Reed hesitated, and I could feel his instinct to stay, to oversee everything, to make sure it was done right. The old Reed would have insisted on staying until the body was nothing but ash.
But then he looked around the circle again, meeting each pair of eyes in turn.
And slowly, Reed smiled. Small and filled with exhaustion, but real. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I know you will.”
I sensed the shift in him—a loosening of the knot of responsibility he’d been carrying for so long. His realization that he could rely on his pack.
He took my hand, and together we turned away from the fire.
Behind us, the Algea burned while the pack kept watch.
* * *
By the time we reached the cabin, Reed was leaning on me more heavily than he probably wanted to admit. I got him inside and guided him toward the bed, intending to help him climb into it before I moved to the couch. But before I could pull away, his hand closed around mine.
“Harris,” he said, his voice rough. “Wait. Don’t go.”
I paused and met his gaze.
His eyes searched mine, and I sensed the storm of emotions swirling inside him. Regret. Relief. Fear. And most of all,love.
“I’m sorry.” His voice sounded like it had been scraped raw. “I know words don’t really mean much, but from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing. The idea of you dying—” His voice cracked. “I can’t even think it. It makes me crazy.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed beside him, still holding his hand. “I understand your fears better now,” I replied. “I thoughtIwas going to loseyou. And I went a little crazy, too. I get it.”
And it was true. The terror I’d felt in that dream, seeing Reed paralyzed and bleeding while the Algea stood over him—
I’d have done anything to stop it. Hell, Ihaddone anything.
Reed’s flash of guilt was sharp and painful, a dark well of emotion between us.
“Are you sure? About this? About becoming—”
“It’s a little late for that,” I pointed out, my voice wry.
But Reed didn’t smile. He just looked at me, waiting for a real answer.
What was the truth? I still felt like me. Except stronger. And I was connected. In the back of my mind, I could feel the rest of the pack. It was the barest echo of what the mate bond with Reed felt like, but it was unmistakably there. And I could almost feel the land, too—as though the forest around us was somehow inside of me and I was somehow inside of it as well. A oneness I never could’ve explained. The connection carried with it a deep sense of rightness.
Because Ibelongednow, didn’t I? I was all in—anchored to a person, to a place, and to a community.
And I had purpose, too.
Not just Reed—I shared a mission with the pack: to protect this place and its inhabitants. It was a bone-deep knowing. I had awoken with it.
Being a detective wasn’t the same thing at all. That was ajob, a way to earn money. The IA investigation seemed trivial now,laughable. Regardless of what happened there, I already knew I was leaving the force. I would call Davis tomorrow—or maybe the next day—and tell him.
This was different. This was acalling. The pack needed me.
And maybe I needed them, too.
I locked eyes with him. “I don’t regret anything. You’re alive. That’s all that matters.” I paused. “And I think I might like being a wolf.”
Reed’s eyes shone, and he pulled me closer, his forehead pressing against mine. “I love you,” he whispered. “I should have said it before.”
“None of that,” I said, cupping his cheek. “I love you, too.”
Because I did. I loved this stubborn, self-sacrificing, impossibly brave man who’d been so afraid of losing me that he’d tried to push me away. I loved the way he cared for others, his need to consider all of his options before acting, the way his brow furrowed when he was reading, and the way he always made coffee exactly the way I liked it. He was good and kind. Thoughtful. A strange mixture of tenderness, vulnerability, and strength. Even if we weren’t bonded by fate, I still would have loved him. I wouldn’t have been able to help it.
