Liam swung down to the ground just as the bear hit the branch. It broke free, and the bear fell, hitting the forest floor with a heavy thump. Instead of stunning him, the creature sprang up. Liam started to shift back into fur, but the bear charged. I blinked out of my daze and raced toward the bear before it could jump my Alpha.
Heart pinioned to my spine, I crouched and leaped, my claws finding purchase in the bear’s back. The animal growled and climbed onto its hind paws, swiping at me as though I was a pesky flea. I ducked my head and slid down the long expanse of black fur, gouging his flesh.
He let out a feral bellow and landed on his front paws so hard it knocked my claws right out of his skin and sent me flailing to the ground. I blinked up at the sky that seemed brighter and whiter, as though the moon had bloated and spread.
The sound of battle had me blinking again.
Liam!
I rolled onto my stomach and jolted onto all fours, the world spinning and fragmenting. I shook my head to clear my vision. Two black shapes collided right in front of me. I backed up, and they crashed in a heap right at my paws. For a terrible moment, I thought the bear had Liam pinned underneath him, but then my eyesight finally cleared, and I saw the distinctive yellow eyes of my Alpha staring down at the bulky beast.
Heaving with rushed breaths, Liam sank his fangs into the bear’s neck. A wet pop sounded, followed by the thump of the bear’s lifeless head banging against the rich soil. Muzzle dripping with blood, Liam picked his head up, leveled his victorious gaze on me, then jutted his neck heavenward and howled his triumph.
“I still can’t believe you poked a bear,” I told Liam after I’d wormed myself into my clothes.
Dried bear blood was smeared on one corner of his tipped mouth. The kill, or maybe the fight, had buoyed my Alpha. His neck was straighter, his shoulders broader, and his gaze brighter. He radiated adrenaline and pride.
It had been thrilling and terrifying. I was actually slightly terrified of how thrilling it had felt to bring down the beast.
“Says the girl who threw herself on his back.”
“He was charging you!”
Liam’s eyes sparked as he lifted his thumb to my jaw. When I jerked, his smile blunted. “You had blood.”
I rubbed at the spot he’d touched to get rid of the blood, and to get rid of the tingling left behind by his fingers. August’s face flashed behind my pupils. I backed up a step, not trusting myself to be so close to a man who’d once held the same gravitational pull over me as the moon held over the magic in our blood.
Two Rivers in skin passed next to us. “Nice hunt, Alpha.” They inclined their heads toward Liam and then toward me.
My fingers stilled on my jaw. Had they just bowed to me?
More Rivers trickled past, chattering excitedly and dipping their heads when they caught our eye.
Zack and one of his twin girls approached. Considering she didn’t have a claw mark anywhere on her body, I assumed it was Penny.
“Kolane”-the River Alpha extended his hand that was streaked in dirt and blood-“in fur and in skin, you have our backin’.”
Liam clasped the extended hand. “Thank you.”
Zack seemed to wait for Liam to reciprocate his declaration, but what had the Rivers done for us? If they helped us defeat Cassandra, then they’d earn Boulder backing.
After a pregnant pause, Zack nodded toward the meeting house. “Beverages and dessert will be served in the meetin’ house shortly. Shall we? I believe we still got much to discuss.”
Liam nodded. Zack let go of Liam’s hand, then grabbed a hold of my shoulder and squeezed it so hard I thought the bone might pop out of the socket. “For a little thing, you did good out there.”
“Thank you.””I get why you picked her as your Second,” Zack said, lowering his hand. “She’s brave and easily underestimated.”
The Alpha’s compliment warmed my blood even though I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve it. I didn’t think leaping on a bear was brave; in my opinion, my actions had been a little impulsive and a lot reckless.
“Ness picked me, actually,” Liam said.
I fixed my gaze on the long blades of grass swaying against my jean-clad thighs. I stroked the dried tips with my palm.
I had picked him, and yet, I also hadn’t.
Not in the way he’d wanted.
“Is your sister okay?” I asked to change the subject.
“Yeah,” Penny said.
“Thank the God of all wolves,” Zack added. And then he gestured to the meeting house, and we all started toward it.
Liam fell in step with his fellow Alpha, and I fell in step with his daughter, not walking nearly as fast as both pack leaders. How were they not exhausted? My muscles spasmed with fatigue. If it hadn’t been for Zack’s mention of having much to discuss, I would’ve backpedaled straight to my cottage, sloughed my skin clean in a hot shower, and stuffed my bruised body between the crisp sheets.
Nostrils working the air, Penny said, “He’s not your mate, and he’s not your boyfriend.”
Even though they weren’t quite questions, I answered, “Just my Alpha.”
“But he wants more.”
Again, it wasn’t a question. “We had a brief . . . fling. It didn’t end so well.”
“And yet, you’re his Second.”
“And yet, I’m his Second,” I repeated. “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?”
“I have a fated mate. Dad expects us to get together before the Winter Solstice, but I don’t know”-she tugged a lock of hair behind her ear-“he’s two years younger and real immature. I’m havin’ trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with him.” She smiled. “But it could be worse. My sister, the one who died, her fated mate was almost Daddy’s age. It was real weird for everyone at first.”
I peered at her through my lashes.
She shrugged. “But then people got used to it.”
“So she consolidated the link?”
“No. She chose not to. She had a crush on an Aspen. She was trying to get Daddy to allow her to marry him. That’s why she was in their territory when”-she bit her lip-“when the Creeks came.”
“But . . . We can’t change packs.”
“Technically, we can’t, ’cause we can never be looped into another pack’s mind-link without the same blood. Unless there’s a duel, but I guess you know that considerin’ what happened to the Pines.”
I nodded.”But we can marry into another pack. Usually though, it causes a rift at some point, that point being when we pop out kids. Mixed pups have to pledge themselves to an Alpha. They can’t pledge themselves to two. And once they pick one, they can never pick the other.”
We’d arrived in front of the meeting house that was vibrating with animated conversations and the clink of utensils. She pushed open the door, revealing a dining hall dripping in candlelight and moonlight.
Penny’s smile increased. “Want to meet my mate?” She tipped her head toward a boy with a mop of black hair and lashes so long I could see them clear across the room. “Hey, Isaac!”
The boy looked up from the long table topped with plates heaped with fruit-cut and whole-and bottles of every drink imaginable. A giant smile overtook his fuzzy jaw.