Chapter 13
ROWAN
The more time that passes after the biting, the more I realize nothing will ever be the same again.
And I’m perfectly okay with that.
Cade is everywhere within me now. Hell, his voice is even in my head. Though, after the way I jumped the first time he did it, we’re easing into that perk.
I thought I understood the bond before, thought I knew what it meant to feel him at the edge of my awareness, but I was so very wrong.
This is deeper, quieter, and constant.
I feel his love like warmth beneath my ribs. His protectiveness is like a shield wrapped around my chest. His fear, softer and more hidden, but there all the same, threaded through, like a promise he’s terrified of breaking.
There’s so much there to process… I should be overwhelmed.
Instead, I close my eyes and sink into him.
I told you so, Wolf boasts. You could have had this weeks ago.
Maybe, I admit. But this happened exactly when it was supposed to.
For once, she doesn’t argue.
Especially not when Cade’s arm snakes around my waist, pulling me back against him like he needs the contact as much as I do.
“Good morning, beautiful.” His beard brushes my shoulder, rough and warm and familiar. “How are you feeling?”
I grin before I can stop myself. “You already know the answer to that question.”
He lights up like a kid on Christmas. “Yes, but it doesn’t mean I won’t still check with you.”
Gods, it would be so easy to drown in him.
“I’m better than I think I’ve ever been,” I tell him, reaching back to sweep his hair out of his eyes.
“I have you. I have family I never thought I’d get to know.
I have my mom back.” My throat tightens just enough to remind me how fragile that still feels.
“It feels like a dream I refuse to wake up from.”
Cade presses a kiss to the side of my head. “Good thing you don’t have to, and as much as I don’t want to either, we should get up.”
I make a soft, protesting noise when he starts to slide out of bed, but he turns back long enough to run his hand down my arm, grounding me.
The room still smells like us. Like sex and skin and something new and permanent woven through the air.
And I know deep down that no matter what waits outside this room, I’m not walking into it alone anymore.
Even still, I’m not eager to face reality.
Malrik is still out there.
We technically don’t have a home after walking away from the pack.
And life, inconveniently, refuses to stop life-ing.
“What’s first on the agenda?” I ask, pushing myself upright as Cade moves toward the closet.
He chuckles, disappearing into the shadows. “Being grateful this house is smarter than I gave it credit for.”
He steps back into view a second later with an outfit already in hand. “I might miss always having clean clothes when we leave here.”
“Yeah, you might,” I say, smirking. “I hate laundry.”
Once he’s dressed, he comes back to the side of the bed, expression softening when I look up at him.
“Then I’ll make sure to love it enough for both of us.”
I groan, throwing my head back dramatically. “You’re going to ruin me.”
“That’s the plan,” he says easily. “Every day. For the rest of our very long lives.”
Then he glances out the window.
The shift in him is immediate.
Subtle, if you don’t know him.
Impossible to miss now that I’m bonded to him.
“The elder wolves are here,” he says quietly. “Elias just reached out. He’s with them.”
Every warm, safe feeling inside me tightens into alert focus.
“Is the pack okay?”
Cade nods once. “They want to talk to me. Caleb and Jonah are there too.”
I’m moving before he finishes the sentence, heading straight for the closet. “Then let’s go see what they want.”
But in that same minute, Cade’s stress has climbed high enough that I can feel it pressing against my lungs.
I grab both of his hands before we step out of the bedroom.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell him firmly. “Whatever they have to say, we handle it together.”
“I know,” he says.
Maybe he does.
But the bond doesn’t lie.
He’s bracing for impact.
That’s okay.
I’ll keep reminding him he doesn’t have to stand on his own anymore.
And that’s a job I’m more than willing to take on.
The hallway outside our room is quiet in that heavy, morning-after-a-storm way. The manor feels…aware. Like it’s watching us leave and possibly even sending hugs.
Cade’s hand stays at the small of my back as we move toward the front doors. Not possessive or controlling, but anchoring. More so for him than me.
When we get downstairs, Liz is there, headed for the exit as well. Her smile is so wide it almost looks unnatural on her.
Relief punches through me before she even speaks.
“I was just coming to find you,” Liz says, turning toward us. “Jocelyn’s doing incredible. She’s stronger this morning than we expected. We’ll probably pull her off the IVs soon. Give it another hour or two, and she’ll be free to mom everyone around again.”
My chest loosens in a way I didn’t realize it still needed to.
“Thank you,” I say, voice filled with emotion.
If the elders weren’t here, Mom would have been my first stop, but I don’t say that out loud.
Liz nods, still glowing. “I almost forgot how tough she is. I’m being reminded of where you get your strength from.”
Cade shifts beside me. “Rowan,” he says softly, “you don’t have to come with me. You can go to your mom.”
I don’t even hesitate to shake my head.
“I will just as soon as we’re done outside,” I say, turning toward him with ease, “My mom isn’t going anywhere. Plus, she has my dad. I’m certain he hasn’t left her bedside.”
“Oh, absolutely not,” Liz chuckles. “Even when Jocelyn demanded space, that man looked like he might physically attach himself to her if she tried to make him leave.”
More importantly—and what I don’t voice to Cade—I refuse to let my mate be alone now.
“See?” I smile up at him. “I’m staying with you.”
Something warm and fierce settles through the bond, Cade’s gratitude brushing against my ribs like a second heartbeat.
He nods once, and together we make our way outside.
Morning light filters through the towering pines surrounding NightShade, mist still clinging low to the forest floor. The air smells clean.
Cade leads the way, following the instinctive pull of his pack, and I make a mental note to figure out when I’ll officially have access to that pull, too.
I assumed it would happen when we bonded. But since I feel nothing beyond Cade, I take that to mean the pack stuff will come later. Well, assuming we return to Solara.
The elders wait at the tree line.
Elias stands with them, arms crossed, posture rigid but steady. Caleb and Jonah flank him, both looking tired but alive.
Relief flickers through me, fast and sharp. Caleb nearly died helping us last night and I hadn’t given him a second thought once we got back here with my mom.
The elders straighten as we approach, their attention locking onto Cade first, then me.
Cade doesn’t slow. He just walks forward like he already knows where he stands.
Like he doesn’t need them to say a single thing.
I keep pace beside him, my shoulder brushing his.
Elias gestures to each of them, likely on my behalf. “This is Harlan, Graham, and Bennett.”
I follow his gestures, noting each elder.
Graham steps forward first—older, silver at the temples, same golden eyes as the others.
“Thank you for seeing us,” he says. “I’m sure you’d like to know why we’ve shown up now.”
Silence stretches.
Cade doesn’t fill it.
Good.
Graham nods once, like he expected that.
“Caleb and Jonah arrived at Solara just after midnight,” he continues. “They woke us. All of us. And they refused to leave until we listened.”
Jonah shifts slightly, clearly uncomfortable under the attention.
“They told us what happened,” Harlan says, picking up the conversation, hands clasped in front of his stomach. “What Rowan did. The choice she made to save one of us.”
His golden gaze shifts to me.
“Leaving behind your mother to save pack lives, to save Caleb and possibly Elias’s life as well. It’s not something we take lightly.”
I give a single, sharp nod and nothing more.
“We were going to leave it at that and reach out, but Caleb insisted we call an emergency pack meeting.” Graham glances at a prideful Caleb, then proceeds.
“Every adult wolf, or at least one half of each bonded pair, was present to hear these two repeat their story and advocate for not only Cade to return as our alpha, but Rowan as our luna.”
He pauses, eyes softening.
“By the end, there was no disagreement.” The three elders step forward, standing united as Bennett says, “We made a mistake asking for space.”
My stomach tightens.
“We want our alpha back,” Harlan finishes.
The words land heavily in the morning air.
I step forward before I can stop myself.
“That’s it?” I ask, voice calm but sharp. “You think you can ask Cade back after how you treated him?”
The elders shift on their feet, looking everywhere but at me.
But their discomfort doesn’t silence me.
“You doubted him,” I continue. “You isolated him. You made him stand alone while he tried to prove himself worthy of you, when he never should have needed to.”
Cade’s hand brushes mine. Not stopping me. Just there.
“You don’t get him back without acknowledging what you did to him,” I finish.
More silence.
Until Cade finally joins me. Quieter but no less stated.
“It’s okay, my Luna,” he says gently.
The words ripple through me. Through all of them.
“We can accept a fresh start,” Cade continues. “Without needing to live in the past. We’ve all made our mistakes, and it’s time to move forward together.”
The elders exhale, almost as one.
Relief. Gratitude. Respect.
“But,” Cade adds, and I’m so thankful. “Things will be different. I will be different. If you expect the kind, accommodating alpha to return, you’re mistaken. I’ll return to lead my pack as they deserve, even if they don’t always like it.”
“We accept that.” Graham nods deeply. “We were wrong, and we appreciate your willingness to return to Solara.”
Bennett takes me by surprise when he exposes his neck before speaking. “We failed you as a pack long before you left and again when you returned. It won’t happen a third time.”
Cade inclines his head once.
This is enough. For the both of us.
“There’s more,” Harlan offers with a firm tone. “Rowan, we want you to know that your family is welcome in Solara.”
My heart stutters. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead about what would happen with my mom if we had to return.
“Whenever you are ready to come back,” he continues. “That includes the vampire.”
I glance at Cade to find he’s already looking at me.
The bond hums between us, steady and sure.
“We accept that gift,” I say.
Cade nods. “But we need time. Rowan’s mother isn’t ready for travel yet. We can return once she is, or if the pack would prefer, once we’ve dealt with Malrik.”
“The pack stands with you against any enemy you or our luna may face, Alpha,” Caleb adds in almost too quickly, like he’s afraid the elders might leave that out.
The forest is quiet around us.
But something fundamental has shifted.
Not just in the pack.
In us.
And this time—nobody’s taking it from us.