Page 28 of Wolf Found

He wanted to bite that lip.

“We’ll have to discuss it as a pack, but if it’s what you want, Graham, I cannot think of a single good reason to say no. We need a baker, can’t find one at any price, and you’re incredible at it.” He waved toward the now-empty dining room. “We ran out of everything you made, and I’ve never had so many people come back to the counter to compliment the chef.”

Graham felt his whole body lighten. He wanted to bounce on the balls of his feet, but it probably wasn’t appropriate. “Really? They liked them?”

“Liked is the wrong word,” Ash said, shaking his head. “This old dude who comes in every night and always complains about how dry the blueberry muffins are said he didn’t know what we changed, but to make sure it stayed that way.”

“It’s the closest he’s ever been to nice,” Gavin said with a nod. “Like I said, we’ll have a pack discussion, but you’re more likely to get dissension from Hannah than Dez or Sawyer. They’ll both be thrilled to have you doing what you want.”

“Not to mention Waylon being gone,” Ash agreed.

He had put Graham back on his feet, but he hadn’t let go, and Graham kind of wanted to stay like that, in that moment, forever. “I don’t think Hannah will complain.”

“No?” Gavin asked. “I mean, you cooked at the pack enclave, right? I don’t want anyone to think we only value you for your cooking. You’re a member of this pack, and if you never wanted to cook again, that would be up to you too.”

Graham stared at him in shock, barely able to breathe as he felt the remaining husks of his bonds to the Martingale pack blow away like dead leaves on an autumn wind.

Gavin dropped his head into his hands. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“He did this to Sawyer too,” Ash whispered in his ear. “He doesn’t get that claiming words have power.”

Gavin threw his arms wide, frustrated. “I do, though! I know I need to ask first, I just... It’s some kind of douchey alpha instinct, isn’t it? I’m so sorry, Graham, I—” Gavin’s expression went from apologetic to horror in an instant when he looked to Graham. “Oh my god, are you crying? I’m such an asshole.”

“Graham?” Ash asked in a whisper, equal parts worry and hope.

Graham turned and looked at him. “Do I look a hundred pounds lighter? Because I feel... I feel...”

He couldn’t put words to it. It was as though a burden he hadn’t realized he was carrying had disappeared, and he was free for the first time in his whole life.

Graham was free.

He grabbed Ash’s face in both hands, pushed up onto his toes, and pressed their lips firmly together. He didn’t know how to kiss, but surely Ash did. And if not, maybe they could figure it out together.

Ash melted into him, and he felt the pulsing warmth of a single sweet thread of a pack bond. From his heart to Ash’s. Every bit of that kindness, goodness, and innocence from their childhood was somehow still in this man’s heart, even with all they had been through.

Graham didn’t know how, but he knew he was going to protect that heart with everything he had. They were pack again, and this time, Graham wasn’t going to let Ash slip away.

16

Miss Independent

Ancestors, Ash was in love.

This was what love felt like, right? He’d given up on it so long ago, convinced that maybe he just wasn’t the guy who got to have that, it hadn’t occurred to him to look for it.

He should have known.

Someone like Graham didn’t just jump into things halfassed. When he did something bizarre and seemingly out of character, like dropping everything and trekking across three states to take his best friend in need to complete strangers, there was a reason for it.

Even if it seemed completely illogical, it wasn’t.

Then afterward, he could have turned right back around and gone back to California with Asher’s father, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t even implied it was what he wanted.

Because the alpha had lied to him, manipulated him, and Graham might be willing to put up with a lot, but when he had drawn a line, it had been firm. Ash wished he was more like that. He was that guy who kept drawing another line further back when the person crossed it. The person like his father.

But no, it wasn’t time to worry about his father, because he could feel Graham. It didn’t feel anything like when Sawyer’s pack bond had formed, slowly over the course of weeks. This was like something that had been there all the time, he just hadn’t known it.

The feel of Graham’s lips against his was the perfect balance of sweet and forceful, just like the man himself. In some ways, he was the “perfect” Martingale omega, soft and sweet and quiet. And sometimes, he surprised Ash with his unwillingness to fade into the background. It must have frustrated the alpha, to have such a gem right there in his reach, but to be so mired in ridiculous old-fashioned ideals that he couldn’t make proper use of it.

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