Sara couldn’t hold back her grin. She tugged Rachel close enough to kiss. “Will he give it?”
Rachel’s brow furrowed. “Of course. Why wouldn’t he?”
For the first time that evening, a niggle of doubt threatened to creep in and spoil their happy bubble.
With a finger under Sara’s chin, Rachel forced her head up. Their eyes met, and whatever Rachel saw in Sara’s caused her frown to deepen. “Sara?”
“Won’t he care that I’m a woman?”
“No.” Cupping Sara’s cheek, she added, “You know how shifters are… We like who we like. My father wants me to be happy. When I tell him I’ve got a potential bond—with an alpha’s daughter no less”—she winked, and Sara smiled—“he’ll be thrilled for me.”
If only Sara’s own father was that easy to please. Just imagining his reaction made her shudder.
“What about your father?” Rachel asked.
Glancing away, Sara sighed. “I doubt he’ll be thrilled. He has this thing about”—she made finger quotes—“‘preserving the bloodline.’” At Rachel’s raised eyebrow, she added, “My grandmother on my mother’s side is a member of the alpha council. He thinks me and my brothers should have all the children we can.”
“But we have a potential bond.” Rachel rubbed over her chest, and Sara felt an answering ache in hers. “He won’t object, will he?”
Would he?
Sara shook her head. “He might be disappointed at first.” She shrugged. “But I’m his daughter, and he loves me. I know he’ll want me to be happy.” Her father might be old-fashioned in some of his thinking, but even though she’d spent the last ten years away from his pack, he’d always kept in touch, had visited her mother’s pack to see her. Rachel wouldn’t be his first choice for her as a mate, but a bond was special, something to be celebrated. “It’ll be fine.”
As they lay there on the cool ground, Sara with her head on Rachel’s shoulder and Rachel’s arm around her, the night sky slowly began to lighten.
“We should get back,” Rachel whispered. She placed a kiss on Sara’s hair and sat up.
Reluctantly Sara followed suit, stretching out her tired muscles. “Yeah, I have further to go than you. They’ll be wondering where I’ve got to.”
They stood, and Sara took Rachel’s hand. “Will I get to see you later?”
Rachel smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “Yes,” she murmured, deepening the kiss before pulling back. “I’ll sleep for a few hours, then tell my father. I guess I’ll still need permission to enter your territory.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately my dad’s a stickler for things like that.” Sara rolled her eyes. “If only I had a pen, I could get your phone number.”
Rachel laughed and glanced down between them. “Yeah. Kind of hard to carry one like this. We can hopefully swap numbers tonight.” She let go of Sara’s hand and took two steps back. “Until later, then.”
“Looking forward to it.”
The air around her shimmered for a moment, and then Rachel shifted into her wolf. Sara admired her for a second, before doing the same.
With great reluctance, she turned away and padded across the grass to the tree line that separated their territories. Hopefully Alpha Tregarrak would understand why she’d entered his land uninvited and not take offence.
Now to face her own father.
“IS SHE COMING over later?” Sara asked, as soon as her father came through the door.
“No.” Alpha Simon Gallen slammed the door closed behind him and marched across the kitchen towards where Sara sat at the table, waiting.
She stood to meet him. “What do you mean,no?”
He’d found her as she came in from her full-moon run. Bubbling with excitement, she’d told him of her and Rachel’s potential bond, the words tripping over themselves in her hurry to get them out. He’d looked at her, said, “I’ll go take care of it,” and then left.
That had been two hours ago.
Towering over her at six feet six inches, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. When he met Sara’s gaze, his blue eyes flickered with guilt, then turned cold. Expression hard and unwavering. “You’re not to see, speak or attempt to get in touch with Rachel Tregarrak from this moment onwards.”
Sara stared at him slack-jawed for a second. “What? Why? She’s my—”
