me.”
Did I?
I’d certainly told him that numerous times.
Did I regret that day in Timber when we met?
If that never happened, I wouldn’t have my wolf, and I could never give her up. Cut off from her with the tranquiliser, I’d felt less than half of myself.
My regrets could fill a book—maybe more. But I couldn’t regret the end result.
I wouldn’t be this amazing being if Sascha hadn’t caught a sniff of me.
And I wouldn’t know Sascha Greyson.
“If anything should be blamed, it’s the mating call. Blaming nature for the state of my life seems ludicrous. I just know you weren’t responsible for the way I chose to handle everything. You’ve respected my choices, Sascha. I haven’t missed that even if I threw stuff in your face along the way. It was just a lot. I’m sorry too.”
Sascha shoved back the blanket to expose his bare torso and low-slung sweats.
He drew me onto his lap, and I craned my head to meet his beautiful eyes.
“I just want to give you everything you want and need,” he said softly.
My chest rose. “Should I give you a list?”
He gripped my jaw between his thumb and forefinger. “Yes.”
In a blur, I was straddling him, pinned by his unrelenting grip on my chin.
I stared up in challenge, gaze dipping to his lips—that full bottom lip that haunted my dreams. Warmth pooled between my thighs, and something thrummed between us.
A heartbeat.
The tugging sensation beneath my ribs was almost painful as it urged me to close the gap. To put my mouth to his.
We’d played a dance in recent weeks, both of us delaying the kissing meet with weak excuses.
When I kiss you because no one else exists for me any longer, I want you to kiss me back just the same.
His words at the waterfall had entered my heart that night, and since then, a growing part of me cared about Sascha’s dreams.
About not breaking more of them.
This kiss was more than a kiss. It could be more than anything I’d ever shared with another.
If I let it.
“No one else exists for me any longer, little bird.” Sascha lowered his head, eyes blackening.
Mine were the same.
Did anyone else exist for me? I opened my mouth.
“Boss?”
I jerked, dislodging Sascha’s grip.
Twisting, I glared at a grinning Leroy.
“Bad time?” the blond alpha asked, his grin wiping clean when Sascha began to growl. He straightened. “There’s a steward here to see Andie. It’s the tribe’s marshal.”
“Pascal?” I slid off Sascha, really hoping Leroy didn’t make a comment about this place smelling like a sex den.
Because it definitely did with what we were giving off.
I glanced down. “I’m naked.”
Leroy shrugged. “Normal here.”
Sascha strode to a wardrobe and tossed me sweatpants and a huge shirt. The sweatpants didn’t work, so I shrugged on the shirt and followed Leroy out, Sascha at my back.
I looked from Ella F to the grey-haired marshal just beyond. “Pascal. What are you doing here?”
She’d turned from her vigil over the harvest fields visible in the distance. “Andie, how are you?”
“Alive. How is the tribe?”
“Alive.”
My heart sank. “Is Wade okay? And Cameron.” She’d spoken for me—who knew what Rhona might do to her.
“Wade is awake and healing in your cabin. He asked me to convey that he’ll bring over your things when he’s up and about. He’s very unhappy with how you were treated.”
I waved a hand. “Cam?”
“She’s fine. Rhona’s battle was with you.”
I paused. “Is she okay?”
“Rhona hasn’t been okay for a long time.”
A sigh left my lips. “Thanks for bringing my car.”
“I thought it best before angry tribe members got a hold of it. I wanted to come to explain a few things that may be unclear.”
She glanced at Sascha and Leroy. “If I may?”
Sascha’s eyes skirted her frame. “Don’t upset her, marshal. She’s dealt with enough from your kind to last a lifetime.”
“To my memory, both sides attacked her,” Pascal replied.
Stepping between them, I gestured to the stream. Not that every pack member wouldn’t listen in.
We walked to the water side by side.
“Is there more to what happened with Murphy?” I asked.
She smiled. “I’ve become rather a good liar after all this time, but you inherited Herc’s uncanny knack for sniffing out the truth. Something Rhona unfortunately inherited without the reasoning ability.”
I slid a look at her. “That’s your head steward, Pascal.”
“Your loyalty though. That’s all Charise. Neither Savannah and Herc possessed much of that.”
A bench faced the stream. The overhead sun gave it a golden hue that was so at odds with how cold