The Grumps had been attacked.
My packs were vulnerable. I couldn’t be in both places at once.
A bird called out as it passed high overhead. For a moment, I envied it the freedom to fly away from it all.
I curled up against the ridge and closed my eyes. When I woke, I was back on the other side of the chasm. The Hollow once more beneath me. I knew better than to question it. Instead, I bowed my thanks and made my way down the ridge back to the Hollow.
I had a war to win, and with my Goddess’s help, I knew exactly what I needed to do to win it.
But first… I had to remind a pack who their alpha was.
Chapter 6
Rowen
He’d been goneall night.
I didn’t know how many times I tested the bond to ensure that, when I pulled, it pulsed back at me. He was still alive, but I was sure that I might kill him when I saw him.
If Diesel didn’t kill him first.
Because if I was mad, Diesel was furious.
We’d all seen it—those who slept and those still awake. We’d all seen the vision of our alpha leaping across the chasm and hovering in mid-air as if he were in slow motion until he landed gracefully on the other side. I had tugged at the bond repeatedly for the next twenty minutes until my heart stopped trying to escape from my chest.
He jumped across the freaking mountain.
Andlived.
He was an idiot.
It was obvious that I was married to and mated to a complete lunatic. I’d blame Luna, but she seemed to be the one that insisted he was crazy.
The pack was split into three as he asked, and scatteredacross three separate locations throughout the Hollow. Not everyone was happy. Axel had relayed his alpha’s orders yesterday afternoon; we’d assembled, and then our alpha decided to go on a moonlit refuge. Now it was morning, the air heavy and damp, and my alpha was nowhere to be seen.
Diesel stood still beside me. Only he wasn’tstill. He was agitated, and while he hadn’t moved for a long time, the energy he was throwing off was enough to make me jumpy.
“Can you please stop it?” I snapped at him.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Can you please gonot do somethingsomewhere else?”
Diesel went to answer, but his gaze snapped from mine to the ridge. His teeth bared in a snarl. “You ready for this?” he demanded just as my mate walked into view.
He was in the same clothes as yesterday, but it didn’t matter. He could have been naked, and I wouldn’t have looked anywhere but at his face. His eyes were shining white.
His alpha power seemed to crackle in the air around him as he walked. Energy, hot and full of reverberation, radiated off of him, and I saw some of the pack drop to their knees as he approached.
“Luna…” the druid breathed. I turned to them and saw the wonder in their eyes. “He’s been touched by the hand of the Goddess.”
The druid’s awe was interrupted by a loud snort from Diesel. “He’s about to betouchedby my fist.”
“Don’t be so primitive,” the druid scolded, their attention never leaving Wolfe.
Wolfe approached us, and I wasn’t sure how to react until he reached out, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into his embrace. The kiss was deep, thorough, and unhurried.
“And how is the ridge this time of year?” Diesel asked, breaking the spell.
