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He helped save my daughter, so he’s part of the family now.

What galls me the most is that they haven’t even asked about him. The Council has ordered Highland Pack banished for what they did. Alpha Paxton knows we have Gage here.

Yet…they have never asked for him back. They just left him. Never even said goodbye.

A pack abandoning their own young. So shameful.

I gently close the door to Gage's room, not wanting to disturb his restless sleep. Gage has a lot of pain to work through, but he’ll never be abandoned again. Not if I have anything to say about it.

Yelena leans into me as we walk down the stairs, the events of the last few days weighing heavily on us both.

We reach the kitchen, and I grab the bottle of red wine and pour us both a glass. Yelena takes a long sip and closes her eyes, leaning against the counter.

“I can’t stop reliving it in my head,” she whispers, setting her drink down and wrapping her arms around herself.

“I was so terrified,” she says, finally.

I take a long drink of wine and set my own glass down, walking over to hold her.

She leans into my comfort, allowing me to care for her in the way she has so often cared for me.

I pull back and meet her eyes. “Me too. I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you and Cleo, and hell, even Gage in it. You’re it for me. My world.”

“I will never let anything happen to you, or the children, again,” I vow.

She nods, sniffling into my shirt before pulling back and tipping her face toward mine.

I lean down and capture her lips in a kiss. She melts into me, her hands gripping my shirt tightly, as if she’s afraid I’ll disappear.

I deepen the kiss, licking at her lips until she opens for me. We’ve been through so much together, and I never want to let her go.

She’s my rock. My everything.My mate.

When we break apart for air, I rest my forehead against hers and smile.

“I love you,” I whisper.

She smiles up at me with a watery smile.

“I love you, too. So much.”

Our comfortable silence is suddenly destroyed by an ear-splitting scream that rends through the air. We leap apart instantly. My instincts tell me to shift, to protect my home, but before I can do anything, Yelena is already running for the stairs.

“The kids!” she gasps, taking the stairs two at a time.

There’s a soft light coming from Gage’s room, so we hurry down the hall and burst through the door.

“Mama! Daddy! Shh!” A little voice says, reproachfully.

I skid to a stop and look at Cleo. She’s standing next to Gage’s bed wearing her pink and purple bathrobe and unicorn slippers. Her hand is outstretched and lying across Gage’s chest.

His face is tear-stained, and he’s breathing heavily, but he seems like he’s calming down.

“What happened?” Yelena asks, hurrying over to them.

“Gage had a dream about the bad people. But don’t worry. I told him he’s safe here. The bad people won’t come here anymore. I know it.”

I glance over at Yelena and then back at Gage and Cleo.