Page 77 of Wolf Hunger

Triana frowned. “That’s silly. He did everything he could.”

“I know,” Remy agreed. “But he holds himself to a higher standard than that. The werewolves in his pack got hurt. He’s going to be beating himself up about it until we stop these hunters for good.”

Lana and everyone else at the table were still trying to figure out what they could do to help Gage carry some of the burden of protecting the Pack when the sun started going down. Beside her, Max looked a little worn out. Since he’d never admit it, she had to make certain decisions for him.

“Why don’t we head home?” she suggested softly, leaning in close. “I’m beat.”

Max gave her a look that told Lana he was onto her, but he didn’t call her on it. Instead, he smiled and kissed her. “Then let’s get you home.”

She and Max made the rounds of the compound, saying good night to everyone, then walked hand in hand out to his Camaro. As he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot, heading toward his apartment they were now sharing, Lana realized he was more quiet than usual.

“Hey,” she said. “Are you feeling okay? Should we stop in and see Dr. Saunders?”

He shook his head. “I’m okay. I’m was just thinking about stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

He shrugged. “About how crazy it is for us to be trying to have a relationship while we’re wondering when the hunters are going to show up and try to kill us again.”

Lana reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard, something that was a lot easier to do now that she had access to all her werewolf abilities.

“You can stop wondering right now,” she said firmly. “I just got you back, and I’m not wasting a second of our lives together worrying about what may happen with those hunters. If they come back, we’ll deal with them.”

Max didn’t say anything for a while, but then he looked over and smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way because I’ve been putting a lot of thought into not wasting time either.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, turning his attention to the highway again. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to get married?”

Lana’s heart did a little happy dance. She’d learned enough about the legend of The One over the past couple of weeks to know it meant that Max and she were going to be together for life. After almost losing him to the hunters’ bullets, she realized she wasn’t interested in waiting around before starting that life. It was nice to know Max felt the same.

“I guess that depends,” she said coyly, “on whether you’re actually asking me to marry you or simply talking hypothetically.”

He suddenly pulled over to the side of the road, stopping in the grass. Cars sped by them at seventy miles an hour, but Max ignored them as he turned to look at her.

“I’m definitely asking.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry if this isn’t as romantic as it should be, with a ring and everything, but if I learned anything from going up against the hunters, it’s that things move fast—even when you’ve found the person you’re going to be with for the rest of your life. I don’t want to waste a second of the life we have together, Lana, so yeah, I’m asking you to marry me. And if you say yes, I’m completely okay with heading to the airport right now. We can be in Vegas by midnight, have a diamond on your finger an hour later, and be married by the time the sun comes up.”

She laughed and leaned over the console to kiss him. “The answer is yes, I’ll marry you, Max. And while a whirlwind wedding in Vegas would certainly do the trick, how about we slow things down just a little and see if we can set up something local? I don’t need much, just my parents, my friends, and the Pack. I want this moment to be perfect for both of us, okay?”

He tipped her head back and kissed her hard enough to make her almost change her mind. Then he pulled back and flashed her a grin.

“Okay, that’s the plan then. We get married as soon as we can pull everything together. A Christmas wedding, maybe. What do you think?”

Since it was almost Thanksgiving, that would give them a little more than four weeks until Christmas. She smiled. “I think that sounds good to me.”

Max suddenly turned serious again. “One thing, though.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You have to be the one to tell your dad. He’s just now starting to like me, and if I tell him we’re planning to get married already, he’ll probably shoot me.”

Lana laughed and kissed him again. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle my dad. You just figure out where you’re taking me on our honeymoon.”

“I can handle that,” he murmured against her mouth. “Anywhere with you will be perfect.”