Page 31

Chapter

Thirty

D ANNY

Was this when he would finally reject me?

I pressed myself closer to Knox, my eyes itchy, my nose running, and my heart hammering at a thousand miles an hour. His chest was warm against me, but the steady thump-thump-thump had sped up enough that I worried about what was to come. He was clearly nervous.

I’d confessed the sordid truth. He knew now how pathetic I was. A man like Knox deserved someone strong. Someone tougher than me.

Nevertheless, I’d accept his comfort for as long as I could. I’d revel in his scent and pretend I belonged on his lap, comfortable and safe.

Knox cleared his throat. “You know I grew up in a pack?”

“I assumed as much.” Most wolves did, even if they became loners later.

“We were very traditional.” He grimaced. “Fucking archaic, actually. My father was the Pack Alpha.”

My breath caught, and I tugged my lower lip between my teeth. If Knox’s father had been Pack Alpha, then by rights, he should have inherited the title. Why was he here and not leading his pack?

Knox raised his eyes and looked somewhere above my head. “He was power-hungry, and he saw me as a threat. He’d never have handed over control of the pack willingly, and he was afraid I’d try to take it from him. Even though he believed that shifters should live separately from humans, he had me enlisted in the military to get me off pack lands.”

My chest squeezed. I didn’t understand. Alphas passed on leadership of their pack or clan to one of their children—unless someone else challenged them for the role and won. It was just how things were.

One day, Garrick would supersede Dad as Clan Alpha, but Dad had never viewed him as a threat. Instead, he’d gladly shown him how to be a good leader and ensure the smooth running of the clan for the future. When the time came, he’d step down and enjoy his golden years without the weight of the clan on his back.

Obviously, Knox’s father had viewed the situation differently.

“I returned to the pack when Mom got sick.” His fists clenched, and I wondered if he was even aware of it. “I wanted to be with her. Dad wasn’t exactly a doting mate, and I was their only child, so she didn’t have anyone else.”

Oh, Knox. My heart ached for him and his mother. Our clan was always supportive of anyone who was going through a hard time, so I couldn’t imagine how alone they must have felt.

“Soon after Mom died, Dad attacked me. I think he was afraid that I wouldn’t leave again, and that I might challenge him now that Mom wasn’t around to talk me out of it.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “He snuck up on me while I was sleeping and tried to rip my heart out.”

I flinched, my lips parting with a gasp. My gaze flew to his chest, where the knotted scar lay beneath his shirt. A scar I now knew must be from his father’s claws. Although, even if his father had buried his claws in Knox’s chest, the wound should have healed without leaving a mark.

Knox saw where my gaze lingered and laughed bitterly. “He’d tipped his claws with silver. Even though I woke up and managed to fight him off, the poison would have killed me if not for one of the pack’s warlocks, who caught me fleeing and took pity on me. Her magic saved my life.”

I was glad Knox had had her. If not, I might never have met him. I shivered as that thought struck home. I could have lost my mate before I even knew he existed.

“I fled and my father announced that I’d been exiled for attacking him and would be executed if I ever set foot on the pack lands again. Everyone there was forbidden from communicating with me.”

“I’m so sorry.” He’d been forced to leave his home, probably the only home he’d ever known besides the military, and all because his father was a power-hungry maniac.

He shrugged. “It is what it is. I don’t miss the people. Most of them were too easily led, but I miss the land I grew up on, and I worry that I won’t ever have that sense of belonging anywhere again. I won’t be able to recognize the smell of the soil that identifies the land as being home, or know the wildlife that lives in an area. I won’t ever be welcomed or accepted because I’m a wolf without a pack. An outcast.”

An exile.

My gut clenched. There wasn’t much worse for a wolf than being exiled, although at least Knox had avoided being branded so he could hide his status if he chose.

Yet people would be wary of him anyway. Just as my clan had been.

Guilt tightened in my chest. If I’d been more receptive to Knox when he’d arrived in Grizzly Ridge, then my clan might have accepted him, but instead I’d been too busy fighting my own demons to realize how much I was hurting him.

I’d made him unwelcome. An outsider in a place that should have been his salvation.

I was an asshole.

Tears burned in the backs of my eyes and my throat clogged with emotion.

“I’m sorry.” I kissed the underside of his jaw. “I’m so sorry. I hate that that happened, and I hate how I’ve treated you, and how we’ve all kept you at a distance. You don’t deserve that. I wish I could undo it all.”

“Hey, now.” He gazed down at me, affection shining in his eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Just being with you and having a job that isn’t solitary is the most I’ve felt like part of a community for years.”

Sorrow clawed at my insides. If that was the case, I felt even worse for him. I wanted to hunt down his father and see how he liked having his heart ripped out with poisoned claws and his reputation tainted.

Knox deserved so much better than his lot in life.

“How about we get something to eat and watch a movie?” he suggested. “I’ll cook, since you’ve been through the emotional wringer. What do you say?”

“Yes, please,” I whispered, feeling lazy and ungrateful and cherished and protected all at the same time.

“Do you like burgers?” he asked, lifting my weight off his lap and setting me on the cushion beside him. I rested my head against the back of the sofa and watched as he stood and ran his hand through his hair .

I snorted. “Do I like burgers? I love them. Do you know a predatory shifter that doesn’t?”

He grinned. “Wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

As he left, my heart warmed. I couldn’t help but think that there might actually be a chance we could work all of this out.

So when Knox returned a while later, toting burgers and a steaming cup of lemon and honey, I turned to him and asked, “Do you think you could be happy in Grizzly Ridge?”