Page 74 of Their Mate

Declan was on my right, all grin and grit. He laughed in places laughter shouldn’t fit and somehow made the air easier to breathe. He let me set the pace and then met me there. When he looked at me, I felt… seen.

Logan was like gravity, plain and simple. He didn’t like me in front, but he let me lead because he knew I was capable. He wore command like a second skin and still found room for respect. That did something soft and dangerous in my chest.

Edward was all discipline with a pulse. Calm voice, steady hands, a brain that knew to look three steps ahead. When he said ‘copy,’ the ground under my feet felt less likely to give way. I respected that.

Jamie was trouble with a heartbeat and full of infuriating hope. He’d dig jokes out of rubble even when they shouldn’t fit the moment. He threw optimism and humor around like autumn leaves caught in a whirlwind. I hadn’t known I needed that.

I wasn’t supposed to want any of this. That’s what I’d told myself: wanting made you slow, weak, and in the worst cases, dead. But the truth nipped at my heels. I’d been starving myself on purpose. I had been so frightened and angered by my brother’s death I’d become afraid to live.

I shouldn’t be worrying about any of this right now. I had a mission, and I needed to remember that.

The Elder Lycan wasn’t a campfire monster; he was a man who turned himself into a weapon and never turned back.

The Watch needed to know about that. The world needed what I’d learned: what he was, where he nested, how he hunted. Coordinates. Patterns. The types of traps he set.

Everything.

They needed to know everything.

I needed to put duty first.

I had to.

I knew what I had to do.

I’d keep them moving and then, when we found someplace safe to rest, I would go. If I had to, I would disappear while they slept.

It would feel like betrayal. It already did. Aidan’s hand brushed mine and something inside me steadied like it recognized home. Declan reached over to brush hair out of my eyes, and I had to strangle the small, traitorous hum that tried to escape my throat. Logan coughed and my heart skipped a beat. Behind me, Edward reached forward and briefly wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, just giving me a little reassuring squeeze, and I had to shut my eyes. Jamie cracked a joke and we all laughed.

I set my mouth in a flat line and kept walking. I was Watch before I was theirs. The world wouldn’t burn if I chose duty over my heart.

And if I did it right, maybe I’d find my way back to them after. Maybe.

CHAPTER 23

Sera

“You’ve been quiet,” Logan said softly, almost like he was trying not to spook me. “What’s wrong?”

I took a deep breath and just said what I was thinking. “I need to get back to the Watch.”

Five sets of eyes locked onto me at once. Jamie’s went wary, but not wholly surprised. Edward’s narrowed on instinct. Aidan and Declan closed in on me half a step without meaning to.

I kept going. “I need to tell them about the Elder Lycan and what he’s planning.” I looked north, past the edges of the city. “There’s an outpost on the Isle of Man. I need to go there. The British don’t know about it.”

Edward’s jaw ticked. “Convenient.”

“I go there, and the Watch can mobilize. Labs. Supply lines. They have resources. It would give us a chance,” I shot back.

Logan’s mouth flattened. “No.”

I blinked, taken aback by the finality in his tone. “No?”

“No,” Aidan said. Though he spoke quietly, there was iron in his tone.

Declan’s hand flexed at his side like he wanted to catch my wrist before I even thought about running. “You’re our mate. We don’t let you walk into a hornet’s nest by yourself.”

“It’s my choice. I’m not asking your permission,” I retorted.