I shook my head, my cheeks heating as I admitted, “We were a little too busy.”
Aislin chuckled, then said, “I can’t wait to see how your telepathic connection makes you on the hunt.”
Excitement whooshed through me as I couldn’t wait to experience this new thrill either. My gaze wandered to Gavin, and I saw my excitement reflected in his eyes. From everything I’d heard about fated mates and the telepathic connection between them once they’d embraced their bond, our strength and prowess on the hunt would be unmatched.
Determination moved through me at the thought. “One thing is for sure—Gavin and I will hone our skill before we come upagainst David and the Inkscales, and I swear we’ll beat them next time.”
A whisper of regret still swept through me as I knew thatIwas to blame for the pack going up against them unprepared last time. I had been the one who’d gotten captured. But my regret dissipated as burning resolve sang through me, and my mate’s features shone with the same fortitude.
The kitchen clock caught my eye, and I was surprised that it was already eleven o’clock. Then again, Gavin and I hadn’t gotten to bed until early morning. Gavin poured us all coffees, and we settled down in the living room to chat about the upcoming pack meeting. I took my preferred spot in one of the curl-up chairs by the fire. Gavin stacked up some kindling, lit a fire, and then took the couch. As Aislin collapsed into the chair opposite me, her sharp intake of breath didn’t escape my notice. My brows knitted together. Her wound was still bothering her.
As the warmth of the fire started to pervade the room, my thoughts slipped to the battle at the Hexens. The biggest regret I still harbored surfaced to the forefront—how things had ended with Colt. Sipping my drink, I kept quiet about it, though. I knew it was too soon for Gavin to forgive Colt for what he’d almost done by marking me. But I trusted that as mine and Gavin’s bond deepened, in time, he’d have the capacity for forgiveness.
I remembered how Aislin’s wolf had flown at Colt in cold fury at the Hexens, too, when he’d attacked Gavin. I knew Colt had alotof making up to do, but I knew that as my friend, Aislin would come around when she saw how important Colt was to me.
I’d spoken about my secret hopes concerning Colt with Muriel. With her compassionate nature, she agreed that it was too soonto give up on Colt. He couldn’t help the power-hungry influence that both his father and Catrina had corrupted him with. I knew that deep down, beneath what his father had pressured him to do, he was a good soul. Now, with Catrina gone and once we’d defeated David and the Inkscales, I nursed the secret hope that my friend could be brought back to me.
Aislin’s steady voice cut through my reflections, “Everett will likely play the whole Mythguard card, you know?”
My thoughts went back to the situation immediately before us: the pack meeting in a couple of hours.
Taking a sip of milky coffee, I said, “Then Everett and Mythguard will find the two Alphas at Grandbay more than happy to fight to keep our friend safe.”
Aislin’s brown eyes glinted, and with her usual tenacity, she seconded. “I’ve always thought I could take a mountain man. Bring it on.”
I laughed at my friend’s boldness, but it was the heady concoction of pride and love on Gavin’s face that claimed my attention. I knew with certainty that he’d have my back in whatever was coming—just as I’d have his.
Even amidst the challenges that we faced, my body thrummed with excitement as I thought of how much we had to look forward to. The prospect of running through the woods together as wolves and trying out our telepathic connection had me wanting to shift now so that I could be even closer to my mate. But instead, I savored another sip of coffee. We had all the time in the world for that.
The idea that every day, and all the days ever after this one, was going to be spent in the company of my mate washed over me. Once again, a love-struck smile wound over my face, one that had Gavin sending me a smoldering look that zinged straight to between my legs. My one-track mind had me thinking again of how I was going to love my mate tenderly and passionately within all of these rooms. Then, as if Vana herself had given me a vision of the future, my heart felt full to bursting because, within this wonderful home, I knew that our love, our family, and our pack would grow and strengthen.