Chapter 23 #2
“Wolfe?” Killian walked down the ridge. He looked surprised to see me there. “What’s going on?”
I turned and handed the parchment to Killian, and he read it aloud.
“Alpha Wolfe of Stonefang and Blueridge Hollow is hereby summoned to appear before the Pack Council within three days’ time.”
I sniffed in derision.
“Recent events in Blueridge Hollow territory, including suspected breaches of territorial law and ongoing unrest between unified packs, shall be reviewed under Council oversight. Failure to comply will be considered an act of perdition and breach of the law.”
He handed it back to me, and it crumpled in my grasp.
“How do they know?” he asked as he looked between me and the summons.
“Exactly,” I growled. “Don’t worry, Killian, this is nothing I can’t handle.”
He hesitated. “Will you go?”
I looked at him. “Do I have a choice?”
He flinched.
We stood there for a long moment. “Fuck,” I grumbled. “Let’s go back to the house.” We began to walk. “I’ve told Diesel and Brand to meet us there. I’ll find Rowen on the way.”
Killian said nothing as we walked, but I could feel his anger. It matched my own.
Did they think I was weakened? Did they think the mate bond, the rebels, the Hollow—all of it—would have softened me? Did it make me in need of their help?
If anything, I resented the fact that they were calling me away from my responsibilities.
Rowen met us on the path to the house. “What’s wrong?” she asked immediately, reaching for me but stopping herself before she did, her expression one of conflict.
“You can touch me,” I murmured, taking her hand and pulling her closer. “Your instinct as my mate is to reach out; trust me, it’s the same for me.”
“So…you’re both needy assholes,” Killian muttered. “Fantastic. That’s all I need.”
I shoved him away from us, laughing as he pretended to stumble, knowing he was creating this moment of lightness because he knew what was coming.
At the house, I opened the door, seeing Diesel, Brand, Axel, and Cody already inside.
“We need a bigger house,” I said to no one, but my mate turned to me with an “I told you so” look.
“Hence why Dad and I slept at the pack hall.”
“Which is full of corruption, betrayal, and blood,” Diesel replied gruffly. “We’ll make you an extension, Wolfe,” he said with a look to Axel. “You’ll need it when the young come.”
“Young?” Rowen looked up from where she was prepping a tea tray. “Who’s coming?”
“He means our children,” I said to her casually while sending my enforcer a death glare that Rowen couldn’t see.
“Our children…” She stood looking up at all of us, eyes darting from face to face, her scent becoming more anxious.
Is this where she tells you she doesn’t want kids? Killian asked curiously, watching Rowen like she was a rabbit ready to run.
It might be, I confirmed. Diesel knows how to pick the best moments to make it awkward.
“Am I pregnant?” Rowen blurted, wide eyes fixed on Diesel.
He frowned. “Do you take the healer’s herbs?”
She shook her head, her breathing picking up. “No. No, I…” Wild eyes met mine. “No, I don’t… Fuck!” Rowen looked ready to pass out. “I don’t sleep around.”
This was not a conversation for us to have in front of my men, and I stepped into Rowen’s space, my hands taking hers, looking down at her as she panicked.
“Deep breath, princess.” I took one, and she mimicked me. “You haven’t had your heat yet; you’re not pregnant.”
Rowen’s panic began to clear, and her shoulders sagged. “Of course,” she breathed out with a low exhale. She stepped back, her eyes sweeping the room, landing on Diesel for a fraction longer than anyone else. “You’re a sadist.”
He tipped his head back and laughed out loud.
I didn’t feel like laughing. My mate had just told pretty much everyone she didn’t relish the idea of having my children.
“To make me think that,” she carried on, scolding Diesel. “When we’re in a pack war and I wouldn’t be able to fight, why would you do that?”
“You’re not upset you could be pregnant with my child?” I asked her, and a strange sense of something unknown uncurled within me. Pride? Ego? Want?
Rowen looked back at me in surprise. “No? I want children,” she answered quickly. “Even if they are yours,” she added teasingly.
Relief. It was relief. We would be a family. Someday.
You’re welcome.
Go fuck yourself, D, I replied to my beta. Not funny.
“Right, now that Diesel’s had his morning entertainment,” I said, turning to the others, and some of them laughed. “The Pack Council has called for me. I have to be there in three days. I need to leave tonight.”
No one was laughing now.
I packed light.
Not because I didn’t plan to stay—but because I didn’t plan to waste time.
One bag. A change of clothes. Papers I might need, including Corrin’s signed confession. And a blade older than the Council’s founding charter, because I didn’t trust anyone in that tent not to try something stupid.
Diesel leaned in the doorway of my room, arms crossed. “You sure you don’t want me with you?”
“I’m sure,” I said, not looking up from where I tucked the blade into the false lining of the bag.
“Galvin isn’t our only problem, and I need Killian here.
” I looked up at him. “You need to take the ones who are too vulnerable to fight and get them to Stonefang.” I didn’t look away.
“And take Cale. I know, it’s not reasonable, but he was talking to her yesterday… just take him away.”
He didn’t argue. Just nodded once. That’s why I trusted him. Killian had been harder to persuade, but I needed him here to protect the pack. Protect the Stonefang wolves in Blueridge.
We were stretched too thin already.
And Rowen… I exhaled and rolled my shoulders. Her name alone made the bond stir—light, heat, want. But also something heavier. Loyalty.
We hadn’t talked about the summons beyond the initial conversation. She hadn’t tried to convince me to let her come. That made it worse, that even after all this time, she knew me too well. Knew I’d hate that conversation and having to say no to her.
But as I stepped into the hallway and found her waiting by the back door, arms folded, hair tied back like she was ready for war—it nearly undid me anyway.
“Are you sure?” she asked softly.
“No.” I adjusted the strap across my chest. “But I don’t get to ignore a summons.”
Her mouth twisted. “What do I do while you’re gone?”
“Lead.”
She stared at me for a long moment. “You mean that?”
“I do.” I traced my thumb over her cheek. “Listen to Killian.” I saw her open her mouth to protest. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s very good at it, but he knows to work with you, so please, princess, work with him.”
She didn’t cry. Didn’t reach for me. Just nodded like the leader she was. “I can do that,” she said with a shaky smile. “You bring your ass back,” she said. “You’ve got better things to do than dance to the tune of a Council of old wolves who think their titles make them dangerous.”
I let a ghost of a smile pass between us.
She stepped closer. Not touching me. Not yet. Just looking. Seeing me. Then, with a sigh, she asked, “You sure you want to do this alone?”
“I’m not alone,” I said. “You’re here.”
And I felt it—her power through the bond. Steady. Hot. There if I reached for it. We stood like that, heartbeat to heartbeat, breath to breath. She leaned in, pressed her lips to mine once—nothing hungry or wild, just solid.
Grounding.
“I’ll keep the Hollow standing,” she said.
“I’ll keep the Council from forgetting who the fuck I am.”
She smirked. “Then go. Show them what you are.”
I smiled. “And what’s that?”
“The alpha of our pack.”