Page 102 of Hayden's Haven
Days had been hard enough, but she had friends and work to keep her busy, with the occasional day off like today where she had something full of joy to distract her. The kids were all so cute, and she and Finley had been betting on which kid would win the position of alpha and second.
They had been rooting for Finley’s niece Charlotte and she had won the position of alpha for the Mock Running of the Moon. Finley talked about Charlotte incessantly. She was the first strong shifter born to the family in decades and they were all so proud of her. It had made Mila somewhat sad to think her family only found pride in her because of her shifter abilities when clearly the little girl had so much more going for her.
She didn’t say that to Fin of course. He wouldn’t understand. He still thought weak shifters belonged with weak shifters, and she had told him more than once that she was glad she had such nice friends as him, Anna, and Kate. After two weeks of hearing that, he was starting to get the idea that they were simply friends. Mila pointed him in the direction of Emma, a shy brunette who worked in the prep kitchen at the cookhouse. He had seen her before but never considered her because she was a strong shifter.
Strong. . . weak. . . This pack was as caught up on the concept as. . . well, as Mila had been.
Emma blushed when Mila told her about Fin. The two shifters agreed to a ‘blind date’ of sorts during the Mock Running of the Moon. Finley was really nervous and excited, and Emma was sweet and wasn’t caught up in the whole strong vs. weak shifter class war. She simply wanted a shifter who’d be good to her. If only all shifters were as smart as her.
As soon as Emma got back with the drinks, Mila was supposed to ‘disappear’ as Finley had put it. Summarily dismissed. Perfect.
Before Emma returned, Finley decided to test out a joke on Mila. The joke was funny and made her laugh. That’s the moment she caught Hayden’s delicious scent in the wind. Mila turned and locked eyes with Hayden, only to see his face fall.
Her heart skipped a beat. Hayden had seen her sitting and laughing with Finley. It was all a big misunderstanding. She could fix this. She would fix it.
Mila rushed off without a word to Finley, but he must have figured it out. She heard him wish her good luck as she leapt off the rock and raced after Hayden.
Hayden had disappeared. His wolf was a faster runner, but she had her wolf back. Despite how slow Mila’s wolf was at shifting and healing, she had always had a keen sense of smell—which had helped Mila sniff out disease and sickness here and there too, even before patients showed outward signs of illness. It’s how she had known to enact the quarantine in her pack before the first patients had fallen to the virus.
Mila found Hayden sitting in the snow, his head bent over his knees that he had pulled up to his chest. Her shifter was healthy and well, but still broken. Her heart lurched at the smell of his fear.
Her finger ran through his thick hair. His breathing hitched.
“You came back,” she said.
Those weren’t the words she had crafted in her head as she had searched for him, but they were genuine. She had started to wonder if he’d return for her. Then again, she wasn’t sure that he had.
He had seen her with Fin and then he had raced off. He hadn’t pulled her away or even threatened Fin as she would have expected. Hayden had changed since she had last seen him. He was calm, settled, but he wasn’t fighting others to get away from her.
He lifted his head. A fire swirled in the depths of his black eyes. Want, need, confusion.
“I missed you, Hayden,” she whispered as she bent her head close to his.
* * *
HAYDEN
Hayden watched as her wolf approached. Beautiful dark brown fur framed striking green eyes that held him stronger than any metal ever could.
Mila had followed him. She had left Fin to follow him. Maybe he hadn’t lost her. His wolf nipped him. Asshole. Hayden was trying to do things right with Mila, not screw it up again, and his asshole wolf wanted him to grab her, drag her to his cabin, lock the world out, and claim her. The idea had merit, but Hayden had to do this right. It had to be Mila’s choice.
She shifted back to human form. Her shift was painful and slow, but she’d shifted in front of him. She’d never done that before, shown her weaker abilities. That took strength on her part.
He couldn’t lose her. . . he just couldn’t.
“You came back,” she said.
That said it right there. She was surprised he’d returned for her. Had she given up on him? Is that why she was with Finley?
“I missed you, Hayden,” she whispered. Her scent nearly overwhelmed him as she touched her forehead to his.
She was his female. Even if she never blood-bonded him. Even if she never consented to mate him. She’d always be his. Until the end of time.
“The last we spoke, I said I’d return for you, and blood-bond you,” Hayden said. A reminder of his promise, of his love. Was it enough?
Her eyes sparkled with such brilliance it amazed him, but Hayden could swear he felt a bond forming between them. Like a window opening and letting in the fresh spring air, part of his Mila poured into his soul. There’d never be any question; with every bone, nerve, and cell in his body, he knew she was his. But she wasn’t as sure. There was a hesitation to her still.
“I was scared,” she said, her voice slight, scared.
