Page 7 of Defended By The Alpha

“Yes. This one is called the Aspen Ridge Pack, and I’m also in charge of the smaller unit that makes up the Mountain Rescue.”

“Is everyone in town a shifter?”

“No, just most.”

“But everyone you work with is.”

“Yes.”

“All wolves?”

“No, we have a few bears.”

She nods her head, and I study her. She’s taking this all a lot better than I had anticipated.

“And shifters only have one mate.”

“Most of the time. I’ve known a few shifters who are bonded to the same mate, but it’s rare.”

“Are you going to bite me?” She blurts out, and my mouth waters at the thought.

My wolf is eagerly nodding his head, ready to lunge and do it himself, but I hold him back.

“Not right now,” I say through gritted teeth as he lunges again.

“Can I see your wolf?” She asks.

“Not right now,” I repeat, and she looks crestfallen. “He’s a little worked up. We both can’t believe that we finally found you.”

“I can’t believe that you’re real either,” she admits with a small smile.

“Are you hungry?” I ask, and she nods.

“I’ll go make us some dinner then.”

“I can help.”

She’s climbing out of bed before I can protest, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to let her do much. I wait until she’s standing before I lean down and lift her into my arms.

“Wha—! I can walk, you know,” she reminds me, her arms fitting around my neck perfectly.

“You’re hurt. I’m going to take care of you.”

She doesn’t say anything to that, and I carry her down the hall and into the kitchen. There’s a tiny table crammed into one corner, and I set her down in a chair there.

My cabin isn’t that big. It never needed to be since it was only me staying here. Now that I have my mate, though, we’ll need to move to something bigger, someplace that she loves and can put her mark on.

“We can look at other cabins in town. Or, if you prefer something a little more remote, there are a few cabins on the mountain that I think are for sale. Or we could build something,” I offer.

She frowns, looking at me like I’ve lost it.

“Um, what?”

“Our house,” I clarify. “This place is kind of small. There’s only the one bedroom so we’ll need to have a different place before our first baby.”

“Baby!?” She squeaks, and I frown.

“Do you not want kids?”

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