Thalia looked at me with guilt in her eyes. “Alpha…”
“You haven’t let me down,” I assured her quickly. “Could I use your fight? Yes, I could. But you need to listen to your husband, just this once.”
Thalia looked away, tears streaming down her face. “Iwasn’t even sure,” she whispered to Cody, and I moved away to give them a moment.
“When are you going to tell Cody he’s like you?”I asked the Grumps.
“He knows,” Grandmother answered. “He’s in denial. Thinks he’s a hot fighter.”
“He is,”I confirmed. “But you need to tell him, because there’s a druid at the Hollow who sees too much. He’s already taken my mate as his apprentice,”I warned them.
“He won’t take my Cody,”Grandfather harrumphed. “Blood runs deeper. Diesel will look after him. Might bring that one to his senses.”
I wasn’t touching that at all. I turned when I felt the pull on my hand. I looked down at Lake.
“Can I come with you?”he asked me, but the answer was already in his eyes.
“Leave the little one,”Grandmother told me firmly.
“You’ll be safer here,” I told him, bending down to pick him up. “Thalia needs help. Can I trust you to help her?”
Lake looked over to where Cody and Thalia were locked in an embrace. “She’s still mad at me.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, you messed up,” I told him. He was just a boy, I reminded myself. I sighed. “I’d like it if you looked after her while I was away.”
Lake looked up at me and slowly nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
He wrapped his arms around me, and I held on a little too tightly before setting him down on the ground. “Behave. Do what Darla and Thalia tell you to.” I ruffled his hair. “I’ll see you soon.”
I ducked into the Grumps’ house and gave them both a hug goodbye. “Any words of advice?”
“Stay alive, Wolfe,” Grandmother murmured. “Don’t make me angry.”
“If you die, she’ll be angry,” Grandfather agreed with a nod.
“That’ll make three of us,” I told him, tapping him on the shoulder. “Right?”
“Meh.”
Grinning, I left their home, and with the pack gathered, we shifted and started to run. At the border, I stayed back and let my pack cross first before I followed; the seal of protection slipped into place over Stonefang, and I exhaled. One part of my pack was safe, and now I had to do the same for the other part.
We ran straight toward the Hollow. Right toward whatever was waiting for me. We didn’t hide our progress. Let them see my pack crossing the mountain, let them watch. Let them know we were coming.
Rowen and Killian waited at the border, a patrol behind them, alert and ready. I shifted as soon as I saw her standing there. She rushed forward and threw herself into my arms. I pulled her close without hesitation, breathing her in as if it had been longer than a few days since I’d last seen her. Her scent hit me—warm, sharp, alive—and the tension I’d been holding since Stonefang snapped and bled out through my muscles.
She was shaking. So was I. “You felt it,” she whispered against my chest.
“Of course I did.” My voice was rough. “It followed me.”
Rowen shook her head, jaw tight. “No. It moved ahead of you.”
I looked down at her abruptly. “What?”
Rowen swallowed. Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t look away. “The Hollow reacted. So did I.”
I curled my hand protectively around the back of her neck, pulling her close. “I won’t let anything touch you.”
Killian’s gaze flicked toward the mountains behind me. “What was it, Wolfe?”
