Page 78 of The Strongest Wolf

A car behind blares its horn. I ignore it as I keep my focus trained on the sedan.

As he pulls into the road, I wrench my wheel right, taking what feels like the only parking spot left in this city. “Thank fuck.”

The same idiot behind me is blasting his horn, but I don’t even look up as I grab my cell. One swipe of my phone, and I bring up a text message from Sierra.

Turns out I can’t drive to New York without sleep. Stopping for a couple of hours. I like you.

A wave of relief eases the tension in my shoulders as I tap out a reply.

Sleep, little wolf. Call when you get back on the road. I like you, too.

That she could drive for as long as she had without stopping is both impressive and alarming. I want her in New York, but in one piece. We have a lot to talk about. And I still have those shifters to deal with.

A frown creases my brow. Sierra is going to want to get involved in the hunt, and I don’t know how I’m going to tell her that I want her safe without her thinking I’m accusing her of being weak.

After tossing my cell phone on the passenger seat, I rest my head on the back of my seat and close my hands around the steering wheel. “What do I say?”

Compromise. Cooperation. A partnership.

Those are the things I’m going to have to learn to do with Sierra as Luna, and every time I fuck up, the fear she could walk will always linger in the back of my mind.

Being alpha doesn’t require any thought at all. Protecting the pack is the only thought that has consistently driven me—that and finding Eden.

I’ve found Eden. But Sierra is something new, something unexpected. Being with her isn’t going to be easy, because neither of us are easy people, so we’re going to fight. Probably a lot.

It’s going to take work, and not just between us.

The pack is used to me snarling while Dom serves as the mediator. Sierra will be stepping into a new role, and even though I don’t know what that looks like, Idoknow it will change everything for the better. Not everyone will appreciate change, at least at first. And especially not after everything they suffered in Indiana.

“So we’ll have to ease them into it,” I murmur. “Me and Sierra.”

Shaking my head, I refocus on the road.

You’ve wasted enough time, Galen. Time to go.

Suiting action to words, I wait for a chance to pull out into the road and continue my journey through Pennsylvania, the last state before I hit New York.

As I drive, I let myself dwell on the thought of Sierra being home. Of sharing the same bed I’ve slept in for years. Of her having drawers in my dresser.

And of waking up beside her every morning for the rest of my life. For so long, I never believed I’d have anything that came close to what I had with Melody. With my fated mate dead, what kind of romantic future could I hope to have?

None, I thought. Until Sierra.

With half my attention on the slow-moving traffic ahead, I fumble for the glove compartment. Taking my eyes off the road for a second, I grab the broken chain I stuffed in there over two weeks ago.

The chain doesn’t have the weight to suggest it’s expensive. Stainless steel versus sterling silver. But Sierra cherished this thing more than anything else she had back in Dexter.

She took care of it as best she could, polished it, and hid it from the Stones who would view it as a weakness. The locket containing the photographs of her parents means more to her, but this chain is important, too.

I told Sierra I would fix the broken clasp, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

Traffic slows to a crawl the closer I get to New York. Every chance I get, I check my phone for a text or missed call, but it remains silent.

She must still be sleeping.

I leave her to rest. If it takes her a day longer to get to me, then so be it.

Finally, hours later, Wylder, the Upstate New York town with a population of just over five thousand, comes into view on the horizon.

---