Page 24 of Fetch Me A Mate (Shifter Mates of Hollow Oak #1)

ROWAN

R owan returned to the inn because he needed something solid under his hands. Something he could fix, something he could make right, while his world fell apart around him. He had an unknown deadline that could very well be tonight, and he still didn't know what the hell he was going to do.

His truck sat in its usual spot behind the building, tool boxes waiting in the bed like they'd been expecting him. As he reached for his hammer, white paper fluttered against the windshield.

A note, tucked under the wiper blade.

Rowan - This is your home too, if you want it. Whatever's happening, you don't have to face it alone. - Diana

He stared at the words until they blurred. Home. When was the last time someone had offered him a place to belong without conditions, without pack hierarchies, without the weight of old mistakes crushing down on his shoulders?

His wolf whined, pressing against his ribs. Home. Mate. Stay.

But staying meant bringing the pack's war to Diana's doorstep. Meant watching Hollow Oak burn because he'd been too selfish to walk away.

Rowan folded the note carefully and slid it into his jacket pocket, next to his heart. Then he grabbed his tools and headed inside.

Work. Focus on work. Fix what could be fixed while he still could.

The stair railing had been wobbling for weeks, one of those minor repairs that kept getting pushed aside for more urgent projects. Now Rowan attacked it with single-minded intensity, tightening bolts and reinforcing joints like the inn's structural integrity depended on this one piece of hardware.

"You're back."

Diana's voice made him look up from the railing. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, clipboard in hand, watching him with those amber eyes that saw too much.

"Had work to finish," he said, returning attention to the bolts. "Couldn't leave things half-done."

"No, you couldn't." She climbed the stairs slowly, each step deliberate. "How are you, Rowan?"

"Fine."

"Really?"

He looked at her then. She seemed calmer than yesterday morning, more centered. Like she'd found her footing again after he'd knocked her world sideways with his rejection.

"You seem different," he said instead of answering.

"I've had a productive morning. Gathered some community support for a project I'm working on." She held up the clipboard, pages covered in signatures. "Actually, I was hoping you'd take a look at this."

She handed him the papers. Names filled every line, familiar signatures. Twyla's flourishing script, Edgar's careful printing, Tom Brewster's photographer's precision.

"What is it?"

"Protection ward. Community-based magic that makes it even harder for unwelcome visitors to cause trouble on protected ground."

Rowan's wolf went perfectly still. She knew. Somehow, she'd figured out enough to take action.

"Diana."

"I'm not asking for explanations," she said quietly. "I'm asking if you want to be part of the solution."

At the bottom of the page, his name was written in her careful handwriting. Not his signature, just his name, holding a place for him to claim if he chose.

"You can't protect the inn from pack politics with signatures and good intentions."

"Why?" Diana's voice carried quiet steel. "This community chose to stand behind this place. Behind me. Behind the idea that some things are worth defending."

"And if that's not enough?"

"Then at least I tried something other than running away."

The words hit like a slap. Rowan set down his hammer and faced her directly.

"Is that what you think I'm doing? Running away?"

"Aren't you?" Diana stepped closer, close enough that he detected smell vanilla and determination. "Yesterday morning you pushed me away like I meant nothing to you. Like everything we've built here was just temporary convenience."

"I was trying to protect you."

"From what?"

Rowan could tell her everything - Sarah's escape, the pack's ultimatum, the choice between her safety and innocent lives. Could drag her into pack politics and supernatural vendettas that would destroy everything she'd worked to build.

Or he could sign the paper and pretend community magic could stop what was coming for them.

"From me," he said finally. "From the kind of trouble that follows me around."

"What if I don't want protection? What if I want partnership?"

She pulled a pen from her clipboard and held it out to him. "Sign it, Rowan. Choose to belong somewhere. Choose to fight for something instead of running from everything."

His hand shook as he took the pen. This was insane. Signing his name to a protection ward wouldn't change the pack's deadline, wouldn't save Sarah and her family, wouldn't eliminate the choice he had to make.

But it would mean something. To Diana. To the community that had somehow become his without him noticing. To the wolf inside him that was tired of being alone.

He signed his name beneath the others, his signature bold and permanent on the page.

"There," Diana said, taking the papers back. "Now you're officially part of Hollow Oak's defense system."

"Diana, I need to tell you something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. About yesterday morning, about those men, about why I can't promise to stay."

"Rowan." She set the clipboard aside and touched his face, her fingers gentle against his stubbled jaw. "I know you're in trouble. I know those men were dangerous, and I know you pushed me away because you thought it would keep me safe."

"How do you know all that?"

"Because I know you. Because I've watched you check sight lines and test locks and position yourself between me and every potential threat for a while now.

" Her thumb stroked across his cheekbone.

"Because yesterday morning, when you looked at me before you dismissed me, I saw apology in your eyes. Not indifference. Apology."

His careful walls cracked under her understanding. "Diana."

"Whatever you're facing, we'll face it together. But first, you need to forgive yourself for whatever you think you've done wrong."

"You don't understand what I've done. The choices I've made."

"Then tell me."

And suddenly, he wanted to. Wanted to spill everything - Sarah's desperate flight, the pack's betrayal, the impossible choice between justice and loyalty that had cost him everything he'd thought he wanted.

"Three years ago, I helped someone escape from my pack. A young woman who'd fallen in love with a human and gotten pregnant. Pack law said she had to give up the baby or be exiled.They all wanted execution for the betrayal of blood. I helped her choose exile."

"That sounds like the right choice."

"It broke pack law. Cost me my position as alpha. Split the pack and created enemies I've been running from ever since."

Diana was quiet for a long moment, her hand still curved against his face.

"And now they've found you."

"Yeah. And they want me to help clean up the mess my choice created. The human she ran with has been blackmailing them. They want me to come back, help them silence him permanently."

"And if you refuse?"

Rowan's throat tightened. "They'll make sure everyone I care about pays the price, Including the woman and child I helped leave."

"Ah." Diana nodded like pieces were falling into place. "So yesterday morning was about protecting me."

"Yeah."

"And today? What's today about?"

He looked at her face, at the trust and determination written in every line, and felt something shift inside his chest helping him make his own choice instead of torn. "Today's about being tired of running. About wanting to fight for something instead of just surviving."

"Good." Diana smiled, the kind of grin that made his wolf settle contentedly. "Because I've been wondering when you'd stop treating me like I needed protection and start treating me like I could be part of the solution."

"This isn't your fight, Diana."

"It is now. The moment they threatened this inn, threatened this community, it became my fight." She picked up the signed ward papers. "And now it's officially our fight. All of us."

Rowan felt the last of his walls crumble. She was right. Somehow, while he'd been focused on keeping everyone at arm's length, he'd become part of something bigger than pack politics and old grudges. Part of a community that chose to stand together.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About yesterday morning. About pushing you away when I should have trusted you to handle the truth."

"I know." Diana stepped closer, close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating from her skin. "You're forgiven. But don't do it again."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She smiled again, this one softer, more intimate. "Good. Now, what do we do about your pack problem?"

We. The word hit him like salvation and terror in equal measure. They were in this together now, for better or worse.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "They say they’ll call on me when it’s time to decide whether to go back to them or watch them make good on their threats. I can;t imagine it will be much longer until I get that call."

"Then we have time to figure out a third option."

"Diana," he said again.

"Yes?"

"I want to stay. Whatever it takes, whatever we have to face, I want to stay here. With you."

"Then we'll make sure you can."

She leaned up and kissed him, soft and sure and full of faith in a future they'd build together. And finally, Rowan believed it might actually be possible.