Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Her spine straightened a fraction. He felt it where she sat on his lap, warm and solid and very real.
“This pack needs to move forward,” he said. “We need someone organized. Logical. Someone who actually cares about every single person here, not just tradition and dominance.” His gaze locked on hers. “That’s you.”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “No, that’s not me.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No,” she insisted. “I’m not built for that.”
Man, she really wasn’t getting him. “Baby, I’m archaic, and I know it. The trials and challenges actually make sense to me, although I’ll keep my promise to change the laws. But my instincts? I want to mate you, lock the gates, and keep everyone safe right here.” His gut twisted. “The idea of sending our pack kids out into the world terrifies me. I want them here and safe.”
“That’s no way for a pack to survive,” she murmured. “We can’t trap them here the way we’ve done for generations. Other packs are modernizing. We need to keep up by using the right systems and technology. We can grow our own sustainable food.” Her eyes sharpened. “We need computers. Real ones. So we can plan and farm the land. The kids can learn how to do this out in the world and then come back to make the pack even stronger.”
The roiling in his chest quieted. “Exactly,” he said. “Name one person who could do that better than you.”
She tried to lean away, but he didn’t let her. He kept her right there, facing him, close enough that he could feel her breath shift as her thoughts clicked into place. “Well,” she said slowly, “I am organized.”
“And?”
“I plan,” she admitted. “I think ahead.”
“And you already thought about the land.”
Her eyes lit instantly. “I did.” She leaned forward again, animated now. “If you look at the four territories of the Stope Pack Coalition together, there are places where farming could connect them. Not everywhere. The mountains block some routes. But enough that it becomes shared. Cooperative.”
He watched her, intrigue and an odd pride wandering through him.
“It’d strengthen alliances,” she continued. “Encourage movement between packs. The members would know each other. Rely on each other.”
“We need that,” he said.
She fell quiet for a moment, still perched on his lap, still obviously thinking. “I agree,”
“So how do we make this happen?” He wasn’t used to asking how. He usually decided and acted. But sitting there with her on his lap, the weight of everything pressing on him, he knew he couldn’t just bulldoze forward this time.
She didn’t answer right away. She watched him, head tilted slightly, like she was cataloging the moment. That silence stretched for several beats.
Finally, he broke it. “I don’t want to do this alone.” It was the truth and he was done pretending otherwise. “I don’t want to carry the pack on my back without someone steady beside me.”
Her breathing evened out. He noticed everything about her right now. The way her fingers rested against his chest. The faint tension in her shoulders. The way she didn’t pull away.
“You’re asking me,” she said.
“Yes.” No hesitation. “I am.”
He tightened his hold when she exhaled, not even realizing he’d done it until she stilled again. He wanted her close. Needed her close. Losing her to an enemy had stripped something raw in him, and the idea of doing any of this without her felt wrong in a way he couldn’t explain. “This pack needs more than muscle,” he said. “It needs structure. Planning. Someone who gives a damn about the people living in it. Someone who sees past the next threat.”
Her mouth curved slightly, and he wondered if she was about to argue.
“You can do that,” he said before she could. “You already are.”
She leaned back just enough to look at him fully, and he didn’t let her go any farther. He liked her right where she was. Solid. Real. Warm.
“I’m not built for that,” he added. “I enforce. I hold the line. I break what needs breaking.” His voice dropped. “You build.”
She didn’t deny it.
“I’m not asking you to fight,” he said. “Not because you can’t. Because you shouldn’t have to.” At the flicker of something in her eyes, he amended, “I don’t need the best fighter beside me. I need someone who’ll stop me when I get too rigid.”
Her lips twitched. “A Brillo pad’s softer than you.”
“That’s my point.” The humor eased something tight in his chest. He adjusted his weight, painfully aware of how close she was, how easily he could lose focus if he let himself.
“And Taryn?” Nadia asked.
“I respect her,” he said immediately. “I’d trust her to work as an enforcer, but I don’t want her as my mate.” No games. No hesitation.
Nadia nodded once. “You’d better tell her that.”
“I did,” he replied. “I told her I wasn’t playing around.”