Page 74 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

Her face is blank. “So… they just deal with it on their own?”

“It’s not ideal.”

“So, if I came here and asked for help and you didn’t want to help me, you’d just order me to leave.”

“But that didn’t happen.”

She looks at me for a beat. “But it could have happened to others.”

“Yes.”

When she gets up and walks away, I don’t stop her or call her back. It’s the shifter way, and I refuse to lie or make excuses. A pack is family, and every Alpha is cautious about who he allows into his pack.

* * *

“She’s not forgiving me, Finan,” I grumble, scrubbing a hand over my face, frustrated.

It’s the day after our conversation beside the creek, and Kat is actively avoiding me.

“Have you apologized?”

“I don’t apologize,” I snarl. “And I’m showing her that I’m sorry. Why isn’t that enough?”

He meets my gaze steadily. “She is yourmate. You nearlykilledher. Some circumstances require an actual apology.Thisis one of them.”

I stare at him, knowing he’s right but hating how he’s always so rational. “I hate you.”

He nods. “Of course you do.”

“Did you apologize to her?” Finan was the one who knocked her out after Wes and Cruz brought her to Burning Wood. It was at my order, but still.

My wolf hadn’t been happy about it, snarling at Finan, which had been the first clue this was no ordinary feral I had my enforcers scoop up.

He nods again. “I did.”

“And did she forgive you?” He opens his mouth and I shake my head. “Don’t tell me.”

Finan is diplomatic. He knows how to talk to people, including me, when I’m being stubborn about listening.

She forgave him.

I throw myself against the wall, head tipped back as I stare up at the blue sky with its tufts of white clouds.

I know exactly what’s happening here.

It isn’t just the fact that she’s my mate.

She’s beautiful, and she protects my pack.

She makesmesmile.

The first thing I do when I wake up is check to see where she is.

I struggle to get through a day without wondering what she’s doing, who she’s with, and if she’s happy. If there’s anything I can do to make her smile.

And I have this terror growing in my chest that she will leave me, and I can’t face a future without her in my life. She has to be here. She has to be close enough to touch.

And I…

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