Present

The cabin had more amenities than she’d seen, including a working generator that provided power to the water pumps. Julian got it started then retrieved his pack. Outside, she sat on the porch and drank from the water in the bottle while he pulled out a satellite phone, then dialed a number before handing it to her.

Chrystal answered on the first ring. “Mom? I mean, Dallas?”

It hurt to smile, but she couldn’t stop doing it. No matter how hard she blinked, tears burned in her eyes. “You can call me Mom if you want, baby. I know I haven’t always earned it…but I like the sound of it.”

“You’re okay.” Her daughter’s relief came crashing through the phone. “Julian promised he would find you.”

Glancing sideways, she stared at the man who’d come to sit next to her quietly. Dirt streaked his face and weariness settled in his eyes. “He always keeps his promises…and he did. He found me.”

“He loves you, Mom.” Even hearing the revelation from Chrystal made her heart leap, but she only touched the bruises at the edge of her lips. They hurt like hell, but life was pain sometimes.

“He can hear you, baby And if he does, why don’t we let him tell me?” At her raised eyebrows, Julian inclined his head. He wouldn’t stop her from saying something now. She didn’t necessarily want to do it over the phone, but… “Babe, we might be a couple of days before we get back there. When we do, you and I are going to have a long talk. I owe you some truth.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Chrystal said in a rush. “But I want to know you. I want to get to know you again, and I’m up for that. Dylan would like to know you, too.”

“That boy better be good to you.” At her growl, Julian set his hand on her thigh. Even as sore and beaten as she felt, the contact helped.

“He’s better than good; he’s perfect.” Then she laughed, and the sunshine in her voice brightened. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I know,” Chrystal whispered. “Now go talk to Julian and let him tell you he loves you…I want you to be happy.”

“And he can still hear you,” Julian said quietly. When Chrystal squeaked, they both laughed, and then the call was done. Passing him the phone, Dallas leaned her head on his shoulder. “She’s not wrong,” he said quietly. “I do love you.”

The unsettled sensation rippled through her. “Why? I’ve done some stupid, selfish things.”

“Did you take Chrystal and not tell me because you wanted to hurt me?”

“No.” She frowned, and lifted her head to study him. “Did you think that was why?”

“I didn’t know why. It never occurred to me she could be mine. Yet, one of the things I was most angry with you over was that you left me and took up with Carlo Cruz and suddenly you were having a child. I hated you for that.”

Not an unfair reaction. “I hated you for always putting your work before me…but at the same time I couldn’t hate you because your duty. It was who you were. If I stayed…”

“We would have had to return to a pack. I know.” The absolute acceptance in his voice startled her. “We weren’t ready then.”

“Who are you fooling? We aren’t ready now.” She’d been on her own for too long. Seeing Brett—that had been great. He had grown into an impressive man and a solid alpha. She’d been right, that hadn’t been who she was. Brett was so much better at it than her.

“Maybe.” He slid an arm around her. “But we aren’t who were then. The packs aren’t who they were then. A lot of things have changed. Or hadn’t you noticed my mated Enforcers?”

“You think the alphas won’t act if you keep letting the Enforcers flout the law? You already have a sixth pack…that no one wanted.” Another problem, thankfully not hers. Chrystal had nothing to do with Three Rivers, and the bastard Montague was dead. They could rot in their little town for all she cared.

“I think the alphas have accepted that change is inevitable.” He sounded so certain. “Dallas, thirty years ago, I sat on this porch talking to William. He’d been Chief Enforcer since the Civil War, maybe longer. He gave his whole life, everything he was to protecting the packs, to training new Enforcers, to upholding the law. He was a damn fine man, and he outlived his wolf by nearly two decades, holing away up here to be my advisor until he died, forgotten by everyone except me.”

Such profound loneliness existed in his voice.

“I gave you up for my duty. I sectioned my life so I could have you, but denied you everything else. You made mistakes, but so did I. I won’t repeat the past. I love you, and I’ve chased you for more than twenty years. I’m not letting you go again without a fight.”

The fist around her heart squeezed tight. “You just said everything I didn’t know I wanted to hear.” But could she believe it?

“Then hear me,” he said, giving her a light squeeze before he shifted to kneel on the dirt in front of her. “Whether we join a pack, go to Australia or vanish into the wilderness. I choose you.”

“You can’t leave the Enforcers, or any of the rest of this mess. What about Three Rivers?”

“Not my problem.” He shrugged. “The pack is established. Mitch is strong enough to lead and he has Amelia. With the threat of the Volchitsa gone and that psychopath eliminated, she can be trained in the open.”

Cupping his face in her bruised hands, she smiled. “You do realize they’d still be mated…”

“Well, like I told Mason. Enforcers aren’t Lone Wolves. We haven’t been in decades. We’re not a pack like every other one, but we have one leader, and we work together. We support each other. We protect each other. We have an alliance, and we’re loyal. Everything else is noise.”

He truly believed that. “I love you,” she whispered, unlocking that emotion from the dungeon she’d shoved it into. It was dark, dusty with disuse, but it burst out of her, and she pressed her forehead to his. “I can’t take you away from them. They need you.”

“What about what we need?”

It was really hard to argue with him on that.

Julian dealt with the body while Dallas shifted. Three in a row dealt with the worst of her injuries. They’d put a lot on the table, but she hadn’t said yes to him. Not yet.

Patience.

They could both afford the emotion. Time was once again a gift they could share. Dallas traded out her filthy clothes by borrowing a clean shirt from his backpack, and he cut off the legs from her jeans. A thorough search of cabin didn’t turn up much. Julian tasked Merrick and Angus with following up on what they’d learned.

Making use of the helicopter, he flew them to the airport, then put her on his plane. “You know we could get a hotel room,” she told him, as she buckled into the copilot’s seat.

“We could, but we’re not going to. You need to see Chrystal, and she needs to see you. Then I need to talk to the alphas.”

“Blegh.” Her face made him smile. “Alphas are so stuffy, self-important and bossy.”

“And you will still be you, ignoring it all and giving the rules a finger.” He waited as she considered the idea. The bruising around her face had faded considerably, and she moved with greater ease.

“Probably. It saves a lot of trouble in figuring out whose ass to kiss.”

Reaching over, he captured her hand and lifted it to his lips. “When in doubt, I promise I have no trouble kissing yours.”

“Stop it,” she ordered, even as she curled her fingers against his. “You’re going to get us in trouble…and that’s my job.”

He was still laughing when they taxied down the runway. Three and a half hours later, he woke her to let her know they’d landed. When she was still groggy, he indulged his very real desire to pick her up. In all their time together, he’d always held back from doing too much, from crowing her independence, from letting himself accept that she was his mate.

“You’re going to spoil me,” she murmured her complaint. Instead of struggling to be put down, she snuggled closer.

“You have uncovered my secret plot.”

“You really need to work on that sneaky part. You were not subtle at all.” Then she tucked her fingers in the collar of his shirt, and he glanced at the leather collar on her neck.

“Why did you take the tag off?” The question had bothered him when he’d allowed himself to think about it. The private airport remained active, if only in the terms of the security in place.

None of the Hunters challenged them, and the SUV he’d driven to the airport waited for them.

“Tag?” She repeated in a puzzled tone as he navigated opening the passenger door, then setting her inside. Leaning there inside the door, he traced a finger over the collar.

“The tag I put on this. Why did you take it off but leave the collar?”

“Oh…I needed the little metal link so I could pop the handcuffs. Remember Stinky, who came to visit on the boat?” His Dallas was very clever. “Anyway, I think it fell off, and then we were a little busy with people shooting at us, and you calling Margo in to decide whether you needed to be punished…what did it say?”

Nudging her chin up, he brushed his lips to hers with great care. “After you answer my question, I’ll answer yours.”

Closing the door on her outraged expression, he chuckled as he circled the vehicle. She was awake after that and harassed him all the way to the heart of Willow Bend.

He loved every moment.

Even though it was late, and he’d have preferred to return to Seattle and his yacht, then sailed out into the ocean for a few weeks to convince Dallas, they went to Mason’s. The alpha waited for them, and he wasn’t alone. Brett bounded off the porch at their arrival.

“I heard what happened, and I had to see you for myself,” he said, going straight to Dallas. “You are all right?”

“I’m fine. Never been better. I have three big strapping alpha males ready to go hulk if I get a hangnail. What could possibly be better?” Yet, even amidst the tease, Dallas couldn’t hide her response to her cousin. “You shouldn’t have come all this way.”

They settled on the porch again, everyone talking in low voices with Mason’s children asleep inside. Alexis had been exhausted or she would have joined them.

Studying the two alphas, Julian knew it wasn’t only Dallas’s safety that brought Brett there. If they wanted to have the conversation now, then so be it.

He braced against the railing while the alphas resumed their seats. Dallas skipped the chair and came to lean next to him, but when her hand settled atop his, Julian relaxed.

Brett stared at where their hands touched a beat, then lifted his drink.

“We’ll keep this short,” Mason said, stretching his legs out. “Brett’s got the Hudson River guesthouse, and I’ve had another built that you two can use. It’s specifically for the Enforcers. It’s been a busy couple of days, so I’ll give you the condensed version. Brett and I had a long discussion with Serafina, Cassius, and Diesel. By unanimous decision, we feel that the Enforcers are worthy of their own pack status.”

Julian frowned.

“Before you get excited,” Brett picked up the thread. “It doesn’t mean the Enforcers will have a specific territory unless you feel they require it. Essentially, the Enforcers will work exactly as you have led them. They are the defense of the packs; they will look after the Lone Wolves, and they will only be called into a full pack vote in the event we need to break a tie.”

Adding up the numbers, Julian studied the pair. “Then Three Rivers will have a seat at the table?” That was an interesting turn of events. No one trusted Luciana Barrows.

“They will now.” Mason interlaced his fingers behind his head. One could hardly believe he’d been in the middle of a fierce battle to rebuff an invasion of his pack. “Rayne Barrows is the reason we had to call the meeting in the first place.”

“Luciana’s mate?” Dallas cocked her head. “Why?”

“Because Luciana is no longer the alpha of Three Rivers,” Mason raised his glass. “Rayne is.”

Shaking his head, Julian said, “She surrendered it to Rayne?” It wasn’t impossible, but it was also not terribly typical either.

“From what he said, Rayne challenged her and won. He swore that his first and foremost interest is to see Three Rivers grow and to overcome the issues with its founding and the critical missteps since then. All he asked was for the chance and for the price on his mate’s head to be removed.” The disbelief in Brett’s voice told him he wasn’t the only one shocked by the story.

There was a bounty out on Luciana? “What price on her head?”

“Story for another day,” Mason waved his hand. “Go, the two of you have had a hell of a few days. Chrystal and Dylan are waiting for you to come in…she wants to see her mother for herself.” Though he seemed at ease, he studied both of them. “Enjoy your reunion, take some time—then let us know if you will take the seventh seat at the table Julian. We may not always see eye to eye, but I trust your judgment. Mostly.”

“And I trust hers,” Brett said, a cheerful amount of mischief in the statement. “Mostly.”

Leaving the two alphas to drink, they followed one of the Hunters who led them to the guesthouse. If Chrystal hadn’t been there, he would have just kept driving.

“You want to do it, don’t you?” Dallas asked as they parked near the house.

“It’s a huge change, one I can make easier for my Enforcers.” He knew exactly how possessive he sounded. “But until you give me an answer, you get none.”

Snorting, Dallas slid out of the car. Chrystal followed Dylan out onto the porch as their Hunter escort pulled away. Watching mother and daughter embrace, he knew his choice remained firm.

Doing his duty was important, but he would never put Dallas second again. If she didn’t want to stay, then they wouldn’t stay. Mitch could handle it—even if the wolf would be annoyed. Maybe it really was time to give way to the younger generation.

“Come here,” Dallas said, holding her hand out to him. Julian slid his fingers into her grasp, and then she focused on Chrystal. “I have a story to tell you. It’s not a pretty one, but it’s time.”

It was dark, but they walked together, Dallas between them, each holding a hand. Dylan followed in their wake, and Dallas held nothing back. She told Chrystal everything, from their first meeting in California to the day she left. His heart bruised to hear the loneliness in her voice when she confessed why she’d finally decided to go. Through it all, Chrystal listened intently and said nothing.

When she finished, they slowed to a stop, and Dallas stepped from between them, then pivoted.

“I always thought he killed my father,” Chrystal said slowly, glancing at Julian and he met the question in her eyes with patience. “You even told me you did when I asked you.”

“I know. I was an idiot. The part your mother didn’t tell you is that I thought she betrayed me, betrayed us. I didn’t trust us…and I let her down. I let you down.” He’d killed a man who might have been violating the law, but who hadn’t deserved death. Somehow, he would have to atone for that sin. “You don’t have to accept this. You don’t have to do anything different. But I’m glad you know.”

In all the years he’d known her, Chrystal had earned her nickname of Trouble as far as he was concerned. She distracted easily, and her innocence didn’t always save her from making errors in judgment.

“I’m glad I know, too…does this mean you two are together now? You’ll be really together?”

“I don’t…” He began, nearly missing Dallas’ quiet response. Whipping his head around, he pinned a look on her. “What did you say?”

“I said yes, Captain Ass. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” The corner of her mouth kicked a little higher. “But we should really focus on Chrystal right now.”

Satisfaction bloomed in his chest. Even if she was right, he still wanted to send his daughter home with her mate so he and Dallas could make it official.

Chrystal clapped her hands. “That’s so awesome.”

“Really?” He studied her. “You’re okay?”

“I get my Mom back, I get a real dad…and my baby is going to have grandparents.”

For once, it was Dallas struck mute instead of him.

Life was definitely looking up.