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I should have known better. Her scent filled the house, and it found me wherever I went, reminding me of our mate bond. Urging me to go knock on her door and claim what was mine.

I couldn’t do that, of course. Assuming she answered, I wasn’t sure what kind of welcome I’d get. If her mood was the same as the last time we spoke—and I had no reason to believe it wasn’t—I was likely to lose another tooth. Absently, I rubbed my jaw. Newly turned or no, she had an impressive right hook.

“She’s with Tanner, by the way,” Dylan said. “He’s teaching her to track.”

I stood and went to the windows. Sure enough, Brooke and Tanner were near the tree line. Tanner was in a crouch and pointing at something on the ground. Brooke had her back to the house, so I couldn’t see her expression, but she leaned forward as though trying to get a better look at what he was talking about. That was…good. She needed to learn, and Tanner was one of the few enforcers I trusted to keep her safe. I’d asked him and Dylan to keep an eye on her this week. Both men understood that “keep an eye” meant “keep her from leaving.”

Even with my top enforcers ensuring her safety, my wolf bristled at the idea of her outside. Gaze on Brooke, I asked Dylan, “Did you double the perimeter security like I asked?”

“Yes, sir. Shep and Malcolm are running two teams around the house 24/7.” There was a pause, then, “Why are you fighting this, Hugh?”

I turned, ready to ask what he was talking about. But the second I saw his expression, I knew playing dumb wasn’t an option. With a last glance at Brooke, I walked to my desk and sat heavily in my chair. “I take it the whole pack knows she’s my mate?”

He offered a sympathetic smile. “I was in and out of consciousness in the foyer, and even I couldn’t miss your reaction when you thought she might be hurt.”

The ache between my eyes intensified. “What are people saying?” Dylan always had a finger on the pulse of pack gossip—partly because pack members saw him as a conduit for influencing me, but mostly because he was easy to talk to.

He didn’t mince words now. “They’re wondering what’s taking you so long to acknowledge it. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a wolf willing to drag their feet when fate hands them a mate.”

I hesitated, then decided to tell the truth. “I intended to reject her.”

“Because of Alex.” He made it a statement.

“Yes.”

“You said intended. Are you rethinking it?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Brooke told me some things… She and Alex weren’t—” I cleared my throat as heat prickled over my nape. God, this was awkward. Maybe I was the out-of-touch geezer Brooke thought me. “Their relationship wasn’t…flourishing,” I finished lamely.

“Ah.” Dylan sat back in his chair. “So she’s open to accepting you as a mate?”

“She might have been…eventually, after we got to know each other. But I think I’ve fucked that up, too. We slept together.” I glanced belatedly at the study door to make sure it was shut. “I’d like to keep that under wraps if possible.”

“Too late on that one, I’m afraid.”

“Christ,” I muttered. “Is there no such thing as privacy anymore?”

He offered a wry smile. “When you’re the pack alpha? Not really.”

I released another heavy sigh. “Well, here’s something the pack probably doesn’t know. After Brooke and I were…together, I accused her of disrespecting Alex’s memory by sleeping with me.”

Dylan’s eyes filled with the same mix of shock and disapproval I’d seen in Brooke’s.

“Yeah,” I said grimly. “I’m an idiot.”

He recovered quickly, his features shifting into something of a neutral expression. And he appeared to choose his next words carefully. “You said Brooke and Alex’s relationship was on the rocks. But what if it hadn’t been?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s common knowledge that fated mates can’t keep their hands off each other.” A hint of pain glimmered in his eyes for a moment, and I knew he was thinking of Wren. “Not to sound indelicate, but I assume you enjoyed the sex.”

I grunted. That was an understatement.

“But it sounds like you’re only okay with Brooke enjoying it if she didn’t”—he made air quotes—“belong to Alex.”

I rubbed a hand over my mouth. “That’s almost exactly how she put it.”

He fell quiet—maybe to let my stupidity sink in. Then he leaned forward, his light drawl soothing some of the sting. “Fate isn’t making this easy for you. You’re grieving. Memory is the one thing we have to keep our loved ones alive. But Brooke is connected to Alex. If you try to forget that, it could feel like you’re trying to forget him.”