Page 14 of The Strongest Wolf

As he backs me across the room, arousal unfurls in my belly because I know where we’re going and why.

My thighs hit the edge of the bed, the first sign we’ve reached our destination, and a second later he nudges me, following me down. Catching his weight on his elbows, he bows his head. His kiss is slow, decadent, and has my toes curling as I lean into it.

But then I remember the message and pull away. His late pack run followed by my earlier than usual bedtime meant we missed each other. “Oh, I forgot to tell you.”

“Forgot to tell me what?” he asks, his eyes on my lips.

“Dom called earlier.”

He leans toward me. “About?”

“Us running away together,” I joke.

His face freezes.

“Galen?” I poke him in his chest. “I was joking.”

Flashing me a grin, he lowers his head. “I know.”

But before he can make contact, I roll so I’m straddling him. “No, you didn’t. You believed me.”

When he doesn’t immediately respond, I sigh. “Galen, I’m not going to leave you for Dom. Or any other guy.” I pause. “Even though you’re an alpha, and if any guy was high-maintenance, it would be—”

He has me flat on my back, hands pinned over my head a beat later.

“High maintenance?” he growls.

I nod. “High maintenance. I’m surprised you’re not checking under the mattress for a pea to make sure—”

A hard kiss cuts me off.

It goes on for so long that I’ve almost forgotten what we were talking about until he lifts his head and peers down at me.

As his expression turns increasingly intense, panic crawls up my throat, because I know he’s preparing to tell me one of two things. He loves me, or he’s going to make me Luna.

Both things are equally terrifying, because they come with responsibilities I’m not ready to accept: Galen’s heart, or his pack.

“Sierra, I—”

“I’ve been thinking about going to my mom’s pack.” I burst out.

Galen doesn’t even blink. “Why?”

Because it feels a lot less terrifying than coming face to face with your pack, having them reject me, you choosing me over them, and then us spending the next few years being hounded from city to city as we look for a place to call home, just like what happened to Mom and Dad.

Sure, we could just come right back to Hardin, but this isn’t Galen’s home. How long would it be before Galen and Dayne are snapping at each other the way two alphas forced to share a territory would? They get along okay now, but we’re visiting, not living here.

I clear my throat. “Being here with the Blackshaws has made me realize that maybe I should see my mom’s family.”

“You mean the family who threw you out of their pack and forced your parents to go to the Stones and their deaths? You want to see them?”

Tugging at my hands so he knows I want to get free, I tear my eyes from his. “You don’t have to say it like I don’t know what they did. I do. It’s not like I’m going to forgive them.”

“No. You’re not going, because I’m not letting you within five fucking feet of them.”

I tug harder at my wrists. “And there it is, that infamous alpha—”

“Stop struggling. This isn’t me being a dick, Sierra. This is me telling you that you can’t trust them. It’s not safe.”

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