He couldn’t. That was the problem. He thought about her when he woke up—was she awake too, already working, forgetting to eat? He thought about her when he trained with the pack—would she be impressed by his combat skills, or would she point out that her algorithms could probably optimize his fighting patterns? He thought about her when he lay in bed at night, alone, aching, imagining what sounds she would make if he?—
The crack of a twig made his ears swivel.
Coleman emerged from the trees in wolf form, his grey-brown coat gleaming in the afternoon light. His enforcer was smart enough not to approach directly, instead circling to a respectful distance and settling onto his haunches with the patient air of someone prepared to wait.
Adrian shifted back to human, not caring about his nudity. Wolves didn’t stand on ceremony about such things.
“You followed me.”
Coleman shifted too, revealing his familiar scarred face and perpetual frown. “You’ve been running yourself ragged for days. Someone needed to check that you hadn’t fallen off a cliff.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re wound tighter than a new rope.” Coleman crossed his arms, utterly unimpressed by Adrian’s attempt at dismissal. They’d known each other too long for that. “What’s got you so twisted up?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
“Harper.” Coleman’s voice was carefully neutral.
“What about her?”
“Don’t play dumb, Adrian. It doesn’t suit you.” Coleman moved to sit on a nearby boulder, seemingly unbothered by the rough stone against his bare skin. “The whole pack can smell what’s happening between you two. Half the males are taking bets on when you’ll finally claim her.”
His jaw clenched. “She’s not mine to claim.”
“Your wolf seems to disagree.”
“My wolf doesn’t make decisions. I do.”
Coleman was quiet for a moment, studying him with the assessing gaze of a warrior evaluating a battlefield. They’d fought together, bled together, and survived the nightmare ofVivienne’s machinations together. If anyone had earned the right to speak bluntly to the Alpha, it was him.
“You want her.”
It wasn’t a question. He didn’t deny it.
“What she is doesn’t change what she makes you feel.” Coleman picked at a callus on his palm, seemingly absorbed in the task. “I’ve known you since you were a pup, Adrian. I’ve never seen you react to a female like this. Not even—” He stopped.
“Not even Vivienne,” he said flatly. “Say it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking it.”
“Fine. Not even Vivienne.” Coleman met his eyes, steady and honest. “That’s what scares you, isn’t it? Feeling something this strong after what she did.”
His hands curled into fists. She’d started trying to seduce him the second time he caught her cheating on his father. She’d insisted that her lover had attacked her, dramatically dropping her gown to display the red marks covering her naked body.
He’d been fifteen, and to his horror, his body had responded. He’d fled in shame, her laughter echoing behind him. It hadn’t been the only time, and even though she’d never succeeded, the memory of her predatory pursuit was a nightmare that continued to haunt him.
Adrian had spent the last eight years rebuilding. Proving himself worthy of the Alpha position he’d inherited too young. Earning his pack’s trust piece by painful piece. He’d sworn he would never let another woman have that kind of power over him.
And then Harper Bailey had crashed into his life with her pink hair and her defiant eyes and her absolute refusal to be intimidated by him, and all his carefully constructed walls had started crumbling like wet sand.
Coleman was quiet again, letting the silence stretch. It was one of the things Adrian appreciated about his second—he knew when to speak and when to simply be present. They’d had hundreds of conversations like this over the years, hashing out pack problems under open skies, finding solutions in the space between words.
“You could have her, you know,” Coleman said carefully, treading on dangerous ground. “Females aren’t required to be wolves. The old laws?—”
“The old laws also permitted trial by combat for leadership disputes. Doesn’t mean we should bring that back.” He picked up a stone and hurled it over the cliff edge, watching it disappear into the valley below. “The elders are already furious about the modernization. If I took a human mate?—”
