taking in,” I say. “She’s joining our pack. She has a lot to contribute.”
“You don’t think she’ll just immediately run off and tell her people how to hurt us?” Arden says. “I know people like this. They can’t be trusted.”
