4. Chapter 4
The morning patrol route swung close to the cave. Rhys didn’t pretend he hadn’t planned it that way. The rolling-arc rotation made the deviation invisible. Anyone reading patrol logs would see the same four-mile sweep Blackridge always ran.
The instinct fought him each time he forced himself to keep walking, his limp setting a stride that wouldn’t carry him near her even if he gave in.
Two snare lines reset. Coat hung on the same branch each morning. Smoke from the fire kept to under a foot, the way someone who’d been hunted learned to keep it.
Four days, and he’d noted the second snare she’d reset since yesterday. She wasn’t just surviving. She was settling in.
The walk back to pack central took longer than it should have. By the time Rhys reached the main lodge, his leg had gone from throbbing to sharp stabs that made his vision blur. He gritted his teeth and pushed through the door, nodding to the wolves gathered near the fireplace.
Jace looked up from the map spread across the main table. “Rhys. Good timing.”
“Eastern boundary’s clear.” Rhys crossed to the table, grateful for something to lean against.
Jace’s gaze flicked to Rhys’s face, then down to where he gripped the table edge. “Your leg?”
“Fine.”
“Bullshit.” Jace’s tone stayed mild, but there was steel underneath.
“I told you, I’m fine.”
Silence fell across the room. The other wolves found reasons to be elsewhere, drifting toward the door with careful nonchalance.
Jace waited until they were alone before continuing. “We need to talk about the omega.”
Rhys’s wolf bared its teeth inside him. He shoved the reaction down, keeping his expression neutral. “What about her?”
“You’ve been leaving supplies.”
“Standard practice for rogues in winter. You want them to freeze or starve?”
“No.” Jace folded his arms, leaning back against the table. “I want you to tell me why you smell like mate bond and look like you haven’t slept in four days.”
The words landed hard. Rhys’s hands tightened on the table, the strain of standing already showing in his shoulders.
“Rhys.” Jace’s voice gentled. “I can smell it on you. Hell, half the pack probably can by now. You’re wound so tight you’re about to snap.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” Jace said.
“So you’re just going to ignore the bond?”
“I’m going to stay back.” Rhys met Jace’s gaze, letting him see the exhaustion, the desperate control it took to stay away. “She needs safety,” Rhys said quietly. “Not a wolf still learning how to stand.”
Jace’s expression shifted. “That’s what this is about. You think you’re not good enough.”
“Based on what? Your leg? Your scars?” Jace pushed off the table, moving closer. “You’re one of the best tactical minds this pack has. You kept us alive during the ambush when half our warriors were down. You’ve trained every fighter we have under forty.”
“Not easily.” Rhys’s voice stayed level through sheer force of will. “She’s been hurt by males who were stronger than her. Faster than her. The math does not work in her favor if I’m the one standing between her and the next one.”
“By leaving supplies and walking away. That’s not—” Rhys cut himself off, breathing through the surge of frustration. “It’s not about what I want,” Rhys said. “It’s whether I can get her through the next winter alive.”
Jace studied him in silence. “Does she get a say in that?”
“She gets to heal without another male making demands.” Rhys straightened, ignoring the protest from his leg. “I’ll keep monitoring the situation. Make sure she has what she needs. But I’m not pushing this.”
“All right. But Rhys, when she’s ready to come in, when she decides she wants to talk to pack leadership, you’re going to have to face this.”
“If she decides to stay, I’ll deal with it.” Rhys turned toward the door, his gait uneven and obvious. “Until then, she gets space.”