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My face warmed. “There’s not a whole lot to tell. My parents were addicts, so I graduated early and went into nursing. I ignored the red flags, and ended up in an abusive relationship with a cop. Tried to leave a handful of times, but he had too much of a grip on me. No one ever believed me enough to get involved, and my family wasn’t there to help. He was going to kill me, if I tried again. I’d basically given up when Serae appeared next to me on a bench and brought me here.”
Riley and Jill continued cooking, but their eyes and Ezra’s were on me enough that I kept talking, telling them how I’d waited in the Peaks and Amarok had found me.
They told me their stories afterward, and we shared a meal together. I learned that Ezra had lost the only people she loved after a long battle with cancer. Jill had grown up in a trailer park, abused in every way there was, but was stronger because of it, and Riley’s ex had stolen everything from her and disappeared a few weeks before she was brought to Evare.
Talking to them, I realized something.
Something big, and important.
I wasn’t the only one there who had suffered. All of us had been through our own struggles, and we had all survived.
Maybe even more important than that, though, was the fact that we’d made it to Evare. All three of them agreed vocally that life in the pack was simple, and peaceful. That they were cared for and protected, no matter what.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with that information, but it made me feel much, much more comfortable with where I was.
After we finished eating,I felt more confident in my ability to handle moving into my own den, so I headed out to find the door again. All three of the other women went with me, looking for their men. Jill and Riley admitted they were both exclusively dating their own wolf shifters, and Ezra winked at me and said they’d be mated in no time.
My face heated. I felt bad that I had no intentions of sealing the bond with Amarok, but I had been clear about that since the beginning, so it was what it was.
Amarok would have to find a way to survive without me, because he wasn’t willing to settle on friendship, and I wasn’t willing to consider anything else.
seven
AMAROK
I tosseda shovel full of dirt onto the pile behind us, and my head jerked to the side as I heard the door to the women’s den open.
Eril and Tehr hauled themselves out of the pit, abandoning their shovels as they strode toward the den. I dropped mine and walked with them, shifting forms as I went. Their females were used to nudity, but mine was not.
“See you later,” Ezra called to the other women, heading off toward the shop Ivaylo was working on with a few of our other males.
“Have fun.” Jill stuck her fist out toward Riley, who bumped her own fist against it. When she moved her fist toward Rory, my female only hesitated a moment before doing the same.
A tentative smile curled her lips, making me really damn glad she had gone with them.
As much as I despised being away from her, she needed to know she belonged in the pack just as much as anyone else.
I reached her as my brothers pulled their females into their arms, and brushed my side against hers in greeting, knowing anything more would make her uncomfortable.
It would take time to make her see that I would never hurt her like Allen had, but she would realize soon enough. Even if it took years, I wasn’t moving a damn inch.
She was mine.
Fate had declared it, and I had decided it.
Now, there was no going back for me.
“Can you show me where my den is?” she asked me, her voice soft and uncertain as she lightly brushed her hand over the top of my head. “I think I’ll sleep there tonight.”
“Of course.”
Her fingers buried deeper into my fur, and she held on loosely, walking beside me as I started toward her den.
“The females were kind to you?”I asked, unable to stop myself. Though I trusted them for the most part, my mate needed to be welcomed with warm, open arms so she didn’t feel the way she had on Earth. She needed to understand that she was loved and wanted.
“They were great,” she admitted.
Satisfaction eased my mind.“I’m glad.”
