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Nate

C ameron groaned. “I’m gonna be late.”

I opened one eye in time to see her throwing the covers off. “Can I help with anything?” I asked, rubbing my eyes and missing the warmth of her against me.

“I’d love it if you’d make breakfast while I get ready.” She raised her eyebrows hopefully.

“I can come up with something,” I said, smiling and pulling on pajama bottoms.

In the months since everything had happened, Cameron and I had grown even closer.

It helped that we shared an apartment now—another gift from JC and the pack.

It was in a nice area of town, and only two streets down from the new apartment the alpha had secured for Cameron’s mother and brother.

No broken elevator, the hot water always worked, easier access to amenities, and Gael could go to a better school.

To be honest, I was bewildered by how much JC had done for us since joining the pack.

“You two have been screwed over enough,” he’d said. “The least I can do is help out a bit. Call it a long-overdue apology from my pack to you.”

That statement alone had sealed the deal for me.

But it wasn’t only what he’d done for us, but for Rick Masters as well.

He’d been true to his word and gotten Rick into rehab.

As much as I despised Rick, I understood that his father had raised him to be that way.

That, along with the drugs, had warped him into a monster.

When Rick got out of rehab, he’d expressed his remorse.

Ollie told us Rick had used the last of family money to buy a plane ticket to Britain, where he planned to start a new life.

I hoped he was successful—and that we’d never have to see the douchebag again.

That kindness, even toward an enemy, showed me that JC was an alpha I would go to battle for in a heartbeat.

As long as he ruled the pack, he’d have me at his side, fighting tooth and nail for anything he needed.

It made me realize how much I’d longed for not just family and stability, but someone to follow.

A person I could look up to and admire. Given how young JC was, I knew he’d only become an even better leader as he matured.

“Can you move the laundry over?” Cameron called as she finished her last bite of the scrambled eggs and toast.

“Already on it,” I said, opening the lid of the washer. “Give me a second to put my shoes on, then I’ll walk you to the subway.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know you don’t have to do that. I tell you every time.”

I shut the dryer, turned it on, then scooped her into my arms. “And every time you say that, I tell you that I’m doing it, anyway,” I said.

Laughing, she kissed me. “Fine. If you must .”

The gentle, sweet kiss awakened something deep inside me. My wolf gave a low, commanding growl deep in my mind. It was time. Past time. We were together, and I needed to seal this. To once and for all claim Cameron as mine and show her I was hers.

“Nate?” she asked. “Are you good?”

Breathing in short, slow breaths, I looked into her eyes, hunger and desire flooding through me.

“How late can you be?” I whispered.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh!” She smiled coyly. “I suppose I could be fifteen or twenty minutes late.” She ran a finger down my jaw. “But only if you really make it worth my while.”

I didn’t smile or laugh. This was too serious. Too life-altering to make a joke of it.

“I want to bond with you,” I said, my mouth dry and my heart thundering.

Cameron’s mouth formed an O . In the months she’d been a shifter and part of the pack, she’d done her fair share of research.

To bond was to bind oneself to the other person in a deep, emotional manner, usually sealed with a bite.

A physical act that held both shifters together.

It was not unbreakable, but it was the closest thing we had to a human marriage ceremony.

“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her head and averting her eyes.

Putting my hand under her chin, I brought her gaze to mine. “I’ve never been more sure about anything. I want you, now and forever.”

My words did something to her. Hope, like a rainbow after a thunderstorm, glimmered in her eyes. She beamed at me.

“Yes. I want that, too,” she whispered. “I love you, Nate.”

“I love you, Cameron.”

Our lips met in urgent desire. Our breaths intermingled as we moved as one.

Before I even realized what I was doing, my fingers fumbled with the buttons and zipper of her pants.

Her tongue slid into my mouth as her pants fell down to her ankles.

She grunted with frustration as she struggled to free her feet from her shoes.

Picking her up, I set her on the granite counter.

“Fuck, that’s cold,” she hissed.

“This isn’t,” I grunted as I pulled my cock free of my pants and thrust into her.

Cameron let out a low moan of satisfaction as she took my full length. Slipping my arms under her knees, I shifted her to get a better angle. My wolf demanded I move faster, harder, and finally make her mine. Cameron dug her nails into my shoulders, urging me on.

Pressing my forehead to hers, I stared into her eyes as I rocked against her. She was warm, wet, soft. This woman was my home. The world around us faded in our frenzy. The sun could have burst outside, and I doubt we’d have noticed. We were too enthralled with each other.

A faint sheen of sweat coated my neck and arms as I fucked her. Cameron’s breathing changed, becoming more erratic. Her eyes, still locked on mine, had taken on an unfocused, half-lidded look as she drew nearer to orgasm. Pleasure flooded through me. I was close. So fucking close.

“I’m going to bite you,” I said, still thrusting into her. “It’ll only hurt for a second.”

“Take me, Nate. Make me yours.”

Hearing her say the very thing I’d dreamed of sent me over the edge.

Uttering a muffled cry of release as I came, I sank my teeth into the soft flesh where her shoulder met her neck.

Cameron stiffened beneath me, letting out a cry of pained surprise that morphed into a scream of ecstasy.

Her pussy clenched around me as she came.

Fully spent and satiated, I pulled my lips away from her neck. Her shifter healing was already going to work, but the mark of my teeth on her elated me. Joy, pride, comfort, and awe rushed through me.

Cameron wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of saying that or hearing her say it to me.

“Okay,” Cameron said after she’d cleaned up and pulled on her pants. “What were we doing?”

“I was going to walk you to the subway,” I said.

“Oh. Right. Sorry,” Cameron said. “Some sexy guy just fucked my brains out on the kitchen counter, and I forgot.”

“Let’s go,” I said with a chuckle, and led her to the door.

Whenever I wasn’t out on a mission for JC, I walked her to the subway. My new job for the pack didn’t have me on the road as much as my old job, but I hated being away from her for more than a few hours.

Outside, the air was cold, though not bitterly so yet. It was nearing Halloween, and the neighborhood was decked out in skeletons, witches, and black and orange décor. It would be the first holiday season I’d had a family, and a heavy knot formed in my chest.

Over the last couple of months, I’d thought more and more about my parents.

JC had found an old photo album from when my uncle was alpha, and I now had photos of them.

My favorite was one of me as a baby, cradled in my mother’s arms, my father grinning at her side.

Even now, it was hard to comprehend the fact that I’d had loving parents who cared for me.

Almost every night, I said a silent apology to them for all the awful things I’d thought about them over the years.

Wherever they were now, I knew they probably understood, but that didn’t change the shame I still felt.

“How were things down in Ottawa?” Cameron asked as we crossed the street, hand in hand.

“We got it sorted out,” I said. “The guy Ollie knew put me in contact with the shifter we needed. The Russian mafia is trying to move into one of the poorer areas. The guys are humans, but the neighborhood has a lot of shifters. One of the guys they’d initially hired as muscle wanted to flip and got to the cops, but…

” I shrugged. “He wasn’t the most law-abiding shifter in JC’s pack.

He was worried the police might screw him over.

That, or JC might kick him out because of his crimes.

Once I talked to him, I managed to convince him that JC was more worried about the thugs moving in than some random shifter doing petty crime. ”

“Sounds intense,” Cameron said. “Is it always like that?”

“Not always,” I said. “Sometimes it’s simple stuff.”

I’d more or less taken a role as a go-between for JC and pack members.

Lots of folks didn’t trust the human police and pack laws in general.

I went in when people needed someone they could talk to and iron things out.

My reputation had spread since being accepted into the pack.

I still freelanced for other packs, and that work had picked up since shifters could now move between packs.

The Toronto-Ottawa pack held more political sway than I’d realized. Everyone and their brother were tripping over themselves to enact new laws and repeal old ones to mimic what JC had done. From the looks of it, most people had been ready for change. JC had simply tipped the first domino over.

There would be some bigoted holdouts. Packs around the world who were less accepting and more likely to resist. That wouldn’t last long. As new generations came up and realized how backward and pointless the laws were, all the packs would be pressured to change.

The execution of ferals had also been halted. Now the packs were attempting to capture ferals and actively working on experimental rehabilitation therapies. It was surreal.