CHAPTER1
Five years.
Five long years since Isaac last laid eyes on Michael McKillan. Longer even, maybe. The war between shifters and humans seemed such a long time ago in some ways, and yet like only yesterday in others.
As the low rumble of the SUV got louder, signalling their arrival, Isaac slowly rose to his feet. The deep breath he drew in came out shaky.
The crunch of gravel outside made his heart stutter, and Isaac grumbled under his breath.
You’re an alpha, for fuck’s sake.
Act like it.
But this wasMichael.
With a heavy sigh, he opened the door and went out to meet his guests.
As wary as he was about seeing Michael again, his smile came easily as the others approached. “Welcome back. Things happened a little faster than we anticipated, eh?”
If Isaac was honest, he’d wondered if he’d ever see any of them again. The London packs weren’t known for their forgiveness, and Michael could only do so much without drawing suspicion.
Their arrival at Mothecombe obviously meant Michael had done more than he should’ve. But then he’d always had a soft side.
Isaac pulled Logan, Cole, and Aaron into a hug one after the other, then eyed the other two standing off to the side. “And you brought friends.”
Logan introduced him to Smith, and then Nick. Isaac studied them both with the eye of an alpha. Loyal, brave, and in Nick’s case, fearless.
Just like Michael.
As if hearing his thoughts, Isaac felt the heavy weight of someone’s gaze and looked up to see Michael watching them from the car.
Turning to his guests, he said softly, “Go inside and make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be in shortly.”
Not waiting to see if they did as asked, Isaac took a deep breath to steady himself and walked over to Michael’s car. His feet felt heavy, his chest tight. Nerves? Anticipation? Terror?
All the above, probably.
Michael watched him, eyes trained on Isaac’s, and Isaac’s heart gave a traitorous little flutter like it always had when Michael looked at him that way. A lot of things had changed in the last few years, but that hadn’t.
Was that a good thing or not?
They’d made no promises.
When the Shifter Alliance Party took control, power-hungry alphas desperate to exert their dominance over the humans, it was nothing like the vision Michael had hoped for. The balance of power had to be restored to what had been promised: a human-shifter government.
That was what they’d fought for.
What theystillfought for.
Both he and Isaac had known it would take time to put right what they’d helped set in motion. Time spent apart, pretending they weren’t as close as two shifters could be without bonding. Years, probably, not months.
But five? Nearly six years?
Isaac had naively thought it wouldn’t be that long.
I’m not sure I would’ve agreed to it if I’d known.
He shook his head, banishing selfish old thoughts that had no place in the present.
