No, I’m beyond questioning. I know I was wrong to blame her. To think she was part of her father’s challenge. To put her through a punishment she didn’t deserve.
This isn’t the type of alpha I want to be.
The hatred I’ve held on to with both fists crumbles to dust and slips through my fingers.
I’ve been a damned fool. Blind to the truth in front of me this entire time. I need to make it right.
I toss the logs into the fire and stoke it until I have the burning wood rearranged to allow the flames to breathe better. Within minutes, the temperature becomes more comfortable in the tiny cabin, though it’s still chillier than it could be. I search the room, not finding any furs to help Lena warm up. There are too many sitting around the lodge in winter I can send over.
Beatrix sprawls in front of the fire with a content hum. “How’d you do that? No matter how much I add , it never gets this warm.”
“See how I moved them so one is propped up instead of stacked? The flames can get bigger like that. The trick is not to smother it with the firewood.”
“Would you bring me my book, please?” Lena motions to a stack on the floor by the bed. I pick out the top one. “No, the one with the blue cover. Third down. I’m between three books and I’m in the mood for that one.”
She beams when I hand it over, scooting lower in the rocker to curl up with it.
Avery concentrates on her task when I prop a shoulder against the wall. She strips every part of the plant, setting aside the leaves in two piles. One she adds to a pot of boiling water on the stovetop. The other she divides onto a tray that goes in the oven, and the rest she chops finely.
Her hands are so nimble. It’s impossible not to get lost watching them.
“Are you a witch after all?” I murmur the question without any of the heat I intend at the idea of a shifter learning magic.
She smirks humorlessly. “No. I’m not a witch. I can’t do any real magic.”
I pick up one of the assortment of jars and sniff the tan powder. The spiced tang is a surprising tickle to my nose.
“That’s ground ginger. Put it back. Don’t touch anything else, I have it organized.”
I return it, eyeing the labels on other tins and phials for herbal roots, seeds, extractions, and salves. Her annoyance with me is palpable, creating a zinging buzz in my chest, yet with her sisters her attitude is completely softened.
She brews tea with the fresh wildflower leaves for Lena, laughing with her when she shows her a passage from her book. Beatrix perches on the arm of the rocker and Avery combs then braids her hair with gentle, nurturing care.
Unbidden, my mind conjures the idea of Avery caring for pups in the same way. My wolf knows she’ll be perfect, and I don’t know what to do with the unfamiliar longing unfurling within me.
A worn journal pokes out from a lower shelf. I thumb through it, brows rising at years’ worth of notes on the mountain’s vegetation along with lists of uses, some with question marks that are scratched out. Those have a tiny scrawl in the margin to note ineffectiveness or have poison written at the top of the page with several underscores.
It amazes me how much she’s learned.
At the back, she’s logged pack members she’s traded remedies for their ailments or tracking who she’s noticed has a problem she could solve and how it would benefit her. This isn’t only for her sister, she’s seen to a surprising number of females in the pack.
She snatches the journal from me with a gasp. “Why are you still poking around?”
I open my mouth to tell her it’s my right as Alpha. The panic flaring in her eyes makes me snap my jaw shut with a shrug. The buzz moving around behind my ribcage gets worse. I massage it and gesture to the table.
“I was interested to see your work. You're helping the pack in your own way. That’s a good thing. I’m grateful.”
Her cheeks color and she narrows her gaze before going back to ignoring me.
The longer I stay because it feels right to be near her, the more irritated she becomes. I’m a looming presence intruding on her space. She growls at me when I’m blocking her path. There aren’t many places to move in the tiny cabin.
After she’s tucked her youngest sister into bed, she grabs my wrist and drags me outside. A creaking noise distracts me. I stop to inspect the door.
“Do you want me to send the healer to check on Lena?”
“Don’t bother. I’ve got it covered.”
“Are you sure? If I send him, he might be able to help.”
“He’s a hack.”
My frown deepens. The hinges are probably shot and the door’s not worth salvaging. I’ll need to replace it all to resolve the noise.
“Damn it, would you stop that?” she snaps.
She attempts to push me away from fussing with the door. Even with her improved strength now that she has a wolf, she’s barely able to make me budge when I don’t want to. She releases a terse sigh when I kneel to examine the ancient, rusted hinges closer.
“It’s just—like that, okay? I’ve tried to fix it,” she grits out. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“You’ve tried to fix this? On your own?” The question comes out through my teeth and she takes it the wrong way.
“Yes, Caden. When something breaks around here, who are we going to call? The maintenance crew?” She tosses her head with a scoff that rubs my fur the wrong way. “The only one I can rely on for help is myself.”
She shakes her head at my sharp look and storms off the porch.
My jaw works and I stretch my head side to side to ease the tension stiffening every muscle in my body. There’s no threat to fight. Not a physical one. The growl working its way up my throat is an overreaction caused by this damn bond for leaving my fated mate to fend for herself in such an extreme way.
I was an idiot to think she wouldn’t be a worthy Alpha female. A worthy mate. I’m the unworthy one, not her.
My chest constricts with dread. I rejected her. Fuck, is it too late to undo my mistakes? Would she want me if I accept the bond?
I push to my feet with another rumble and make it to her with long strides by the time she reaches the woods. She stumbles and I automatically catch her elbow to keep her steady.
“I’m fine.” She yanks free and rubs at her chest.
I feel the urge to do the same because the mad pulsing insisting I drag her body against mine and claim her mouth is driving me to the brink of madness.
“If you came to petition for help, it would be my duty as Alpha to hear you out,” I argue, unable to control my volume. “You’re still part of this pack.”
She halts, shoulders heaving with heavy breaths. Then she turns and meets my eye. The death glare she serves me would be viewed as a direct challenge by anyone, yet my heartbeat races for an entirely different reason.
Avery Morgan is beautiful and entirely too tempting when she’s furious.
17AVERY
“What did you say?” I’m so enraged, I barely have the capacity to yell.
“That you didn’t have to fix creaking doors or broken floorboards by yourself.” Caden raises his hands as I march up to him. “And you don’t have to worry about it anymore. You should move out of that death trap. I’ll find you somewhere else.”
“And go where? To you?”
My voice cracks when I pummel his chest, not even stopping to think about the consequences of attacking my alpha. He allows it and doesn’t retaliate. Inside, my wolf rages, too. She’s lunging and wild, teeth clacking with each fierce snap of her jaws.
“To tell you the nights were too cold? After your father put us out here because of you when everyone else at that joke of a pack meeting after—afterwards suggested any remaining Morgans be put down or exiled?” I’m breathing hard, everything pouring out of me at once. “Do you expect my thanks for this mercy you showed us?”