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  Rune huffed deep in his throat, the seriousness of his earlier admissions fading. “By all means, let’s not confuse your pack.”

  HE LOOMED OVER ME, huge and enticing. But he didn’t kiss me. Not then.

  Instead, he drew me closer to the wood stove. Through the glass door, I could see flames licking against the cast-iron interior. Still, it was Rune’s warmth that enfolded me, his hands that stroked until the heat in my body matched the heat in the wood stove. Heat like the flames kindled by a pack mate...one who deserved my full attention.

  They all deserved my full attention. What was I thinking trying to turn a Consort into more than a sperm donor when Clan Whelan was perched on such a precarious ledge?

  Rune stilled. “Tara, what’s wrong?”

  I’d tensed and he’d felt it. His embrace turned into a hug, warm but platonic. I found myself unable to speak as my face pressed into his shoulder.

  “May I ask you a question?” Rune murmured after a long moment of silence.

  It was safe within his hug. Dark and anonymous. I wasn’t able to speak yet, but I was able to nod.

  Rune’s question, when it came, was spoken lightly, but it slapped me anyway. “You don’t like babies. Why do you want one?”

  My spine went even more rigid, and this time I found myself able to spit out the obvious answer. “Because the pack needs an Heir.”

  It was almost as if Rune was inside my skin, tensing alongside me. Because the hands that had been lying still against my back started stroking slow circles. He didn’t speak until my tension eased.

  “Why is an Heir necessary?”

  This answer came easier. “The Guardian requires one. But it’s more than that. The Alpha is a weapon for her pack. Their strength. The Heir is a promise that the Alpha’s strength with continue after my death.”

  Despite speaking about the topic I’d been avoiding for months now, my muscles were turning to liquid. I didn’t realize we’d moved until my legs tapped up against the side of the bed.

  “Lie down,” Rune suggested. Then—“Does the Alpha always have to be hard and sharp? Always a weapon?”

  “The pack...”

  “Isn’t here. We are.”

  His mouth was an inch above mine. His sweetness was intoxicating. And yet, even though I wanted to bridge the gap between us, it felt unbridgeable. No matter how badly I wanted to take what Rune was offering, I couldn’t make the leap.

  And it was almost as if he heard me, because he stopped talking. Stopped asking questions that left me feeling more exposed than if I’d stripped naked.

  Instead, his fingers asked the questions this time. Was it okay for his hand to be here, on my cheek?

  I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes against reality.

  Was it okay for his mouth to touch my brow, my nose, my cheekbone?

  I turned my face, tilted my chin up. He was kissing the wrong parts of me.

  Then, finally, our lips met.

  A KISS TURNED INTO more, his hands going places only mine had gone previously. In retaliation, I slipped my fingers beneath his waistband. His hard length was intriguing, but he clasped my wrist and drew me away.

  “You don’t like that?”

  “I like it far too much.” His voice, in the darkness, was a growl. “I promised that your pack wouldn’t smell me on you. Have you changed your mind?”

  It took far too long to spit out the word I needed. “No.”

  My spine was stiff again, but his fingers knew just how to soothe it. The fire in the stove had burned down, but we were warm beneath the covers. I was glad of my tower’s soundproofing when I exploded beneath his touch.

  There in that dark haze of persimmon, he murmured, “May I stay?”

  And I don’t know what I said. Maybe nothing. All I know is that I pressed my body against his, unwilling to lose this stolen instant. I always woke before dawn, so it wouldn’t be a problem to hustle him down the stairs before the pack started moving. It wouldn’t be a problem to....

  “Alpha?” The ping from Caitlyn woke me out of a dream so warm and rich I couldn’t quite manage to pry my eyes open. “I have important information. May I enter?”

  I snuggled deeper into the blankets, lost in the illusion of heat and persimmons. The floor would be cold. For once, I would use my status as Alpha and make Caitlyn come to me. “Yes, of course. Same code will undo the lock.”

  On the other side of the tower, my door creaked open. Cold air rushed in, carrying with it the scents of pack and fur and morning.

  “Alpha, I’m sorry to wake you, but I know you didn’t want anyone to see us speaking.”

  “It’s fine.” I pushed back the covers, hoping cold would clear away the languor. A haze of happiness encompassed and slowed my brain.

  What cut through the haze was a gasp from Caitlyn. That plus a deep chuckle curling up from the point where someone else’s flesh pressed into my flesh.

  I stared down at what I’d thought was a dream. A blazing hot dream full of joy and new experiences.

  Nope, Rune was real. He was there. In my bed.

  Not a dream. A reality.

  Caitlyn’s mouth hung open, but at least she didn’t scream.

  Chapter 25

  Rune’s clothes were on, I was relieved to see as he sat up beside me. So were mine, except for my unzipped fly. “Shut the door,” Rune suggested.

  Unlike the teenager who’d run in search of a sandwich yesterday, Caitlyn didn’t obey him. Instead, her gaze flew to mine, confusion writ large across her face. “Have you chosen a Consort, Alpha?”

  It was a valid question. And at the same time it felt like nobody’s business except Rune’s and mine.

  Only...that wasn’t true. My time with Rune wasn’t undertaken for mere personal pleasure. The Consort was chosen for the sake of the pack. So I nodded at Caitlyn then gestured at the door that still gaped as wide as her eyes.

  And Caitlyn did as I bid. Reaching back with one heel, she tapped the door shut. The latch clicked into place, closing out even the slight possibility that another pack mate might see us. Only then did I speak.

  “I know this is confusing, but you won’t mention what you saw here,” I told Caitlyn, putting alpha dominance behind the growl. I couldn’t risk her sharing my choice of Consort before I was ready. Still, the hurt on her face panged my gut.

  “Of course not, Alpha,” the girl replied once her lips unfroze. “But if you don’t want anyone to know....” She cleared her throat, gaze dropping to the floor. “The sheets.... They’ll smell....”

  Despite myself, I leaned down and sniffed the bedding. For a split second, I was lost in the remnant of persimmon and pleasure.

  My pleasure, not his. Rune had been true to his word.

  Still, his signature aroma clung where he’d lain. I could shower persimmon off my skin, but not off the sheets. Caitlyn was right.

  As if he’d heard my thoughts, Rune’s warmth slid away from me. His feet were light on the floor as he stripped off the comforter. “I’ll take care of it.” His quiet words sent streaks of remembered pleasure through my body. “Shower,” he suggested, “and I’ll wash the bedding and your clothes.”

  “Alpha, he can’t!” Caitlyn’s words caught me as I turned toward my en suite bathroom. And, again, she was right. I needed to get my head on straight and stop relying on the brains of a fifteen-year-old.

  Because Rune wandering into the laundry room with my sheets in his arms was as big of an announcement as us parading the entire clan through my tower. I couldn’t let myself be muddled by the memory of Rune’s hands and mouth on me. I gritted my teeth and straightened my spine.

  I was Alpha. Best start acting like one.

  “Rune, your clothing is also a problem. You’ll either need to go wolf, hole up here until they’re clean, or find new ones. Caitlyn, you’ll deal with the dirty clothes and bedding.”

  My tone had been harsh, but the delegation of responsibility was harsher. Cleaning the Alpha’s chambers
was a chore reserved for children not yet old enough to shift to wolf form. For them, it was an excuse to revel in my aroma. For a teenager, the assignment was worse than the slap I’d thrown at her by the bonfire. No wonder Caitlyn wilted beneath my command.

  Her gaze stuck to the floor, but she didn’t argue. Her answer, when it came, was mouse meek. “Yes, Alpha.”

  Rune huffed something deep in his throat that wasn’t quite words, but I ignored him. Remaining focused on the present, I demanded: “Now, I will hear your report.”

  THE REPORT WASN’T GOOD. Four of the wolves who hadn’t leapt over the bonfire by the time Natalie showed up were easily goaded into doing so by their young pack mates. The fifth had snapped at Caitlyn to leave him alone.

  That same wolf had been the only pack mate who hadn’t been in his proper place when Kale went missing. He’d been one of two shifters sent to pick up Natalie’s son from school, but had chosen to run home rather than ride back in the car.

  “And where was Ash last night?” I stalked from one side of my tower to the other, tossing questions at Caitlyn.

  “I watched him, Alpha. He was in his room. He didn’t go anywhere.”

  “All night?”

  “All night.”

  “And now?”

  “Now he’s in the mess hall. He was cooking your breakfast the way he always does. I figured that would take long enough so I could report.”

  Which meant Ash would be waiting for me in the breakfast nook. The morning sun was warm there and on weekends I usually granted myself a quarter of an hour to relax and chat with my friend over a pile of pancakes.

  A friend who’d challenged with dishonor two nights ago. A friend who might be working for the fae now.

  “Good work,” I told Caitlyn already thinking through the time it would take for me to shower. Ash would wait, but would a fae glamoured to look like Ash possess equal patience? The puzzle was impossible to decipher without knowing whether Ash was a willing ally, a charmed puppet, or the puppeteer himself hiding within another’s skin.

  Harder when Rune started stripping in front of me. His long, lithe form was revealed one limb at a time until he reached for his pants, considered Caitlyn, then turned away.

  Over his shoulder, he suggested, “Caitlyn could use a nap.”

  Now that I peered at the girl more closely, I noted dark circles under her eyes. She’d stayed up all night for the good of the pack despite the fact she was barely older than Kale. Rune was right.

  Before I could agree, though, Caitlyn disagreed. “I can do the laundry first, Alpha.”

  Rune was right, but Caitlyn was more right. “Good,” I told her. “The pack must come first.”

  THE TOWER WAS EMPTY when I emerged from my bathroom with my skin still raw from scrubbing off Rune’s aroma. I flared my nostrils and sniffed, but there was no persimmon left anywhere. Someone had opened the windows and let the last vestiges out.

  My bed was similarly stripped, making something inside me feel even more barren. Ignoring the hole in my gut, I stalked down the stairs and headed for the mess hall. The space was busier than usual, but I was also later than usual. At the far end, within the semi-seclusion of the breakfast nook, Ash glanced up from our two-person table and smiled.

  Before I could do more than nod at him, Willa appeared at my elbow. “You wanted me, Alpha?”

  I’d pinged her on the way down, providing no information. But she didn’t complain when I told her to: “Walk with me.”

  Together, we passed between tables of shifters who turned toward me with smiles and greetings. I nodded but didn’t stop to chat.

  My step hitched, though, as Rune peeled himself away from the wall to warm my other side. He must have gone through the free box we kept by the exterior doors since he wore elastic-waist sweats that didn’t quite fit him. And he’d found a shower—or at least a garden hose—judging by the spots of water scattered across a chest that was enticingly bare.

  Ripping my eyes away from the view, I strode toward the breakfast nook. Three abreast now, we stopped in the doorway. Surveyed the sight of Ash waiting, pancakes at the ready.

  He looked so normal, like the friend whose loyalty I’d never doubted. But when his gaze came up to meet mine, something flickered behind his pupils.

  Caitlyn hadn’t been wrong.

  “Tar....” Ash stopped himself before he could spit out my name, replacing it with: “Alpha.” His glance slid across Rune and Willa before returning to me in their center. His brows drew together. “Is there a problem?”

  “There is a problem,” I agreed. “Stand up.”

  He didn’t. I hadn’t put the force of an alpha command behind the order, and maybe Ash was too befuddled to realize disobeying his Alpha was insolence.

  Or maybe he had no intention of toeing the line. I reached out to grab his collar...and he was lupine, snarling and dodging.

  “Alpha, shall I...?” Willa started. But I shook my head even as I shifted down to join him.

  Because, yes, the three of us could have corralled Ash in human form. If this being wanted a fight, though, I was ready to fight.

  Distantly, I noted the clatter of silverware and thunder of feet as pack mates pushed their way into the narrow doorway. Distantly, I felt their gazes latch onto us. But my attention was trained upon Ash.

  His ruff was rigid, his eyes narrowed. “This is your last chance,” I warned via our pack bond.

  Rather than standing down, Ash shook his head. As if my warning was no more than a flea to be dislodged from inside his ear. As if he wasn’t at all concerned about his ability in a contest we’d played out dozens of times.

  In the past, he’d always lost. So why did he think he could trounce me now?

  I snorted then turned my head aside, as if I intended to call in reinforcements. My old friend wouldn’t have attacked at such a moment, but I was starting to understand this non-Ash being.

  Sure enough, nails clicked on tiles. I spun back to face him, diving beneath open jaws.

  I barely made it past. My opponent was faster than he should have been. More skillful. As if this wasn’t Ash, or wasn’t just Ash. Either way, I intended to disable him quickly and thoroughly without doing any permanent harm.

  Plans flickered through my mind as I slid beneath his belly. My enemy hadn’t expected me to retaliate so quickly. Hadn’t expected me to go low. His teeth clicked together too late, not even catching my tail tip.

  And...I could have reached up to disembowel him. Could have ended the danger to my pack forever.

  But what if this was Ash forced to do the bidding of the fae rather than a fae pretending to be my friend?

  I couldn’t risk that. Instead, I slid all the way beneath him and out the other side while he was still trying to get his bearings. There, I slammed intentionally into a table leg before scrambling out of disaster’s path.

  My blow had the intended effect. Ash’s carefully set scene went down in one tremendous clatter. The table. The pitcher of orange juice. Two plates loaded with pancakes. Forks, knives, and spoons.

  For his part, Ash cowered beneath the cascade of heavy and pointy objects. Cowered, then was pinned by the table’s granite top.

  He struggled for only a moment, then lay there panting. His eyes were liquid pools of disappointment, disbelief that I’d ignored our history and treated him like the enemy he clearly was.

  And that didn’t matter. Regaining my human skin, I picked my way around a spreading pool of syrup. Then I addressed my father’s Beta.

  “I want him in a holding cell, under guard.”

  “Alpha, don’t do this!” Ash’s voice was so strangled it was barely recognizable, but I didn’t turn to face him. The only reason he’d shift now would be to beg. To call upon our years of shared friendship. Those lost memories dragged at my resolve.

  Sure enough, Ash’s frantic words soared up the register until they were almost feminine. “Tara, wait! I have important information. We need to close the borders. Cu
t off relations with humans. We need to...”

  As hard as it was, I scooped my clothes up off the floor and tore myself away from my ex-friend’s verbal vomit. Then, still addressing Willa but raising my voice so the rest of our audience could hear, I added:

  “When the Samhain Shifters return, come and get me. Until then, consider Ash a danger to this pack.”

  Chapter 26

  “Tara, shall I go along and make sure the cell is fae proof?”

  Rune’s voice in my head was barely audible. As if I was tuning in to a radio station using an old-timey antenna and hadn’t yet found the sweet spot.

  But...I shouldn’t have been able to hear him at all. I flinched, and spun back on my heel to stare at the shifter who wasn’t a member of my pack.

  He was staring right back at me, waiting for an answer. I couldn’t give him one, though, because I was stuck on the way words had made it from his head into mine.

  My fingertips brushed across the scab on my neck. Rune had promised that wasn’t a mate bite and I certainly couldn’t afford to bond with my Consort. Not when I was the Whelan Alpha, our Bargain mandating that I eschew even the idea of a mate.

  Which meant the whys and hows were irrelevant. I was Alpha. I should and could manipulate bonds for the good of my pack.

  So I did. I couldn’t see this new tether—it was too ephemeral. But I could feel something coursing between me and Rune when I fumbled around at throat-level. Grabbing that immaterial something between thumb and forefinger, I twisted.

  Once. Twice.

  On the third twist, it broke.

  Persimmon spun away from me. Persimmon and warmth and the promise of a big, strong shadow. I hadn’t realized how much Rune’s proximity had been taking the edge off my muscles’ tension until every fiber contracted. Immediately, my head started to ache.