Page 61 of The Careless Alpha

I stared at his hand on my arm, then up at his face, my expression a mixture of shock and dawning comprehension. We were still mated. After everything, the Moon Goddess's tie still held us fast.

"I need some air," I said shakily, standing with Fenrir still in my arms. The entire dining hall was staring, and I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Annalise, wait," Marshall called, but I was already walking toward the door.

I made it to the garden behind the pack house before my legs gave out. I sank onto a stone bench, holding Fenrir close and trying to process what had just happened. The mate bond wasstill there. After everything—the rejection, the banishment, the months of separation—it was still there.

"Annalise." Marshall's voice was soft as he approached, his hands visible and non-threatening. "Are you okay?"

"The bond," I whispered. "It's still there, isn't it?"

"Yes." He sat carefully on the other end of the bench, giving me space. "You never accepted the rejection. With me giving you thirty minutes to leave or face the warriors, no one thought about the correct process. You never had the chance to accept it before you fled."

"So we're still mated?"

"Technically, yes. But Annalise, that doesn't mean—"

"You turned her down," I said, looking at him directly. "Celeste. You were going to turn her down."

"Of course I was." Marshall's voice was fierce with conviction. "I've turned them all down. Every offer, every invitation, every attempt at seduction. There has been no one since the day I banished you. You're my mate. That's not going to change, marked or not, accepted or not."

"But they keep trying."

"They do." Marshall's jaw tightened with frustration. "And I keep making it clear that I'm not interested. That I have a mate and a son, and that's all I want."

I studied his face in the moonlight, looking for any sign of deception or wishful thinking. But all I saw was absolute sincerity.

The next morning, I was feeding Fenrir in the room Luna Elspeth had given us when there was a soft knock on the door. Celeste entered, looking genuinely contrite and carrying a cup of tea.

"Annalise? I wanted to apologize for last night. I was completely out of line."

I looked up from Fenrir's nursing, noting that Celeste was dressed much more conservatively today in jeans and a modest sweater. "Yes, you were."

"I’m not interested in Marshall," she said, settling into the chair across from me. "Neither were any of the others who've been throwing themselves at him."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We heard your story when Marshall arrived. He was talking to my brother, explaining the situation, asking for permission to bring you here if complications arose." Celeste's smile was slightly sheepish. "We could see how much he loves you, how destroyed he was by what he'd done. And we could see that he'd changed."

"So you decided to test him?"

"We decided to give you proof." Celeste's blue eyes were earnest. "You've been hurt badly, and you had every reason not to trust him. But that man hasn't looked at another woman since he arrived. When we threw ourselves at him, we were hoping you'd see him turn us down. We wanted you to see that he only has eyes for you."

I stared at her, torn between admiration for their scheme and irritation at being manipulated. "That could have backfired spectacularly."

Celeste laughed, the sound bright and genuine. "No way. That Alpha is completely smitten. We could have danced naked in front of him, and he wouldn't have noticed. His attention is entirely focused on you and Fenrir."

"And if I hadn't reacted the way I did?"

"Then we would have backed off and found another way to show you the truth." Celeste leaned forward, her expression growing serious. "Annalise, I've known a lot of mated wolves in my life. I've never seen devotion like what that man has for you.He's not the same person who hurt you. Whatever you decide about your future, at least know that he's genuinely changed."

After Celeste left, I sat holding Fenrir and thinking about everything that had happened. The mate bond that had never truly broken. Marshall's consistent rejection of other women. The way he looked at our son with such love and wonder. The way he'd spent a month in Crescent Bay earning the respect of my chosen family without complaint.

What do you think?I asked Sapphire.

I think our mate has learned what it means to love someone more than himself,she replied.I think he's proven that we matter more to him than his pride, his comfort, or his needs.

And the other she-wolves?