Gretchen paced the room as she waited to hear from her friends about Deak. She was the last to discover things that happened with the coven and made her feel left out. She didn’t like being left behind and out of the loop on what was happening. It reminded her of the coven she grew up all over again.

Colson sat as he watched his mate pace the floor with worry. He didn’t like seeing his mate feel this way. But all they could do was sit and wait for any news to come their way.

“This is ridiculous! Why haven’t they called us to give us an update?” Gretchen yelled.

“I’m sure they will call once they know something or let us know once they return to the hotel,” Colson said in a calming voice.

Gretchen shook her head as she continued to pace. “I hate being the last one to know things. I know I’m one of the youngest in the group, but I hate being treated like a child and things kept from me.”

Colson’s chest clenched when he heard the pain in Gretchen’s voice. This was something that bugged her. It was a good thing he was learning about this, for future sake. He’ll have to be mindful and keep his mate in the loop with decisions made for the pack. He wanted to ensure she felt included even if she wasn’t a wolf.

Gretchen’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to look at the message. She sighed with relief. “They found Deak, and they are returning to the hotel.”

“Did they say where they found him?” Colson asked.

Gretchen continued to scroll through the message, and her eyes widened. “At an underground cage fighting event. I wonder what made Deak so mad that he needed to punch somebody.”

Colson smirked. He could relate to Deak. Sometimes he needed to hit something to get the anger or rage out of his system.

He figured Gretchen and Vita wouldn’t understand; they weren’t wolves. He knew it wasn’t a wolf thing. But that was the closest thing he could come up with that made the most sense when he had urges. It didn’t make him a bad person. No matter what, he would never lay a hand on Gretchen like that. He couldn’t say he had never hit a female due to battles between packs or rogues. He had to fight whoever to survive.

Colson motioned for Gretchen to sit with him. Gretchen sat next to him and curled into his side.

“I would say it’s a guy thing, but to be fair, I know many women who need to release tension and anger that way. It’s therapeutic if you can believe it,” he admitted.

Gretchen knew about pent-up feelings and needing a way to release them. She couldn’t see hurting someone else in the process to do it.

“I can’t see hurting someone else physically to make yourself feel better as a good thing, but I know there’s a lot I don’t know that is normal when growing up in a pack. I feel so naive when it comes to things like this,” she said sadly as she lowered her head, afraid to look at Colson.

Colson hooked his finger under Gretchen’s chin and lifted her face to look at him. “I enjoy your innocence about the things you don’t know about. It gives me a chance to explain things about pack life, help you see the good in wolves, and fix what my sister made you think wolves were like. Yes, there are a lot of bad wolves in the world, but we are all not evil.”

Gretchen smiled as she leaned in and kissed the lips of her sweet mate.

***

Madeline heard a soft tap on her door and walked over to see who it was. She peeked through the hole and spotted Logan standing on the other end. Her heart fluttered excitedly as she breathed deeply to calm herself before opening the door.

“Logan, this is a surprise,” she said as she opened the door and allowed him to enter her room.

“I just wanted to check in on you and make sure things were going okay. I heard what happened at the faction council,” Logan told her as he walked into the room.

Madeline closed the door and held onto the wall as she tried to gain her balance before walking into the living room. She closed her eyes briefly as she gained control of her breathing; when she opened them, she found Logan standing right next to her with his arm extended out and holding hers to help her into the living room.

Madeline smiled.

Logan guided her into the living room and helped her sit, then sat next to her so that he could be close to her.

“Today has been a very interesting one,” she admitted.

Logan watched her with concern. Something felt off with her, and he had no idea how to help her.

“Logan, I know that look. I remember you having that look before you needed to go off and take a mission,” Madeline told him. “What’s going on?”

Logan shook his head; he knew it didn’t have to do with his work. It had been a while since he took a mission. He wanted to stay close to Madeline in case she needed him. He had been watching her over the years but keeping his distance so she wouldn’t know he was there. He hated that it sounded like he was a stalker, but he wasn’t; he was just making sure she was safe. “It’s nothing; I’m just worried about you, is all,” he confessed.

Madeline blushed when she heard this; she covered her cheeks to hide the warmth. How could he make her feel like this after so many years? Madeline lowered her hands once the heat faded. “Logan, can I ask you something?”

Logan had a feeling what she was going to ask, but he still nodded his head.

“Were you there when my husband died? I mean, were you the one to help him cross over?”

Logan took a minute before he answered. “I was there but wasn’t the one to guide him to the other side. I stayed behind to make sure you were okay.”

She looked at him as the tears started to burn her eyes and slipped down her cheeks.

Logan brought his fingers and wiped the tears from Madeline’s cheeks. “I know this will sound ridiculous, but I’ve watched you over the years to ensure you were safe and lived a long life. I have loved you since the first moment I saw you, and I have waited for the right moment to come back into your life. I hope you can allow me to show you the kind of love you deserve.”

Madeline was in shock as she sat and listened to Logan. After all this time, he was still in love with her. He wanted them to have a life together. Was this her chance? A chance to experience real love without anything interfering. Her heart raced as she got the nerve and said the words she hadn’t spoken in so long.

“I love you.”