Bella dressed in one of her new outfits from her shopping trip with Kash on Monday—a pair of floral leggings and a short-sleeved top in olive that just covered the tops of her thighs. She braided her hair and put on a new pair of flats. Kash had insisted on getting her a week’s worth of clothes and undergarments, plus hair and makeup supplies to round out the few things she’d packed for the night she’d planned to stay with Kinley.

She really wished she’d been able to just take him to Rhone and at least pack up her stuff, but after her chat with Chris Sunday afternoon, she knew she wasn’t welcome in town. She hoped her parents would accept Kash in time, but after hearing what Alpha Jason had to say about his conversation with her grandpa, she had a feeling it would be a long while before she heard from either parent.

She had reached out to Grandpa Jake by text Sunday night after having dinner with Kash’s parents, Logan and Jenna. Her grandpa had been so sweet and happy for her, not only that she’d found her truemate but also her wolf.

Dad’s really pissed.

It’ll work out honey.

How can you be sure?

Because I know your dad and he may have had a plan for your life, and be pissed that your mate is from Allen, but he loves you and he’ll come around. It may just take a while for him to get his head out of his ass.

She’d sent a few laughing emojis. I want you to meet Kash but I don’t know how that will happen.

Let’s not worry about that right now. We can always video chat so I can give him a proper threatening to treat you like a queen.

Grandpa!

I’m kidding. Kind of. Listen, honey, don’t worry, okay? Just enjoy getting to know your truemate and know that I love you dearly, and Grandma Renee would definitely be over the moon to know you’ve found a fae male for a truemate. She always thought fae were so cool.

I miss her.

Me too, honey. Love you.

I love you too.

While texting with her grandpa had filled in some of the aching void in her heart at not having contact with her family, it hadn’t been quite as nice as if her parents had congratulated her on her mating. Like the way Logan and Jenna had greeted her so warmly and made her feel like part of the family right away.

“Baby, you ready to go?” Kash called from the family room.

“Yep.” She grabbed her phone from the dresser and walked out of the bedroom. He was dressed in his security uniform—black pants and fitted black polo with a patch on the sleeve denoting he was part of the pack’s security force. He looked…amazing. Sexy as hell. Delicious.

His eyes flashed amber and he let out a soft growl as she neared him. He snagged her around the waist and pulled her close, dropping his head to the crux of her neck and inhaling.

“You smell amazing,” he said gruffly. “Now what kind of sexy thoughts are getting you all worked up?”

She giggled and then moaned softly as he kissed his way slowly to her ear, tugging gently on the lobe. “You look sexy in your uniform.”

“You saw me in my uniform yesterday,” he pointed out. He kissed down her jaw and then brushed his lips against hers.

“I thought you looked sexy yesterday too,” she said. “I must have been able to reign in my sexy thoughts.”

“Hell, baby, don’t do that. I love knowing you’re turned on. It turns me on.”

“You have to go to work.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and went onto her toes, chasing his lips until she caught him with a kiss. He growled again, and a shiver slipped down her spine. “That is not fair,” he said as he tugged her more firmly against himself, his erection pressing into her stomach.

“I can’t help it that you’re sexy and my wolf really digs you in uniform.” She grinned at him.

“Well, the end of the day already can’t come fast enough.” He sighed deeply, gave her another kiss, and let go of her. “Be sure to have a big lunch. Dinner will be very late.”

She grinned. “You got it.”

They left the house and headed toward the alphas’ home. She was excited to finally get to meet his sister, London, who’d spent the weekend with her best friend Lyric in Ashland. Lyric was getting married in May, and London was her maid of honor and made frequent trips to Indiana to help with preparations for the big day. And she also got to hang out with the four young fae females that the alphas had taken in when they were orphaned, the youngest—a dragonfae—was hunted for her unique dual nature of dragon and fairy.

“Do you like being a security guard?” she asked.

“Sure. I actually did a stint in the fae military the summer after I graduated high school so I could really hone my sword skills. I was tempted to go all-in with the military like Crimson, one of the pack members, but I didn’t want to move to the Fae Realm full time.”

“You like it in this realm better?”

“Well, I like electricity,” he said with a laugh. “I do love it there, and I want to take you so you can meet my grandparents, but I never really wanted to stay there.” He paused and then said, “We’ve not really talked about you staying here in Allen with me.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I keep hoping to hear from my dad. But the truth is, even if he comes to accept you as my mate, the pack laws won’t allow you to be part of things and I’d have to leave anyway. It seems like I’m homeless and packless right now.”

“You’re not homeless. Everything I have is yours, including the house.”

She smiled at him. His gray eyes sparkled silver in the sunlight. “I keep wishing things were different, but if they were, you and I might never have met and I don’t want to entertain that thought at all.”

“Me either. I used to wish I was all wolf or all fae, but then I wouldn’t be who I am.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re officially moved in, then?”

“Well, I don’t have anything to move into the house, but yeah,” she said, chuckling. “It’s not like I had a ton of stuff anyway, but I do have a collection of lighthouses I’d love to have.”

“You like lighthouses? Like the statues?”

“Pretty much anything with lighthouses on it. I have a really cool stained glass one that a local artist made, plus some paintings and statutes and magnets. If it has a lighthouse on it, I probably have it.”

“Soap?”

“Yep.”

“Shit, really?”

She laughed. “Yes. I have lighthouse-shaped soaps plus a regular bar of soap made by a company with a lighthouse for a logo. You can’t stump me, I promise.”

He grinned. “Let’s just hope that you’ll be able to get your collection at some point, but in the meantime, we can redecorate the house. It’s not like I had all that much stuff anyway.”

“I’d love that. Thank you for being so sweet to me.”

“We’re truemates, Bella. How else would I be?”

She smiled as he turned his attention back to the road. He was definitely sexy and sweet, but he was funny and kind too. He was really the whole package, complete with amazing fae powers that she couldn’t begin to understand. And even though it was very early in their relationship, and they’d only known each other a couple days, she was definitely falling hard for him.

If she’d traipsed down the path her dad wanted, picking a wolf male who didn’t even like her to be her mate, her life would have been difficult and loveless. With Kash, she had everything she’d ever wanted in a male and more.

“When can we go to the Fae Realm?” she asked.

“I portal-called my grandparents while you were cleaning up this morning and they said we could come to dinner tomorrow night if you’re game.”

“Sounds perfect. Do I need to know anything about the Fae Realm besides the lack of electricity?”

“Well, have you ever seen a pink horse?”

As Kash regaled her with a story about his mom’s best friend’s colorful horses, Bella decided that she wasn’t going to worry about her family and pack. She couldn’t force them to accept her mating, any more than she could ask the moon to change color.

When they reached the alphas’ house, a beautiful blonde stood on the front porch with a young female, the two talking animatedly.

“Hey, big brother,” the blonde female said.

Kash opened Bella’s door for her. “Hey, London.”

They walked up to the front porch and Kash introduced Bella to his sister and the dragonfae, Juniper.

London gave Bella a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you. I can’t believe I missed this full moon and it’s the one my big bro gets his mate! How awesome.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Bella said. London’s smile was infectious.

Juniper tilted her face up to Bella and said, “Your aura is really pretty. Love and happiness.”

London grinned. “Oooh, love is in the air, peeps.”

Bella’s cheeks heated in a blush. “Is the aura thing a fairy thing or a dragon thing?”

“Both,” Kash said. “But a fae has to purposely focus on an aura to see it, it’s not like I walked around knowing you were falling for me.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek and whispered, “Like I’m falling for you.”

Swoon.

Like genuinely, Bella wanted to fall onto a fainting couch like a damsel in the 1800s.

“Ugh it’s getting too romantic out here. Come on, kid, let’s let them say goodbye in peace. I don’t need to be traumatized seeing my brother kiss his mate.”

“See you inside, Bella,” Juniper said.

Bella turned to Kash and hugged him, chuckling at the conversation on the porch. She tilted her head up to look at him. “I feel really lucky to have you in my life, Kash. And I’m definitely falling for you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life, like everything was on pause until we met. Falling for you isn’t quite the right word, I feel like I’m dive bombing for you,” Kash said.

“What? Dive bombing doesn’t sound very romantic,” Bella said.

“No, wait, trust me.” He lifted a hand in the air, then let it fall as he said in a purposely echoey voice, “I’m crazy about you, Bella.” Then he added an “Aaaahhh,” before making an explosive sound.

He stared at her in triumph, as if asking for her to confirm that it was, in fact, very romantic to dive bomb someone.

“No.” She shook her head. “Falling for someone is far more romantic than dive bombing for someone. That’s…not even a thing!”

He pulled her close with a laugh. “I have to run. I’ll dive bomb you later.”

He leaped from the porch and landed soundly on the grass. “See, now that just sounds dirty.”

With a wave and a sexy grin, he got behind the wheel and she watched him back out of the driveway, then she turned and headed into the house. Kash kept her on her toes. And she loved every second of it.

* * *

Chris Sullivan, son of the alpha, future alpha himself, paced in the barn, his boots echoing among the old farm equipment. Four of his friends, males he’d known his whole life, lounged around the barn and listened to him bitch about the situation with his sister.

“My dad’s just so pissed at her,” Chris said. He stopped pacing and faced his friends.

He’d waited so long to be included in their circle and now, finally, he could actually call them friends. They’d welcomed him to their ranks, excited for his future as the alpha which, while it wouldn’t happen for a long time, was still something to be excited about.

“Of course he’s pissed,” Carver, the oldest of the group said from where he twirled a piece of hay between his finger and thumb and leaned against the huge tire of a tractor. Carver was ten years older than Chris, the leader of the small group of males. Chris could actually see Carver as a great second-in-command of the pack when he took over as alpha.

Gage, who was Chris’s age, nodded vigorously. “Your sister went against him. He laid out a perfectly good mating arrangement for her and she spit in his face. The whole pack knows about it. The whole pack.”

“She didn’t really spit in his face,” Chris said.

“Sure she did,” Erich said. He and Carver were cousins and both high ranked within their generation.

Chris wasn’t technically ranked because he was the next-in-line. If he was being honest, he wouldn’t have been able to take either of them in a fight. They were imposing as humans, and their wolves were big as well.

Chris waved a hand toward them. “There’s nothing I can do about it. She’s found her truemate.”

“That’s just romantic bullshit females like to spout,” Gage said. “There’s really no such thing.”

“What you need to do, is get her back here in the pack and behaving how a female should,” Carver said.

Chris stared at the older male. “You mean call her home?”

“No,” Erich said, drawling the word out. He gave Chris a feral smile. “She was told to come home, you said it yourself that she refused. So you have to force her hand.”

“How?”

The males exchanged quiet looks, then Weston, who’d been silent up to this point, spoke up. “You need to call for the male she says is her mate to be abducted.”

“What?” Chris asked. He was a little speechless. Abduct her mate?

Carver let out an irritated sigh. “Listen, she won’t come home because of her mate, right? So take him out of the equation. You abduct him, tell her to come home or he’ll die, and she’ll definitely run home and toe the line like she’s supposed to.”

“Plus,” Gage said, “the pack thinks your dad is weak as hell right now. He can’t even get his own daughter to mate who he wants. You wouldn’t want someone to take over the pack, would you?”

“No one could take my dad out,” Chris said. “Besides I’ve got his back.”

“Well sure,” Gage said, tilting his head slightly. “But some people might see your dad’s weakness as a way in, and you never really know what an unhinged person will do when they see the opportunity.”

“Let’s get this male out of Bella’s life for good and make sure she’s home where she belongs,” Carver said.

Chris mulled that over for a moment. Could he really do that? Hell, he’d never done anything super aggressive like that. He knew it was in his family line to be leaders, that being alpha was his birthright, but did that mean he should interfere?

Erich put his hand on Chris’s shoulder. “Listen, bro, she’s misguided. He’s a fairy and he’s probably used a spell on her to keep her where he wants her. She’s deluded into thinking they belong together, and it’s your job as the future alpha to help her see the light.”

Chris looked around the old barn at the males he’d wanted to be friends with for so long. Now that he finally was in their inner circle, he felt like he could do anything.

“I’ve never done something like this before,” he said.

“We’ll help,” Carver said.

The others nodded.

They stood and joined him and Erich, and they all began talking at once. Something gnawed in Chris’s gut, like maybe this wasn’t the right choice, but it had to be. He hated seeing his dad disrespected in the eyes of the pack, and what if they were right and she wasn’t really truemates with that Kash guy? She’d never told Chris to fuck off before, but now that she met Kash she was all free and breezy with the f-bombs.

“All right,” Chris said, ignoring the worry that plagued him. “How do we do this?”