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I loved how Aaron never hesitated to show me how much he wanted me. After everything he’d gone through, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he tried to hold back a little from me. But from the moment I’d claimed him as my mate, he had thrown himself fully into our relationship, holding nothing back.
He had never once made me think of myself as second best. The human woman who rejected Aaron hadn’t deserved him. And in the short time we’d been together so far, he’d already gone out of his way to tell me how much I meant to him.
He showed me too. Every day. In and out of bed.
“I know.”
“Good.” He gave me another quick kiss. “But it’s still worth saying.”
We filled both containers until they were overflowing with blueberries. As we headed back toward the cabins, Aaron stole a few handfuls. When he reached for another, I gently swatted at his hand. “Save some for Atlas.”
His grumbling complaint was interrupted by the ringing of my sat phone from his backpack. I liked to always have it on me in case my parents needed to get a hold of me.
Handing the containers of berries to me, he slid the pack off his back, pulled the phone out, and handed it to me as he set the fruit on the ground next to us.
“That’s weird.” Glancing down at the screen, I didn’t recognize the number. “A handful of people know how to contact me, but my parents are the only ones who’ve ever actually called me.”
“Pick it up, sweetness.” Aaron wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his broad chest. “I’ve got you.”
“Hello?”
“Hey, Cressida. It’s Jack. I wanted to let you know one of my pack members heard a rumor that the guy asking about you managed to follow you out of our territory. You need to be extra careful.”
“Thanks for the warning, Jack. But I’m always careful,” I assured him.
“Good.”
As soon as I disconnected, Aaron asked, “Who’s Jack?”
“The alpha from the pack where I stayed before I came here,” I answered, handing the phone back to him.
“Does he know what you are?” Aaron growled, his wolf thick in his voice.
I shook my head. “Of course not. Nobody knows my secret except for you and my parents.”
“Good,” he grunted, tilting my head back to claim my mouth in a deep kiss that left me breathless.
Blinking up at him, I realized why he was so agitated. Stroking my hands down his chest in a gesture meant to soothe his inner beast, I murmured, “You don’t have anything to be jealous about. You’re my mate. The only man who truly knows me. Who’s gotten each one of my firsts.”
“Damn fucking straight.” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, his muscles loosening as he calmed down a little. “Just like I’m all yours.”
“I know.”
After bending to pick up the berries with one hand, he interlaced the fingers of his other with mine. “We better get back. Keane needs to know that trouble might be headed this way.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.
When we got to their cabin, Laina and Atlas were playing in the backyard, giving us some time to fill the alpha in on Jack’s call.
“It fucking figures he didn’t handle this shit himself.” Keane shook his head, his bear flashing in his eyes. “That wolf doesn’t deserve for anyone to call him an alpha.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my brows drawing together as I gaped at him.
My surprise at his reaction to Jack being the one who’d warned me turned into shock over him being the alpha who’d let Ramsey down so badly when she went through her whole ordeal. “Wow, I knew something bad had happened to her but had no idea it was that awful. Or that she had any connection to Jack and his pack.”
“As far as I’m concerned, Jack is a disgrace to other alphas,” Keane growled. “It’s about time for him to do something befitting his title. Like take care of those assholes before they left his territory.”
“But I wasn’t a member of his pack,” I reminded him, my heart warming over at how angry he was on my behalf. “And he warned me to get out of there before anything bad happened. If he hadn’t, they might've caught up to me there because I’d grown too comfortable.”
