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“Even if I say no, you’ll do it, anyway.”

For some reason, that makes me laugh. It’s just a quick breath of humor, more of an exhale than anything, but at least Alina understands me. She knows that there is nothing I won’t do to ensure my pack is safe. Despite her efforts to insist otherwise, she is part of my pack. She always will be.

“You’re a good mother, you know that?”

“Don’t flatter me right now, Rowan.”

I shake my head. “I’m not. It’s the truth. He’s a good kid, and maybe some of that is just his nature, but I can also tell that he’s known nothing but love and patience. You’ve given him a good life, Alina.”

Her throat bobs with a swallow. She looks away, blinking fast.

“Please just go.”

It’s the last thing I want to do. Truly, if life were different, I’d stay. I’d take her in my arms and kiss her again. I’d carry her to her bed—or, maybe, since Noah is close by, I’d pull her outside to a quiet forest clearing. I would take my time with her, like I didn’t bother to do ten years ago.

Kseniya’s words are impossible to ignore, though. They are constantly in the back of my mind, and right now they feel more insistent than ever.

“…beware the beloved heir’s Mate, who shall ruin him in time.”

I open the door, then hesitate for just a moment longer. “Can I seeNoah tomorrow? At The Diner, after school, just like the first time?”

Alina sighs. “Yes, fine.”

“All right,” I reply. “Goodnight, Alina.”

She doesn’t say anything, but it’s another good sign that she doesn’t bark out an obscenity or shove me out of her house. She looks more sad than anything else right now.

I leave her house, letting the door fall shut gently behind me.

In the cool night air, I pace around the perimeter of her property several times, tracing ruts in the damp ground without even bothering to shift into my wolf form first. The fresh air calms me, reminds me how to be practical, and assures me that what just happened in there is probably for the best.

It sends a stab of regret through me to think so, but I know that I shouldn’t have kissed her. I definitely shouldn’t have gone down on my knees and tasted the dewiness between her thighs. I shouldn’t have lingered there, relishing the way she came on my tongue.

It was a bad move. An inappropriate decision. An unfair one. Alina doesn’t deserve to be jerked around like that by me, especially when the prophecy still presents an insurmountable barrier between us.

Hell, if it weren’t for the pack, I’d let her ruin me. I wouldn’t care. It’d be a privilege to be ruined by her, whatever that means.

But there are other lives on the line.

It’s better that I keep my hands off her, better that I don’t tempt fate.

With a resigned sigh, I confirm once and for all that there’s no pervasive Blackburn scent hovering too close for comfort, then hop into the cab of my truck.

Then, despite Alina’s arguments that she’s more than capable of protecting herself and Noah on her own, I settle into the driver’s seat and lean my head back, preparing myself for another restless night as my mate’s unwanted guardian.

But this time, by dawn, I’ll be gone. I’ll make myself scarce and watch from a distance.

Distance is good. Distance is better.

The next afternoon, I’m groggy and grouchy as I push open the door to The Diner. I barely got any sleep. Not just because I spent the night upright in the seat of my truck, but also because I couldn’t stop thinking about what went down in Alina’s kitchen.

Every time I tried to drift into unconsciousness, my mind would restart the tape, and memories would flood my thoughts. It didn’t help that her scent was all over me. Cloying and sweet, tickling my nose and clinging to my skin.

When her house started to stir with activity, I had driven some ways down the road, shifted, and then circled back around to watch from within the cover of the trees. I waited there, concealed among the dense ferns, as Noah skipped toward the bus and then, about ten minutes later, Alina left for her shift.

After that, I went back home. Showered and changed my clothes. Offered some excuses to Cal that I’m certain he’s no longer buying. Said hello to my mother and played the role of a doting son, the Alpha prince.

Then, as soon as I could reasonably get away, I came back here.