She watches her meal scamper off, tail drooping and a put out sigh huffing from her.
I console her disgruntled mood. We still suck at hunting, but we’ll figure it out with practice. The first time I tried to eat what the forest provided me, I nearly poisoned myself and look at me now.
She forgets all about it once we’re running again, the cool air ruffling our coat and tingeing the air with interesting scents like fresh laundry, baking bread, and the pipes elders smoke on their porches. Someone’s being loud, their whining cries filtering through the trees from the direction of Silver Falls. The tang of arousal hangs in the air. Mating. I identify Emily’s scent and change directions.
A sleek wolf bounds over a mossy hill with her tongue hanging out from her grinning maw. I freeze.
She stops, tail at attention as she sniffs us snout to snout. Her wet nose tickles our ear when she inspects it, then moves down our neck and front flank. She barks, lowering her chest to the ground. Our tail wags when we recognize her. Taryn. Friend.
We circle each other, jumping and playing. She knocks into me much like she does when we’re in our skin and I roll her.
A sharp bark interrupts us. We spring to our feet when another wolf emerges from the trees. He’s huge with bright orange eyes that seem familiar. It becomes clear when he pins Taryn’s wolf and runs his nose from her chest to beneath her jaw, licking her before he lets her up.
I approach Liam, ears swiveling to gauge his mood. He gives me a perfunctory sniff and gives my side a headbutt. My wolf bumps him back with her shoulder, putting a paw on his back. He goes still, then takes off, pausing on top of a hill to see if we’re following. Taryn shoots off first and I join her, my spirits soaring as the three of us race.
This is what I’ve missed. Belonging with my pack.
22CADEN
When the kid from our carpentry supply delivers the last of the materials I ordered, I load it into the flatbed of my truck with the rest of the things I’ve gathered that Avery needs and drive up to her cottage. On the way, I pass the crew working on extending the power lines and lift my fingers in a wave from the open window.
Avery’s not around, but her sisters are.
Beatrix bursts out the rickety front door while I’m unloading lumber from the truck. The damned thing is first on my list.
If I thought she’d let me, I’d burn this place down. I’m sure it would piss her off when she’s put so much effort into making this her space, so I’ll fix it up so it stands another century to serve her needs.
“Are you looking for Avery?” Beatrix can’t contain a smile. “I heard you’re True Mates. Is that why you’re coming around now?”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “I’m here for all of you. I’m sorry for making your lives hard for so long. Will you let me make it right?”
She purses her lips to the side in thought, growing quiet. “Is it also true you rejected her? She won’t tell me about it no matter how much I pester her. I had to hear it from the others in my lessons, and they say you were a real dick about it.”
My head dips. “Yes. I want to make up for that, too.”
“Did it hurt?”
A startled huff leaves me. “It does, yes.”
“Good.”
I rub my chest to ease the twinge at the memory, the bond punishing me for what I did to my mate retroactively. “More for her, I think. If I could go back and change what I’ve done, I would.”
She peers inside a moment, probably checking on Lena. “What are you planning to do about it? Because if you hurt Avery again…” She comes to the edge of the stoop, hands on her hips and a ferocious expression rivaling the females on the enforcer roster. “I won’t let it slide.”
It strikes me that I’m Alpha and I’m being admonished by a girl who hasn’t even come of age yet. She’s my mate’s family, which makes her one of my own. I need to protect the Morgan girls as much as I need to care for my own blood.
“When we moved here, I didn’t really understand why, and Lena was way too young to remember much of anything. It didn’t feel right, being so far from the pack. The smells were different and I couldn’t hear them.” Her gaze hardens. “You know what I do remember? The nights Avery cried after she put us to bed thinking no one could hear her.”
The guilty knife lodged in my chest drives a bit deeper. “You have my word that I will never hurt Avery ever again.”
I vow it with a hand over my heart that only beats for her.
She gives a satisfied nod after a beat. “If you can make her happy again, then it’ll be okay. She deserves to be happy.”
My throat thickens. I clear it, squeezing my nape.
“She does. And I will give her anything and everything to ensure it.” I gesture to the open bed of the truck. “Starting with a repaired door that doesn’t scream on its hinges. If that’s alright with you?”
Beatrix perks up, her bubbly energy returning. “You’re going to fix the door?”
“I’ll fix anything that needs it.” I incline my head. “Or, if you’d like, I’ll prepare a new cabin for you to move to.”
She’s right. They shouldn’t be so far from the pack. The nearest cabin is close to a mile from here. They need to be around their packmates. Lena and Beatrix should be running around with friends, not cast to the edges of the territory.
“I’d take that option in a heartbeat,” she gushes. “But… Avery does like it out here, I think. It’s small and kind of shitty, but it’s ours. We’ve made it cozy.”
My wolf purrs with pride in our mate. Despite me being the reason for her harsh environment, she’s a survivor. He likes that.
“Let’s restore the parts that are losing against age, then see if we can convince her there’s no need to remain out here,” I suggest.
Not when both my wolf and I want her near. In my rooms at the lodge. In my bed. Soft and warm, smelling lush and open in the mornings. Within arm’s reach so I can pull her close and sink into her, hear those little sounds she makes when she’s needy and hungry for more like the other night in the woods. Fuck, those sounds.
I busy myself with the bag of tools, back turned on Beatrix so she doesn’t see the evidence of what thinking of her sister does to me.
“Can I help?” Beatrix wanders over.
“There’s a stack of blankets in the front seat and a cooler full of food if you want to take those in.”
Her eyes sparkle when she opens the lid on the cooler. “So much meat.”
I come around and ruffle her hair, then reach past her for the bag of things I went to Ashbury to get as a gift for Avery. I follow Beatrix inside and greet Lena.
She puts her book in her lap. I’m glad to see some color in her cheeks. I take one of the blankets from Beatrix’s stack and drape it around Lena.
“Thank you.”
“You’re looking better,” I say.
She nods. “My cold’s almost gone. Avery’s remedies are really good to fight off illness.”
“Good. If either of you need anything at all, tell me.”
“We will,” Beatrix says.
I put the gardening tools I got for Avery on her workbench, borrowing a page from her journal to leave a note. My fingers brush the new shears and a smile tugs at my mouth.
Once I survey the cottage to assess the worst areas that need attention, I settle in to work on building a new door. Bit by bit, I’ll mend all the things I’ve broken in Avery’s life, from this cottage to every crack I’ve caused in her heart.
23AVERY