It took a month before they could make their exodus from Willow Bend. They attended meeting after meeting with the alphas—including one where Mason hosted Rayne Barrows for the first time. Talk about uncomfortable. Chrystal actually went a long way toward soothing everyone in the situation.

The formal establishment of the Enforcers as a pack included the notification of all the Enforcers. To Julian’s amazement and Dallas’ entertainment, each Enforcer made a pilgrimage of sorts to Willow Bend to declare an oath to Julian directly. The Lone Wolves lobbied for some changes, most of which Julian declined to rule on, tossing the legal discussion back into the laps of the alphas.

Celebrations of the matings of Mitch and Amelia along with John and Hadley brought with them the requisite family dramas and more visitors to Willow Bend. More, Jake Danes and Mimi Chase returned for another grand party before heading to Hudson River. While in Willow Bend, they spoke to the alphas about their work as Custodians.

So many secrets. The best part, though, was through it all, they spent time with their daughter. So much laughter. Dallas couldn’t quite accept the concept of family…or the invitations to travel to Hudson River and the Yukon to let their daughter meet her extended family members.

The day before they left, however, Felicia Carlyle paid them a call as mate of the former alpha and Julian’s brother, Toman—that would also take a while to wrap her mind around. Chrystal had a blood tie to Willow Bend and more family.

But finally, they traveled via Julian’s plane, returned to Seattle and reclaimed the Wanderer.

Once aboard, Julian surprised her again when he turned the helm over to her. Though they’d spent every day and night together, it hadn’t been about them—not when they wanted to get to know their daughter and deal with so many other things, including working out the finer points of pack laws.

“Are you sure?”

Scanning the deck around the chair with the bullet hole, Julian only said, “I’m sure. I’ve been steering the course for too long. It’s time for you to take us out.” Pausing, he crouched then rose again. “Just keep us off the rocks.”

“Pfft,” she said with a grin. “Don’t tell me what not to do.”

Laughing softly, he pressed a kiss to the side of her throat. Electricity sizzled in her system. They’d taken care of a lot in Willow Bend, but one key item they had left off the agenda. “I’ll get us unpacked, then start dinner. Hadley promised she restocked…”

“But you’ll feel better when you check for yourself.” Not surprising. “Can you free the lines for me?”

“I will.” He gifted her with another kiss before he disappeared below decks. She knew exactly where she wanted to go. Gray skies gave way to blue as she navigated south. Though Julian surrendered the helm to her, he spelled her out. Weighing anchor a mile from Santa Monica, she went through securing the anchor before leaving the bridge.

Dressed only in a bikini, she sighed as the sun kissed her skin. Julian greeted her with a glass of champagne and, for the first time since she visited Brett in Hudson River, she relaxed.

Touching her glass to Julian’s, she said, “To new beginnings.”

“Definitely,” he agreed, the corners of his lips relaxing into a smile. They came to him more easily, now. With an arm around her waist, he tugged her into his arms. He wore swim trunks, and everywhere their skin touched, she experienced the lightest of shocks. It was perfection. The shore was distantly visible, but Dallas didn’t have to see it to imagine the pier, the people, the sand, and the ocean.

Settling together on a lounger, she relaxed against him. They were alone. No distractions, no noise beyond the slap of the water against the hull or the soft sound of their breathing.

“I kept trying to take you away from this.” Quiet words from a quiet man.

“I know, but I couldn’t leave it. Not fully…”

“Not ever.” He pressed a kiss to her scarred shoulder, a remnant from an accident when she’d worked on a fishing boat. “We know a few healers who can help with this.”

Dallas chuckled. Brett’s healer mate had made a similar offer. “I like it. I think it gives me character.” Not shifting for months while on the trawler resulted in the scar.

“You don’t need any help with character.” He sounded light, teasing, and so utterly at ease. “Are you sure about Oregon?”

“Letting it be a central base for the Enforcers?” Twisting, she retrieved the champagne from the bucket. After refilling their glasses, she straddled his lap. “I like it. It’ll be a good place for gatherings. Does it bother you that I don’t want to live there again?”

“No,” he promised, trailing his fingers along her thigh. A shiver raced along her spine. No matter how often they’d come together since her return, she would never grow tired of the right to touch him or him touching her. “We aren’t those people anymore. I am not that man. I won’t hide you away, segregate you from the rest of my life. It’s you, and me, the sunshine and the sea.”

The elegant poetry ensnared her. Leaning forward, she brushed her nose to his. “The yacht was for me, wasn’t it?”

Blue fire lit his eyes. “Yes. I would sleep up here on the deck. The slap of the water against the hull…it reminded me of you. Sweet and gentle, lulling and kind, and just as easily turned to wild, unpredictable, and a tempest.”

It shouldn’t be possible to love him more than she did. Setting aside her glass, she nuzzled a kiss to his lips and he opened to her. The caress of his mouth to hers stole inside her soul. With care, he stroked his hands along her thighs. In no time, her bikini vanished.

Unwilling to move away from him to slide off his trunks she carefully shredded them with her claws. His hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples. The world narrowed to the two of them and the sway of the boat. Gripping his erection, she teased them both, gliding him against her sex until shudders held them captive.

Locking gazes, she sank down, taking him to the hilt, and he swallowed her groan in a hungry kiss. No rush hurried their pleasure along. Power swelled around him, expanding as they rocked together and Dallas reveled in the sensation of his wolf’s freedom. No longer constrained by dueling obligations, his dominance prowled around her, courting, and teasing, and then her wolf rose within her.

Gripping his hands for balance as she drove them both toward bliss, she zeroed in on his gaze. Their wolves joined them in the dance and tension coiled within, so tight she thought she might snap.

“Be mine.” Demand coated his words, but beneath it all was a request—and need. Understanding blossomed. Julian wouldn’t take, not again and she’d needed his permission, because she’d taken from them, too.

His hips bucked to meet her downward thrust, and Dallas let go. No more fighting for control. When their lips met this time, it was in a frenzy and their pace grew frenetic. A second before her orgasm dazed her, she struck. Sinking her teeth into his shoulder, she freed her defenses and the sense of him shattered through her.

Reveling at Julian’s surprised shout as pleasure and passion ripped through them, Dallas held fast as the tether formed, brilliant and shimmering. His power crashed through her like a wave striking the shore. Coated in his scent, she rode the current as it tumbled them over and then Julian bit her. The world kaleidoscoped.

Understanding flared from the depths as he opened to her, and the rush branded his soul. “Mine,” she cried out. Decades earlier she fled responsibility and demand, and it left a loneliness in her—an emptiness she’d never needed to fill, until Julian.

Home.

She was home.

Hours passed as they came together. Their hunger for each other seemed to grow only fiercer with each coupling.

At some point, she must have slept, because the spatter of rain against her skin woke her. Lifting her head, she tilted her face into the gentle spray. Julian’s chest rumbled against her, and she opened to her eyes to find the wild blue of his eyes still alight. Their wolves were right beneath the skin, need to touch each other a visceral demand.

“I have a gift for you,” she told him. The photo albums and videos wouldn’t make up for everything, but she’d documented Chrystal’s childhood, every memory she could.

“You already gave me a gift.” He slid his finger beneath the leather collar she still wore. “You’re still wearing this.”

“I love it,” Dallas admitted, even as her gaze went to her mark on his shoulder. A thrill skated through her system. “I love you.”

Always had. Always would. “I know,” he smiled, then rose, lifting her with him. “I adore you.” Then he spun them both around and the playfulness delighted her. Setting her on her feet, Julian kept hold of her hands. “Dance with me.”

Dallas forgot how to breathe. The invitation to play captivated her. Rain growing steadier, she flowed into his arms and they danced. It was like escaping to a mystical world where all they needed was each other.

The storm had passed, and the sun edged the sky before he retrieved a small item from his shredded trunks. Recognizing the tag, Dallas raised her eyebrows. Holding it hidden in his palm, he said, “I bought one years ago, but I never gave it to you. I had another made, but you needed to free yourself and didn’t see it. So, I had one more change made to it.”

Curiosity speared her, then Julian opened his hand. It was a dog tag—his tag. She recognized the front of it. Hammered and worn on the front, his name was still visible. Tears filled her eyes. It was a piece of who he had been before.

“This is who I was. The battered metal is who I became.” Then he turned it over. On the back was etched a single word. Yours. “This is who I will always be.”

“You always did believe in second chances,” she whispered, tears escaping.

Julian worked the metal loop trough collar and settled it into place. The collar was a declaration, not a leash, and it wouldn’t matter if it was. His was the only yoke she ever wanted.

“Thank you for mine,” he said against her lips before kissing her again. Looping her arms around his neck, Dallas basked in a love they no longer fettered.

“My pleasure…and I mean it.” After nipping his lip, she grinned. “Truth or dare?”

Julian’s laughter embraced her.

Life wasn’t always bliss—sometimes it was pain, loneliness, and loss. They’d tasted all of these together and apart. Everything—good and bad—was better together.

They were better together.

“You tell me,” he said, emotion thick in his voice. “Mate.”

“Truth,” she declared, their bond buoying her. “Always.”

* * *

First up, a sneak peek at When Danger Bites, Book One of Bravo Team WOLF a new series beginning May 8!

Second, is Omega Wolf, a free short read originally available only to subscribers. It includes a meeting between Chrystal and her mother after the events in Untamed Wolf.

The Wolves of Willow Bend will return.