Page 18 of Once You Go Pack
The reminder hit like ice water. Cade turned from the windows, his eyes flashing with alpha authority that made Martin straighten instinctively.
“The pack reports,” Cade said, changing the subject with the force of a command. “What’s the current mood?”
Martin’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but his gaze remained watchful. “Nervous. Half of them are questioning whether you can fill your father’s position, and the other half are worried about what happens if you can’t.”
The words stung, but Cade had expected them. His father had ruled with absolute authority for thirty-five years, earning respect through strength and strategic brilliance. Following that legacy felt like trying to step into the footprints of a giant.
“And what do you think?” Cade asked, his voice deceptively calm.
Martin’s loyalty had never wavered, but he’d also never been afraid to speak truth to power. “I think you’re twice as smart as your father and half as patient with politics. You’ll be a different kind of leader, but not a lesser one.”
“The pack won’t see it that way, especially if I officially claim a human mate.” Cade resumed pacing, his restless energy finding no outlet. “They’ll see weakness.”
“Some will,” Martin agreed. “Others will see strength in choosing love over convenience.”
The word ‘love’ made Cade’s wolf surge forward.Too soon. Too dangerous to think that way.
“It’s not about love,” he lied. “It’s about survival. I need a mate to claim the High Sovereign position, and Gerri found one. Simple as that.”
Martin’s knowing look called out the falsehood, but he didn’t press. Instead, he moved to stand beside Cade at the windows, both of them gazing out at the mountain peaks that had shaped their lives.
“You know what your real concern is?” Martin’s tone was carefully neutral. “It’s not whether she can handle our world. It’s whether you can handle having her in it.”
The observation hit its target with surgical precision. Cade’s hands clenched into fists at his sides as memories of their Earth brunch flashed through his mind—Mila’s intelligence as she’d discussed her work, the spark of humor when she’d teased him about his embarrassing childhood stories, and the way her cheeks had flushed when he’d complimented her smile.
I wanted her. Right there in that human café, surrounded by witnesses, I wanted to pull her against me and claim her mouth until she forgot everything but me.
The intensity of his reaction to her had been staggering. He’d spent thirty years maintaining perfect control, and one five-foot-seven human with golden hair and curious eyes had nearly shattered his composure in mere hours.
“Because she’s human,” he said finally, the words scraping against his throat. “Gentle. Breakable. What if I can’t control myself around her?”
Martin turned to study his friend’s profile, noting the tension in Cade’s jaw and the way his hands trembled almost imperceptibly.
“When was the last time you lost control with anyone?” Martin asked.
“Never,” Cade admitted. “But I’ve never felt like this before. Like I could lose myself completely.”
The confession hung between them, raw and vulnerable in a way that Cade rarely allowed himself to be. His wolf clawed at his restraint, wanting to break free and claim what belonged to him, while his human side fought to maintain the discipline that had defined his entire life.
A distant sound made both men freeze—the faint hum of a wormhole activation echoing across the mountain peaks.
Cade’s head snapped up, his enhanced senses immediately detecting something that made his pulse race and his wolf surge to attention. Even from miles away, carried on the crisp mountain air, he caught the faintest trace of a scent that stopped his breath.
Mila.
“She’s here,” he breathed, his voice thick with an emotion he couldn’t name.
Martin’s eyebrows rose. “You can sense her from this distance?”
But Cade was no longer listening. His wolf had taken control of his senses, every nerve ending alive with the knowledge that his mate was finally within reach. The careful preparations, thesecurity reports, the political concerns—everything faded into background noise as primal instinct roared to life.
His muscles coiled with the need to shift, to run through the crystal-blue snow and find her, to eliminate the distance between them with raw speed and desperate want.
“Cade.” Martin’s voice carried a warning note. “Remember what we discussed. Control.”
The word hit like a physical slap, forcing Cade to drag in a shuddering breath and fight back the transformation that threatened to overwhelm him. His eyes burned with golden fire as his wolf raged against the restraint, demanding immediate action.
Patience,he told himself, though every instinct screamed otherwise.Don’t scare her. Don’t overwhelm her. Don’t lose this before it begins.
