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Flint laughed. “Let’s get you tucked in.”
Once I was in bed, he brought the tray to me, and I scarfed down more than I expected. It seemed my body craved fuel now that I was healing properly.
When I was done, Flint took the tray away and got under the covers with me. Without asking, he pulled my pajama-clad body against his, spooning me. It was times like these that I remembered Flint was every bit an alpha, like his packmates — my packmates. Flint might be a kinder, more compassionate alpha, but he still took what he wanted… when he knew I wanted it, too.
Unlike that asshole, Gage. Or Heath, for that matter.
“I don’t want to leave this house,” I sighed in his arms. “I don’t want to face Frost Fang with Gage’s bite mark on me.”
“To them, your word is law,” Flint whispered in my ear, squeezing my back to his chest. “You set your limits, and they’ll obey.”
I sighed. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
When I burrowed down into the blankets, the loose neck of my pajama shirt gaped open. Before I could self-consciously adjust it, Flint leaned over and kissed the spot where my shoulder met my neck.
Pleasure instantly jolted me. I shivered as Flint’s lips gently withdrew from the place our pack alpha had marked me. Heat pooled between my thighs, and I wondered how good it would feel if Flint continued touching the mark… and whether that asshole Gage could feel it.
“None of us did,” Flint murmured, drawing me back to the here and now. “But we’ll get through it. Together.”
Feeling more at ease, I let myself relax into Flint’s embrace. As I drifted toward sleep, I realized he was right. Flint and Heath had been dragged along when Gage killed Nira and became the Frost Fang pack alpha. They were just as trapped as me.
I tried to imagine how weird it would have been if he’d conquered Ironwood instead, and I had to confront all my old bullies. Then I suddenly understood the glint in my cuddly alpha’s eyes. Maybe Flint felt similarly about the wolves that had cast him out.
It reminded me that Flint was only sweet and cuddly with me — I’d seen him kill before, multiple times. He was a deadly, dangerous alpha in his own right. And clearly, he shared no love for Frost Fang.
Suddenly, I longed to be by Flint’s side as he navigated this confusing situation we found ourselves in. I wanted to be there for him when he confronted his old friends and foes. I wanted him to lean on me the way I leaned on him.
I could only hope I’d be able to be there for Flint that way I wanted to… that Gage would let me. My wolf’s bared her teeth at the thought. She would not be kept from her mates, even by another mate.
When I’d almost drifted off to sleep, my subconscious startled me awake with a sudden revelation. They had cast Flint out because of his sister.
“Flint, is your sister still in the Frost Fang pack?” I asked.
“What?”
Only then did I realize his breathing had grown deep and steady behind me. He’d been asleep. But some part of him had heard me.
“Yes. Fern lives in a distant town. The entire town is scheduled to arrive in a few days to swear allegiance to Gage and admit any treachery.” He squeezed me tight again. “I can’t wait to introduce you two.”
The thought of meeting Flint’s sister strangely comforted me. He wanted me to know his family, like mates should.
If Flint was right, Gage’s bite wasn’t the end for us. Maybe I could still be with Flint and sort things out with Heath thanks to my witch half, if that’s what those rune marks indicated.
Yet until I was sure, being in bed with another man felt wrong.
Reassurances poured down the pack bond to me, startling me for a moment. Then I realized… Gage knew. The unequal mate bond allowed him to sense that I was in bed with another man. And yet, he was comforting me?
As the pack bond filled with his warm reassurances, I slowly relaxed. My mate knew I was with Flint, and he was okay with it. That’s what Gage was telling me. He wasn’t mad.
It made me feel cared for in a way I’d never experienced. Despite the fight we’d just had, Gage wasn’t trying to punish me — instead, he took the time to reassure me. Unlike the alphas in Ironwood, he didn’t beat me or revoke any privileges. He’d left me to cool down in the care of someone I trusted and monitored me from afar to make sure I was okay.
I didn’t know how to reconcile that with the alpha who bit me without permission.
With Gage’s comforting presence in the back of my mind, I drifted off to sleep in Flint’s arms. I slept the whole night through and awakened in Flint’s warm embrace. It was the first time I could remember him sleeping through the entire night with me.
As I stretched and yawned, Flint smiled at me. He possessively ran his hand down my chest, to my hip, and to my thigh. “Sleep well, moonbeam?”
“Yes, since you stayed the whole time.”
