We emerge from the woods near the entrance to the Alpha’s Lodge, and for the first time in days I feel like the weight of everything that’s going on has lifted slightly. Somehow despitethe encroaching danger, being out here in nature, chatting with friends has made me feel almost normal.
“Looks like someone’s arriving?” Katie says, and the three of us stop just outside the cover of the trees.
Across the field a trail of soldiers dressed all in black is snaking like a line of ants toward the lodge. At their head is Morven, in an unmissable white turtleneck, way too warm for the weather, at his side Mia marches, her red hair flowing in the wind, and a step behind are Mason and his father.
“It’s the Rocky Pack,” I say. “They’re here.”
And just like that the situation feels more tense and real than it has yet. Seeing their serious, stoic expressions, the sheer volume of them, the muscles under their black army gear. Their arrival should be a comfort, they’re here to fight on our side. But instead it just drums home the gravity of our situation. This place is about to erupt in violence and there’s no telling how much wolf blood is about to be spilled.
“We should probably go say hello,” I say, turning back to find Katie watching Omar and Omar staring at the Rocky Pack with an intense, panicked look on his face. Red splotches are rising up his neck like I’ve never seen before.
“Omar, everything all right?”
He doesn’t speak, doesn’t seem like he can. Instead, he keeps staring.
“What is it?”
He parts his lips and swallows.
“You know how I said it would be hard to ignore a mate bond out here,” he says.
I turn my eyes back to where Omar is looking, following his eyeline and finding ... Mason! Just as I do, Mason glances over, spots us, lifts his hand to wave and then ...
His eyes shoot open.
THE LAST SUPPER
“I don’t understand,” Omar says, pacing the length of the canoe shed. “I had a mate, back in my original pack. He ...”
“I know,” I say, trying to move into his path to stop him for a moment but he simply maneuvers around me, brushing through a cobweb dangling between the ends of two boats that are hanging from the wall. This place is dusty as hell, but I thought it would be the most private spot to take Omar after Mason followed his dad and the other Rocky Pack wolves into the lodge and Omar looked like he was about to go full-on berserk.
“I lived at the bottom of that mountain for ages and never felt anything.”
“Maybe these things take time, maybe you weren’t ready yet, or—”
Omar rounds on me, stopping in front of the open doorway, backlit by the midday sun. “Can this really be happening? Do people really get a second go at this?”
“Second-chance mates is a thing I’ve heard about,” I say, shrugging at what little tangible knowledge I have. “It’s rare but it can happen.”
“Between a rogue and a pack wolf?”
“Not just any pack wolf,” I say. “The son of the pack’s beta. Mason’s dad is second-in-command, which means one day he will be.”
Omar wipes a hand over his face, stomps to a crate, and plonks himself down on it.
“So who is this guy? You know him?”
“I do and he’s great. He’s been a really awesome friend, and well, I think he’s been waiting for the right guy to come along for a while.”
Omar lifts an eyebrow and gives me a funny look. “Did the two of you ever ...?”
“What?” I nearly choke. “No! I met him after I knew Jasper was my mate.”
“Yeah, but you two took your sweet-ass time becoming official.”
I step closer to Omar so he can see I’m being genuine. “Mason is a friend, and he deserves a really amazing mate. Besides, you two would look cute together.”
He looks up at me with this panicked expression, big, glassy eyes and all.
