Micah was back in his childhood bedroom on Friday night, which was a place he never thought he’d be. His parents had taken over his grandparents’ home after they were mated so his grandma and grandpa could move into the retirement community in town. Jessi wasn’t living at the house anymore, she’d moved in with London after Lyric moved to Ashland.

There was a knock at the open door and Micah looked up to see his dad.

“Hey, ready for your bachelor hunt?”

“I am. Just feeling bummed about not being with Zoey tonight. I hate this tradition.”

“I did too. It’s tough to be without your truemate after you’re mated, even though the wolf likes to keep with traditions.”

His wolf was actually insisting that he go find out what Zoey was up to and maybe tumble in the sheets with her.

But the rule of thumb was twenty-four hours apart ahead of the mating ceremony. He’d get to see her in the clearing when they declared each other mates in front of the pack. And then he’d get to go out for a hunt again.

The day was going to fucking drag, though.

Micah pushed himself to standing and sighed. “Let’s go hunt. Maybe my wolf will be happy to chase something fun.”

“Well, you can hope for that. In the meantime, your mom has a huge to-do list for you and me to tackle tomorrow. I think she saved up a bunch of stuff just for this.”

“Anything to pass the time.”

And he meant it.

He already hated the thought of coming back to go to bed alone, then waking up alone, and spending the achingly long hours alone. If he had to do chores for his mom to make the hours go by, he’d do it happily.

“Hey Aunt Cades,” he said as he came into the kitchen and saw her seated at the kitchen table with his mom.

He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey kiddo. Good luck hunting.”

“Thanks. I just want to pass the time.”

She laughed. “All the males say that.”

“Be safe and have fun,” Micah’s mom said.

He kissed her cheek and said, “I will.”

“I’ll make your favorite breakfast tomorrow. And then I’ve got a honey-do list for you and your dad.”

“I heard,” he said. “Breakfast sounds awesome.”

He walked out of the kitchen as his parents said goodbye to each other. He inhaled the night air and rolled his neck. His wolf was antsy, but it wasn’t for the hunt ahead it was because he missed Zoey.

“How does a female get under your skin so fast?” he asked his dad when he joined him.

Michael slapped his shoulder. “That’s a question for the ages, my boy. No one knows, but they’re very good at it. As far as my wolf is concerned, your mom walks on water. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

Micah nodded. “Let’s go get our hunt on.”

They joined the group of males in the clearing who were going out on the bachelor hunt. The firepit—freshly cleaned, dug out, and relined with rocks—looked great. There were even fresh logs for people to sit on around the edge of the wide clearing.

He greeted his Uncle Jason, and the other high-ranked males: Linus, Bo, and Logan. All Micah’s friends were there: Bram, Gideon, Luke, and Remy along with several other unmated males.

Kash came over to him. “I wanted to wish you a good bachelor hunt. I’d normally go for a run with you to celebrate, but John called off for a family thing and Lennox is by himself at the retirement community’s guard station so I said I’d fill in.”

“No worries, thanks for being here.”

“Sure thing.”

Kash walked away from the clearing and Micah turned to the others, greeting them all by name and thanking them for coming.

Jason said, “Micah we’re so happy you found your truemate. Tonight is going to suck—twenty-four hours without your truemate in your arms is a hard test for a male. But it’ll be tomorrow night soon enough, I promise. Now, we’re going to do a full-blown hunt—all the way to the far edges of the territory and then running the entire perimeter. We’ll see what game we can rustle up. Good luck!”

The group stripped and shifted. Micah shook himself out and stretched. It always felt good to be in his shift, like a part of him had been caged and was now free.

He was immediately tempted to race to Zoey and scratch at the door like a puppy, but he knew that none of the wolves with him would let him get far if that was his plan. So he’d focus on hunting.

Somewhere out in the woods was some game just for him tonight, and he was going to find it.

* * *

Saturday night couldn’t come fast enough for Zoey. She’d hated every second away from Micah, and had secretly hoped he’d show up at some point and say “rules be damned” and sex her up.

But nope. She’d gone to bed alone and woken up alone.

It had taken some convincing, but Rena finally agreed to come to the ceremony. Zoey had definitely pulled out all the stops to convince her bestie to show up.

Michael’s mom Shyne, along with his sister, Jessi had shown up at five to help her get ready.

“So you wore this top?” Zoey asked as she lifted the stretchy, black corset from the bed.

“Yep,” Shyne said. “Cades wore it for hers and gave it to me. I never had anything to pass down to Jessi from my parents, but this is like a family heirloom now.”

Jessi’s brow arched. “Really, Mom? Your family heirloom is a skin-tight corset?”

Shyne grinned. “Totally. And you’ll definitely be wearing it when you mate your truemate.”

Jessi sighed deeply. “Yeah, yeah. That’s not happening anytime soon, I don’t think.”

“I thought you were going to some kind of wolfy get together? Micah mentioned it,” Zoey said.

“The Jubilee was supposed to be in September, but the venue canceled and they had to find something else. Now it’s in November.”

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed you’ll find your truemate there,” Shyne said.

“We’ll see,” Jessi said. “I don’t care where I meet him, just that I do meet him, sooner rather than later.”

Zoey smiled and carried the corset and black leggings into the master bathroom and shut the door.

She and Micah had worked so hard to get the master bedroom ready for their first night together, first helping Luke pack up and move, and then cleaning every inch. She loved the room—it was a perfect oasis for them, from the king bed to the two dressers, to the bathroom that she’d decorated in her favorite scheme of nautical; from the matching towels to the soap dispenser shaped like a lighthouse.

Stripping, she put on the buttery soft leggings and corset, which fit her curves like a glove. She’d been told to put her hair up at the sides, so she quickly twisted it away from her face and clipped it at the back.

Taking a step back, she looked at herself and smiled. She opened the door and Shyne clapped.

“You look amazing! Micah’s so lucky to have such a beautiful mate.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving her a hug. “I guess you’re my mom-in-law now. Or do we have to wait until we’re married?”

“Nope, it’s all good. We became family the moment you two mated. The ceremony tonight is symbolic for the pack and makes you an honorary member. Just so you know, the original outfit was a scandalously tiny miniskirt. Michael said that he hated seeing me in the corset and skirt like that and so I tossed it. I figured your generation is all about leggings anyway.”

“It’s perfect. I love the outfit. I feel really daring, since it’s not what I’m used to wearing.” She sat on the bed and put her black canvas shoes on. “I can’t wait for the ceremony, but I’ll miss him when he goes out to hunt afterward with the pack.”

“You can hang with us. Aunt Cades said the girls wanted to make slime and asked if I’d help. You can help me. I don’t want to be stuck cleaning up the mess,” Jessi said.

“That sounds fun. I’ve never made slime before. The girls are really sweet.”

“Did Micah tell you how they came to be with the pack?” Jessi asked.

Zoey nodded. “He did. It’s so sad and scary what they went through.”

“They’re safe now, though. We’ve got several magical people in the pack and no one with an ounce of sense would mess with people under our pack’s protection. It’s suicide.”

“I’m glad. They’re too young to be treated like that. I’m really not a fan of the Fae Realm, even though I’ve never been there.”

“We aren’t either,” Shyne said, “but we don’t have to go there so it’s not a big deal. Only people from the Fae Realm can actually open a portal and go there, and the girls are safely hidden with us thanks to some powerful magic.” She looked at her watch. “All right, we’ve got about a half hour before we can head over. When we’re on the way, they’ll make sure Micah is at the clearing and we can go into the house.”

“I could go for a drink and maybe a snack?” Jessi asked hopefully.

“Sure thing,” Zoey said.

They headed into the kitchen, and she put out a quick spread of water crackers and hummus and opened a package of double chocolate chip cookies. The three sat at the kitchen table with iced tea and ate.

“Where’s your friend?” Jessi asked swiping a cracker through the hummus.

“She said she’d meet me there,” Zoey said. “I’m honestly not sure she’s going to come. She’s been acting so weird lately.”

“I heard that Luke’s a mess,” Shyne said. “It would be hard for a wolf not to be able to be with their truemate. If they are in fact mates.”

“I totally understand that,” Zoey said, rubbing the space over her heart. “I miss Micah terribly.”

“I’d say it gets better once you’re officially mated,” Shyne said, “but the truth is that I miss Michael when we’re not together. I think that’s the bond of truemates.”

“I can’t wait until I’m mated,” Jessi said.

“November isn’t too far away,” Shyne said.

“True,” Jessi said.

They helped her clean up the few dishes they’d used, and then they left for the ceremony. She texted Rena and asked once more if she’d show up.

I’m worried about you. And I miss my bestie!

There wasn’t an answer from her, and it made Zoey’s heart break a little bit.

She got a text from her mom as they pulled into the driveway of the alphas’ home.

Wish we were there to support you. We’re so happy for this new and exciting chapter of your life.

Thanks, I wish you were here too!

We’ll bring you both souvenirs from the trip. Enjoy your night, honey. Love you!

See you next week. Love you too!

She checked to see if Rena had texted but she hadn’t. With a sigh, she turned off the phone and got out of the car.

“I’m sorry she’s not here,” Jessi said, giving her a one-armed hug. “I know it’s not the same, but I’m here for you, Sis.”

“You’re so sweet, thank you.” She returned the hug. “Sis.”

“Let’s get the night going,” Shyne said. “You’ve got a date with your truemate.”

“Lead the way,” Zoey said.