am for what happened. Regardless of whether or not you were pack, I should’ve watched out for you. I hope someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Taken aback by the delta’s show of submission, I study him, not sure what to say. My thoughts drift back to how scared I was in the shed and to Warrik’s words. I can still recall the relief and then the horror that overtook me after I peeled the boards back and escaped, only to realize I’d been set up to be claimed.
A cyclone of different emotions whir through me as I stare at Reap before my gaze skitters over to Tyran’s. He watches intently, as though he’s curious about how I’m going to handle this. Debate filters through me for a moment, but Reap doesn’t move from his kneeling position, patiently awaiting whatever it is that I’m going to do. I can tell by the resigned look in his eyes and the apprehension tainting the air that he’s not sure how I’m going to react.
I rise from the log Harlan and I are sitting on and stand in front of the repentant delta. I wait until a hint of edginess and uncertainty moves through the pack, and then I lean down to Reap.
“If anything like this ever happens again, it will be a very different kind of hunt that goes down between you and me,” I tell him evenly, letting a trickle of my rabid bleed into the warning. He nods stiffly, understanding passing between us, and then I grab his arm and help him get to his feet. Reap stares at me with sorrow-filled hazel eyes, while I make mine as warm as I possibly can. Then I reach up to grab his face and guide his forehead down to mine.
I’ve been greeting pack members exactly like this all day, but the moment our foreheads touch, signaling that I accept Reap as part of my pack, every rigid muscle in his body relaxes, and I can feel the wash of relief and gratitude as it moves through him. We stand like that for a bit, me radiating my acceptance and forgiveness, while Reap soaks it up and lets it fortify him.
Tyran comes over and pats Reap on the shoulder when we separate, offering him an approving nod. Then without warning, he scoops me up in his arms bridal style. I squeal as he whips me off my feet so fast it makes my head spin, and starts to carry me off toward the alpha house.
My laugh accompanies the whoops of the pack, but I find Harlan over Tyran’s shoulder. “Well?” I call out.
She looks up at the rising moon as though it’s a floating clock face in the sky, and then back at me with a sly grin, shaking her head. “That was only twenty minutes, Luna. Better luck next time!” she shouts after me, and I raise a fist in faux outrage.
Dammit, sooo close!
Chapter Nineteen
I dream I’m running.
I know it’s a dream because my wolf and I are sprinting side by side through a meadow of knee-high grass that’s soft as silk and smells like lavender. There are wildflowers in all kinds of colors sprinkled throughout the meadow around us, and it feels like we could run forever in this perfect place, without our body getting tired, or ever tiring of our surroundings.
Laughter overflows out of me, and my wolf turns her happy face to mine, tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth in a wolfish grin that makes my soul soar. We’re so free and happy, and just as I think it can’t get any better, I feel him. The smell of amber, cashmere, and cedar inundate me, and I lose myself on their current as Tyran’s hands circle my waist from behind, pulling us to a stop.
I’m naked, just like I always seem to be since my Flux. But as rough palms move up my torso, Tyran’s fingertips teasing the undersides of my breasts, I could care less that I spend more time out of clothes than I do in them. I arch my back as he grips my heavy, full breasts, pushing my ass against his already hard cock. He groans and nips at my neck, and I lift an arm and wrap it behind me, threading my fingers through the thick dark brown waves at the back of his head.
Tyran’s lips drop to the claiming bite on my right shoulder, while