Page 29 of Pack Kasen, Part 3 (Caught #3)

KAT

ONE MONTH LATER

“ C an I open my eyes yet?”

Aren’s hands are on my hips, and he’s been guiding my steps for the last ten minutes. “Not yet, Kitty cat. We’re nearly there.”

“You’ve shown me all your favorite places already.”

Burning Wood is over sixty acres of the most incredible rural paradise. I have loved every moment of exploring it with Aren.

“All but one,” he says.

We spent a few days with my family in Nebraska, then returned to Burning Wood to prepare for the council meeting to discuss what to do with the ferals.

It was an intense three-day conference with all nine of the Wolf Lords.

I got to meet them all, and it wasn’t as terrifying or intimidating as I thought it would be.

Maybe because my dad was there, being a Wolf Lord himself.

And I got to see Tagge again, who hugged me hello and seemed not to notice Aren growling at him in response.

We’re still working on the problem with ferals. Things go wrong, we argue, and we shout at each other. But we talk. And we come back to each other, determined to work together to fix a problem so much bigger than us.

I stumble over a rock. Aren immediately steadies me. “You okay, baby?”

“I’m okay.”

He’s like that a lot now. Checking in with me often, finding reasons to touch me.

And smiling.

I don’t think a day has gone by that he hasn’t smiled, and he’s made me happier than I thought I could be. It’s why my family no longer hates him. Carlie will stab him if he does something to deserve it, but my parents can see how much he loves me.

A gust of wind blows my hair back from my face, and I gulp nervously. “You haven't led me to a mountain and are getting ready to push me off, having decided that mated life isn't for you, are you?”

He’s smiling when he kisses my neck, and I shiver as his lips brush over the bite on my neck.

There’s no reason it should be sensitive. And it isn’t, not really.

But it reminds me of the night he bit me, and all I remember is pleasure. We left for Nebraska a day later than we’d intended because neither of us had wanted to move from bed.

“Open your eyes, beautiful.”

He still has his hands on my hips when I blink my eyes open, and I stare.

I can’t help but stare at the sight in front of me.

I love Burning Wood. It’s a quiet, perfect corner of northern Montana that soothes my soul. I’d thought it was beautiful before, but this…

Aren hugs me from behind, drawing my body back to his.

“I always thought that Burning Wood was the most beautiful place in the world,” he says as I stare at a forest painted in shades of orange, red, and yellow leaves. It’s fall, and it looks like the forest is burning.

He spins me so we’re face-to-face. “Then I found you, and nothing else compares. Saying I love you isn’t enough.

Words aren’t enough to express how I feel about you, Kataleya Kasen, but I’ll say them anyway.

I love you more than you will ever know, and I have never been happier than when I’m with you. ”

The back of my eyelids prickle with tears. “For a guy who thought a dead deer would impress me, you sure know how to say the right things.” I step into him, looping my arms around him. “I love you, too, Aren. And there is nowhere else I would want to be.”