Tao grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “He was still selfish to have wallowed in his own grief and not even tried to fight the urge to slip away.”

“Maybe, but I still forgive him.”

“And you realize now that it was nothing to do with you—it wasn’t that you weren’t enough to hold him here, it was that he chose to slip away.”

“Yes, I realize that now.”

“About fucking time.”

Riley bit her lip. “I’m scared to ask if everyone’s okay . . . which I guess is me sort of asking.”

“A lot of people were hurt, but they’re all alive,” he assured her. “With the exception of Ramón and his minions, obviously.”

“What are we going to do with all the bodies?”

“Ally knows someone who can deal with them.” Her foster brother, Cain, was part of The Movement—a band of shifters who retaliated against the extremists. They were used to getting rid of dead bodies. “They’ll be collecting the bodies of Ramón and his men sometime today. We’ve handed the bodies of Officers Brown and Taylor over to the police, though.”

“Will their deaths bring us trouble?”

“We have security footage to back up our story that they opened fire, unprovoked, and then moved aside to let Ramón’s men pass.”

“Didn’t the police ask for the bodies of Ramón’s men?”

“Sure they did. We told them that we chased the humans from our territory. They don’t believe us, of course—especially since Ramón and his men are nowhere to be found—but they’re also happy to have a drug lord and his minions off the streets. They didn’t seem upset about the deaths of Brown and Taylor either.” Tao guessed they’d known they had moles in the station and might even have suspected that Brown and Taylor were those moles.

“So, basically, the pack never admits to anything.”

“We don’t have to answer to human laws. But the minute we start explaining ourselves and justifying our actions, we’re effectively answering to them. Besides, what we did is really no different than a human shooting an intruder for trespassing.”

“True.” She took a long breath. “I’m glad there’ll be no undeserved repercussions. I’m glad it’s all over.”

“Me too.” He cupped her chin. “I need your mouth again.” The kiss was soft, slow, a lazy exploration. He slid his fingers into her hair, touching where the horrid bump had been the night before. It was gone now—no scab or inflammation, as if the wound had never been there. But it had, he’d nearly lost her, nearly died right along with her. His chest ached at the thought.

Tao rolled her onto her back. “I need to be in you. Then we shower, eat, and see the kids before they turn up again and break down the door to check you’re okay.” At that moment there was a light rap on the door. “Spoke too soon,” he choked out.

Slipping out of the bed, he opened the door to find two little people waiting. Seeing that Riley was awake, they dashed inside and literally leaped onto the bed. Tao smiled, heart squeezing as they hugged the breath out of Riley and peppered her cheeks with kisses. Dexter even gave her a slice of apple that, surprisingly, looked fresh.

Savannah cast Tao a severe frown. “You said you would come for us when she woke up.”

“I was just about to, so I’m not happy that you beat me here. You psychic or something?”

Savannah giggled and then turned to Riley. “Tao says the bad people are gone now.”

“They’re gone,” Riley confirmed.

“I wanted to help when the bad lady came to our room.”

Riley brushed the little girl’s hair away from her face. “You couldn’t have helped, sweetheart. She was much bigger and stronger than you are. But she really is gone now—she’ll never harm you again, I promise.”

Dexter cocked his head, looking at her bare shoulders. “Naked?”

Riley chuckled. “Yes, I am. Do you think you could give me a few minutes to get dressed?”

Savannah sighed. “You have to be fast.” She frowned at Tao. “And no kissing.”

He raised his hand. “Yes, ma’am.” Closing the door after the kids, he smiled at Riley. “We’ll never be bored.”

“Never,” she agreed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

One month later

Do you hear that?”

Snuggled into Tao’s side with her head on his chest as they lay on the grass in the clearing, Riley opened her eyes. “What?”

“Exactly,” said Tao. “Nothing except for the sounds of nature. No kids squealing. No pack mates nattering. No Greta being a pain in your ass. Just us.”

With a smile Riley closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh air, letting it fill her lungs. “So this matches up to your dream?”

Fingers working through her hair, Tao said, “No, it’s even better.”

When she’d months ago suggested they enact the very peaceful dream he’d had about them lying here just like this, she hadn’t expected to feel so . . . serene. Being surrounded by nature always relaxed her, but as she nestled against her mate, enjoying the warm kiss of the sun on her skin and the surprisingly relaxing sound of the river water flowing across the rocks and boulders, she was sure she could easily drift into a dreamless sleep.

Makenna and Ryan had taken the kids off her hands for a while, since it was the one-week anniversary of Riley and Tao’s mating ceremony. The pack had promised to give them time alone—something they didn’t have often, given that they both had demanding positions. They saw plenty of each other; they were just often surrounded by others, mostly children.

Tao picked up his mate’s hand and traced the wolf tattoo on her inner arm. She’d gotten it done the day after their mating ceremony, while he’d had a raven tattooed on his chest, just above his heart. “Did you have this done on your inner arm to help cover your scar?” He didn’t think the scar was bad, but it was a reminder of what Shirley had done to her. Tao would have wanted to cover it too.

Sage and Ruby had been disappointed to hear that Shirley was dead. Since she’d attacked both their daughters, the Alphas had wanted to kill her themselves. Cynthia had taken a bullet to the stomach, thanks to Shirley, but she was okay—albeit allegedly shaken up. Like Tao gave much of a shit either way.

“No, I thought about having the tattoo done on my chest like you did,” said Riley, “but I want it where I can look at it whenever I want to.”

Tao smiled. “I guess you picked a good place for it, then.” He could remember the ceremony as if it had been yesterday, remember the violet dress that matched her eyes, remember the tender look on her face as she’d spoken the ceremonial words, and remember the huge celebration that had followed.

In addition to the pack, lots of other people had been present—including his parents, his brother, Max, Ethan, Lucy, Madisyn, and the Mercury Pack. Max and Ethan had already been on their territory, since they’d turned their brief visit into an extended stay. They didn’t leave until a few days after the mating ceremony, taking Lucy with them.

His mother loved Ethan and Max. Literally adored them. She’d had them over for dinner five times during their stay with the pack. She’d also made a full apology for her behavior to Riley, whom she’d promptly fallen in love with. Riley seemed to have forgiven Avery for her initial rudeness, and there had been a couple of occasions when they’d banded against Greta for the sheer fun of it. He suspected that Greta, being a little warped, had enjoyed the sparring just as much as they did.