Page 18 of A Breath of Fresh Air

I grin. The cheek of this girl. She’s already figured out that she’s more likely to get ayesout of me than her father. She’s not lying though; it’s a good ten degrees hotter here than in Auckland, and I’m already sweating.

“We can all have ice cream,” Brett declares. “Now come on,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “It’s time to go meet the pack.”

EXTENDED EPILOGUE

JANUARY

BRETT

There’s something different in the air this visit, and I know Steven, my pack alpha, recognises it. “You seem happy,” he says while handing me a beer, and I nod. We’re gathered at his place for a casual evening barbie, like we do every year when I visit.

“Yeah. I am.” I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and my wolf feelssettledwhenever I’m near Amaia. For once, it’s as if I have a proper home, and it’s not about location at all. It’s the fact that I have my own little family in Amaia and Alice. We’re our own tiny pack.

Amaia is my soulmate. I have no doubt about it. I felt it from the get go, and my wolf did too.

He doesn’t speak often — though he’s usually rowdy enough in other ways, nipping and biting under my skin if I don’t let him free — but he saysshe’s our mate nowwith such certainty, and I couldn’t agree more. She’s mine, she’sours. I never want to be without her.

I’m pretty sure Steven can sense the change in my wolf. My wolf may be settled when it comes to Amaia, but he’s a little more restless about everything else, and I can tell Steve has something to say about it, given the way he lingers beside me. I can’t help but be a little nervous, but this is all part of life. Things change and people move on. Packs are forever fluctuating as new people join and others leave.

We both watch Amaia as she chats to some of the other pack members, a warm smile on her face as they tell her about the local area. Alice sticks close to her side, still a little shy of the wider pack after a year away, and it makes me so happy that my little girl trusts my mate like that.

I sip my beer, waiting to see if Steve will say something first, or if I’ve gotta bite the bullet.

“It’s a good temperature now,” Steve says. “It was fuckin’ roasting earlier.”

“Yep.”

Itwasfucking hot earlier today, and I feel it more these days after living in New Zealand for so long. Amaia, Alice, and I spent most of our time in the pool out the back of Mum and Dad’s place. Amaia charmed my mum and dad, just like I knew she would. She’s charmed everyone with her blunt sense of humour and her practical nature, and I’ve been congratulated half a dozen times already. I think the pack all see it too — the way things are between Amaia and I — and I think they all sense the change in the air.

Mum gave me her Nan’s old wedding ring, and it’s been burning a hole in my pocket all evening.

Wings flap overhead, and every single wolf in the backyard looks up at the sound. I grin at Alice’s face; she does this every year, staring in awe as if she’s never seen any of the Aussie wildlife before. “They’re bats!” she tells Amaia excitedly, interpreting what she can see for the single human present.She’s always great at including humans in wolfish things, thanks to the fact that she’s always doing it for her mother. I’ve witnessed her point out sights or sounds that her mum misses time and time again.

Steve clears his throat, and I brace myself. “You’ll always have a place here, Brett,” he says, and something twists in my chest. I know what words are coming next. “I’m not going to end the bond between you and our pack, betweenus,but I want you to know that if you end it on your own accord, if you join another pack with a new alpha, that’s okay. Our doors will always be open for you, regardless. This will always be one of your homes, and nothing will ever change that.”

I nod, swallowing heavily, and he claps me on the shoulder. The gesture feels like a goodbye.

“You’resure she’s okay staying there with your parents, eh? I don’t want her to feel like we’re abandoning her.”

I smile, taking one hand off the steering wheel to rub Amaia’s thigh reassuringly. We’re heading two hours south, to the Gold Coast, for a child-free weekend while Alice stays back with Mum and Dad. “She’ll be fine, babe. Besides, Mum would kill me if I took any extra grandbaby time away from her. Alice was happy to stay, you saw her. They’re gonna take her to the zoo both days, go and see the croc show and feed the kangaroos. I promise ya, she won’t miss us one bit.”

“True. I just worry.”

“I know. It means a lot to me that you do. I don’t know how I got so lucky when it comes to you.”

Amaia takes my hand, lacing her small fingers between mine, and lifts it to her lips. “I’m always thinking the same thing,” she murmurs. “I’m the lucky one.”

I relax backagainst the headboard of the hotel bed, already naked, watching Amaia undress. She slides the straps of her dress off her shoulders, the fabric falling in a puddle at her feet, leaving her clad in only her underwear. If she's aware that I'm staring she doesn't acknowledge it, her eyes trained on her reflection in the mirror as she unclips her bra, allowing that to fall to the ground too. God, I love her tits. And her ass, and her waist, and the smell of her skin.

Claim her. She’s ours.

As if she hears my wolf, her big brown eyes meet mine in the reflection and a moment later she turns around, searching my face. “What is it?” she whispers.

I want to bite you.I didn’t think I’d have such a strong urge to claim her, not when she’s a human. It’s usually a thing for fated mates, though there’s definitely been the odd case where it’s not, and I’m beginning to wonder what that term even means anyway. Finding Amaia feels like fate. Nothing else has ever felt so right.

“You’re beautiful,” I say instead.

Amaia lies on my chest,our skin slick with sweat and our bodies tied, and I’m almost certain she’s falling asleep, her limbs feeling more boneless with each passing minute, but then she squeezesher pussy around my knot and I grunt in surprise. She laughs quietly, her breath feathering over my skin.

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