Chapter 16

For a moment, time stopped. Nobody moved. Even the crickets outside were silent. All Nova could hear was the rushing of his blood through his veins and the frantic beating of his heart. Nemoy could not possibly have said what he thought he just said. They could not have failed. “What was that?”

“I’m sorry, brother, but the Council has voted. You have not passed the Trials. We cannot sanction you as a couple in the eyes of the Pack.” His gaze went to Amara who only sat there silently. “I am truly sorry.”

So that was it? He knew exactly what this meant… Stick with the pack and give up his relationship with Amara, or be together in exile.

No. This couldn’t be happening. They had gotten through the Trials together. They had fought for each other. They had suffered for each other. They should have passed, damn it.

But they didn’t. And he knew the laws. He turned to Amara. “Amara,” he started, but she just shook her head.

“It’s okay, Nova. I understood the risks.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “I won’t make you choose between me and the Pack.”

Confused, he stared at her. Choose? There was no choice. She was the love of his life, damn it. He had waited his entire life for her. Her. He had fought for her, protected her. He had fallen in love with her before she even knew his name. There was no way in hell he was letting her go. Even if it meant giving up every other aspect of his life. She was worth it.

Nova stood. Squaring his shoulders, he met the gaze of each elder in turn, lingering on the blank face of his mother, before finally landing on Nemoy. His Alpha gazed stoically back at him. “Thank you for the opportunity to pass the Trials,” he said, reciting the ancient words of their people. “I have made my choice. I choose exile.”

A collective gasp went through the room. Only Nemoy appeared unsurprised.

“Nova, you can’t do this,” Neveah protested.

“I love her, Mother. We went through the Trials. You made your choice. Now I have made mine.”

“You would choose to give up the Pack?” Nemoy asked. “To give up being one of the Mountain Wolf Clan? You would choose to be stripped of your authority, or any communication with our people, to live out life as a human for the remainder of your days? This is the choice you make?”

Nova stood straighter. He didn’t want to think of what he was giving up. He knew what he was gaining instead. “It is.”

“No!” Rushing to him, Amara grabbed his arm and turned his face to hers. “No, Nova, I can’t let you do this. I love you, so much. More than I have ever loved anyone, and I know that you love me. But this place, these people, you love them too. The Pack is part of who you are. Sometimes it’s the best part of who you are. You love being their Beta. I can’t let you walk away from that.” He brushed a tear from her cheek, but she pushed his hand away. “I couldn’t live with myself if you were never allowed to speak to your mother again. Your brother. He has a baby on the way. You’re going to be an uncle. How could I build a life with you knowing I had taken you away from the one you already had?

“If the Pack doesn’t want to accept me, fine. I’m not okay with it, I don’t agree with it, and I sure as hell don’t understand it, but I will live with it. I will walk away from you so that you don’t have to walk away from the Pack.”

Closing his eyes, Nova pressed his lips to her forehead. “But don’t you see? You may be able to live with it, but I can’t live without you. I will miss the Pack. But they had their chance to have us both. I choose you.”

“And that, my son,” Neveah said, placing her hands on their combined fingers, “is the right choice. Now you have completed the third and final Trial. And you have passed.”

“What?” Amara stared up at him, just as confused as he was, but it was the hope in her eyes that spurred him to speak.

“Explain,” he ordered his mother. He could feel her suppress an eye roll.

“You were faced with a decision,” Nemoy said, stepping forward, “and you made it. Amara, you were willing to sacrifice your heart and the life you had hoped to build so Nova would not have to give up his home. Nova, you were willing to sacrifice your home and the only life you’d ever known for the woman who holds your heart. Neither of you were making a selfish choice.

“You could have defied the Council. You could have blamed and ridiculed, argued or attempted to negotiate. Instead, you respected the traditions of the Pack and made the choice that was right for you within the terms that were set. That shows loyalty, integrity, and character that we value in this Clan.

“Throughout the Trials, both of you fought for one another against a common enemy, but it was the way you rallied together, the way you emboldened and strengthened each other outside of these walls that spoke to the true nature of your relationship. You have proven yourselves both as individuals, and as a couple. The Mountain Clan is happy to welcome the unit that is the two of you together, into the fold.”

Going to Amara, Nemoy took her hands and lightly kissed both of her cheeks. “Amara Townsend, lover and mate of the Mountain Clan Beta, Nova Lowery, I now officially declare you Pack. Welcome to our family.” Grinning broadly, he embraced them both. “Congratulations, little brother.”

Dumbfounded, Nova just stared. He couldn’t move. For the second time in a matter of minutes, time stopped. Then he looked at Amara, and he kissed her full on the mouth.

They barely made it back to his cottage before they were ripping each other’s clothes off. He imagined the neighbors thought an earthquake was happening in his house. Neither of them could control themselves. They slammed each other from one wall to the other, eager to be joined together as quickly as possible.

They had made it through the Trials. Better, they had passed. And now they could get married and be part of the Pack. Together.

Nova tugged Amara’s jeans down from her hips. The second he got her free, he hoisted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he blindly moved forward, still kissing her, until he knocked into something hard. The table. Oh good, a flat surface.

With one hand, he swiped everything aside, not even noticing when at least a dozen of his possessions crashed to the floor. All he could think about was Amara and the fact that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her.

Amara’s hands clawed at his pants, and he made quick work of kicking them off before pulling her to him. Her nails raked down his back and he plunged into her. She screamed her passion and he began to move, each thrust hard and furious, as if he wanted their bodies to be one in more than just spirit. He felt her hot, wet center spasm around the length of him, felt her toes curl at his hips and her hands ball into fists at the back of his arms, keeping them linked together. And when neither of them could hold back any longer, he let himself explode inside her before losing his breath and collapsing on top of her.

Hours later, when the two of them were curled up beside each other in Nova’s bed, Amara’s phone began to ring, jolting Nova from sleep. He glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning. Who the hell would be calling her at three in the morning?

He could only think of one person.

Picking up the phone, he looked at the Caller I.D. “Unknown Caller,” it read. For now, he thought, his alpha side rearing its ugly head. He may take human form and have mostly human tendencies, but Nova was still wolf, and Amara had just been officially declared his Mate. Shifters mated for life. Even the wolf inside him screamed mine when Amara was threatened. She was his now. His to love, to protect. And human or wolf, he would kill anyone who jeopardized her happiness or her safety.

Nova answered the phone and brought it to his ear. “Hello?” No answer. But he could hear him breathing. “Hello,” he said again. Still nothing. “Listen to me, you little dickless prick, I don’t know who you are or what you want, but this is the one and only time I am going to tell you: leave Amara alone. Or I will hunt you down and make sure you never cross her path again. You hear me? This sick game you’re playing ends now.” The line went dead in his hands. “Coward,” he muttered, setting the phone back down.

Beside him, Amara had hardly stirred. She’d always been a hard sleeper. Sometimes he even had to shake her awake when her alarm went off. This was one of those times he was glad she slept so soundly. After the day she’d had, the last thing he wanted to do was worry her with more stalker business. But tomorrow he was going to see Mac.