I fucking hated reading her account of it—the way she suffered, confused and alone. In need. As terrible as it sounds, I think knocking herself unconscious after she threw herself off the cliff might have been a mercy.
What a fucking nightmare. God, the shit this girl has gone through.
I squeeze Mona closer, keeping my breath even so she doesn't know how close I am to the edge. How my alpha paces inside me like a captive beast, demanding we take control, that wedosomething.
There's nothingtocontrol. Nothing to do in this moment but hold her tighter.
"Grayson," Mona mumbles on another yawn, her voice little more than a whisper.
"Mm?"
"Will you tell me about what happened earlier? With me joining the clan? Orion tried to explain it, but there was a lot going on."
I smile into the dark, reliving that feeling when her loyalty snapped into place. We all felt it, and I was standing around in the field with a few of my enforcers, and every one of them was fucking elated.
"When a shifter joins our clan officially, there's an acceptance across our bond. It's not as strong as a mate bond, but it's a similar connection. I don't know what it feels like for you, but for the rest of us… having an omega join our clan… I've never felt anything like it. I didn't think our clan was incomplete before. But now, it's like everything has clicked into place."
She hums softly while I tell her how important she is to us. Maybe she went too long without assurances from the people who are supposed to care. Maybe it's because she was touch-starved when she arrived. But she's been letting us touchand hold her, and it's refilling something inside her. Some connection to others that she's been missing for far too long.
"As Lune of Silent Peak, I want to officially welcome you into our clan, Omega Mona Ashland. We are honored to have you."
I think she's asleep until she mutters under her breath, "Ashland isyourlast name."
I chuckle, then kiss her temple. "It's yours now, too." Then I fucking bask in holding and petting my mate until she finally falls asleep. And just before I follow, I realize, for the first time in my life… I'm purring.
Chapter 30: Mona
"So humans really work there?" I ask, bouncing in my seat at the prospect of seeing new people. So far, the wolves of Silent Peak have been amazing.
But in the last couple of days, I've been trailed by an enforcer or one of my mates non-stop, even when I'm alone in the cabin. And, when I do venture out, now that I'veofficiallyjoined their clan, when I come across a wolf I haven't met before—or even ones I have, like Heather—they can barely contain their excitement, plowing me down with hugs and kisses.
It's adorable.
It's overwhelming.
And, according to Orion, this is themholding back.
I hate to think what happens when they aren't.
In any case, I'm looking forward to being around some humans, getting a little bit of normalcy. When Doc offered to show me around the town at the bottom of the mountain, I immediately said yes.
Grayson wasn't too pleased about it, and while Kellen, the light gray wolf who carried me back after the witch incident, is inthe truck with us, we also have a truck ahead and behind, full of enforcers.
"They sure do," Doc says happily as we bound down the dirt road to the bottom of the mountain.
I've cycled through every emotion since I got here, but I'm done with uncertainty. I'm ready to find my footing, and if Grayson thinks bodyguards will keep me safe from the witches, fine. I'll tolerate them. Given what Doc discovered about what they and my father did to me, I'm not taking any chances.
I haven't let myself dwell on Dad's betrayal. The sad part is how easy it was to believe. But I've got so many other things going for me now—I have mates! And friends, and Beep and I are getting along better than ever. I have food and shelter and safety. A chance at happiness. Someday I'll grieve my failed relationship with my father, come to terms with what he did to me. That day isn't today. Or tomorrow.
I peek around Kellen's giant head and long black hair, taking in our surroundings as we wind down the mountain. Kellen points things out, tells me about packs that live in different directions.
At the bottom of the mountain, the dirt road ends at a blinking red light. We turn right, and the dirt crunching under the tires eases over asphalt.
"I sometimes teach survival skills and hunting classes to the humans there," Kellen tells me, pointing at a hand-painted, weathered wood sign readingTrading Post, hanging on rusty nails. I think that's cool and I tell him so.
"And there—" he gestures to a low brick building, smoke curling from a chimney at the back. "Local tribe runs the community center. You should see their seed storage. They offer some classes teaching people how to identify plants year-round so people can be more self-sufficient and help support the local environment."
"That's amazing. I would love to take a class like that."
