*Vanessa*“I told you it would take around two months. I got it almost to the day,” Amara says triumphantly, removing the last stitch from my arm. “This isn’t permission to lose your mind and go cliff-diving or anything like that though, got it?”I flutter my eyelashes at her innocently. “Why not? You’re such an excellent medic, I feel fully confident that I could do anything and know that you’ll patch me up.”“Ha, ha,” Amara adds sarcastically. “I can promise you that if you waltz in here with any stupidity-induced injuries I will not raise so much as a finger. You’ll have to find another medic.”“And I thought we were becoming friends,” I note, hopping off the bed and stretching.“I have standards even for my friends,” Amara replies, packing the equipment she’d been using back into the kit and beginning to tidy up. I smile, enjoying the feelings of comfort and familiarity her friendship brings me. The two months since the attack flew past in the blink o

*Vanessa*I don’t register anything as I rush through the compound and toward my apartment.I just screamed at Ashborne’s Alpha without any sense of self-preservation or logic. I was so overwrought with the emotions the confession had wrung out of me that I didn’t stop to think about the consequences of my actions. Shawn would certainly kick me out now. There was no doubt about it. I knew enough about pack politics and the dynamics of the hierarchies within to understand that I just broke one of the most cardinal rules: never disregard your Alpha. It didn’t matter that we were alone and there wasn’t anyone around to hear me do it. I essentially spat on his title. Any other Alpha might have punished me on the spot. I don’t even want to think about how Trent would’ve reacted. Whatever kindness I thought Shawn was displaying toward me would never be able to save me from what I know I deserve. If he was genuine in his treatment of me, I might be lucky enou

*Vanessa*“Hey, Vanessa, over here!” Amara waves me over to the group of eating shifters and I freeze, my plate still in my hands. The group is seated around a table and most of them aren’t really paying attention to her invitation. The few that do notice give me reassuring looks. I swallow hard, reminding myself about what Elder Luka said.If I want to learn how to open myself up to others and really have a place here, then there’s nothing to do but try. Despite it going against every fiber in my being, I return their smiles and head over to join them, my stomach in knots but my mind determined. “Hey,” I say to everyone at the table.“It’s about time you joined us,” Amara says, absentmindedly digging into her lunch. “They’ve been asking me to introduce them to you for a while now.”“Really?” I ask in surprise and a few of the shifters murmur their confirmation. “Yeah.” A boy who can’t be older than twenty pipes up from a couple of seats to my left

*Vanessa*“And you’re certain this is a good decision? All of you, have you spoken about this in-depth and well-considered the scope of it?” Elder Henley asks skeptically, leveling a look at the rest of us lined up before him. Shawn nods, keeping his gaze steady. I’m standing beside him, along with Aaron, Amara, Reece, and the other leaders of the various groups. The Elders are split in their reactions–half of them look uneasy, maybe even slightly incensed at the Alpha’s decision. But the other half look intrigued at the prospect, curious as to how we got to this point, to begin with. “Vanessa has brought Ashborne to a point of stabilization that we haven’t seen in a long time,” he says matter-of-factly. “This is the best time to move, when all of our systems have been optimized and the food and training have made our warriors stronger than they’ve been since the last war.”Elder Henley flinches, and I can’t help the small smile that tugs at my mouth. The Alpha ha

*Shawn*I’m still grinning like a fool long after Vanessa leaves for her rounds. It’s odd to think of how far we’ve come and how much she’s begun to trust me. I can still see her shy smile and still feel her lips pressed against mine. And even though she’s not ready to name whatever this is we have between us, I’m more than willing to wait until she’s sure. I still can’t believe she’s real, sometimes. I’ve watched her grow in these last few months and rise so far above the state she was in when I first found her. I knew then that she was a fighter and she’s only continued to prove me right. She may not see it in herself, but she’d make for an amazing leader.I have to thank the Goddess that even though I am not her fated mate, the dumbass that was chosen just happened to be the biggest idiot alive —luckily for me. Even though I will never understand how he could possibly have let Vanessa slip through his fingers, I’m definitely not going to be ungratef