“Has the Council reached out at all?” I ask.
Anders growls. “They had mentioned coming by in the afternoon for a visit. Should be here any moment.”
Wulfric snaps out of his daze. “He’s on the way. Now, what’s this about a potion?”
I tell them about the plan I concocted to get Nan to trust ulfhednar. Anders unhelpfully adds, “All that trouble for a flower? I would have just stolen it.”
Lyall looks horrified. “You’d steal from a poor old woman? Does Jamie know you’re such an ass?”
Anders grins. “Aye, and he loves me anyway.”
Before I can finish my story, a gray blur races from the trees and onto the road.
And there he is. My wolf. He’s big and gray and equal parts beautiful and terrifying in his shifted form. He seems to be in control, and he hasn’t morphed into a monstrous, bipedal beast.Relief lifts the weight from my chest, and the icy wind stings the tears that dampen my eyes.
He’s all right.
Thank the goddess.
The gray wolf’s body shudders, jerking on his paws. His shift is longer and slower than the others.
That bloody fool! Why did he shift when he’s toeing the line between sane and feral?
When Gunnar completes his shift, he lingers on his hands and knees a moment longer than the others. His long dark hair hangs over his face, his shoulders heaving as his nails dig into the dirt. Kieran puts a hand on his shoulder and says something. Gunnar nods, then pushes himself up. When his silver eyes find mine, all the breath flees my lungs.
The same relief and desperation to have him in my arms that I feel reflects right back at me through his eyes. Gunnar’s brothers stop some ways behind him, but Gunnar keeps moving. The way he looks at me makes me feel like I’m all he can see. I curl my hands at my sides so I don’t run to him and throw myself in his arms. Because what if I’m wrong? What if he’s just going to tell me this is the end? That he’s chosen to lose himself rather than be with me?
Gunnar stops in front of me, just within arm's reach. His wide eyes dart over my face, chest heaving from his run. Goddess, I want to hold him, feel him against me. But if he pushes me away again—
“You came for me,” Gunnar says breathlessly.
“O-of course I did.” I fold my arms over my chest, needing something to do with them.
“Did the TTA send you?”
Does this arsehole really think I’d turn on him like that? “They did, but I haven’t told them where you are. I’m not so petty I’dturn you in for, what, rejecting me? You really think that little of me?”
A flurry of emotions thickens my throat. Hurt because he ran off on me this morning. Humiliation for opening myself up only to be rejectedagain.Anger at him, at myself, for being so bloody terrified that he won’t let me love him the way I want.
Gunnar shakes his head, takes a step forward, and stops. His fingers clench and unclench. “Lo,” he says softly, devastatingly. “You thought I rejected you?”
I laugh, horrified when tears sting my eyes. “You did.”
There’s a flash from behind me, making Gunnar wince. A chorus of snarls fills the air, and my heart sinks. I turn around and, just as I feared, several witches from the Council step through a portal. I round on them, hands up. “Just a moment. Please.”
“Agent Tenanbaum, step aside,” says one of the witches. She looks past me at Wulfric. “Alpha Wulfric, I am Councilwoman Kendrick.”
Wulfric approaches with Kieran at his side. “Councilwoman. My Alpha-Mate, Kieran.”
Kieran smiles and waves, but it looks forced as hell. “Nice to meet ya. Unless, of course, you’re here to take Gunnar away. In which case, you can fuck off.”
Lyall covers his mouth to disguise what sounds like a laugh.
Wulfric sighs and gives Kieran a look that’s equal parts amused and stern.
Kendrick replies with her own cold smile. “It is my hope that we can come to an agreement. We would prefer not to interfere in your pack’s affairs if at all possible, but you’ve forced our hand.”
Gunnar shakes his head. “No, I did. I’m the one who lost control.”
