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“You came.” He held out his hands as though expecting her to fall into them.

She wanted to. Three steps and she’d be in his embrace.

“Why did you invite me?” she asked softly, knowing he’d hear. He could probably hear the racing of her heart too. “We agreed one night.”

He lowered his arms. “I felt like a swim and thought you might like one too?”

She crossed her arms to hide the way her nipples pressed against the wet fabric of her bra. The heat from the fighting had worn off and the cold of the lake was seeping into her bruised bones. “I do…but we can’t. I know who your father is.”

Owen looked away; his smile gone.

She should be reveling in this moment but instead she was destroying it. It was for the best. “I don’t want something that has to be kept a secret.”

She swallowed the sour disappointment, then made herself walk past him toward the shore. What was wrong with a gathering fling? She could enjoy him for a few weeks. But there’d always be shame attached to the memory. An inability to talk about it. She deserved more.

She didn’t want to be limited by old rules and getting tangled with Owen was doing exactly that. He was her past, a hope that could never be. Not her future.

“I’m nothing like my father.” His voice was low and barely reached her. “I like you. I liked you from the moment I saw you last gathering. I’d hoped…I still hope…” he swore. “I don’t care that you aren’t a wolf. I want to start a new pack where things like that don’t matter.”

Macey stopped and turned. His words tumbled around her head. “What do you mean?”

“That I’m done with rules that tie us to a time of fear and don’t allow us to progress.”

“I mean about me.”

“I thought we’d be a good match.”

“You barely know me. You didn’t know me at all last time.”

“But you walked up to me, with a glint your eyes and fire in your heart. I was young and stupid, so I’m glad you hadn’t shifted back then.”

Was he saying that to get back into her very see-through panties?

“Or ever.” She lifted her eyebrow.

“True. I was shocked at first, but I want to get to know you.”

“You’re a leader’s son. He will never approve of me.”

“If I have my own pack, I don’t need his approval.” He took two steps closer. “I came here intending to gather support.”

“So join another pack. That’s what I plan to do.” Even in a progressive pack wolf-vampire relations wouldn’t be condoned. But if Owen got his own pack where the old rules about vampires and werewolves didn’t matter? Many would hate the idea. They wouldn’t allow it on principal.

He shook his head and sighed. “My father won’t let me leave. My only option is to start fresh.”

“Good luck. A new pack hasn’t been approved in a very long time.” This still couldn’t be. She needed to find a better fling, a vampire.

“I don’t need luck. I need support. I need a minimum of two vampires and five wolves to join me.”

“And territory. Who would give up land…” While some packs were shrinking, redrawing boundaries, or merging with a neighboring pack was fraught. But there was land about to become available.

“What have you heard?”

“A rumor. That’s all. One pack, all their children are vampires. It’s going to be declared dead.” That solved the land problem if Owen made a claim on it.

“Ajax?”

“Yeah…I guess you used to hang out with him before he failed to shift.”