For him as well, which was why he couldn’t answer her. She needed to come. It was the most important thing in the world to him at that moment. Scarlett was everything. The universe only existed so he could please her.
Finally, as she shouted his name, he felt her sweet juices surround him. It was heaven. He was almost there … almost…
Michael lost himself inside her. He wasn’t sure where he went or how he got there, but it was okay if he never came back. In that moment, inside of his beloved, there was no pain to face. No one he loved would ever be hurt because he could and would always protect them. He could take care of her, live with her, make babies with her…
Scarlett sighed and he kissed the spot between her chin and her collarbone. Breathing in her scent, he looked down realizing he’d never taken off her shirt. “I think we were in a rush.”
She wiggled beneath him. “In the best possible way.”
What had they been talking about before his mate had made him lose his mind with lust?
His wolf supplied the answer. Getting the heck out of this heat and back to the winds off the Atlantic and our pack.
“It’s time for us to go home.”
She stretched. “Okay.”
Picking up her pants off the floor, she stood up and put them on. “I’m ready.”
“Shouldn’t we stop at your apartment and get your stuff?”
Shaking her head smiled. “I don’t have any. The guys brought you my clothes.
That’s it.”
Michael rubbed his nose. That was going to change. He was going to buy her things.
Tons of things. Anything she wanted.
Things she didn’t know she wanted, he would get for her.
He would buy her things she could return because she didn’t want them anymore.
“I love you, Scarlett.”
Her smile lit up the room. “I love you too, Michael, and now, forever,” she touched her chest. “I’ll carry part of your soul in here with me.”
She was right. That was exactly what happened now.
Scarlett wasn’t done talking. “I’ll take care of it while you take care of everyone else.”
He kissed her nose. “Someday it’ll be safe for us in the world. I promise you.”
Somehow, he would make that happen.
Chapter Ten
Scarlett looked down at the floor as they walked out of the bedroom in Cole’s house.
She held onto Michael’s hand tightly. It felt odd to be leaving New Orleans. For better or worse, despite the small memories she had of her first three years of life, and even those she wasn’t sure where they actually were from, she’d lived here her whole life.
Abruptly they came to a stop as she, and she assumed Michael, were all but overwhelmed by the scent of forty-five wolves.
What do you think they all want? She loved hearing his voice speak telepathically in her mind.
Maybe they’re here to say goodbye. She doubted it, but she hoped that was what it was.
Michael squeezed her hand and walked down the stairs next to her, stopping to regard the group at the bottom.
“What’s going on?”
Michael spoke to the group, not one person in particular. Scarlett supposed anyone could answer.
It was Barge who spoke. Out of the three of them—Todd, Barge and Seamus—he’d always been the quietest.
“Don’t leave, Michael.”
She couldn’t imagine what it cost emotionally for him to say that. He kept his face stoic, his emotions hidden.
“I have to. I came here for a reason.” Michael shrugged, but she could feel the tension in the way he held her hand tightly. She didn’t want to squirm as she tried to loosen his grip. After a second, he pressed less hard. “As it turns out, I didn’t find my sister, I found my mate. Still, I need to go home.”
Barge wasn’t finished. “Make this y’alls’ home.”
Scarlett wanted to shout at them to be quiet, to not ask this of Michael. She’d seen what Michael had gone through in the brief moments she’d witnessed him as Alpha.
He could lead, but the absolute truth was that he didn’t want to be. There was nothing about it that appealed to him. She wished to scream at them to be quiet, to not make him have to tell them no, to cause everyone pain. Instead, she stayed silent. This was happening.
Michael shook his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Why not?” Todd stepped forward. “You’re making everything better. We’re better, our wolves are better.”
Michael let go of her hand and leaned against the banister of the stairs. “They will keep getting better, all of you will, if you just follow your instincts and don’t do things that feel wrong.”
Seamus stepped forward and Scarlett wondered if they’d coordinated this, practiced, in the hope he would agree.
“You could be our Alpha. You don’t have to go home and be just a member of the pack. Couldn’t you do that?”
There it was. The question Scarlett hoped they wouldn’t ask.
To her relief, Michael smiled. “I can’t.”
Seamus opened his mouth and Michael raised a hand to stop him from speaking.
“I wish I could, but one of the things you will all learn as you get older is who you are. I’m not a supreme Alpha. I tried it for thirty years. I like being a member of the pack.”
Todd scratched his head. “But you’re so Alpha, how can you like to follow anyone?”
“Being an Alpha wolf is not about leading. It’s about who you are.” Michael sat down on the step. She moved to sit next to him. “There is nothing in me that is stifled by listening to Tristan’s good judgment. He runs our pack and I make it easier for him.
Besides, if you think I’m powerful you should see what some of my pack members are like. You can feel their power a mile away. It’s really amazing.”
“Michael.” Scarlett spoke up, getting his attention. This idea had brewed in her brain since they’d scented them all at the bottom of the stairs. She never would have risked stating her mind in public before, but now that she carried Michael’s soul inside of her she knew there was nothing she could do that would make him stop loving her.
His eyes found hers. She could see the stress this took on him. He never wanted to disappoint anyone. “Yes?”
“Take them with us.”
There, she had said it.
Silence filled the room.
Michael smiled but there was no mirth in it. “Truth is, I don’t even want to bring you there. It’s not safe. Westervelt is under constant attack. I could never ask anyone to live that life.”
Todd squatted so he was below Michael’s level on the floor. His intent couldn’t have been clearer: submission.
“What if we wanted to come? Would Tristan take us?”
“Tristan would take any shifter who wanted to join our wolf pack, as long as they swore loyalty.” Michael stood and moved up the steps. “But that’s a permanent thing.
You don’t join Westervelt and then leave it. I can’t stress enough how dangerous it is and you’d be giving up everything to follow me. Think about that. Do you want to renounce your life here to come with me to certain danger? You might not even like me in a few days.”
Todd opened his mouth to speak and Michael stopped him again this time by speaking over him.
“Okay, here’s the deal. I needed to stop at Joe’s before I leave. Something he said yesterday is bothering me. When I get back in a few hours, anyone who wishes to come with me can. If you don’t want to, and I think you should seriously consider not coming, then consider this goodbye.”
Grabbing her hand, Michael pulled them both down the stairs and through the group of shifters.
When they were a safe distance away, he slowed his speed. Smiling with a sad look in his eyes, he sighed. “Sorry about the near-run out of there.”