Page 90 of Love Bites Hard

“Let them.” I squeezed her hand lightly, and she bumped my shoulder. I looked out at the pack—or the part of it that was in the cafeteria at the moment, and announced aloud and through the pack’s bond, “My mate and I are going for a run tonight. Anyone who wants to come is welcome.”

I felt the immediate change in energy, and my grin widened.

It felt good to be back.

I’d always miss my family—but they would’ve wanted me to live. And to make sure the pack was doing the same.

So that was what I’d do, for the rest of my life.

twenty

IZZY

Porter tookme to his office after breakfast, and sat me on his lap.

“What are we doing in here?” I asked him, looking over my shoulder curiously.

“Working. We’re mates, remember?”

“I don’t have a job.”

“Sure you do. The alpha female runs the pack just as much as the alpha male does. I’ll make a list of all the stuff my mom used to handle, and you can pick and choose what you want to do from it.”

“You really want me to help lead the pack?” I asked, nerves setting in a little. “I’m not a wolf.”

“The pack is a family, not just a group of wolves. We’ve got other kinds of shifters here too. Poodles. Cats. Squirrels. Bears. No one cares if you don’t howl at the moon. They care that you’re part of the family. Got it?”

“Got it,” I agreed, though I was still a little hesitant.

“I’ll have another desk put in here. Until then, there’s one easy thing you can do as my mate.”

“How easy?”

I looked over my shoulder again, and found him wearing a wicked smile. “Very.” He lifted me up, bending me over the desk as he pulled my pants down.

I laughed—then moaned when he filled me.

Maybe we weren’t going to get a lot done, but we’d have a damn good time.

When we finally separated, we really did focus on work. I sat on his lap for the required after-sex snuggling while Porter explained the basics of what my role required, and I took a ton of notes.

After a short lunch break, we went back to work.

And honestly?

It felt good to have a purpose again.

…other than my ridiculous war.

That night,we gathered with the pack for another bonfire.

It was just as big as the first one I’d attended, but the energy was completely different.

Porter held my hand as we walked around, chatting with people I vaguely remembered. He knew almost all of them by name, and I knew some.

When he asked about their families and brought up their pasts, they lit up in ways I never would’ve imagined. They all thanked me for bringing him back, but they loved him.

His family had clearly been good leaders.

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