What did she mean? Someone I needed to meet? The tension in Aly's voice made my instincts scream out in warning. It wasn't only that she'd been acting odd since I first saw her. There was something else to it. It almost felt like she was worried or nervous, but . . . Alysse Addison didn't get nervous.

If only I'd been able to come back sooner. Seven months since her last message. What the hell had happened in those seven months? I hadn't intended to stay away from her for so long. After months of flirting, we had finally given into our attraction that night after I finished my last class and it left me wanting more. I wanted her. Alysse. I knew the moment I had her in my arms that she could be my mate. I'd gone home the next morning fully planning to turn right back around and go be with her.

But then my parents had surprised me with the trip. I couldn't get her out of my thoughts the entire time I'd been gone. I'd tried to come back earlier, but my family always found something only I could do. I couldn't disappoint the family. So I stayed. All the while, I hoped whatever we had would survive our separation.

When I finally got back stateside, she was nowhere to be found. My wolf had been frantic, and I drove the three hours back to school to see if I could find her. I went to the library, but no one had seen her in months.

The student lounge gave no trace of her, either. I went to her favorite places to eat and again, no one had seen her. Her favorite hang-outs were void of her presence, too. With each dead end I had gotten more and more agitated. Now I had her with me, and my wolf paced inside me, confused. All I wanted to do was pull her back into my arms and continue that kiss we shared earlier.

"Who do you want me to meet here in Fayoak? You have a dragon to introduce me to or something?" I smiled, trying to hide the fact that my thoughts were running around in circles.

"Don't be dumb. Dragons don't exist," she said, her tone distracted.

My curiosity ate at me. Who did she want me to meet? Seven months was such a long time. A lot could've happened. That was only when she'd sent her last email, too. It had been even longer since we'd seen each other.

My desire to be with her hadn't faded during our separation. From the way she kissed me back, I knew she felt the same way, too. A worm of doubt crept in—I'd caught her by surprise with that kiss. I thought her hands on my shoulders were a good thing, but had she planned to push me away? Had I read her wrong?

Had she found someone else while I was gone? I clenched my fist under the table where she couldn't see it. Was this person she needed me to meet a new thing? My wolf snarled inside me at the thought and I wanted to do the same. I didn't know if I could make it through an introduction, let alone quietly accept the fact that she had moved on.

Maybe I showed up for nothing.

No. She was worth fighting for. I wanted her to be mine. I had to meet my competition, size them up, then figure out how to win my Alysse back. If only I hadn't waited so long to make a move in the first place . . . all those times in the library where we spent more time smiling at each other than studying. Why hadn't I made my move sooner?

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked, keeping my voice even, controlled.

"Yeah. Just peachy."

I clenched my jaw. Her voice was light, but the intensity of her expression hadn't eased. I didn't understand why she wouldn't come out with it already. It would make it easier on the both of us.

"Aly, come on," I ground out. "I can tell something's wrong."

She took a deep breath, her gaze bouncing around like she was looking for an escape route. "Right, yeah, let's get this over with."

She quickly stood up, her chair loudly scraping the floor, and I reluctantly got to my feet. Seconds ago, I was wishing she would just say it already, now I was clenching my jaw so tight that it was starting to hurt. All I could think about was how good it felt to see her again.

There had been a gnawing void in my life during those months I was without her. I realized with a heavy heart it was a void nobody else could ever fill. She was Aly, through and through, and that was something no one could replace.

She took three steps out the door, onto the sidewalk, then stopped so fast that I almost ran into her. She turned to look at me. There was a wild look in her eyes as she met mine. It wasn't the wild of her animal looking out at me; no, this was the frantic expression of someone faced with an unpleasant task ahead and no good choices before her.

"You'll need to follow me," she clipped out. "Where are you parked?"

I glanced down the street. "About two blocks over. But, Aly, why don't you just—"

She shook her head, although it was more of a head-jerk than anything. She wasn't just nervous, she was agitated. If whatever this was bothered her this much, why couldn't she just come out and say it? Why drag it out like this?

"I'm in that truck." She pointed at a rusted old truck parked in front of the hardware store. "Meet me here. I'm not the easiest to follow, so be ready."

She gave me a crooked, half-hearted smile as some semblance of the Aly I knew peeked through her hard expression. She seemed to catch herself and it disappeared in an instant as she started toward the truck. What was so difficult about introducing me to someone that she couldn't even joke about it?

"Aly."

She kept walking, and I lightly grabbed her arm so she'd stop and look at me.

"What?" Her tone was abrupt, her attention elsewhere.

"You don't have to do this," I said in a quiet voice. "If whatever it is bothers you so much . . ." My gut twisted. I was more certain than before that she had met someone. I was too late.

No. If she was this conflicted, we still had a chance. It would be like a punch to the gut to see her with someone else, but I would pick myself back up and fight for her.

I regretted that I hadn't secured a motel room for the night. I'd been so intent on finding Aly that I hadn't thought about where I would stay. Now I needed to figure out where I would stay while I tried to win Aly over again. There was no way I would simply walk away. I could feel my wolf's complete agreement with my decision.

"No, Ben, trust me. I have to do this."

"Fine," I ground my teeth together, "let's get this over with."

"Yeah, get this over with . . ." There was something sarcastic in her tone.

"I get it," I forced out. "Just introduce me to your new guy already."

She stared at me blankly for a moment, then sputtered out a laugh, her tension breaking. The silly, lopsided smile on her face—the one she gave me so many times—made me want to kiss her more than ever.

"Wait, what're you talking about?" she asked. "Who's this new guy?"

"The one you're so eager for me to meet," I explained hesitantly.

She looked at me as if I was speaking a language she didn't understand. "Where did you get that idea?"

"You were really worried about me meeting someone. I figured you'd hooked up and didn't know how to tell me. It's not the ogre, is it?"

"Hey, why'd you kinda laugh when you asked that?" an amused voice asked from nearby. "You think I don't stand a chance?"

I looked toward the sound and watched as the ogre I met earlier got out from a truck beside Aly's. I resisted the urge to snarl at the man as he leaned up against the truck. A second later, I did a double take as I realized he was eating from a plate of meat. What was up with this town?

"Honestly . . ." Aly sighed and rolled her eyes at Charlie, but I noticed the hint of a smile behind it all. A spark of jealousy jolted through me.

"Is this him, Aly?" I ground out.

She sighed again, even louder this time, and made a face like she was giving up on our conversation. I had a feeling I got it all wrong.

"Ben, just go get your car and follow me." She turned on her heel and headed to the old truck. I frowned as I watched her walk away. What was going on? Impatient to get to the bottom of this mystery, I sprinted to my car, ignoring the strange looks as I hurtled past people strolling down the sidewalk.

"Where's the fire?" Charlie yelled at me in the distance.

I jumped into my car, started it up, and pulled out of my parking space. My head was a mess as I started down the street toward Aly's truck. None of this made any sense—the way she was acting, that damn ogre . . . I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

I slowed down when I saw her truck idling in the parking space. Noticing me, she pulled out into the street in front of me. Relief ran through me when I saw she was alone in her truck. For a moment, I had feared Charlie had hopped into the truck when I was running to get my car. I didn't think I could stomach a drive, even a short one, if they were in there together.

I followed her truck, twisting and turning through the streets. She darted through traffic like she was in an action movie. If I hadn't been watching closely, I would have lost her a couple of times. She took a detour through a residential area, then we were soon outside the city. What could be out here in the sticks?

Sooner than I expected, she turned onto a dirt road. I hadn't been paying attention to the signs we passed, so I wasn't sure where we were going. We pulled into an unpaved parking lot with a dozen or so cars. Several large buildings surrounded the lot, and beyond that were row after row of trees. I saw a sign near the parking lot on a large pole that read, Greenhaven Orchard.

She parked and I followed suit. I was quick to get out of my car, but she still beat me to it. She fidgeted her hands together as she walked up to me. Aly, fidgeting? This day was getting weirder by the second.

"Follow me." She took off in the direction of the trees at a jog, as if determined to get this over with as fast as possible.

I jogged after her, but let my wolf come forward a bit. It was sure-footed and the uneven ground posed no issue for it. The wind carried the sound of some worker singing in the orchard. I took a deep breath—I was downwind from Aly and her scent of sharp spice and cedar washed over me, along with the orchard's earthy smell of soil and fragrant fruit trees.

My body responded eagerly to her fragrance and the wolf inside me fought to get out. I knew my eyes were flashing wolf-silver as I started to catch up with her. Faster, it pushed me. An overwhelming urge to reach out and pull her back against me—to kiss down her neck, tug her shirt aside, and sprinkle kisses over her shoulder—ran through me. I swallowed deeply and forced myself to focus on our jog to God-knows-where and what I would find when I got there.

That was what I had to focus on. That could be the thing that ripped the presence I craved so much from me. She had laughed off the idea that it was a new guy so that issue was gone. I still worried that this mysterious something was so serious it could lead to a rift between us. Why else would she want to show me?

If that was what it was, I had to convince her we would be good together, no matter what. How could I do that? No ideas had come to me by the time she slowed down. We had only jogged for maybe five minutes, not even enough to get me really warmed up. I was itching to run and think some more.

As I slowed down behind her, I saw an older couple pushing a stroller up ahead. I took a deep breath, scenting the air. I smelled human, another cougar-shifter, and something else. It was like Charlie, but not. Fae, maybe?

"Hey, Aly," the older man said, "we didn't think you'd be back so soon. Everything go alright?"

I didn't hear her response because my gaze landed on the baby in a stroller. The infant had Aly's coloring, but there was something about it that looked familiar. I took a step closer, and the older woman stepped forward, putting herself between me and the little one. The trees all around us shook violently, as if a heavy wind had just come through. Only it hadn't. The woman must be a plant fae.

Thinking better of going any closer, I cautiously took a deep breath and the baby's scent became clearer. Aly. The baby smelled like Aly. Shock ran through me. Was this who Aly wanted me to meet? Her baby. I stared at the child as the older woman stepped closer to Aly. I overheard them talking, but their voices faded to a distant buzz.

Without conscious direction, my feet took a step forward, then another, moving me closer to the sleeping child. The baby's eyes opened and blinked, then focused on me. My world stopped. I realized why the baby looked so familiar. The almond curve of her eyes were just like mine.

"Her name is Anastasia. It was my mother's name." Aly's voice cut through my haze. "Everyone calls her Ana, though."

"She's beautiful," I said as I ripped my eyes away from Ana to look at her mother.

There was a wariness in Aly's gaze I didn't understand. Something nagged at the back of my mind as I looked from her, to the baby, and back to Aly. Was I seeing things? Smelling things? Why did I think this baby was mine? That was impossible. We only had one night together. Shifters have god-awful fertility, so . . .

"How old is she?" I blurted.

"A little over a month old," she said.

That memorable night we shared was about ten months ago. I thrust a hand into my hair as my shocked gaze locked on the baby once more. My baby.

"Congratulations," Aly said tartly, "you're a father."

I tore my gaze away from my child and looked at Aly. My child. My daughter. I could barely process it. I had no idea Aly and I had made a child that night. If I'd known . . .

My gut clenched. She'd gone through the pregnancy alone. No one to support her and care for her. She thought I'd abandoned her. My wolf snarled, furious inside me at the very idea.

I should have been there for her. I cursed the whole graduation gift my parents gave me. If I hadn't been in the depths of rural Korea, I would have been there for the birth of my child. I would've been here to protect them both. Suddenly, all of Aly's odd behavior made sense. She probably thought I was going to abandon her again, but I would never.

"Hey, you okay?" Aly asked. I realized I'd been standing there, staring at her.

A sudden wide grin stretched my cheeks. "Aly, my family will be so excited to meet you and Ana. They're going to love you. And you'll love them, too. It might take you a little bit to get used to all of them, but I know you're up to it."

"Uhh . . ." Aly gave me a blank look.

"What?"

"You're just, um . . . taking this so well."

"Why wouldn't I? I couldn't be happier."

"Seriously?"

"Do you want me to be mad?"

"Maybe? I don't know. I was agonizing over telling you. Most twenty-something guys would be kinda pissed to discover they had a surprise baby, y'know?"

"Really? Not me. This is awesome."

Aly gave me a look of consideration for a moment, then a flash of realization crossed her expression. "It's a wolf thing, isn't it?"

"How so?"

"I dunno. Wolves are weird."

"Yeah, well, you're a cat," I countered.

Aly shrugged. "Touché. So, uhh, now what?"

I blinked at her for a moment. There was so much going on inside me. I couldn't figure out how to process it all. I was thrilled I had a daughter with Aly. Truth be told, I could easily see us spending the rest of our lives together. Starting off with a baby didn't change that.

"Well, now we introduce her to the pack. This'll be great."

"Yeah, definitely." She smiled at me and I saw relief in her expression. "It'll have to wait a little though. Ana is too young to travel, I think."

My smile faded. "What do you mean? We need to take her home."

Aly furrowed her brow. "Ana and I have a home here."

"But Ana needs her family, her pack—"

"Which she has here." A stubborn fire flickered to life in her eyes. "My sister, the Greenhavens, and my pack. That's her family."

I clenched my jaw to get my sudden, warring emotions under control. What was wrong with my family? What more would she need? Everything was boiling around inside me, fighting for precedence. Anger, shock, awe, hope, terror, joy—all mixing together into a toxic compound.

I took a deep breath and fought to keep my tone reasonable. "You've lived here, what, seven months? I've been with my pack all my life. She'll have grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Not to mention all the rest of the pack to play with."

"She'll have all that here."

"Really? I thought it was just you and your sister? Did a bunch of relatives suddenly pop out of the bushes?" I held my hand over my eyes and looked around. As soon as I finished, I winced internally at my childishness. I just didn't get it. Did she not want to be with me? Or was it my family? Was that what it really was all about?

"Wow, you comedic genius . . ." she replied blandly as she slowly clapped her hands. "I'll have you know that my sister's mate is my family. These are his grandparents and mine. My pack is my family, too. They may not be blood, but they will be her cousins, aunts, and uncles. You don't need to haul her to your pack for her to have all the love she needs."

I glanced over at the couple she had gestured to. The man watched us avidly as if we were a reality tv show. The woman's expression sent a chill up my spine and the trees shook in warning. She had the look of a predator that saw an unwelcome intruder. I wouldn't be turning my back on her.

"Why are you being so unreasonable? My daughter should be raised with her blood kin. Not a bunch of—"

"A bunch of what, Ben?" Aly bit out. "A bunch of what?"

I shook my head. There was no way to answer that question that wouldn't make Aly madder.

"Aly, be reasonable."

"Reasonable? Boy, this is about as reasonable as I get. You're trying to get me to move away from everyone I love because your sperm penetrated my egg."

I cocked my head to the side, my mouth hanging slightly open. Did she really just say that?

"I'll have you know that means she's my child, too."

"Your child that you didn't even know existed until a few minutes ago."

That one stung.

"As if that was my choice?" I asked in a quiet voice. "Don't you think I would've wanted to know? Don't you know I would've been there the entire time if I'd known?"

A piercing cry suddenly cut through the air as Ana started to wail. Without thinking about it, I went over and scooped her out of the stroller before anyone else could react. The world faded away in an instant. All I could see was this tiny life in my arms. I took a deep breath, pulling in her scent. As I lightly bounced her, she stopped crying and studied my face.

My wolf looked out of my eyes and studied her back. This child was mine and I would do whatever it took to protect her. I knew she'd be happy with my pack. From her scent, I knew she was a cougar, not that it mattered. No matter what, she was part of my family and my wolf-pack would accept her. Now I had to convince Ana's mother of that, and that she should be with me.

"She's beautiful, Aly," I whispered.

When I glanced up at her face, I saw her desire to continue to yell at me was at war with her reaction to my comment.

"Thank you," she said stiffly. "I happen to agree."

Before we could resume our discussion, a low rumble caught my attention, and I glanced in the direction of the sound.

"Is that a tractor pulling a trailer full of people?" I asked as I processed what I saw.

"Sure is," the older man who'd been silently watching the show said. "Twilight tour. Friday special."

"Twilight tour?" What the hell was that?

"People buy tickets and get a tour through our orchard and the production side of things, then we send 'em home with a basket of fruit and jam."

"People pay for this?"

"We always sell out," he said with a grin.

The tractor pulled even with us and I watched as the tourists oohed and aahed over the trees. How odd. I forced a smile, but was saved from waving by having my arms full of adorable baby. I noticed the older man grinned and waved back, but the woman with him looked on with a cold expression.

My wolf felt the same way. I wanted to run far away from these potential threats with my child. I didn't know who they were or what they wanted. Most of them had silly grins on their faces, but that didn't mean they were safe.

Aly smiled and waved, too, until suddenly her face paled. I followed her gaze and saw two vaguely familiar faces in the back of the tractor. I wracked my brain, trying to remember where I knew them from.

Then it clicked. I'd met them when I went looking for her at her old pack keep, before I went to the school and ran into Sheila. They'd been lounging against the wall when I'd been taken to the alpha, but we hadn't been introduced.

"Hey, Ben. Isn't this town great?" one of them called out. "We wouldn't even have known this cute place existed without you."

Aly was in front of me before I could even process what was going on. Her eyes speared into mine with a ferocity that left me bewildered. "What the fuck have you done?"