Page 47 of The Return
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, fine. Just saw Kinsey kissing Matt.”
“Mm, about time he manned up. Couldn’t stand the pheromones when the two of them were together.” He moved closer and put a hand on my leg.
“Tonight was….” God, how did I put into words what was in my heart?
“A mistake?”
“What? Hell, no.” I paused a moment, dread slithering through me. “Did you think it was?”
He rolled over and pulled me closer. “What? No fucking way. That was one of the best moments in my entire life. It ranks up there with the day I met you and realized you were my mate.”
The tension drained out of me. “So where do we go from here?”
“Oh, we’re going to be doing so much of that,” he told me, then nibbled his lip. “Core? Can I say something?”
“Of course.”
“After my dad took me to the pack house, I thought about running away. I’d come back for you, and the two of us would get the hell out of Harken’s Corners. I’m glad we didn’t.”
“Oh?”
“This is your home. You have friends here. The thought that I could have taken you away from them hurts. I was being selfish, thinking about what I wanted and not what was right for us.”
He’d laid his soul bare for me, so could I do any less? “Confession time. I was angry for so long, but you’re right. I came back here after college because this was my home. Everything in my life was here, except my parents. And you, of course. Then I opened the shop, and it cemented my place here. Having you come back was like adding a jewel to a crown. I think us leaving would have been the worst mistake ever.”
He chuckled and tightened his grip. “Sometimes you have to stop looking over your shoulder, so you can see what’s in front of you.”
“That’s deep.”
He shrugged. “I think I read it on a soup can or something. My point is, I’m going to be the Alpha and you’re my mate. The wolves here will depend on us to love and guide them. I don’t think…. No, I’m certain, after everything with the Council, I can’t imagine them putting someone in my place. These are our people, and no one will know them or care for them as we do.”
He wasn’t wrong. “It might sound weird, but I have always felt like I… I don’t know. Belonged here? Even after you left, it still felt like this was the place I had to be, because it was safe for me here.”
“That doesn’t sound weird at all. I admit, I don’t fully understand how being mated works for a human, but you’re pack. This is your family, every bit as much as your parents. Everyone out there is your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, mother, father. That’s what pack is. We take care of one another, without any of the posturing crap that some humans put out. We don’t make it about us—we make it about them. You, more than anyone, embody that belief, because you’re the Alpha Mate. It’s in your blood.”
“I wish someone could talk to me about this,” I said to him. “It’s weird and awesome at the same time.”
“As far as I know, you are the only human who’s ever been an Alpha Mate. My dad believed that Mates were always the same species. He figured, if I ever found mine, it would be a wolf. Then I met you and that all went out the window. At first, he worried about how a human would be received into the pack. When Annabelle told him she’d sold this house, he was over the moon. Then he came to meet your family and found out you were human.”
“You make it sound bad.”
“This is supposed to be a haven for wolves. Interaction with humans was to be kept to a minimum. Then three of them move into town and our way of life was disrupted.”
“Why? What’s the big deal?”
He blew out a breath. “What do you think would happen if the government found out about werewolves? We’re faster, stronger, heal better. Our wolves can kill without compunction. And that’s the rank and file. Alphas….” His eyes widened. “Never mind.”
What? Hell, no. “Go on. What about Alphas?”
“Core, it’s complicated.”
“Then give me theDummy’s Guide to Your Werewolfversion.”
He winced. “Most wolves have two forms. They’re either human or wolf. Alphas have a third form—a cross between human and wolf. More aggressive, nearly feral. It’s that form that Adam dragged out of me that day. If I had finished the shift, I would have torn him apart.”
“No.”
