Chapter 25 #2
"Wait." Grace reached out for Kellen, forcing him to stop. "If you're going to hate someone, hate me. Stephen and Leo assumed you were an alpha by your behavior, but they didn't know for sure."
Samara pulled one of Kellen's hands into hers. "You can also hate me. I'm the one who forced Stephen to tell you. I thought it was important that you know, but if I made a mistake—”
Gaze settling on her, he shook his head. "I can't hate you. Any of you. I just don't know what to do with this...knowledge." Kellen left the table, almost running out into the parking lot, heading toward the tree line.
Was he trying to leave her, the way Leo had left? She rose and ran after him. "Kellen, wait!"
He pulled up short just before he reached the promise of shelter under the tree canopy. By the time she'd reached his side, he'd bent over, his fists rubbing his eyes, breath heaving.
"Kellen, look at me." She touched his back, letting him know he was safe with her. He straightened up, rolling his shoulders as if testing some new inner strength he'd found. He stared into the forest instead of at her.
"Please don't do this Kellen. Don't disappear into the forest. I love you. We love each other. We have a future together."
He stood there like a stone, silent and hard.
"I once told you that I didn't love you because of your strength, but because of your kindness.
It was true then and it's true now. We..
.Stephen, Grace, Leo, and me...we need you in our lives.
You don't have to lead us right now. I can take over that role for a while, until you can see yourself as a true alpha. "
She stepped in front of him and placed her hand on his chest.
"Please. I love you. Don't leave me because of this. Don't leave the brotherhood. We're your family, not just your pack."
She kissed him then with all the power and passion she had to give. At first, it was a one-sided kiss, but after a few moments, he hauled her against his chest, and pulled her up to his face, kissing her back in a way that let her know he was hers and she was his and they would be together forever.
"I love you too, Samara. I want you in my life forever."
She let loose a small sob of relief. Kellen, her Kellen, was back. He let her slide down his body until she could stand on her own.
After a moment, he asked her. "Do you really think you have what it takes to be leader of the pack?"
"Well...yes. With you at my side, I think I could be a... Wait a second..." She squinted at his small smirk. "That was a joke. You...you're quoting song titles to me now?"
He pulled her into his arms again, rocking back and forth with her. "Yes and no. I do need time to come to terms with being an alpha, and I need to talk to Stephen and Grace about withholding that information from me—"
"—and Leo." Not that she thought that Kellen would forget one of his brothers, but it was more of a validation for her to believe that he would come back soon.
"Yes, and Leo. We can't have lies between us anymore. None."
"I will never lie to you." She lay her head on his chest, breathing in his scent.
"Nor I to you."
They stood together, just enjoying the feel of one another, until Kellen sighed. "We should go back inside. Let the others know I'm okay. That we're okay."
"More than okay." Samara stood on her tiptoes to kiss Kellen one more time. "It's going to be you and me together forever."
* * *
Did Kellen and Samara’s journey steal your heart?
Now it’s Leo’s turn.
Kassidy Shaw finds Leo Aaronson half-dead from wounds no one else can see. As he heals, Leo sees the real Kassidy hiding behind a broken heart. As fated mates, they'll burn it all to the ground to keep each other safe.
Kassidy returned to Winterbourne, a small town in Arizona, with her dreams in pieces.
Los Angeles rejected her and convinced her she’d never find love or fulfill her big city dreams. Now she hides her failure behind a menial job bussing tables at the local bar & grill.
Not even her secret ability to see spirits, ghosts, and strange wolf shadows can show her a way out.
When she finds Leo Aaronson, her childhood crush, half-frozen and emotionally broken in the White Mountains, she knows she can’t walk away. She saves him, but his emotional anguish mirrors her own and steals her heart all over again.
Leo has survived a silver bullet to his gut which nearly ended his life.
His body has healed, but the darkness inside rages.
He’s run away from his wolf shifter brothers so he can't hurt them, but when Kassidy finds him his entire world changes. Her compassion cuts through his steel-tight boundaries, strengthening feelings he’s long kept shallow to avoid heartbreak.
As they heal together, their bond deepens, built on trust, shared history, and the desire for more than life has offered them. He shows her his wolf, a forbidden action. She confesses she's more interested in making jewelry than pursuing her clairvoyance.
But secrets have a way of surfacing. When Kassidy’s ability collides with Leo’s long estranged pack, his past might destroy them both.
They’ve found each other at last, but will love be enough to keep them together?
A story of resilience, forbidden desire, slow burn romance, and a found family like no other, My Renegade Wolf will leave you breathless and yearning for more.