“Yes,” I confirm.
His eyes darken.
“Then we stop reacting,” he says.
I meet his gaze.
“We start hunting,” I finish.
He doesn’t argue.
28
ARCHER
The drive to my place takes forty minutes, and every second of it is torture. Tessa sits in the passenger seat of my truck, quiet, her fingers tracing the healing mark on her neck where I claimed her. I can feel her through the bond—calm, steady, unafraid—and it makes me want to scream.
She should be afraid. Rogues, coordinated, waiting. If Conrad hadn't been nearby…
"Stop," Tessa says softly, not looking at me.
"Stop what?"
"Blaming yourself." She turns, and her eyes catch the dashboard light, reflecting gold for a moment—the bond changing her, connecting her to my world in ways she still doesn't fully understand. "I could feel it from the back seat, Archer. The guilt. The fear. You're drowning in it."
I grip the steering wheel harder, knuckles white. "They knew where you'd be. They were watching you, waiting for me to slip up." My voice cracks. "If I had been thirty seconds later getting to the car?—"
"But you weren't." She reaches across the console, her hand covering mine. Her touch sends warmth up my arm, throughthe bond, but it doesn't calm the panic. "I'm here. We're here. Together."
I pull onto the long dirt drive leading to my cabin, surrounded by forest, protected by pack land. Three of my enforcers already patrol the perimeter—I can sense them, wolves moving through the darkness. Safe. She's safe here.
But for how long?
Inside, I light a fire more for comfort than warmth. Tessa stands by the window, looking out at the trees, and I watch her—really watch her—memorizing the curve of her spine, the way her hair falls past her shoulders, the stubborn set of her jaw. My mate. My weakness. My everything.
"I could send you away," I say, the words tasting like ash. "There's a pack in Montana, remote, heavily fortified. You'd be safe there. Away from me, away from this target on your back."
Tessa turns slowly. Her expression isn't angry—it's worse. It's sad. Disappointed. "Is that what you want?"
"No." The word rips out of me. "God, no. I want you here, in my bed, in my life. I want to wake up every morning with your scent on my skin. I want—" I stop, the need rising like a tide, threatening to drown me. "I want things I have no right to want while you're in danger."
She crosses the room until she's standing right in front of me, close enough that I can smell her—vanilla and something wilder now, the bond awakening her own latent nature. She’s still human. She’ll always be only human. But… humans are animals too in the end. And Tessa’s animal side is awakening as the mate bond burrows deeper into her energy.
"I chose this," she says, her voice low and steady. "I chose you. I chose Redwood Crossing knowing exactly what I was getting into. Don't take that choice away from me because you're scared."
"I'm terrified," I admit, my hands finding her waist, pulling her closer despite my better judgment. "I've never been afraid like this. Not in combat, not during the pack wars. But the thought of losing you—" My fingers dig into her hips, and I drop my forehead to hers. "It would destroy me, Tessa. There would be nothing left."
"Then don't lose me." Her hands slide up my chest, over my shoulders, linking behind my neck. "Hold onto me, Archer. Tight."
I kiss her then—not gentle, not careful, but desperate. My mouth claims hers with all the hunger I've been trying to suppress, all the need I've been fighting since the moment I marked her. She meets me equally, her tongue tangling with mine, her body pressing against me until I can feel every curve, every breath.
"Need you," I growl against her lips, but I'm already lifting her, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carry her toward the stairs.
"Take me," she pants, her teeth finding my earlobe, biting hard enough to make me groan. "Need you inside me. Now."
The bond flares between us, bright and hot, her desire mixing with mine until I can't tell where she ends and I begin. I take the stairs two at a time, her weight nothing in my arms, her mouth trailing fire down my neck.
We crash through the bedroom door, and I drop her onto the mattress, following her down, covering her body with mine. She's already pulling at my shirt, and I tear it off, hearing buttons scatter across the floor. Her hands roam my chest, my shoulders, mapping me with greedy touches.
