“I’m so sorry,” I muttered under my breath to Christian as I observed Ze’ev scurrying away, likely to spend time with the rest of the pack. “Is he okay?” I inquired, feeling my emotions beginning to abruptly brim to the surface. “I’m just worried that I scared him away.”

“He’ll be fine,” Christian prodded, gently touching my face. “But you and I…. We need to be more careful about things. I’d like to someday declare my love for you a ...