Page 47 of Wolf's Providence

“Why are you fighting for packlands if you don’t plan on having a pack? Or children who will carry on your alpha line?”

“They’re mine. Both of them,” I told him, my voice a low growl, my shoulders set with determination. “I’m the alpha of Shadowridge Peak. If they want to challenge me for the right to be alpha, then they challengeme. They donottarget my woman.”

Cannon grinned. “Well, thank fuck you’ve finally said something sensible. You suddenly sound like an alpha. Welcome back.”

Alpha Cannonof the Blackridge Peak Pack was a dick.

He had gone to “fetch” something, and while he was gone, some of his pack justhappenedto be passing by.

I waited patiently in the corner of his hallway as Willow said her goodbyes to his betas and Doc, who claimed he was her physician. He was part shifter, and because of that, he smelled wrong. I also didn’t like the way his eyes lingered on my girl with more than clinical assessment, and I wondered if he would heal if I plucked his eyeballs from their sockets.

I didn’t like him.

You don’t like anyone.

My inner voice sounded suspiciously like someone I missed listening to. My mother.

I hadn’t felt her presence on Shadowridge Peak when I returned, and I hoped that meant she was at peace. My father’s presence had also been missing, and I was sure the Goddess Luna had called her alpha and his mate home. The ones I had felt, the ones I had sent to the afterlife, I was sure Luna wouldn’t want them in death to join the eternal hunt anyway.

“The Jeep’s ready to take you,” Cannon told me, coming to stand beside me. “It’s got a tracker. My brother has already disabled it.” He saw my look. Wordlessly he handed over the plastic casing. “As I said, my brother disabled it.”

That made me grin, and I heard his huff of amusement beside me. “You’re even pricklier than I am,” he mused under his breath. His attention was fixed on Willow, who was smiling at something Ned said. “She’s good for you.”

“You approve?” I heard my sarcasm and didn’t blanch when he gave me a dirty look at the attitude.

“She can’t be your mate, we know that,” he told me, dropping his voice even lower. “But Luna has chosen her, and I don’t argue with the Will of the Goddess.”

“She has chosen her,” I agreed. “If Luna decides she hasn’t chosen herfor me”—I shared a look with him—“then I have no problem arguing, Goddess or not.”

“She’s still human,” Cannon cautioned. “You’re going to meet some resistance among some packs.”

“Yours?”

He shrugged. “My pack’s one of the more open-minded.” I remembered some of hispackstaring at Willow and me outside. I wouldn’t bet my next meal on the open-mindedness of his pack. “And…you can still always meet your mate.”

Seeing Willow looking over at me, I knew she was eager to start the return journey. “I’ve been an alpha for ten years,” I told him, keeping my eyes on the woman who held my attention most of the time. “Luna wanted my attention, she got it.” I turned to look at Cannon. “With Willow.”

He didn’t look like he agreed, but he didn’t argue.

What could he say that I hadn’t already considered? She wasn’t a shifter, so why would the Goddess send me to her? Humans and shifters weren’t meant to mix. They couldn’t reproduce. No shifter was born from a human mother. Half-breeds like Doc showed us that. The shaman had said the goddess was worried about my bloodline. Willow wasn’t the answer to that problem. She never could be.

Maybe they meant my father’s legacy would be besmirched if I were the last of his bloodline and I went rogue, letting the darkness consume me. Even so, Willow, thehuman, saving me had no endgame that I could see.

Did I think she was my mate? No. I knew better. Did that mean she wasn’t mine? No. Willow Harper belonged to me, and I wasn’t going to let her go.

I watched her say her goodbyes and then walk over to me. Her smile held a hint of sadness, but her eyes were filled with the excitement of returning home. “I’m ready.” Her smile dimmed a little when she looked at Cannon, and I knew the alpha beside me unsettled her. “Thank you, for everything.”

“I’m sure we’ll see you again,” Cannon said smoothly. “You are always welcome on Blackridge Peak.”

She didn’t hide her surprise, and I didn’t think I did either. Helping her at the Will of the Goddess was one thing; offering her to return if she wanted to, was more than I expected.

“Um…thank you.” Her eyes flicked to mine nervously, and I reached out and took her hand, which she gripped readily. “But I think my hiking days are done,” she added with a nervous laugh. “Mountain living is too off grid for me.”

Cannon felt me stiffen beside him, and when he turned to look at me, I could hear his unspokentold you so.

Saying nothing exceptgoodbye, I led Willow out of the house and down to the Jeep that had been provided for us by the alpha. The terrain was steep, not as steep as my own peak, but it meant that vehicles struggled to get close to the town.

Willow stayed close to me as we walked to the parked Jeep. She didn’t lift her head to look around, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her. I knew if I asked, she would tell me shewas watching her footing. I knew it was bullshit. She didn’t want to see any frowns from pack who didn’t like her holding the hand of a shifter.

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