Page 24 of Fated In Winter

His father, the man who had killed my family.

“We need to do better as Pack. Even in times of peace. Maybe even more so in times of peace. Our wolves are slipping through the cracks, and maybe we’re doing better than we used to, but we aren’t perfect. We need to do better.”

“It’s fine, Gideon.”

“It’s not. What will make it so?”

He looked over my shoulder, a smile playing on his face. “If we don’t do a better job, I may have to deal with a certain dominant wolf.”

I knew Conner was behind me. I had felt him on along the bond the entire time.

He had left, but he hadn’t been far.

“I was meeting with Kade,” Gideon whispered. “So we felt the bond happen between you and went to investigate it ourselves.”

I turned to see Conner and his uncle, the Alpha of the Redwood Pack, come forward. I could see the family resemblance in them slightly, but Kade was no Conner.

And how could I understand that so quickly?

“I would say welcome to the Pack, but it seems like our goddess decided to make things a little more complicated for all of us,” Kade said as he nodded at me. “Congratulations on your mating.”

I blushed and lowered my head, letting out a breath before I rolled my shoulders back. I was a dominant wolf. The least dominant of this group, but still dominant. I needed to do better at this.

“I think the words I’m looking for are thank you, but it hasn’t settled in yet.”

“It will,” Conner growled, and I raised a brow as both Alphas threw their heads back and laughed.

“Come on, Kade, let’s go, give these lovebirds some privacy.”

“I can go with you and needle you to make sure that your Pack treats Conner right.”

“As long as we treat Romy right.”

“Considering all of our family is so intermated at this point, does it matter?” Kade asked as he gave me a wink, and the two Alphas walked away, leaving me alone with my mate.

“How did this happen?” I whispered.

“You keep asking that, yet I don’t have answers. Are you mad about the mating?” Conner asked, his voice soft.

My wolf clawed at me, annoyed that we would dare hurt our mate even with that question. I went to my toes and kissed him softly. “No. I’m sorry for leaving. For needing that walk. To breathe. I’m used to just doing things on my own.”

Conner tilted his head, looked at me before he pushed my hair behind my ear. “I guess I’m the same way. I’m so afraid that my wolf is going to go rogue just like the others, because of its strength, that I’ve been good at keeping my distance.”

“I can feel your wolf across the bond. We’ll never let you go rogue, Conner.”

That was a vow I planned to keep. Even though I might not ever have that choice, I was going to prove to Conner that he was strong enough. That I was strong enough.

“Maybe my wolf needed this as much as yours did.”

“As in, I wasn’t the only one starved?” I asked, my voice low.

“I suppose not.”

He lowered his head, brushed his lips against mine, and my wolf howled, feeling immediately like we had finally found what we’d been looking for.

I kissed him again before I froze and let out a growl.

My claws dug into Conner’s hips slightly before I pushed him to the ground, and both of us fell, the furred body flying above where we had just stood.

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