Page 80 of Knot Your Possession

“I would never ask you to do that,” Sadie said. She gripped his face firmly and forced him to look at her when he tried to look away.

“You wouldn’t have to. I’d do it in a heartbeat to keep you safe,” he said, echoing my own thoughts.

Before Sadie could say anything, Wolf jumped in. “I think I know how to find them. Their fallback position was the manor, but I don’t know an exact location. Can Max still do satellite surveillance? If I give him a general area and some landmarks, could he find a property?”

“I’m sure he could. He’s brilliant at that stuff,” Lexie said. “Give me the details and I’ll get them to him.”

I released a breath I’d been holding. Wolf had mentioned he thought he knew where they were the night after we met him. I’d wanted to know, and also dreaded knowing since then. Now that I had Ava back, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her again. Or her losing us. I wanted time with her. Yet the thought of Maven out there, potentially gunning for both Wolf and Ava, had kept me awake at night. Strategising. Without a destination though, I’d gone round in circles.

When Wolf finished giving the details to Lexie, he paused and looked around the room before his eyes landed on me. “If we do this, don’t underestimate Maven, or think they’ve retreated and are off licking their wounds. I agree, they need to be taken out and for more reasons than you think, but we need to be prepared.”

I could feel a tension through the bond that escalated sharply as Wolf glanced down at Ava. His hands tightened on my shoulders.

“What aren’t you telling us, Wolf?” I asked. I tried not to let my frustration show in my voice, but I couldn’t help if he wouldn’t talk to me.

Wolf hesitated. He had no poker face, though. Our entire pack focused in on him.

“They watched her, Wolf. All the time,” Cary said. “We need to know why. It’s time.” I felt my jaw clench hard, but I agreed. It was past time.

“He’s right. I’ve gone through their servers,” Nick said. “They have no records on Ava the way they do for you and Maia, Wolf. But there’s a hell of a lot of footage of Ava. They were watching her closely, but they never pulled her into their programs. Why, Wolf? What don’t we know?”

“Are you worried about scaring me, Wolf? Because I’m tougher than I look,” Ava said, as she twisted and reached up over me to touch his arm. “I’d rather know what I’m facing.”

“They would never have let you have a debut,” Wolf ground out. “Maven left you alone because they planned on mating you themselves.”

“What? Why would they want to mate me?” Ava asked. She sounded shocked, as if the idea was preposterous.

Understanding dawned. What Wolf hadn’t wanted to say. “Because if they mated you, he’d join them and he’d never leave again. They’d have him with no cage.”

Ava gasped as she searched Wolf’s face. It had shuttered, though, preparing for a storm. I felt him emotionally brace himself, and it pulled at our bond.

“We’re mated now, and we’re already part of a pack. So their plan won’t work anymore,” Ava said.

“It won’t stop them. Nothing will stop them, even our bonds. They’ll just add their own bonds, then kill your other mates,” Wolf growled. “They’re not rational and they don’t care about anything else. Not even the world going to hell. They’re obsessed with power. Not influence, or business success, or even money. Real primal power.”

I could feel Wolf’s dominance rising with his emotions, as regret clouded his eyes for the briefest moment. Then it was gone, replaced by a feral wildness. His power churned through us as if to prove his point. He didn’t have to bark, or even look at anyone, and everyone outside of our pack got up and shifted away from us instinctively.

“They want this, Ava, and they’ll use you to get it.”

thirty-three

Power,unlikeanythingI’dever felt, swirled through me. It was instinctive, predatory and ancient. It was pure alpha dominance. I’d thought I knew what it meant to be in a pack with Wolf. My understanding hadn’t even come close. The power that had swirled through us briefly when we’d mated, like a warm river, was nothing compared to this raging torrent. And I sensed he was still holding back.

Then suddenly, it was gone. As quickly as it had sprung up, it ebbed away. It left my senses reeling.

I didn’t feel scared, though. His power lit me up inside, as if someone had turned a switch on within me and light had flooded me. I felt exhilarated. Yet there was an edge to it that had my instincts screaming a warning. The full force of his dominance was going to burn if it wasn’t properly balanced, and that came with its own revelation. I couldn’t filter it to the pack alone.We need Cary.

I looked back up at Wolf and my exhilaration faded, replaced by a sharp, all-consuming anger on the other side. Wolf wouldn’t meet my gaze and I could feel a surge of negative emotions battering him. So I stood up and rounded the chair, backing him into the corner.

“Let me guess. You think you’re going to push some dominance at us and I’m going to run and hide because you’re a big, scary monster? Is that what you’re freaking out about? Huh?”

Wolf’s eyes were wide, and he kept his mouth shut as he backed up until he hit the wall. I slapped my hand beside his head.

“I told you Wolf. I’m not afraid of you. And we’re stronger together. I’ve been hiding in the lion’s den for a decade. I know what a monster looks like, and you’re not one. You can’t scare me off.”

“I don’t want you scared. I want you aware,” he growled. “You need to know what’s at stake. They’ll burn what’s left of the world if they get this level of dominance within their pack. I’ve fought to keep it out of their hands. But if it comes down to me handing it over to save you, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. This power is a curse, and—“

“It’s not a curse,” I interrupted him, getting up on my tippy toes and in his face as much as I could. Needing him to know I could take anything he needed me to bear. My anger raged brightly, throbbing through my veins, thinking about what they’d tried to do to him and everything he’d shouldered on his own. It stopped now. This pack wasn’t just about me. It was about us. “Your power is a gift and a responsibility. One nobody else can take. This power has always beenyou. Now it’sus. I get it’s a heavy burden, but you’re not alone anymore. You have a pack now, and we’re with you all the way. We figure it outtogether. Okay?”

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