Page 26 of Homecoming

“Well, if she makes you happy, and she promises to take good care of you, then you have my blessing.” Kat smilesandwrapping her arms around him, she holds him tight. “Truly, I’m happy for you. If you really love someone, you should be with them, no matter what,” she whispers against his ear.

“Thank you.” He looks at his watch. “Shit, I need to get back and check-in on one of the wolves. She was in labor when I left, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

“Wow, you really have takentothis role. I’m so proud of the way you came back after what happened. Riley, I’m sorry you got caught up in it all that—that you got hurt.”

“It’s okay. That wasn’t your fault. I just feel bad that I wasn’t able to stop them from taking Luka. Everything that happened to you. I wish I could go back and change it.”

“I’m fine—I’ll be fine. Now you go check on your momma wolf,” she smiles.

“Oh, and Darius agreed we could have an engagement party, so I might need a hand in organizing that.”

“No, sorry, I can’t help you. That’s very much Amy’s department now. Besides, it’s her party too, so she needs to be the one to organize it with you. Riley…” Kat gazes up and smiles, “you know I will always love you, so very much.”

“I know.” He blows a kiss and disappears out of the back door.

Kat takes a deep breath and swallows her emotions. She’s not the same person she was six months ago. Pregnancy and injury—being away from the team. It’s all changed her. It’s given her strength and brought her and Luna together as one, but in other ways, it’s caused much deeper emotional changes inside her.

Woman and wolf may now be at one with each other, but now Kat feels even more uncertain about how that will affect the relationships she has.

Have the feelings for those around her—Darius, Digby, and Noah—have they changed too?

Closing her eyes, she steps down from her seat on the stool and places the two empty mugs into the sink. Staring out from the kitchen window, Kat looks across the lawn, watching the large bonfire as it flickers high into the night sky.

She can feel the low rumble of a growl building in her chest and, with a snarl under her breath, she turns around and hurriedly marches towards the study at the end of the hall.

Katquietlyshutsthedoor to the studyandleaning against the frame, she closes her eyes and sighs.

“Are you okay?” the deep whisper echoes from across the room.

With a blink, Kat opens her eyes and is greeted by Darius as he slides backinthe seat of the large leather chair and stares at her.

The study is lit by only the dimmed light of the lamp on thedeskwhich illuminates the midnight purple of his eyes as he lifts a half filled tumbler of whiskey to his lips.

“You startled me,” she smiles. “What the hell are you doing sitting here all alone in the dark?”

“Taking a moment and enjoying the quiet.” His thick, dark hair is immaculately styled and his eyes glint in teasing desire as the deep mauve color reflected the warm tone from the lamp. He drains the glass of whiskeyandstepping up from the seat, he returns to the silver tray on top of the dresser and pours another. Over his shoulder, he watches as Kat remains silent by the door. “Would you like one?” he holds up the crystal decanter filled with liquor.

“Uh… No, no, I’m good. Evelyn—I’m still feeding her, so really I shouldn’t.” There’s a heavenly smell of whiskey mixed with the overpowering scent of his aftershave, which teases her nostrils.

“Sorry, yeah, of course. I forgot about that. So how are you? Do you feel better now?” He looks over, noticing the dampness of her curls and the sweet smell of soap which wafts across the emptiness of the space between them.

“I’m good. I took a bath to relax before… Luna, she’s going to check on the hyenas—I went earlier, but I want to go again one more time before I go to bed.” Kat can almost taste the whiskey as Darius moves to be at her side. “I spoke to Riley a little earlier. Did he tell you he’s getting married?”

“He did indeed.” Darius leans forward and brushes a kiss on her lips. “Kat, everything’s fine. The hyena clan, don’t worry, I have my eyes on them. If even one of them steps out of line—they’re gone. I already warned Mikah, and he understands the consequences.”

“I know, I saw you. I still can’t believe Digby would agree to let them stay here. It was his damn ego, you know that. I thought he would understand how I felt and make them leave, but I guess not. Maybe you could tell them to leave instead?”

The large cotton shirt she’s dressed in covers her curvesand Darius can’t help but stroke his finger softly down the side of her arm. Her skin is hot to his touch, and she has a warm blushed glow to her cheeks. “I can’t do that. Digby is pack leader—it has to be his decision.”

“But he’s not, though, is he? Not really. I mean, we all know it’s you that makes the decisions. You could have just told him it was a stupid idea. You could have—”

“Kat, I can’t undermine his decision. I’m not the pack leader. You know that as well as I do. It has to appear that Digby makes the decisions, otherwise, he’ll be challenged on all sorts of things in the future. You wouldn’t take the role and I couldn’t. So, we are where we are. The pack would never let me lead them, not officially. He’s doing okay and I’ll keep a check on the hyenas, so please don’t worry.”

“You know, he’s down there getting drunk with them. How is that a sensible decision? I saw him stripped naked, dancing around the fire. How’s that keeping this pack safe?”

“Kat, really, it will be fine.” He brushes a kiss against her neck and sniffs deeply against her ear. “Now relax, he can handle it.”

“I don’t know how,” she brushes him away. “I just don’t like it. Why have they come here now?”

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