“Second, my wolf is also very clear that the moonbound form is private, but when the change occurs by my will, my mate is welcome to see.”
“Only your mate?” Aaron crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “Because I’d love to see, in circumstances that aren’t life or death.”
It was a new thought, but… “Maybe at some point. For now it feels…”
“Intimate,” April said, mischief glittering in her scent. Ember laughed.
The scent of Aaron’s mood matched that of the women. “Ididalready see once.”
“In a life-or-death circumstance, as you said,” Malachi rumbled.
“Fine, fine, but good luck getting Trevor and Jeremy to drop it.”
He had a point. Malachi sighed.
After dinner, Aaron, Malachi, and April made quick work of the cleanup. They pointed Ember to the living room with orders to put her feet up, and she laughed as she obliged. Then the four of them sat on the back porch with cobbler and coffee, facing their mountains as the sun sank and the crickets and katydids came out. For a while their chatter was sporadic and easy. But hard things lay on the pack’s horizon, and after a time a thoughtful mood fell over them.
“You’re sure the rogues will come back,” Ember said at last.
“Very sure,” Malachi said.
“Well, we’ve got the cameras, and we know just how dirty they play now. You should be able to avoid critical condition next time.” She gave him a pointed look.
“I protected my pack,” Malachi rumbled.
“And there’s no telling who they’d have hurt if they’d been able to get closer to us with deadly weapons. I know that, Mal. It still sucked to seeyouhurt.”
He growled quietly, acknowledging the hurt of his pack and…well, maybe his own as well. He’d never known a body could survive pain like that, even an alpha wolf’s body. He tried to think of words for them all. For the fight behind them and the fight to come.
“We’ll make it through.”
Maybe such a thing was foolish to speak aloud. He couldn’t know his pack would not suffer loss in the next conflict. But the words felt right. They were a promise that rang in his heart, echoed by the support of his wolf and a vague sense of its promise to him.Strongest alpha.He gave his mental leash a light tug of correction. Though he was rare, surely somewhere in the world another like him was equally powerful or more so. But his wolf pushed back.My mate is here. She accepts her wolf. Strongest alpha.
Ah, yes. His beloved mate.
As if reading his thoughts—which she seemed to do often these days—April reached across the gap between their chairs and twined her fingers with his. He squeezed her hand, and when she squeezed back, his new power swelled inside him. It coursed like a current just under his skin.
Aaron rumbled in response to Malachi’s words, or maybe to his mood of intensity. Then the growl rose to a brief but glad howl. At the sound of his beta’s wolf voice, Malachi tilted back his head and released his own with all the joy and power in his soul and in his body.
The howl was a song that lasted and lasted while he held his mate’s hand. It was a love song for April. She gave a little hum of delight, as though she interpreted the song perfectly. Then his howl flowed into a melody for his entire pack, a song of protection and affection that echoed off the mountain with a resonance his wolf voice had never achieved before.
When at last his alpha song ended, Aaron took hold of his shoulder, eyes glossy with unshed tears. “You’re finally happy, Mal. You’re finally not worried about being happy.”
“Not anymore,” he said.
Twenty-Eight
Fullyacclimatedtoherpack, April stood at the back of the cookout line beside her wolf. She loaded her plate and kept an eye on Malachi as he followed her, but she no longer needed to watch out for his calories. The last few days, he seemed constantly hungry. Maybe he was making up for the days he’d struggled to eat, or maybe she wasn’t imagining the additional bulk in his shoulders and chest. So far she hadn’t mentioned it, as Malachi was still processing the new accord with his wolf.
The picnic tables were mostly full, so they found seats in a couple camping chairs beside Arlo and Rebecca. The four of them enjoyed small talk and brisket, followed by small talk and cobbler. It was like every other cookout, yet it wasn’t. April was no longer the alpha’s welcome guest. She was pack now. She couldn’t explain how she knew this except as a feeling. And when the wolves laughed together, flashing their teeth, her body remained calm and safe.
By the time the adults were halfway through dessert, Jeremy and Lucy’s pups had finished eating and begun playing corn hole nearby. While Gigi awaited her turn, she turned a circle in the grass, then seemed to search the tables.
“Malpha!” crowed Gigi and rushed him. From another table Jeremy jumped up, intercepted, and swept his daughter off her feet. “Daddy, wait! I play with Malpha!”
“Not right now, Gigi-bug. Malpha’s hungry, so you have to let him finish lunch.”
“Malpha, are you hungry?”
