Four

Scarlett

I had never seen Reese’s wolf before, but I would have bet everything I owned on the long-furred, gray wolf who appeared out of thin air being my mate, anyhow.

Initially, I felt elation at his arrival, but it was overshadowed by the ensuing pandemonium unfolding after his advent. I wasn’t able to process the events transpiring around me until after I made Jace help me get Reese back inside the cave when he lost consciousness after the fight.

I hadn’t noticed the dark shadows under his eyes before, but I couldn’t unsee his worn-out countenance now that I had, not feel horrible for putting him through the wringer when he had done nothing wrong.

I searched my mind for another topic. I wasn’t ready to confront my inner demons, but I wasn’t thrilled with the alternate path I latched onto in my desperation either.

It wasn’t easy to accept my former friends had completely changed from when I knew them. The bear shifter had stunned me more than the rogues launching an assault. I averted my eyes from the corpse before Jace disposed of it, not wanting to know if I recognized the male’s face.

In any case, Jace did not let me get away without answering his queries. I hated laying my personal business on the table when all I wanted was to wrap my arms around Reese’s unconscious figure, but I felt I owed the other male my honesty after all he’d done for me.

Jace kept me in the moment enough to be able to resist following through on my urges, but I couldn’t say I was happy with the outcome of him learning the truth.

Jace and I’d had a good time before, but I never wanted to revisit that part of my past. He helped me through one of the darkest times of my life, but he couldn’t compete with a soulmate.

The last thing I wanted was another male bearing down on me, but I could at least accept trekking through the forest with Reese in tow was my best option to remain safe after seeing the danger up close and personal for myself.

I wasn’t thrilled about our destination, but I was resolved on using the time to decide where I wanted to go with my future. Luna seemed hellbent on driving Reese and I together, and my wolf was equally as determined to get me to change my mind about keeping my distance from him.

We still had several days to travel before we made it to the pack house in the Western Province. It would have gone much faster if we had taken a car, but my dumbass had decided to flee on four legs.

We didn’t go far the first night before we were searching for a safe place to recuperate. I was still recovering from the original ambush that had left me down for a day, but my werewolf genetics had sped the process along extensively.

On the other hand, Reese looked like he had been going for days on end, and it was obvious he had fended off more than one stray rogue before he found me.

Truthfully, we probably should have stayed with Jace another night before attempting to make it anywhere, but I was more than ready to leave right alongside Reese when we kicked up the dust behind us.

Howbeit, I didn’t miss the way Reese was constantly scanning our environment, or the alert repose he maintained even after we stopped to rest. I didn’t blame him for his caution, but I chose to keep my opinion to myself, irrespective.

I mean damn, I was doing the same thing ever since the rogues had managed to catch me off guard that first night, even if my mate’s absence had played a large role in me being caught unawares.

It was a hell of a lot easier to concentrate with him at my side, rather than occupying my mind, and we were able to successfully fend off the only group of rogues we came across the first two days without any issues.

At present, we were devouring our meals around the small fire Reese built to cook the rabbits I’d snagged earlier during our run. I couldn’t deny the feeling of camaraderie that had developed with the male resting casually next to me on the ground.

We had remained in our wolf shapes for the majority of the trip, so it had been simple enough to avoid the simmering attraction brewing between us the few times we were both in our human forms.

I thankfully remembered my bag before leaving Jace’s den. It sucked having to carry the damn thing while shifted, but I would take that any day over going au naturel for now.

I was barely managing to resist my mate as it was. I didn’t need to add nudity to the mix to make things even more awkward while I was trying to resist him.

Be that as it may, I had a feeling my period of reprieve was almost over. I knew we would make it to his province tomorrow, but the look in his eyes tonight told me I was in for some trouble.

To his credit, he didn’t once ask me about the bombshell Jace dropped a couple of days ago, but I somehow knew it was eating away at him on the inside. I wasn’t ready to tell him the whole grisly story, but I felt he deserved some of the truth at this point.

I polished off the succulent meat in my hands, licking the piquant juices from my fingers without thought, but I froze in the action as my eyes caught on Reese’s silvery gray orbs.

His scorching stare was like a direct line to my center.

I squirmed while clearing my throat, trying to get back to what I had meant to share with him, as I croaked out without preamble, “I know Willow and Jax were supposed to be the first pair blessed by Luna in decades, but as Jace mentioned before, I’ve had a true mate in the past.”

The growl he emitted when I spoke Jace’s name did nothing for the arousal coursing through me, but I was able to follow our discussion as his voice pulled me in, asking, “So, I would be your second chance mate, then?”

A slight nod was the only answer I could manage, and I flat out refused to meet his eyes, feeling even worse as he went on.

“Are you just not interested in settling down? I don’t understand why you would refuse such a beautiful gift.”

My gulp was audible as I prepared myself to tell him the truth about why I had been running from him at every turn. I could privately concede my original plans to reject him outright had been foolish, but I wasn’t ready to give myself to him wholly either.

I resisted the urge to clasp his large hand within mine as I glanced around at the majestic trees, replying, “Not everyone revels in the connections Luna forges between us. I didn’t reject my first mate until long after I should have. He started as a friend, not showing his true colors until after we were mated.”

Subsequently, we continued conversing late into the night, but he backed off once he realized Hunter had been abusive, though I didn’t go into many details. Yet, he also made it plain he had no intentions of backing off.

My wolf wanted me to forget my past entirely and throw myself wholeheartedly into the second chance Luna had granted us.

I battled with her and my churning thoughts all night as Reese and I exchanged more personal details, but I didn’t notice the space shrinking between us until I felt his strong thigh pressing into mine.

I looked up when his large hand cradled my face, seeing his lips mere inches from my own. My breath quickened, and my thoughts muddled until there was nothing but his intoxicating presence.

I didn’t know what I wanted, despite my adamant decision to reject him from the get-go. Reese had already wormed his way into my heart, and it seemed he wasn’t giving me the opportunity to say no.

Instead, he hauled me into him, smashing his lips over mine and using my gasp of surprise to drive his tongue into my open mouth. Cinnamon flooded my taste buds, and I was kissing him back before my brain realized what I was doing.

I pulled away in a flash, not sure how to feel as I awkwardly bade him goodnight and shifted into my wolf to sleep before I lost all control. I didn’t miss his quiet laughter or the soft, “Good night, Fire.” He whispered as I settled in for the night.

We made it to the Western Province’s pack house the next day after sprinting hard the remainder of the distance. We stayed vigilant, but there weren’t any signs of rogues as we crossed through the mountains.

I was ready for a hot shower and a comfortable bed when we finally made it, which Reese was mercifully more than willing to provide. I shoveled the delicious stew into my mouth, not caring when I scalded my tongue as Reese convened with his beta, Oliver, on the other side of the table.

I retired early after filling my belly, but I couldn’t help as my mind analyzed the calculating, collected male who I had observed running his pack so efficiently the second we arrived.

I hadn’t seen this side of Reese in the woods or in the South, but I knew I had a lot to learn yet if the tiny sliver inside me that desperately wanted to see what we could be together had a prayer of seeing the light of day.