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Her scoff echoed in the hollow.
“Yes.” She paused for emphasis as she tightened the tourniquet with merciless fingers. “You do.”
“I suppose I should apologize…”
“You suppose?” She sat back on her haunches to study me. “I hear a question in your tone when there should be none.”
I shifted uncomfortably on the soft soil.
“Fine.” The word resonated like a grumble. “I should apologize.”
She scooted closer, checking to make sure the ties on the tourniquet were secure.
“I’m waiting.”
A copper brow rose expectantly.
“Make it a good one while you’re at it,” she said. “I doubt I’ll be getting another apology out of you for years to come—”
Her squeak of surprise was lost on my tongue—sweet and sudden, her breath became my own.
The urge to take her lips, to show instead of telling her all the things I felt, made my skin feel too tight for my body.
My heart pounded away like a foreign thing in my chest, seeking her andonlyher. The feel of Olly’s hair in my grip was achingly familiar, the brush of her lips an exercise in agony and bliss.
When she leaned into my embrace and sighed into my kiss, I became certain of one thing: this woman—this infuriatingly calm-headed Alpha—would be mine.
Some might call it blasphemy—others might deem it a waste of Alpha genetics. But they could fuck themselves for all I cared.
I’d spent twenty years wonderingwhat if.What if my mother had never had the affair? What if Olympia hadn’t been pulled away from my side in the middle of the night without the chance for a proper goodbye? What if my father’s anger hadn’t kept us apart for so bloody long?
What if Olympia had always been my person?
There was no room for further questions—no little crannies where doubt was hidden away.
Every part of me screamed to be filled with the goodness that was Olly.
Skin was too flimsy a barrier. I wished to crawl into hers and feel her heart beat in tandem with my own.
The scent of sweat and exertion laced her skin, and I thought it would repel me. Instead, I could only picture her leading us through the forests when I could do nothing but lean on her strength.
She had saved me today. Whether or not she asked for a formal thank-you, I needed to tell her just how much her bravery and strength and kindness meant to me.
“Well,” she breathed heavily, pulling away. “That wasn’t the apology I was expecting.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words sounding like the most sacred confession. “For last night, for my stupidity, for…”
“Being a dick?” she supplied much too readily, a corner of her lip quirking upward.
“Yes,” I admitted without hesitation. “That.”
I swiped my thumb over a smudge of dirt on her chin, thinking to wipe it away. I only succeeded in spreading it around her freckled face.
“I know how your mind works, Zoei,” she said, letting her palm slide over my own. She held my fingers against her cheek, uncaring about the dirt and debris that coated my grip. “You were blinded by rage. You couldn’t see past your preconceived opinion of me.”
“That’s not an excuse,” I murmured, trying not to let shame color my cheeks. “You were open and honest with me, and I was a monster.”
She shook her head, then paused abruptly. “You’re right. You did show me a monster—the ugliest side of you. Butthatwasn’t a surprise to me. I’ve always known it was there, even when we were pups. You’ve always let anger get the best of you, Zo, and I’ve always tried to tether you before you leapt to conclusions.”
