Chapter 6
Carter
“Good morning,” Devon greeted as I stepped out of my bedroom and into the cabin’s small dining room.
My eyes felt gritty, my head heavy from too little sleep. I’d spent half the night hunched over the kitchen table.
I had pored through the monthly pack budget and trying to piece together an enforcer schedule that would keep everyone in check while not burning us out.
It was thankless work, the kind of task no one saw but every wolf depended on.
I rubbed at my face and tried to blink myself awake, but the moment I looked up, my body stilled. Devon sat at the table, already awake, a mug in his hand and his dark eyes on me.
His greeting was warm, casual, but there was something about the way his gaze lingered. I followed it, straight down to the fact that I was only in my boxers.
Dang it. For a split second, I debated retreating back into my room and pulling on a shirt, maybe some sweatpants.
But that would look like backing down, like I had something to hide, and alphas didn’t retreat.
My wolf certainly didn’t think so. So I squared my shoulders, forced a neutral expression, and padded toward the coffee maker instead. Devon didn’t look away.
He wasn’t afraid. Most wolves would’ve ducked their head under the weight of an alpha’s presence. Not him. His gaze tracked me steadily, assessing maybe, or curious.
There was a flicker in his eyes, something like appreciation? My wolf perked up at the thought, practically preening under the possibility.
“Coffee first,” I muttered, more to myself than him, and filled a mug.
The bitter smell grounded me. When I turned back, I caught sight of the table again and froze.
Toast. Eggs. Bacon. A full breakfast spread sat between us, steam still rising.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Devon said, and there was that hint of a smile in his voice that made my chest tighten. “I scavenged around your kitchen and made breakfast. Didn’t know if you usually cook, but figured it was better than waiting around hungry.”
I stared at him for a moment, caught off guard. No one cooked for me. Even when my brother Dean lived here, we usually survived on fast food or whatever was available in the pack kitchen.
And now here was Devon, sliding into my space like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Thanks,” I managed finally, my throat rough. “That’s… unexpected.”
“Unexpected good or unexpected bad?” Devon asked,
The corner of my mouth twitched, unwillingly. “Good.”
He nodded once, like that was answer enough, and started on his plate. I sat opposite him, every muscle wound tight, not because I felt threatened. It was quite the opposite.
I didn’t know what to do with the way my wolf leaned forward inside me, tail wagging, eager. I needed to reel this in. Devon was only here for a week. A temporary arrangement.
I couldn’t afford to fall for him. Not with the weight of the pack on my shoulders and the fragile thread of diplomacy with Cooper’s wolves.
Still, when his gaze slid over me again, slow and deliberate, I felt heat crawl up the back of my neck.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“For what?” Devon asked.
“To be your escort.”
He tilted his head, dark hair falling across his forehead. “I don’t need one. I was just planning on teaching first aid to a few of your younger pack members today. Nothing dangerous about that.”
“I promised Cooper I’d make sure you were safe.” My voice came out sharper than intended, my alpha authority bleeding into the words.
For a moment I expected him to push back. Healers weren’t known for backing down easily, and Devon had proven he wasn’t afraid of me.
But instead, he just studied me, eyes dark and unreadable, before giving a short nod. “If that’s what you need, then fine,” Devon said.
That was it. No fight, no snark. Just compliance. It disarmed me more than any protest would’ve.
Later, freshly showered and dressed, I found him waiting by the door with his kit. The leather bag looked heavy, but he carried it like it was nothing. Out of instinct, I reached for it.
“Let me,” I said.
His brows lifted but he handed it over without argument. Our fingers brushed briefly during the exchange. A spark ran up my arm, sharp enough to make me catch my breath.
His wolf might not have shown itself, but that healer’s energy hummed low between us.
Walking side by side across the compound was peaceful. My pack mates nodded to me as we passed, some still wary of the healer at my side, but most curious.
Devon didn’t flinch at the attention. If anything, he walked with quiet confidence, the kind that didn’t need to be announced.
We talked, small things at first, safe topics. Weather, the way the training yard needed releveling before the fall rains.
He listened more than he spoke, but when he did answer, his voice had this calm cadence that made me want to keep asking questions, just to hear it again.
We walked side by side down the gravel path that wound from my cabin toward the heart of the compound.
The late morning sun was burning off the last of the mist, and the air smelled sharp with pine and damp earth.
Devon scanned the tree line with the kind of awareness that wasn’t about threat, but about noticing. His gaze landed on the left, where a slant-roofed cabin sat half-sunken into the ground.
The porch sagged inward, and moss crept thick along the windowpanes. It looked like it hadn’t seen use in decades.
“Someone used to live there?” Devon asked.
I followed his line of sight, my jaw tightening.
“Not exactly. That used to be the pack clinic. Long before my time, before Adrian’s grandfather’s time, even. A healer worked out of there when the pack was smaller,” I explained.
Devon slowed a little, his brows pulling together as he studied the ruin.
“A clinic.” His voice was thoughtful, quiet.
“Yeah.” I kept my own tone even. “When the old healer passed, there wasn’t anyone to take up the role. The building was left to rot.”
“I see.” Devon said it softly, more to himself than to me.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, trying to read his expression, but his face gave nothing away. Just a faint crease between his brows, like he was turning something over in his mind.
My wolf bristled with curiosity, but I forced it down. I could’ve asked, should’ve asked, but something stopped me.
Maybe it was pride, maybe it was the nagging awareness that I was already too interested in the way his thoughts worked. So instead, I said nothing.
We kept walking. The silence between us wasn’t uncomfortable, exactly, but it was heavy. It pressed against me, full of all the things I wanted to demand and the restraint I forced on myself.
Devon didn’t offer more, and I didn’t push. By the time the pack house came into view, I shoved the whole thing aside.
Inside, I led him to one of the spare rooms we’d cleared out. A handful of younger wolves were waiting there, fidgeting on benches, wide-eyed.
Normally, outsiders made them skittish. But Devon stepped into the space and, without hesitation, slipped into teaching mode.
“Alright,” Devon said.
I set his kit down and saw Devon looking at each youngster in the eye.
“We’ll start with the basics. First aid is about staying calm. If you panic, your patient panics. So the first lesson is how to ground yourself,” Devon said.
Their fidgeting stilled. They leaned forward. Devon had them, just like that. I lingered by the doorway, watching.
He was good, really good. His energy filled the room, not dominating like an alpha’s would, but steadying, like an anchor in a storm. The kids soaked it in without realizing they were.
That healer’s aura, rare and powerful, was working on them just like it had worked on me this morning. And damn it all, I couldn’t look away from him.
The way his dark hair caught the light, the way his hands moved as he demonstrated, the low timbre of his voice. Every detail sank deep, threading into places in me I’d locked up tight.
Places no wolf had touched before.
I was supposed to be focused on my pack. On protecting them, strengthening them. On diplomacy with Cooper. Not on the way one healer’s presence made my wolf restless with wanting.
I told myself I was only lingering in the doorway to make sure everything was settled. But when I finally turned toward the hall, something in me resisted.
My wolf pushed against my skin, the instinct to stay near him gnawing at my ribs. Leaving him there, even surrounded by harmless pups, felt wrong.
“Get a grip,” I muttered under my breath. “He doesn’t need a shadow every second.”
Still, it took effort to pull away, and when I did, it was with the kind of reluctance that settled heavy in my gut.
The pack house was buzzing, the rhythm of ordinary life threading through the halls, but the moment I stepped into my office, all of that good energy snapped like a rope pulled too tight.
Eli and Jeremy were already there.
They stood near the window, upright and stiff, not bothering to sit. Their eyes flicked toward me as I entered, and I caught the restless gleam of their wolves just under the surface.
The air carried a thrum of challenge, not outright defiance, but something sharper, coiled.
My jaw tightened. “Do you need something?” I asked, deliberately keeping my tone neutral.
Eli stepped forward first, broad-shouldered and confident in that way that sometimes skated too close to arrogance. “We need to discuss an important matter with you, Alpha.”
That wasn’t how I liked my wolves to address me, formal and hard, but something in his delivery told me this wasn’t a casual check-in. I shut the door behind me and moved to my desk.
If they wanted a serious conversation, I’d meet it head-on.
“Fine,” I said, sinking into my chair. “Say your piece.”
Neither of them sat. Their posture alone told me this was going to be trouble.
My wolf tensed inside me, hackles rising. I thought back to the day Cooper and his Pecan Pines wolves had first arrived at the compound.
Eli and Jeremy had been the first ones to bare their teeth, ready to tear into them at the slightest excuse. It took everything in me then to hold them back, to remind them we weren’t at war.
This couldn’t be good.
Jeremy’s jaw ticked as he looked at me, but when he spoke, it was blunt. “Since Devon is already here, living in your cabin, you should take him as your mate.”
The words landed like a spark in dry grass.
A growl tickled out of my throat before I could stop it, low and dangerous. Heat flared through my chest, my wolf lunging to the surface, fury clawing to be let out.
Of all the reckless, idiotic things they could suggest…
I curled my fingers tight against the desk, willing myself to hold steady.
“Let me get this straight,” I said, voice low and edged like broken glass. “You’re suggesting I take a healer from a pack we’ve worked hard to build ties with, against his will?”
Jeremy didn’t flinch. “Why not?”
Eli jumped in before I could respond, his tone sharper, his eyes bright with restless wolf-fire. “Devon volunteered to be here.”
I snapped my gaze to him, my wolf pressing hard against my skin, ready to tear into him for even daring to twist that fact. My pulse hammered in my temples.
“Cooper and Devon are doing us a favor,” I said carefully, each word measured to keep the fury in check. “A favor. Nothing more.”
Eli’s lips pulled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “We need our own healer. You’ve said it yourself.”
My nails dug half-moons into the arm of my chair. The air in the room went tight, hot, my wolf snarling behind my ribs.
He wasn’t wrong. We did need a healer. I’d admitted as much a dozen times. But not like this. Not through coercion. Not through forcing a bond.
“If Adrian was alive—” Eli started.
That broke the leash on my anger.
“Adrian is no longer the lead alpha. I am.” My voice snapped through the room like a whip.
I surged half-out of my chair, my wolf riding close enough to the surface that my teeth ached with the urge to shift.
“And Thornebane no longer operates that way,” I added.
Silence stretched thick and sharp between us. Both of them stared at me, their wolves restless, but neither dared to speak again.
I straightened slowly, letting the authority settle in the room like a heavy stone.
“You will not bring this up again,” I said, tone hard, final. “Not to me, not to anyone. Is that clear?”
For a beat too long, they held their ground. Then Eli’s gaze slid away, his shoulders stiff. Jeremy gave the barest nod.
They left without another word. The door clicked shut behind them, but the echo of their audacity lingered, hot and raw in my chest.
I sat there, fists clenched, trying to steady my breathing. My wolf paced inside me, bristling, still snarling for blood.
They’d crossed a line. Worse, they’d tried to push me toward something unthinkable.
Taking a mate wasn’t politics. It wasn’t strategy. It wasn’t about filling a gap in our pack structure. It was sacred. And Devon—
My jaw flexed. Devon was gentle with my injured wolves, careful with the restless youngsters who’d been so eager to dismiss him at first.
He had a patience I’d rarely seen, a quiet strength that made even the most stubborn pup lean closer, listen harder. Devon wasn’t ours.
But damn if I hadn’t imagined what it would be like if he was. The image rose unbidden, Devon in this office, not as a temporary healer but as part of Thornebane.
Devon walking at my side not just as a guest, but as my partner. My mate. His laughter in my cabin, not just for a week, but for years.
My wolf rumbled low in my chest, not angry now but yearning. Possessive. He liked the fantasy too much. I scrubbed a hand over my face, forcing the image down. That was all it was. Fantasy.
Reality was harsher. In a week, Devon would go back to Pecan Pines.
He’d return to his alpha, his family, his life. And I would be left here with my pack, carrying the weight of leadership alone, as always.
I couldn’t afford to fall for him. Not for his sake, not for mine.
And yet, when I thought of the way his eyes softened as he spoke to the youngsters, the warmth of his smile as he set breakfast on my table.
The quiet pride in his voice when he explained the simplest first aid technique…
I knew I was already falling. I slammed the thought away, hard enough my chest ached.
Impossible. It was impossible. I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling, trying to breathe past the restless growl of my wolf.
For now, all I could do was keep him safe while he was here. And pray my pack didn’t tear itself apart before he left.