Page 37 of The Alpha's Mates

“Stop pushing me around.” She glowered up at my cousin, her hands motioning at him.

“I was just trying to keep you close by. We don’t want you wandering-”

“It’s my choice if I want to wander. You have no say in what I do.”

Griff let his head tip back as he stared up at the sky, searching for patience. If his muscles got any tighter he was going to pop.

I grinned as I watched. My cousin had met his match. It thrilled me that he’d found his mate. He and his cadre were considered odd because of the addition of two beta males, but Griff had welcomed the twins with open arms. He defended them when friends and family alike had questioned why he would include betas in his cadre. As if he had any choice in the matter. The Goddess’s will acted upon us all. But it made complete sense now. There were betas in his cadre because his mate was also a beta.

Griff had always had my support. It wasn’t my place to question his motives, or the Goddess’s will. Because of that, we’d remained close. My parents loved him like a second son and he’d chosen to move in with us at fourteen, tired of explaining to his parents why he’d chosen the cadre he had.

Somewhere along the way, they built a tentative peace in their family and now my aunt and uncles had their eldest son back in their lives. I wasn’t sure how they’d feel about having a beta daughter-in-law, but knowing Griff, he would never allow them to disrespect his mate.

A delicious lemon scent caught my attention seconds before Reese’s soft fur was brushing mine. Looked like her wolf had taken over for a bit. Since I was the current recipient of head butts and her wolf rubbing against mine with affection, I wasn’t going to complain. She was safe here with me.

I allowed my wolf to come a little closer to the edge without giving him full control. Our animals playfully brushed against each other, and I laughed internally when Reese flipped onto her back under my snout and rubbed against the dirt.

Snuffling along her belly, my wolf laid his head down, pinning her to the ground. She struggled under the weight and managed to flip onto her stomach once more. My wolf’s head was now resting on her back and we were both content to stay that way.

I sighed when Soren let out a yip a few minutes later. It was time to go. I wanted to stay with her, next to the stream, lying in the sunshine for as long as we had it. Instead, I heaved my body up, waiting until she gained her feet, then went to grab the pack. This was why we couldn’t give the wolves full control yet. We didn’t have time to play.

We ran for hours, but my wolf was thrilled to be out in nature and free. Being the cadre that led the Venat Pack was an honor, but it meant there was never alone time. Our wolves only got to run if we were up before the rest of the village. By the time Soren and Calder found our resting place for the night my muscles were burning faintly.

We all shifted and dressed before setting up camp. I wandered out into the forest with the ax I’d strapped to the outside of my pack—it was what had made me late that morning, I’d damn near forgotten it—in search of lumber. It took about an hour to haul back enough that we’d have a cheerful fire all night. The others built our covers, rigging the cloth between trees and from outcroppings of rock. We needed to hide the glow of the fire. We could sleep as wolves and be comfortable, but in order to keep full control of our animals we needed to remain human while our bodies shut down.

I dragged four large logs over and placed them around the fire pit I dug out and circled with stones.

“Can I help?”

Glancing up, I smiled at my mate. “Sure. Do you know how to make a fire?”

She gave me a droll look. “I’ve been living out in the wilderness for a year and a half,” she reminded me.

I kept an eye on her as I stacked the wood I split out in the forest. Her hands were steady and true as she used a piece of flint to cast an ember onto her waiting bed of tinder. Before longshe had a happy flame in the pit, waiting to be fed. I passed over ever increasing sizes of fuel for her to build her fire.

“Thank you,” I told her.

“We want to help,” she said. “You guys can feel free to put us to work. We’re used to it.”

“That’s probably part of the reason I want you to just sit back and relax. You’ve survived long enough.”

She laughed and the sound had my wolf raising his head within my mind. There was a light, airy quality to it and I loved hearing it. “This is living in luxury compared to how we were. Trust me, this won’t be so bad.”

I nodded and went over to sit with her on the log. My task was completed. Calder and Soren were out hunting our dinner. Griff and Holden were finishing up building our sleeping areas, and the twins were keeping Emma company while she arranged the bedrolls inside each spot. They would end up being the cooks once Soren and Calder got back.

Theirs was the most important role, as we all wanted decent food on this trip and none of the rest of us could cook for shit. Focusing back on my mate, I decided this was the perfect time to get a little closer.

“Did I scare you this morning?”

CHAPTER 18

Reese

Ifrowned over at the man who was poking at the fire with a long stick. Is that what he thought? That he scared me? I had to bite back a scoffing sound. I’d been ready to climb his huge body like a tree, right there in the middle of the village, to hell with whoever had been watching.

“No,” I admitted, but didn’t further explain. I wasn’t sure how to tell him that he reduced me down to liquid heat. Revealing that now might lead to a repeat.

Soren’s wolf came trotting out of the woods, three rabbits hanging from his maw, saving me from needing to provide more of an explanation to Atlas.

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