Page 75 of The Strongest Wolf

I shift my focus to her as she approaches, dressed in a baggy t-shirt and sweats, cradling Angel in her arms. “And it’s the right thing to do.”

Dayne draws Talis against him. “The Stone pack was rotten to the core.”

I wrap my arms around myself, uncomfortable to be talking about them. If that will ever change, I don’t know. “But not all packs can be friendly, or even nice.”

“And not all packs can be like the Stones.” Talis rubs Angel’s back. “My uncle was a pretty terrible person, but before he was alpha, my family’s pack wasn’t bad. He polluted it, for want of a better word. That’s the power an alpha…” She gives me a significant look, “or a Luna has over a pack. You get to mold it in your image.”

I eye her for a second, chewing on the inside of my lip as I think. “You told me that being Luna wasn’t just about giving orders and having people listen.”

She nods. “I did. You get to make sure none of the shit you went through ever happens to anyone else.” Her expression is so determined that I know she means it.

Her uncle hurt her in ways that left her with plenty of scars. Physical and mental. That she’s missing the tip of her finger is a pretty big indication of how bad things must have gotten. But she hasn’t let her awful past make her bitter or angry at the world; only determined to make sure no one else goes through what she did.

I sigh. “I’m not as strong as you.”

“Galen didn’t strike me as the ass-kissing type,” Dayne says, half his attention on me and the other on stroking Angel’s soft blonde head.

My eyes narrow in confusion. “Uh, what does that have to do with—”

“He said you were the strongest wolf he’s ever known.” He trains the full power of his alpha stare on me.

My wolf cowers, as she always does when staring down an alpha, but I tilt my head up and meet his stare with one of my own.

His lips twitch. “He wasn’t wrong. You survived something not many people would, and you did it while protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, pull your head out of your ass, and embrace what you are.Allsides of you.”

I want to ask him how I’m supposed to do that when both sides of me are so opposing. How can I be dominant and submissive at the same time? But before I can, the porch is once again a hive of activity as the rest of the pack returns, carrying all the things I will need for my long drive to New York.

When all of this is over, I need to get a passport or some kind of ID, because I have a feeling this drive is going to make me wish I could’ve flown.

Their momentum carries me down the porch steps. Halfway down, I pause. “What about Nathan’s car? Surely he’s going to need—”

“Don’t worry about that.” Hallee slings her arm around me and tugs. “He can fly down to New York and pick it up whenever.”

“He can, can he?” Nathan mutters.

I swallow my smile, even as I turn to him. “I’m sorry. If you want, I can—”

“No,” he interrupts, voice firm. “I can take one for the team.”

“Make it sound like you’re going down in a hail of bullets protecting us, why don’t you,” Hallee mutters.

In seconds they’ve descended into another argument, one that I spot Eden dragging Luka further and further away from. Catching my eye, she mouths, “Every single day.”

Their argument wakes Angel, who was dozing on Talis’ shoulder. Her cries start back up again, but Dayne’s sharp order soon shuts Hallee and Nathan up. Or maybe it’s a promise to put them on babysitting duty until Angel is eighteen that does that.

By some miracle, Angel has stopped screaming by the time we’re beside Nathan’s car and it’s time to say goodbye.

Since I’m about a second away from bursting into tears after everything this pack has rallied around to do for me, I start my goodbyes with Angel.

Lifting her slight weight in my arms, I kiss her brow and inhale her baby smell, a combination of clean skin, baby powder, and sweet freshness. “I won’t miss your screaming,” I murmur, a smile curving my lips as I rock her a little, “but you are cute.”

And one day, it might not be the worst thing in the world to have one of my own. Just as long as it's with a certain green-eyed alpha who excels at snarling.

“If you wanted to take her with you, I don’t think—” Nathan’s yelp echoes. It’s that loud. “Hallee, stop pulling my ear.”

“I will,” Hallee says with no contrition in her voice, “when you stop saying things that deserve it.”

Pressing a kiss against Angel’s soft hair to hide my smile, I hold her a little longer before handing her back to Talis. “Thanks, Talis. For everything.”

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