“Elijah?” Mila kept her voice to a whisper, pressing her mouth into the receiver to avoid alerting the security guards posted outside her door.

The guards’ presence still shocked her. She never would have believed her father would lock her in her room until she “came to her senses” as he phrased it.

“Mila?”

“Yes.” Relief swept through her at the familiar sound of his voice. “I need you, Elijah.”

“What’s wrong?”

The worry in his tone comforted her, and she knew he would come for her. “My father has me locked in my room like some fucking princess in a tower. Can you come get me?”

She might be able to scramble down the trellis and make her escape as she had done at the last full moon, but the thought of running away alone frightened her. The feminist side of her urged her to ignore her fear and go it alone, but her heart yearned to have Elijah at her side.

He didn’t hesitate. “I’m already outside.”

She blinked back the tears threatening to overwhelm her at his affirmation. “But why—? How—?”

“I love you more than life itself, Mila. No man or wolf on this earth could keep me away from you.”

Hearing him state his feelings so plainly made her feel silly for doubting him, and made own love that much more of a reality. “Don’t get caught. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Mila rushed to the window and peered through the glass, searching for any sign of Elijah. Her shoulders were so tense with anxiety that they ached when she slumped forward upon catching a glimpse of him below, padding across the grounds in wolf form.

She held her breath as he neared her window, waiting to see if anyone had noticed his presence. Her harsh exhalation shattered the silence in the room as he morphed to his naked human form and began climbing the trellis. Breaking her paralysis, she fumbled with the window, pushing it open.

Elijah slipped inside, immediately taking her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

She put a finger to her lips and pointed to the door to signal him to be quiet. “I’m okay. Just scared. I can’t believe my parents would do this to me.” She nuzzled her face into his chest.

He tipped her chin up and looked down at her with those irresistible dark eyes. “He’s probably just as scared as you. Your rejection of Jared has widespread implications. And if he knew about me…” A frown marred his expression. “Does he know about me?”

She shook her head, clearly reading the defensiveness in his posture. “No, he doesn’t, but not for the reason you think. I’m not ashamed of you.” Mila cupped his face in her hands to keep his eyes from avoiding hers. “I want to protect you from what my father or Jared might try to do.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know.” She leaned forward, touching her forehead to his chin. “But I love you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

He caressed her back, his palm radiating warmth through her flannel shirt. “Fighting for our love won’t be easy. Challenges are inevitable in any relationship. But our situation presents some unique obstacles. I’m just an Omega. When the rest of the pack finds out, it’s going to be bloody.” His shoulder lifted in a half-shrug. “But you’re worth it. No one will be able to best me with you as my reason for fighting.”

She touched her fingers to his lips, interrupting him. “Let’s leave. Right now.”

Elijah’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?” Her finger muffled his voice, and his lips tickled.

“As sure as I’ve ever been. We’ll form our own pack. After awhile, my family will accept my decision, and we’ll tell them where we are.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to sneak around.”

“We aren’t sneaking around.” Mila sighed. “We’re starting over. We could never be happy here on D'Arcy Island. Too many pack members would always be minding our business. I want to be happy with you, and what would make me happiest is forming our own pack.”

He hesitated, his conscience clearly warring with his own desires. “Your family—”

“Will have to accept my choice.” She stroked his cheek, not missing the way his skin fluttered under her fingers. Even in the midst of the most important discussion of their lives, he still responded to her proximity as she did to his. Her nipples beaded beneath her bra, pushing against the lace insistently, seeking his fingers.

“I’m not afraid to stand up for us, if you want to stay.” Elijah’s shoulders let out a breath of relief, and he nodded. “But, if I’m being honest, I came here prepared to leave, with you, or without you. My SUV is already packed. I just needed to hear you say it, to know you wanted a fresh start, too. And I didn’t want to be the one to put the idea in your head.”

A crooked grin slashed across his lips. “Are you sure you’re willing to give up your designer shoes for department store brands?” He winked. “I’ve never seen you wear the same pair of shoes twice.”

She grinned. “I’d go barefoot for the rest of my life if it meant I got to walk alongside you, Elijah.”

His eyes darkened, and his tone grew smoky. “Barefoot and pregnant with my cubs, even?”

“Of course.” The thought of bearing his children filled Mila with warmth, and she embraced him. “I might be already, you know. We haven’t used any protection.”

Elijah cupped her stomach. “It wouldn’t be the best timing, but I can’t help hoping you are.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and a hint of pink tinged his cheeks. “I’ve loved you for so long, Mila. Ever since I you came home for break after your first semester at The University of Washington.” The blush deepened, but his eyes didn’t stray from hers. “I tried to deny it, to dismiss it as an infatuation, but it was more than that. Making love with you is both torture and absolute pleasure because it was even better than I had built it up to be. But I never dreamed you would choose me.”

Mila blinked, shocked by his revelation. “I didn’t realize—” she reached up, brushing her thumb against his cheek. “Why didn’t you say something?”

His brow quirked. “And you would have responded enthusiastically, right? You didn’t even know my name. A sudden declaration of love would have freaked you out.”

She nodded, acknowledging the truth in his words. “Well, it doesn’t freak me out now.”

He touched his lips to hers, but the kiss was too brief. “If we’re going to do this, we have to go.”

Mila nodded. “We are.” Mila stepped away from him to scoop up the backpack and duffel bag she had stuffed with essentials before calling him earlier. “The trellis?”

He nodded, moving to the window. He took her bags, slinging one over each shoulder, and offered her a hand. Using his grip to steady herself, she swung her leg over the casement and grasped the white wood.

As she descended, she kept her face tilted upward, watching for Elijah to join her.

As his foot appeared on the trellis, a crashing sound came from her room and voices shouted for him to stop.

Mila screamed and scrambled upward, arriving level with the window just in time to see two men from her family’s security team dragging her lover across the bedroom.

With a fierce growl, Elijah sprung up, flinging both guards from his arms. He landed a single, devastating punch to the first guard, who fell backwards, bloody and unconscious, on the bedroom floor.

“Stop!” Mila shouted as she climbed back through the window. “Elijah, behind you!”

Click.

Elijah froze as he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun safety disengaging. He raised both hands in the air and bowed into a slight crouch as he turned, slowly, to see the barrel of a Sig Sauer P226 pointed directly at his face.

The guard spoke into his earpiece. “”The intruder has been detained.”

Mila stepped forward, pleading with the security guard. “Dean, please. He’s not an intruder.” She placed a hand on his forearm, light fingertips pressing down to encourage him to lower his weapon. “He’s my mate.”

The guard’s aim wavered briefly, but he didn’t drop the gun. “Miss Marceaux, I’m under strict orders.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t want you to get you in trouble. But you’re an Omega, too. You understand, don’t you? What it’s like to feel trapped inside a social stigma, unable to make your own life choices? It’s not right.”

The guard swallowed hard and furrowed his brow. “Pack law is meant to protect us all. It’s not for me to say whether it’s right or wrong.” He turned his face slightly to look at Mila. “You understand what could happen if I let you go, don’t you?”

“I do.” She nodded and moved her hand slowly down the length of his forearm, praying he was conflicted enough not to pull the trigger as she approached the handgun. “Blame it on me. Tell them I got between him and the gun and you didn’t want to hurt me. Tell them I tricked you. Say anything. Just… please. Don’t hurt him.”

Dean set his jaw and glanced back to Elijah. “Do you love her?”

Elijah nodded. “Love is an understatement. I would do anything for her.”

She touched her other hand to the guard’s upper back, distracting him just long enough to grip the gun barrel in her hand and point it toward the floor.

With a sigh, the guard holstered his weapon and glanced toward the window. “I’ll think of something. You’d better hurry.”

Elijah clapped the guard on the shoulder. “I owe you, brother. Once things settle down, I’ll find a way to repay you. You have my word.”

Elijah moved swiftly, clasping Mila’s hand as he strode back to the open window. He turned to face her as she positioned herself in front of the windowsill. “Take two.”

“Take two.” She snaked her free hand around his neck, drawing him down as she launched on to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her against his naked form. As her body molded to his, she was overcome with desire. Even now, in the midst of so much danger, every cell ached for him.

Elijah gripped her forearms in an attempt to ease her back. She offered a soft moan as she struggled to fight the magnetic pull between them. Every brush of his lips against hers, every dip of his tongue into her welcoming mouth, fed her passion and fueled her strength.

But he was right. It was time.

She broke the kiss and gazed up into her lover’s eyes.

This. This is worth everything. He is worth everything.

With a confident nod, she grasped his hand and swung her leg over the casement.

“MILA MARCEAUX! What is the meaning of this?”

Mila gasped as her father’s ferocious roar echoed through the room. He lunged through the doorway with a glare, looking every bit the powerful Beta, and fixed his sights on Elijah.