She’s speaking to the group of Moonvale pack members standing around her—clearly the team she has chosen to bring with her. Her hair is tied back, and she is dressed casually for the journey in jeans and a simple blouse. It’s the first time I’ve seen her out of formal work attire, and it makes my heart skip a beat.
I look away before she can catch me watching.
Despite all the trouble I made, she’s still coming to Silvercrest.
I never actually underestimated her, but she still shocked me with how good she is at her job. Her presentation left me with no excuse. She was so sexy up there, commanding the room—
No!
I stop my thoughts in their tracks. It was torture watching her prove to me exactly why she deserves her position, half because it destroyed my excuses and half because I was fighting to keep my dick under control.
The bond is hard enough to ignore with my wolf howling at me every time she is within the range of any of our senses, but it is made so much worse by how alluring Sienna is when she’s being stubborn.
A sigh escapes my lips. For this merger to happen safely, I will have to be a good alpha and do the right thing: put the needs of my pack first and the mate I’m trying to avoid last.
It’s time to leave, and the convoy is arranged exactly as I specified.
The lead vehicle holds two armed guards and me. Three middle vehicles carry the Moonvale assessment team and the rest of my pack members—the ones who are returning with me, anyway, now that their part of the work here is done. Marcus is staying behind, of course. The rear vehicle holds my head of security, Monroe, and four more of my guards.
I have Sienna positioned in the SUV in the middle of the formation.
As the vehicles are loaded up, I catch sight of Darius coming over from where Sienna is still standing. It seems like he just finished speaking to his pack members who are coming to Silvercrest.
Darius stretches out his hand as he approaches, and I take it in a firm shake.
“It was a pleasure to have you,” he says. “Have a safe trip back.”
I smile. “Thank you.”
After saying the appropriate goodbyes, I climb into the lead vehicle, settling into the passenger seat while my driver takes the wheel. The engine rumbles to life, and in the side mirror, I can see the rest of the convoy falling into position behind us.
Monroe’s voice comes through my radio. “Everyone ready?”
Confirmations come back one by one, the last from Sienna. “Moonvale team, good to go.”
Even crackled and staticky from the radio, her voice still has an effect on me.
“Move out,” I order, gritting my teeth.
The convoy pulls away from Moonvale HQ in perfect formation. I watch the city give way to suburbs, then to the stretch of borderland forest that separates our territories. The road cuts through dense woodland, a corridor that is technically neutral ground but gets patrolled by both packs.
“Arrival protocol when we reach the estate,” I say to Monroe on a private radio frequency as I pull up the schedule on my tablet. “Assessment team goes to the east wing guest quarters. Time to settle in, then formal welcome dinner at seven.”
“Security sweep of the guest wing is already complete,” Monroe confirms. “And the kitchen staff has the menu finalized.”
I nod, only half listening. My mind is on the vehicle two cars back. On the woman inside it who has been occupying far too much of my brain for the past week.
During the five days I spent artfully not seeing her, I did a good job telling myself this is manageable. She’ll do her assessment, I’ll maintain a working distance, and in four weeks, if we decide not to pursue the merger, she’ll go back to Moonvale.
That’s at least a month, Lucas. Probably more.
My wolf stirs restlessly. He doesn’t like this plan. Hasn’t liked anything about any of this since the moment we met her.
She’s ours, he insists for the thousandth time. Why are we running?
Because claiming her means killing her. It’s that simple.
The beast doesn’t care about consequences. He only knows what the mate bond is screaming at both of us: that she belongs to us, and we’re denying fate.
