But I could protect people here, too. Not only Reed, but people like Sally. And I’d have an entire group of people backing me up. People I could probably come to love, if given the chance.
As for Cole, I was pretty sure he’d be my friend regardless. We’d been through way too much together for us to ever be anything else.
I would’ve been lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. But this wasn’t exclusively about saving Reed. That was the catalyst. I might’ve—and probably would’ve—chosen this eventually. This had just moved up the timeline.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “My life is with Reed. It’s here, if you’ll allow me to do what I have to do.”
“The wolf bite will kill you,” Oliver protested. “That’s how it works. You have to die as a human man. Then you’re reborn as a wolf.”
He’d probably been expecting to cow me, but I was already well aware of how the process worked. The entire drive here, my certainty about what needed to be done had been at war with my fears about the actual process involved. But my certainty won out. Because if the roles were reversed, Reed would’ve done it for me in a heartbeat.
“So be it,” I replied, staring him down. “Even if I had to die a hundred times, I’d still do it.”
Oliver’s eyebrows shot up at that. He nodded, grudging respect in his eyes.
“Of course you would,” Poppy said quietly, watching me. “You love him. It’s not just the mate bond. It’s more than that.”
Her words lodged a hot lump of emotion in my throat. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I nodded instead.
“I’m not going to stand by and let that thing destroy him. The Algea might be where it was last night, or it could’ve taken him somewhere else in the Otherworld. But I can find him with the mate bond. I’m theonlyone who can.”
Lacey stood abruptly and when my gaze met hers, she held it firmly. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
This was the moment I had spent years of my life fearing. The moment when it came time to commit and put myeverythingon the line for another person: my body, my heart, my life, and now even my very humanity.
But the fear was eclipsed by a simple truth I’d spent a lifetime not seeing properly: when something matters—when it’s real love—you fight for it. And I was going to fight like hell for Reed. That wasn’t even a question.
“Yes,” I said simply.
For the first time in my life, I was all in.
I turned my attention back to Emma. “What’s it going to be? Am I joining your pack or not?”
The room went silent.
Before Emma could reply, Lacey cut in, “Without our alpha, we’ll need to put it to a vote.” She looked around at the others. “My vote is yes.”
“Yes,” Oliver said immediately.
Lindsey stood. “I’m not technically pack, but if you want my vote, it’s yes.”
Hunter and Lee exchanged a look. Then Lee nodded. “Yes.”
“Definitely,” Hunter said.
“Of course.” Sarah flashed me a smile, not even a trace of her previous suspicion remaining. “You’re already one of us. Why not make it official?”
Lacey nudged Daniel. He stood, seeming hesitant, as though he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to speak up. “Look, I don’t know if you guys want my opinion or not—”
“We do,” Lacey said, giving the rest of us a hard look that dared anyone to contradict her.
No one did.
“Well, then yeah.” Daniel’s cheeks turned bright red. “My vote is yes.”
That just left Emma. She studied me, her blue eyes searching my face.
At last, she nodded. “It’s decided,” she said, the gravity in her voice unmistakable. “You will become pack.”
