Page 106 of Campfires & Canines
I hate myself in this moment, but I have to be sure. Because if we do this again, it’ll be permanent. I’ll be sure of it.
"If none of this had happened, and I hadn’t taken away your freedom like that, and you could go anywhere without limitations, what would you want?" I need to know.
"I would want to be right here with you." She presses her chest into mine. I can't help my hand going to the small of her back.
She tilts her head, looking quite wolfish. "What about you? Given total freedom, what would you want?”
I pause. "To be here. And if you were a random shifter that showed up, with no family saying you were off-limits..." I lower my lips to her ears. "I would have pursued you, immediately."
"And now that I am one of you?" she asks, her cold fingers sliding under my shirt. My breath hitches.
"You’re incredible."
"You want me?" The words are loaded - do you want to be my mate? Do you want to stay together? Forever?
"Desperately." My hoarse whisper scarcely makes it out of my mouth before she's on me.
She kisses me, and I haul her up against me, stepping away from the edge. I need her and I don't want to be worrying about falling off a literal cliff.
She wraps her legs around my waist and I love it. Between kisses, she bites my lip and I growl. She likes that, her thighs tightening.
I kiss her lips, her jaw, her ear, her neck.
"Don't talk about me leaving you. Never again," she snarls, her nails digging into my back.
I murmur my agreement into her skin.
As we are pulling off our clothing, a howl wrenches us apart. "Shit," I growl. I’m starting to believe we are cursed.
"What?" She chews her lip. Her instincts are probably telling her it's a warning, but she hasn't heard this kind of communication before.
"Something is wrong. It’s an emergency. We need to go back," I say. I toss our clothes in the bag and stash it away. She's already shifted and I join her. Quickly, she leads the way to our meadow.
18. Claims & Challenges
Hazel
Fear cuts through me as I fly towards our home. So many things could go wrong. I'm not going to lose my new family. We slow at the back of the training building, shifting and pulling our clothes from earlier on.
Cassia, Lazuli, and Elm arrive seconds after we do. As a group, we jog towards the meadow where many voices are yelling at the same time.
Standing by the parking lot are the last people I want to see ever again. I grip Slate tight enough to keep my hands from shaking. To his credit, he doesn't pull me behind him. He stays by my side. I'm not the fragile human I was last time.
Ferris stands in front of a line of sleek black SUVs. He looks bored. Sienna, beside him, looks irate. On his other side is Jasper, a black eye blooming over his cheek. I frown. Slate hadn’t hit higher than his jaw, and with how fast we heal, this had to be newer.
Aries, Flint, and a few other Zetas I recognize are flanking their Alphas. All of them look ready for blood.
Slate and I take our places beside Heath. Hawthorne stands on his other side. The normally peaceful Gamma looks ready to fight, his stance low and loose.
Cassia steps up to my left side and I give her a grateful nod. A deep sense of loyalty aches in my chest. I would die for these people, and they would for me as well.
"What are you doing on our land again," Heath demands.
"Where are your manners, Alpha Heath?" Ferris drawls.
Heath cracks his wrist, hands in fists. "Considering the last time wolves trespassed on my territory, my heir was kidnapped, I am not feeling particularly polite."
Ferris shrugs. "That’s unfortunate." It's not an admission of guilt, but not a denial either.
