Shan was awake when West approached the den. In the hours since Harper had nodded off in his arms, Shan had teetered on the edge of sleep, but hadn't quite been able to overcome his internal chatter.

Harper gripped him when he tried to move, and he had pry her fingers from his hair before he could sit up. He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and then tucked it beneath his pelt.

“I'll be right back.”

She was still very much asleep, as evidenced by her slow, even breaths, but saying the words made him feel better. He had promised to hold her until morning, and he should have known better. Making such commitments to a woman was new to him. He would have to learn to temper them with the reality of his busy life.

He felt a small measure of satisfaction leaving her beneath his pelt. Grabbing one of the bed furs, he got up and flung it over his shoulders. Without his pelt or Harper's warm body nestled up against him, Shan felt more susceptible to the cold than usual.

West stood several yards from the den, wisely keeping his distance. As Shan stepped outside, West looked him up and down, his eyes lingering briefly on Shan's neck, where Harper had left her mark.

“What news do you have?” Shan asked. He knew that West wouldn't have disturbed him if it wasn't important.

“Cade made contact with one of the betas from the southern pack. Their alpha will meet with you in the morning.”

Shan had been trying to nail down the leadership of the southern pack for over four years. Any other time, this news would have pleased him immensely, but after that night all he wanted to do was get Harper back to the confines of his territory.

He pushed his aggravation back. “So it is only one alpha, after all?”

“There was no mention of a second,” West said. “It was requested that we meet in their own territory. The meeting place is several hours from here, so we'll have to leave soon if we want to be there in time.”

Shan exhaled heavily as he weighed his options. After a moment of consideration, he said, “Assemble a small team. I want at least one enforcer and Viper, but not Rosa.”

West nodded, but remained standing.

Shan arched a brow. “Are you finished?”

“I thought you might want to discuss the encounter. Who we met with and what was said. I can have Cade come up and—”

“That won't be necessary,” Shan said. “Go and get the team ready. I'll meet you on the hill shortly.”

Not waiting for a response, he turned and went back into the den. The space no longer felt comfortable to him. It felt too open and exposed.

In the short time he'd been gone, Harper's sleep had grown fitful. Her hands were clenched into tight fists as her eyes moved rapidly behind her lids.

Shan crouched down beside her and stroked her hair.

What happened to you?

He leaned down and kissed the side of her face. “Harper. Wake up.”

He had to say her name twice more before she awoke with a start, her eyes wide and darting around the room. When her gaze settled on him, she let out a shaky exhalation.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?” she asked.

“No. West just left. His scouts finally made contact with the southern pack.”

“The southern pack?” She rubbed her eyes and sat up, pulling his pelt tightly around her nude body. “Oh, right. That's good. Are you... Do you have to go now?”

“I was hoping you'd want to come with me.”

Her brows rose. “Come with you? To meet with the pack?”

He nodded. “If you want to join me, we'll have to leave shortly. Otherwise, you can stay here and go to The Steppes with the rest of our pack.”

There was no way in fucking hell that he was going to let her leave his side, but he was interested to see her reaction.

“You really want me to come with you? Won't I be in the way?”

Shan decided that he liked her when she was sleepy. She was so much more docile than usual.

“Perhaps. But if you don't come with me, it could be several days before we see each other again.”

The was a flash of alarm in her eyes. She quickly recovered, her usual, scowling facade slipping back into place.

“I'm sure you'll be just fine.”

Shan called her bluff. “So, you're not going to join me?”

Harper busied herself with searching for her clothes. “I didn't say that. I'll come, but only in a research capacity. This,” she wriggled her finger between them, “ain't happening again.”

Shan pushed her down onto the bed. His pelt fell to her waist, giving him a pleasing view of her breasts.

“I suppose I shouldn't introduce you as my mate, then?”

Harper swatted his hair from her face. “Don't you dare. Now get off of me.”

Shan grabbed her wrist, turning it over in his hand. It was so small. She had such a large personality that he sometimes forgot how small and fragile she was compared to him.

“Keep rejecting me,” he said absently. “One of these times, I might just believe you.”

When he looked at her again, her eyes were big and glassy. He knew that she was still confused and conflicted about what was happening between them. Having sex had likely made it all the more difficult for her, but that had been unavoidable and necessary.

He relaxed his body, stretching himself over her as he leaned down to claim her lips. She had not rejected a single one of his kisses yet, and she didn't start now.

It hadn't been his intention to do anything more than kiss her, but when her hand snuck between them to grasp his cock, his intentions were rapidly revised. His breath hitched as she toyed with him, running the head of his cock over her warm, wet seam. He accepted the invitation, slowly sinking into her until he was completely engulfed in her warmth.

His eyes rolled back in his head and for a moment he didn't want to move. She was deep. Deeper than any female he had ever had before, and for the first time he'd been able to feel what it was to be buried to the hilt inside of a woman.

If she was still sore from their previous coupling, it didn't show. As he began to move inside of her she rocked her hips in unison with him. He loved the way she moved with him and the little noises she made each time he thrust. He was steadily learning all of the ways to make her moan, and if he moved in just the right way...

“Shan...”

If he moved in just the right way, she would moan his name with the barest tremor in her voice. It was the sexiest sound he'd ever heard.

While inside of her, he could see exceptionally far into their future. He could see her back in his territory, in his home, and in his bed. He could see them mating every night and morning, when time permitted.

There was less to do in the winter; fewer commitments that he had to uphold. He would have more time to spend with her, to deconstruct her facade and come to know her, inside and out. Just as important, he would allow her to know him. He would give her time to learn and accept that he would never leave her, no matter how hard she tried to push him away.

When winter gave way to spring, he would give her a pup. It would be an ideal time for her to conceive, as their pup would be born during the following winter when he would have ample time to bond with it.

He'd begin the circuit early that year. She would want to come with him and he would want to bring her, but he couldn't drag a pregnant human across the countryside. She'd have to remain home and find some way to busy herself while she waited for his return. He'd cut the circuit as short as possible, returning before the end of summer.

Harper would make a good mother, even if she didn't believe she would be. She was strong, loyal, and fiercely protective.

Their pup would be like him. Shan knew it. It had to be the reason he was so drawn to her. Something about her had called to him, pulled him to her just as his mother had been pulled to his father, both of them recognizing on some baser level that their union was necessary.

Shan remained on the brink of climax as his thoughts shifted between the future and the present. He should have been fully focused on the beautiful female beneath him, but even as he rode toward release, the present moment seemed dissatisfying when compared to what was to come. He wished there was a way to fold the space between that moment and the one in which she became him mate, cutting through all of the bullshit that had to come between the two points.

As soon as he felt her pulsing around him and heard her cry out his name, Shan thrust into her with poorly controlled force, emptying everything he had into her.

They would be late now, but he didn't give a damn. He rested his head beside hers and tried to reclaim the sense of peace he'd had earlier, before his impatience had gotten the better of him.

Harper shoved at his shoulder. “Okay. That really has to be the last time we do that.”

“Enough,” he snapped.

She flinched, and he made no effort to dispel her wariness.

“Save your quips for outside,” he said, pushing himself up. “When you are in my bed, you are mine. Understood?”

Her response was a defiant glower, punctuated by her climbing out from under him, his softening penis slipping from inside of her.

He sat and watched as she put on her bra and then her shirt, all the while scowling at nothing in particular. She tossed her pants over her arm, but when she stood to put them on, her shoulders slumped and she sighed.

“Do you have anything I can clean up with?”

He might have been able to find something, but he shook his head just to spite her.

“If I don't clean up, everyone will know what we did.”

Shan couldn't help but laugh. “Your neck is covered in my marks. My scent is in your skin. And there is this.”

He fingered the bite on his neck. He still couldn't believe that she'd actually bitten him. Feeling her teeth sink into him had affected him deeply, in a place that was beyond sexual. He doubted she had any idea what she'd done.

“It might scar,” he mused.

Harper appeared mortified. “You told me to do it.”

Shan stood, pulling his pelt around his shoulders. “I gave you permission to do what you wanted.”

She put her hands on her hips, but Shan had a difficult time taking her seriously, given her lack of pants.

“There you go again, assuming you know what I want. I swear, you only listen to half of the things I say and just contrive the rest in your head.”

“If I only listen to half of what you say, it's because the other half is lies. You lie so much that I might be insulted, if I didn't think you were mostly lying to yourself.”

She drew in a sharp breath and Shan could tell she was poised to escalate the argument. He clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Enough. I am leaving this den in precisely one minute. Unless you want to stay behind, put your pants on and join me.”

To his amazement, she brushed his hand away and complied. He held his breath the entire time she was putting her pants on, and then again as she put on her shoes, waiting for her to say something acerbic, but the words never came. When they were outside, she even let him put his arm around her.

She didn't break their silence until some time later, when they were nearing the place where they would meet West and the others.

“What's going to happen, anyway? Will I be there when you, you know...” She drew her finger across her neck.

“No,” he said firmly. “You can come for the meeting, and then wait elsewhere for the rest.”

“You aren't worried that it's going to be dangerous?”

“As long as you're with me, you'll always be safe.”

She said nothing, but leaned a little closer to him.

Shan could still see their future clearly, but it felt so far from where they were now. Making her his mate would be easy. Getting her to admit to wanting him was going to be trying. He reminded himself that he had all winter to bring her around, though the thought of waiting months was daunting. Even another week of this felt unbearable. He wanted his mark on her, and he didn't know how much longer he could take the wait.