“I’m exhausted.” Hayden slumped down on the ground. After playing out on a patch of new snow, he was staring up at the sky and luxuriating in the late afternoon sun. He was ready for dinner.

“You’re such a lightweight. How do you expect to beat the Alpha if you can’t keep it together? You think this is hard? Training is the easiest part. It’s the fight that’s going to really push you over the edge.” She shook her head at him, crossing her arms and biting her lip distastefully.

Hayden elevated an eyebrow. He didn’t like how she was looking at him like he was a failure. A disappointment. He had a fair chance of taking Gregory out, and he was pretty sure Tully knew that too. So what was the problem? Why was she so invested in this fight, even more so than him, the one desperately seeking revenge? He decided to find out.

“What’s all this to you anyway? Do you want me to lose, or do you want me to win?” He leaned back on the ground, staring hard up at the sky.

Tully tilted her head, looking exasperated. She sat beside him then fell backward and stretching out to create a snow angel in the soft drifts of fresh snow. He turned his head and watched her calmly. Making a snow angel had her smiling, something he found he quite enjoyed. He wasn’t surprised; he liked Tully a lot.

The first full moon had come and gone. When he had shifted, he’d had no control over anything. Tully had kept him safely locked in the cage the first night, and it drove him mad, snapping at her and tearing apart everything in the cell. She’d brought him fresh meat and even controlled her own shift to keep watch over him.

He wondered if it had been painful, but he had never asked. The way he’d morphed involuntarily had been disorientating enough. At least there was hope he could eventually learn to shift at will, and the full moon would no longer bother him.

The fact that he was weak under the full moon frustrated him. It made him wonder how he would ever be strong enough to defeat an Alpha who had years of experience. The only thing going for him was his training as an agent. It would have to be enough. Something told him the fight was coming up sooner than he thought.

Until then, avoiding the pack Alpha, Gregory, was not easy. The guy loved to taunt. He especially liked to tell Hayden he needed more training. Using the training facilities in the camp was impossible if they wanted to be left alone. Gregory always managed to find his way in and throw him every insult in the book.

What was the guy trying to gain from it? Hayden could only speculate Gregory was hoping to coax him into a fight prematurely, before the challenge time. It’d be two weeks until the next full moon; two weeks before he could official challenge him. He had to spend a whole month of living with the pack before he could rightfully challenge the Alpha. Only then would the queen be able to sanction the fight.

Talia, Tully’s sister and Alpha queen would certainly approve it. She had to. Tully had told him so. Talia was all about rules and never let her heart get in the way. She often visited them while Tully was training him, but unlike her mate, she kept quiet and observed. Hayden wondered if she came to watch them so she could report back to Gregory and offer him tips about his fighting style and weaknesses, but Tully assured him it wasn’t why she came by. Talia was much more on the right side of things than anyone else in the pack. If there was one person who would keep the fight fair, it would be Talia, no doubt to the disappointment of her husband.

At least Hayden had a few things going for him if he could manage to make it to the end of the month. Gregory was making it hard to not want to smash his face in beforehand.

“You’ll need to concentrate.”

Hayden turned toward Tully, who was now sitting up with her arms outstretched and her eyes closed, facing forward. “Concentration is key, Hayden. You’ll need to relax. Breathe. When your world is in turmoil and things are not going your way, you’ll need to ground yourself and believe that you are the center of your world and everything pivots around you, no matter what other people say. You might not be able to control anyone else, but you can control how you react to them. If you want to beat Gregory, you have to remember this.”

“Who taught you that?”

Tully opened her eyes to look at him. They shone brightly, more blue-green than ocean blue. Maybe they changed color, but he couldn’t quite tell. Sometimes they looked blue, sometimes hazel, and sometimes almost brown. All he knew was that they always calmed him, giving off a serenity he quite enjoyed.

“My mother taught me that. She was a great Alpha of our pack. I miss her. When Gregory took over after she died, things changed. He shouldn’t have taken over so soon, but my mother died in a terrible accident.”

“What happened to her?”

Tully turned away and stared up at the sky again, prompting Hayden to do the same. The sky was a vibrant blue, with small puffs of clouds. This was the calmest he had felt in ages.

“There was a pack intruding on our territory, and she, my father and their warriors went to discuss things with their Alpha. It didn’t go well, obviously. They often incited conflict, and this time it was no different. Some under her command stepped up to fight for her, but being the Alpha queen, she wanted to fight too. During the struggle, she received a fatal blow.”

“That’s awful. Did her warriors kill the ones who did it?”

She shook her head. “With her death, the fighting dispersed. But… the other pack’s members were not the ones who killed her. My father had accidentally pierced her skin along her throat while fighting their Alpha, and she bled to death.”

Hayden didn’t know what to say, but he felt an overwhelming urge to protect Tully from such saddening news. He scooted closer to her and embraced her in his arms, pulling her to his chest. Surprisingly, she let him and turned to face him, her lips centimeters from his.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Really, I am. I never would have asked about it had I known. It was insensitive.”

“You didn’t know. Shh.” She placed a finger on his lips and smiled, blinking the tears away. It was a kind smile, and he realized something that he hadn’t noticed in the little time he’d been here with her. She was in love with him, and he knew he felt the same way. They had not been apart for weeks, and he could feel the wild animal beneath the surface trying to reach for her, to become one with her. It was a furious desire to take her and make her his forever, and he didn’t want to fight it anymore.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

She didn’t have to ask twice. The joy her words brought him could not be matched, and he pulled her body closer, turning the freezing air into a smoldering heat as their lips touched. His mouth met hers as he slowly caressed her hair, running his fingers through it. Their kisses sparked fire inside him which made him want to devour her whole and keep her next to him for the rest of his life. How he could feel so much for a woman he’d just met? The question tickled at his mind, but he ignored it. There was no place he’d rather be than right here with her.

Her mouth beckoned him more. Their tongues, warm and soft against the freezing January air, tangled together, causing the air to steam with their breaths.

“Tully,” he whispered, out of air from kissing her.

“Yes, Hayden?”

“How long will I have to wait to choose a mate in this pack?”

She pulled away a few inches and studied him. The look on her face showed that she was wondering if he had an alternative agenda. Her questioning look made him smile. Although she was a strong fighter and a great enforcer, she was still vulnerable and wary of any emotions. Especially from stranger.

“You don’t have to wait to choose a mate. You just ask them. Why? Who would you ask?”

He almost laughed, and her cheeks flushed in anger. She tried to pull away, but he held on firmly, not letting go of her coat as she squirmed and smacked at his arms.

“Let me go!”

“Do you really not know who I’d ask? Tully, it’s only ever been you. I’ve been waiting forever to find you. I promise there is nobody else I would ask but you.”

She stopped struggling, her eyes widening with joy as a smile slowly lifted the corners of her mouth. She fell back into his arms, her lips slamming against his with equal ferocity.

Hayden knew there was no other choice now but to win the upcoming fight, especially if he wanted to stay with Tully. She’d be his Alpha queen. He knew that as surely as blood rushed through his veins. Without another word, he jumped to his feet, pulled her up by the arm, and led her back to their cabin to claim his mate.