Page 56 of Wolf Bound

“Thank you, baby. I don’t even think you fully understand what you’ve done for me,” he whispers in my ear.

“I’m just so happy I could help you heal.” I snuggle into his chest and sigh with contentment. The urge to heal him is gone, my magic feels settled in his presence for the time being.

“You did really good, beautiful.” Drayton kisses the top of my head while I’m in Forr’s arms before walking further into the house.

Wes yells after him, “meeting in the living room in twenty minutes!”

Drayton waves a hand over his head in acknowledgement, but keeps walking. I chuckle against Forr, then pull away to give my attention back to Wes.

“I’ll see you in twenty minutes,” Forrester mumbles with a kiss to my forehead and follows Drayton into the house.

“Sorry,” I apologize again, my cheeks heating with shame. Poor Wes, I should have been giving him my full attention.

“It’s okay, love. To answer your earlier question, no.” Wes turns the screen of his laptop towards me and points to a list of names. “We have thoroughly vetted all the packs and the shifters that will be attending the meeting. While Alaric and Penn are nervous about the non-wolf shifters coming, I know without a doubt those are the shifters we have to worry about the least.”

My eyes scan the list and I smile when I see Miles halfway down. “I see I will finally be able to meet Miles in person after that awkward mishap with the computer thing.”

Wes laughs while his eyes twinkle with a far dirtier gleam as he recalls the amazing almost sex at his desk.

“You will,” he answers and shakes his head. “Miles is a good guy, I think you’ll like him. He’s a bear shifter from the Carossa den and one of the smartest people I know.”

“Not smarter than you though, right?” I tease with a wink.

Wes scoffs and puffs up his shoulders. “No one is smarter than me, babe. No one.”

“I’m a lucky girl to have the smartest man as my mate,” I say in a lowered tone, leaning towards him.

Wes leans in and grips my chin firmly, yet gently in between his finger and thumb. “Atta girl, baby.”

He winks at me before drawing me in for a slow, sweet kiss that makes my heart race in excitement. We stay like that fora few minutes, just soaking each other in with soft kisses and gentle caresses.

Wes pulls back with a sigh. “I do really need to go through the rest of this with you,” he apologetically murmurs. “Just a few more security measures and then I want to give you a heads up for what the meeting is about.”

“Oh? That makes me nervous.” I laugh breathlessly, my stomach turning in knots.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you nervous. The truth is, I don’t know yet if this is good or bad for us,” Wes explains, taking one of my hands in his. “Someone has been trying to reach you. They claim to be the son of a former Croises member, and he's reaching out on behalf of his mother.”

I freeze from head to toe, my blood feeling like ice through my veins. There aren't any former members. Not ones that are left alive, at least. There was only ever one person that rebelled against them while I was old enough to remember and it was a death sentence for him. The guards talked about their kill for weeks after it happened. There were no traitors left alive. Ever.

“I don’t— That’s not—” I struggle to speak, the thoughts spinning in my head with confusion and fear that suffocate me from the inside out.

“What’s wrong, Tal?” Wes kneels in front of me. He rubs his hands up and down my thighs, concern lining his face. “Do you think it’s a trap?”

“It would have to be,” I whisper in a small, shaky voice. “No traitors are ever left alive.”

Wes cups a hand on my cheek and brushes his thumb along my skin, never breaking contact. “We’ll go over everything as a group. They sent along a few things to prove they were telling the truth. They said those exact words in one of their messages.”

“I don’t understand how it would be possible,” I murmur with a shake of my head. “I’ll listen to what you have to say, though.If you have reason to believe they’re telling the truth, it wouldn’t hurt to talk about it.”

He sits back into his seat and smiles softly at me. “You know I would never put you in danger and neither would any of the others. We’ll figure this out as a group.”

“You’re right. We will do it together.” Straightening my back, I let out a huge breath and smile at him. “Now tell me about these security measures, Mr. Smartest Man in the World.”

My head is spinning twenty minutes later with that boatload of information, but I make my way to the living room for the meeting with my mates. My mates are going a touch overboard with the security plan for this multi-pack get together, yet I honestly can’t blame them. After what happened with Marcus and the Croises cult, I will do whatever they need to have even a semblance of peace of mind.

Forrester is talking quietly to Drayton in the corner of the room when I walk in and I have to stop the small squeal of excitement from escaping when I see them. This feels monumental when they have been at each other’s throats since I met them. Well, Forr was at Dray’s throat, Drayton just wanted to make amends.

“It’s weird, right?” Penn whispers in my ear. His sudden presence makes me jump, but he just chuckles deeply and pulls me into his arms.

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