Braiden
It had been two days since we arrived at the royal pack—two days of not seeing Ava. While we couldn’t be far
from each other physically due to the mate bond issue highlighted by Dr. Adams, that didn’t mean there wasn’t an
entire universe between us.
“You’re miserable. You should just go and see her,” Briana says, balling up a piece of paper and throwing it in the
waste bin on the other side of the room.
We are in my office, me behind my desk and her lounging in the huge armchair opposite. She was supposed to be
helping me with pack work, but that usually consisted of her sitting on her phone, scrolling through her social
media, or finding other ways to amuse herself, such as her current entertainment. So far, she has gone through half
a desk pad, with only one paper ball finding its way into the bin—and that was only because it bounced off the
wall.
“No. She ran from me. She must apologize,” I grind out. The anger that Ava tried to run away from me, her mate,
our bond, stung as if I was experiencing it for the first time. It sat in my psyche like a poison, one I knew was
leaking into the pack.
Since I returned, my temper has been short, and my interactions have been filled with irritation and annoyance. I
was taking my frustration and anger out on others when the source was just two rooms down in the library.
Where she spent most of the last two days. Her sweet scent of apple and pinecone tormented me each time I walked
past. But instead of taking another route, I tortured myself by walking past that door at least twenty times a day just
to ensure the scent was still there. Guards were posted everywhere, so there was no chance she could try and es cape
again. But it irked me that she wanted to. She didn’t want to try to give us a chance.
“I would also run if I were rejected by my pack, by my family, by my fated mate who is the Alpha, and then
suddenly, after so many years as a rogue, be thrust back into one. And not just as any old pack member. But as the
King's mate. Luna. Run a pack when I no longer know how to be part of one. That sounds terrifying, don’t you
think?” Briana says the words casually while scrunching another piece of paper into a ball and throwing it, her face
lighting up when it lands in the bin.
“Did you see that!” she shouts, almost jumping out of her chair.
I don’t respond, her wisdom and empathy in certain situations astonishing me. She has always been this way, even
as a child—so perc eptive and understanding of what people need, often before they even realize it themselves. The
complete opposite of me. Which is why she would make a great pack shaman. In a couple of months, she would be
leaving for the Netherlands to study for six years with a pack located in the mountains, under the teachings of our
most revered elder. Probably why she was paying so little attention to pack business.
The pack knew we had new members, Nick and Ava, but they did not know who Ava was to me yet. They also did
not know she was a white wolf. Every guard who witnessed her shift swore an oath to secrecy. It would be revealed
only when Ava wanted it to be revealed. It was her well- guarded secret to tell when she was ready.
“This is boring. Can I go now?” Briana asks, the pad of paper now completely used up.
“Yes. Please do,” I say grumpily as I lean back in my chair, thinking what to do.
Briana gives me a bright smile and a quick hug before skipping out of the room.
Growling, I rise. My pride was warring with my desire to see Ava, and while before it won out, after Briana's
words, I saw things differently.
Which irked me. I should have realized sooner that I had created the same
situation for her that her old pack had put her in. Making her feel isolated and unwanted. It was time that changed.
If what Briana said was true, Ava didn’t know what pack life was about anymore. Didn’t know how fulfilling it
could be in a pack where one is acc epted, no matter what. I didn’t tolerate bullying in my pack, which is why it
prospered. Everyone got along, and differences were resolved in a civilized manner. It was ranked the best pack in
the world, which is also why the transfer wait list was so long. With the pack at capacity, we could only acc ept new
members when others left. And I always k ept one hundred slots open for those with special needs.
Those like Ava, who needed extra care and rehabilitation. Some were enslaved in underground fighting rings run
by humans, while others were tortured by mad scientists operating outside government authority, violating our
agreements. Some kids in the special care unit had been k ept in their werewolf form for weeks on end by werewolf
hunters, turning them feral.
Sometimes, humans just capture and torture our kind for their sick amusement.
We had a database of known werewolf hunters and organizations, which we monitored alongside the government. I
wondered if it was maybe one of these groups who had implanted the silver in Ava’s body. Maybe as a sick
experiment. My men were looking into this, trying to see if there was a connection.
My feet take me to a spot I have stood in so many times over the last couple of days that it’s a wonder there isn’t a
dent in the tiles.
Her scent engulfs me as I open the door, almost making me stumble back.
It’s like a hand choking me, but in a delicious way.
Following the scent and the noise, I find Ava a couple of feet up a ladder, her hand outstretched as she reaches for a
book on the very top shelf, close to the ceiling. She curses as her middle finger touches the spine, the book just out
of reach. It’s an art collection book. Interesting. My eyes roam the floor, surprise hitting me full force when I see
detailed sketches of my face from various angles scattered everywhere. There are a few of other people, members
of my pack, in between. A pencil lies discarded on the worktable, now only two inches of it remaining, next to a
half-finished picture of myself under a tree outside. She must have been watching me earlier. She is
talented, her level that of a professional. There was so much I still did not know about my mate, something I
needed to remedy.
My gaze drags away from the pages back to the woman still cussing out her short stature, even though she isn’t
really that short. They travel her beautiful bare legs, up to a deliciously round ass covered in only thin cotton shorts,
up her waist, which is slightly exposed due to her top riding up until they land on her curly, brown hair—piled on
the top of her head in a messy bun.
Fuck. My dick twitches as she bounces on the pad of her foot, her ass jiggling in response. She gasps when I climb
up behind her, my body flush with hers before I reach up and get the book she has been trying to reach.
“Geezus, Braiden, you gave me a fright,” she says, turning around on the ladder so that she now faces me.
Fuck, she is gorgeous. Her brow is furrowed, and her face is free of any makeup, making her green eyes the star of
the show. She wets her lips, my eyes following the trail it makes and sending me back to the last time we were
together. The taste of her lips and mouth has haunted me, making my cock jerk in response even now.
“I thought I scented you, but I also thought that was my imagination. I haven’t seen you in two days.” Her tone is
almost accusatory, and I laugh, thinking how, just a couple of days ago, she was trying to get away from me.
“I didn’t think you wanted to see me. The last time we saw each other, you were trying to run away, remember?” I
say, her eyes flashing with guilt as her head dips.
“Yes, I remember. It won’t happen again. I thought I was dying. I don’t want to go through that again.” Her voice
quivers slightly at the end. I remember the sound of her screaming. It is not something I think I could ever forget. I
also know of the pain she experienced. Only my need to get to her k ept me upright and going. The pain was
excruciating.
“Is that the only reason you won’t run, because you don’t want to experience that pain again? Is there nothing else
ke eping you from running?” I try to ke ep the desperation from my voice, try to retain some pride.
She doesn’t answer my question, but what she does say tells me enough.
She was hurt as much as I was.
“You left me. Alone. In a place I don’t know. In a pack I don’t know.
Where the only two people I know are my lifelong friend, who has his own mate to deal with, and a man who
claims to be my mate but stays away from me. Is this something you would run towards or away from, Braiden?”