Ryan Travis was still running. Through rivers, over stumps, around trees, anywhere his wolf could get to, trying to escape all thoughts of Kate Quade.

He shouldn’t have done it.

Ryan hadn’t been able to control himself at the bar the previous night. It had taken every ounce of his willpower not to pull that damn cowboy off Kate. To pretend like nothing affected him. But the guy had stumbled out of the bar with his buddies about ten minutes later, and Ryan had punched him.

Probably punched him out.

He’d stopped the guy, looked him in the eyes, and taken revenge for the way he’d treated Kate. For making her say no more than once. For touching her in the first place. And the damn stupid thing was…it had only made him wish he’d done it earlier. It hadn’t actually relieved any of the frustration.

It was no longer possible to ignore the fact that he felt a mate pull with Kate Quade. She’d acknowledged it. He’d acknowledged it. Hell. Julian had acknowledged it. And Dee knew. It wasn’t Kate’s good flirting, or the fact that Ryan was about to enter an extended period of forced celibacy. It was actually magick.

That thought scared the living shit out of him, and he’d shifted last night out of necessity—needing to let his wolf take over. Needing to run for a while.

By the time the sun rose, he could smell the scent of bacon on the air, and it drew him back toward the big VonBrandt house.

He stopped in the shifter cabin to grab some shorts and his running shoes. Appearing in public would require clothes. And probably an attitude adjustment.

All night, he’d been trying to figure out a way to fix Kate’s problem. She clearly didn’t want to tell him about it, but whatever it was, it resided in El Paso. So he had to get her away from El Paso.

Once he was dressed, he bypassed the truck in favor of jogging over to the VonBrandts’ house. It was a little bit of a run, but he still needed to expend more energy. Running as a wolf hadn’t been enough this time.

What he really needed was Kate. But that was a hell-to-the-nope. One slip in his resolve, and he would be lost to the mate bond. He knew that much. He had to find a way to protect her from whatever was going on back in her pack, and then he’d be able to think again.

The VonBrandt house was bustling with activity, and he saw a couple of people entering the back door, not too far from the pond. He recognized one of them as Aaron VonBrandt’s enforcer, Miles. He wasn’t a VonBrandt by birth, according to the introductions last night, but Aaron had taken him and his brother in after the rest of their pack had died.

In a feud, Ryan had heard.

The Oklahoma pack wasn’t the only one that had trouble controlling all the spread-out families. Miles and his brother Lee had likely come from the big, sprawling West Virginia pack. He’d heard a few stories from Pops about the legendary battles between families in those Appalachian mountains.

Of course, his father had enjoyed those tales. Ryan’s take was different. To him, they sounded like a bunch of stubborn jackasses whose idiocy had cost hundreds of good men, women, and children their lives. No opinion was worth holding that tightly.

Ryan entered the back door of the VonBrandt house just behind Miles and they joined the little queue at the breakfast buffet. Aaron’s wife and a couple of other middle-aged women were bustling around, filling plates and carafes. There were two tables set up on the far side of the room, and it didn’t take Ryan long to spot Kate. His skin had started humming as he approached the house, so he’d already known she would be there.

But seeing her was different than he’d expected.

She was sitting between Will Quade and the dark-haired cousin Ryan had seen but not met. The one who hadn’t been allowed to attend the summit the night before. Phillip had a habit of hiding his women from sight.

Asshole.

“You know her?” Miles asked, as he grabbed a plate from the end of the serving line. He gestured over at Kate, who was openly staring.

Ryan couldn’t quite read the look on her face. Was it hatred? Pity? Desire? She was playing her cards closer to the chest this morning.

He didn’t like that.

“Who?” he finally asked, trying to keep his voice down.

“The blonde who keeps staring at you.” Miles had a hint of Appalachian twang, but he’d covered it over pretty well with Texas. Like he was ashamed of his past.

Another thing Ryan could relate to.

“Not really.”

“You sure?” Miles took a stack of pancakes and passed up everything else as they walked slowly through the line. “She’s staring at you like…well…let’s just say I thought she was looking at me at first, and I was a little turned on.”

Ryan tried to laugh the comment off, but it stung a little. Both the fact that Miles was turned on by Kate, and the fact that he could read her when Ryan couldn’t.

Then again, maybe Miles was a masochist, and was turned on by hate eyeballs. Anything was possible.

“You’re one of the security guys, right?” Ryan asked, forking some bacon onto his plate as he passed the serving platter. And then a couple of sausage links. Aaron and Tonya VonBrandt had put out quite a spread.

“Yeah.”

“So, do you know where Adam is this morning?”

“It’s Friday, so he and my brother are probably on their way to Meg’s Bakery.” Miles took a big paper cup and filled it with coffee from the carafe at the end of the counter. He gestured to Ryan with the coffee. “You need Adam for something?”

“I need to talk to him about a girl.”

“Who? Deirdre?” Miles passed him the coffee cup and pulled out another, filling it, too. “Because I heard that was over.”

“No. A different girl.” Ryan took the coffee and sipped at it, reveling in the warm, dark liquid as it cascaded over his tongue. He was going to need caffeine to make it through the alpha summit.

“The blonde over there?” Miles lifted the end of his sentence. “I don’t think he’s interested. I would’ve heard about it.” He took his plate and started making his way toward the table near Kate.

Ryan held back, at first, not wanting to be anywhere within range of her piercing blue eyes. She’d taken up a conversation with her dark-haired cousin, who held a notebook and a pen, and was looking around the room like she was taking notes on everyone there.

“Good,” Ryan said, coming to stand beside Miles as the enforcer took a seat. He was at the other table, not near Kate, but if Ryan sat beside him, he would be facing her across two tables. He wasn’t interested.

Too much torture for a Friday morning.

He nodded at the enforcer and kept walking, heading for the dining room, where he knew there was another table. And maybe no people. That was what he was looking for, primarily. No people.

But when he entered the room through the large, dark double-doors, he found Aaron VonBrandt sitting at the big wooden table with Bracken. The two looked like they were deep in conversation, and Ryan froze in the doorway. He hadn’t heard anything. The men had been talking so quietly, they must have been trying to avoid detection. After all, it was a house full of supernatural hearing.

“Ah, Ryan. Just the person we want to see,” Aaron said, gesturing for him.

“I was just telling Aaron about your plans to reunite the pack.” Bracken sat back in his chair, stretching his arm across the back of an empty seat. “I think he approves.”

“I do.” The VonBrandt alpha stuffed a piece of sausage into his mouth and chewed heartily. “I admire what you’re trying to do, son.”

Ryan slid into a chair next to the Texan and took a long sip of his coffee. “Bracken and I have been looking at your pack structure for inspiration. I hope he told you that.”

“He did. Among other things.” Aaron waggled eyebrows at the older alpha and Bracken nodded. “Including the fact that you seem to have a mate pull with this Quade girl.”

All the air seemed to get sucked out of the room and Ryan nearly choked on his coffee. “What? How did you hear about that?”

“My little brother has a big mouth.” Aaron finished his sausage and sat back in his chair, regarding Ryan carefully. “He said there’s been some kerfuffle about Black Guardian and Kate Quade. I was hoping we could sort it out.”

He glanced over at his alpha, trying to take a cue from him, but Bracken was stone-faced. He was going to let Ryan play this one out on his own. The problem was, Ryan still had no idea how he should play it. He sighed. “And you also know that my pack won’t let me be alpha if I’m mate bonded.”

“I do. Stupid rule,” Aaron spat out, leaving no doubt as to his opinion. “And frankly, they don’t understand the role of alpha if they’re trying to make you do it on your own. An alpha is as much a father as he is a leader, and having a strong woman by his side only makes him better in both roles.” The alpha nodded at the door. “My wife has a more level head than I do sometimes, and she tethers me to reality when I start to feel the weight of the role. She’s a better alpha than I will ever be, and the pack is lucky to have her. Hell. I’m lucky to have her.”

Ryan let himself sit in that thought for a moment. What would he and Kate be like as an alpha team? It would be perfect. She was the upbeat yin to his serious yang. He had no doubt she would make him a better man than he would ever be alone.

But the pack would quite literally never accept it. And his only chance at creating reform from within was doing things their way.

“Anyway, they’re all idiots,” Aaron said with finality. “It was stupid of them to require that of Bracken. To make him choose between his pack and L—”

“Okay,” said Bracken in a dark tone. “That’s enough.”

“Well, it was different with Samuel,” said the VonBrandt alpha. “He was a happy bachelor. But you. And Ryan. You shouldn’t have to continue that tradition.”

“It’s the only way we can keep them united. We’ve learned that over the years, despite what some people think,” Bracken insisted, hiding a veiled reference to Ryan’s father in that sentence. “Trust me when I say that I tried.”

“I know you did.” Aaron waved a hand. “That’s all in the past. Laura went on to have a good life. She has a great husband and children who love her. But will the same thing happen with Kate Quade? I don’t know.”

Ryan’s brows came together and he stared at his alpha, whose jaw was twitching under his stubble. Ryan had never heard of this Laura before. Had Bracken given up his Fated mate to become alpha?

“Is there anything we can do about it?” Bracken asked, not meeting Ryan’s eyes. He clearly didn’t want to talk about Laura, and Ryan didn’t blame him. Looking forward thirty years, he could see himself in Bracken’s shoes. He would feel the same way. It awed him to think that Bracken had managed to avoid the mate pull when he was so young. He’d become alpha at twenty. If Ryan had met Kate ten years ago, he would already have had her up against a wall somewhere.

Or on the ground.

Or in a bed.

Or in her truck.

He was the Sam I Am of sex positions. He’d take her anywhere.

“Short of mating the two of them against their will, there’s nothing we can do about Ryan and Kate,” Aaron said.

But Ryan balked at that thought. He didn’t like the idea of Kate having to do anything against her will. Least of all be mated to someone. Even if that someone was him.

“So, there is something we can do about Kate?” Bracken asked.

The Texas alpha shrugged, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head. He looked up at the ceiling. “If it’s just a question of getting her away from the Quades, then I can fix that. I’m happy to take her pledge to my pack.”

“But then what would happen to her?” said Ryan, trying to calm the roiling inside. They were so close to a solution.

“She could live here. Work here. Be part of my pack. And you wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not she’s protected.” Aaron shrugged. “If you don’t want to give up the alpha job—which, after Bracken told me what you have planned, I understand—and you don’t trust Quade to leave her alone, then that might be the only option.”

“It might work,” Bracken said. “It all depends on the woman, of course. How much she wants to honor the mate pull. How much she…” He trailed off and his eyes went dark. Ryan felt the air shift around them, like Bracken was struggling to control his magick. It happened occasionally with the big, broody alpha, but Ryan had learned to ignore it.

Only now, he finally understood the source of Bracken’s agitation. And he saw the same fate ahead for himself. If he couldn’t ignore the fact that Kate was his Fated mate after less than twenty-four hours, then there was no way he’d ever be able to ignore it as more time passed.

“Laura was different,” Aaron chimed in, taking a sip from his coffee cup. “This would have a time limit on it.”

“I really think he can do it in five years,” Bracken said with a nod. “He has the leadership skills, the respect of the pack, the business acumen. He learned a lot from running our rodeo team, and he’s got an MBA from Oklahoma.”

Aaron’s brows went up. “Smart kid. I only got my MBA after I realized what it was going to take to run this energy company. You’re a step ahead of where I was at your age.”

“Five years for what?” Ryan asked.

“You leave Kate with me for five years, you run your pack, and I’ll help you with the transition for the ranch business. I’ll get my little brother, Adam, to help as well. He’s already planning to sell you Black Guardian. That should set you up for all the plans you have with the breeding.”

Ryan shook his head. All this information was coming at him so fast, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Adam was going to sell Black Guardian. That meant that Kate had gotten him to do it. And Bracken had promised her that job…

“What are you going to do about your promise?” he asked his alpha. “If Kate convinced Adam to sell the horse…”

“Aaron will give her a job here.”

The Somewhere alpha nodded. “You need a wolf in your office, we’ll send you someone from our pack. That’s what we do for pack in the VonBrandt family.” Aaron’s voice was firm, resolute. Just like an alpha’s should be.

“So, we get the horse, and Kate gets a job.” Bracken clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “You get to be alpha, you’ll know your mate is safe, and when the time is right, you get to be with her. Problem solved.”

“Assuming she goes for all this.” Aaron raised a dark brow. “I think you can convince her.”

Ryan let out a long breath. This was what he’d wanted all along. He could have everything he wanted—for himself and for Kate. All he had to do was wait. It was a relief that the plan would allow him to be with Kate at some point. The mate pull was overwhelming, and he’d felt empty ever since he’d seen her in that bar with Julian and Adam and the handsy cowboy. He’d wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off into the sunset.

His responsibilities had kept him from doing that, but now he’d be able to give both of them what they wanted. Not immediately, but someday. If she really believed in Fate, she’d be willing to wait.

So…why did he still feel so anxious?

He tried to smile at the two expectant alphas. They’d helped him reclaim his life. He’d have to find Kate and explain things to her. Tell her they’d figured out a solution.

A few minutes later, Ryan left the dining room in a daze, feeling like a year had passed since he’d entered it.

Aaron had sent him out to find Kate, and explain the plan to her, before the all-alpha meeting that would continue to address the problem of the unbonded wolf. As the almost-alpha, it was his job to be in that meeting.

The first person he saw outside was the dark-haired Quade girl with her notebook, bumping into one of the VonBrandt enforcers. The other West Virginia wolf. Lee. She had a quick exchange with him, then made a note in her notebook with a sad face.

What in the world was she doing?

Ryan approached her, nodding at Lee as he continued on toward the big, red barn. The Quade girl set her eyes on Ryan and approached him, sticking out her hand.

“Helena Quade,” she said, brows up like she was expecting something.

“Ryan Travis,” he said as he shook her hand.

She looked down at her notebook and frowned. “Oh, never mind. I already crossed you off.”

“Crossed me off what?”

“Nothing.” She pulled the notebook to her chest. “Are you looking for Kate?”

He let out a long breath and looked around the yard. Does everyone in all four packs know about us? “Yeah. You seen her?”

“She’s in the barn.” Helena pointed behind them. Lee was walking around the big structure and going in through one of the back doors. “Julian VonBrandt took her back there. Oh, that reminds me.” She opened her notebook again and made a quick slash mark on something, like she was crossing a word off a list. “Julian is a no.”

“A no, what?” Ryan raised a brow.

“Is your brother around, by any chance?”

“I haven’t seen him.” Ryan glanced around the big yard. There were a few pockets of people, some by the pond, some near the house, and he didn’t see Beau anywhere. “You want to cross him off your list, too?”

“Thanks,” she said, nervously, ignoring his question. “Like I said, Kate’s in the barn with her new fiancé.”

Ryan’s jaw dropped and his breath stopped. “Her…what?”

“Yeah, that was fast.” Helena shook her head, glancing toward the barn. “Here I thought she was into you, and that’s why I crossed you off my list. But it turns out…”

Ryan didn’t hear anything after that. His wolf went black with rage. He stalked away from the little Texas wolf and tried to hold back the tide. But he couldn’t. There was a rip as his clothes tore apart and his wolf came out.