Chapter 2

After dinner, Kane cleared the dishes.

I sat on the couch, working through pack business for White Pine Valley.

The terminal chimed.

It was Kane’s.

I walked over and picked it up. It was his Beta second-in-command, Cole.

Kane was elbow-deep in soapy water, so I turned on the speaker.

“Alpha, the Silver Moon Pack has put forward new demands for the northern mining project. They want to renegotiate the extraction shares.”

Kane tilted his head, hands still covered in foam.

“Tell them I’ll be at the pack headquarters tomorrow morning to handle it.”

“If it’s urgent, you can head out first. I’ll finish up here,” I said.

“It’s fine. No rush.”

He smiled at me. “Nothing in this world is more important than being here with you.”

His sweet words always caught me off guard.

I hung up the phone in silence, a heavy, suffocating feeling settling in my chest.

Later that night, as we prepared for bed, Kane was still in his study on a video call, negotiating territory partnerships with the Alphas of other packs.

I went back to the bedroom first.

I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The old scar on my left arm had started to itch again.

I knew it was going to snow tomorrow.

My body was more accurate than the pack’s weather forecasts.

I don’t know how much time passed before the study door clicked shut softly.

I heard him step into the bathroom as quietly as possible, and from inside came a few stifled, almost pained gasps, before everything went quiet again. I just assumed he was exhausted.

A moment later, he lifted the covers and lay down beside me.

Then, just like he always did, he pulled me into his arms.

His chest was warm and solid, his steady, powerful heartbeat clear beneath my ear.

“Still awake?” he asked, his voice rough with a lingering hoarseness.

“Mm.”

“Scar’s itching again?”

“A little.”

He fell silent for a moment, then his warm hand settled over my left arm, his fingers gently brushing the scar, rubbing it with just the right amount of pressure.

He used his pheromones to soothe my frayed nerves, bit by bit, and that sharp, itching feeling faded, just like it always did.

‌After we bound, a soul connection formed, he senses my pain before I even feel it.

“I’m sorry.”

He said it suddenly.

I froze.

“What?”

“If I’d known…” He paused, his voice thick and rough. “If I’d known how much you’d suffer, I never would’ve…”

He trailed off.

I didn’t push him.

Never would’ve what?

Never would’ve cornered me in that academy, driven me to the brink?

I didn’t dare think about it.

Didn’t dare ask.

We lay there in silence, wrapped in each other’s arms.

His soothing touch made the itching fade completely.

I was half-asleep, drifting off, when he spoke again.

“Ella.”

“Mm?” I mumbled, half-conscious.

“Tomorrow morning, before seven, go tidy up the files in my study for me, then wake me up.”

His voice was soft, laced with tired laziness.

“Okay.”

I agreed.