11. Thorne

Istare at Iris.

The faerie woman's words are still ringing in my ears.

Not a human.

Not a human.

Iris folds her arms, patiently waiting for me to…

Do something.

Say something.

I look up at her, my heart in my throat.

She asked for an apology.

But nothing I could say would ever convey how deeply sorry I am.

"Iris," I whisper, my throat tight. "There will never be a way to say that I'm sorry."

She arches an eyebrow. "You're not even going to try?"

I huff out a breath. "I just… I don't know how I could ever make it up to you. I am… I was… no, I am the world's biggest idiot."

She arches an eyebrow. "This is not going well."

"I know. Shit. Iris…" I shut my eyes.

The mate bond between us pulses, and I can feel how badly she wants me to do this.

I can do this.

"Iris. There are never going to be words to say that will fix the fact that I thought you lied to me. I was… I was more than just an idiot. I was a fool. I was… I was wrong," I whisper.

Iris swallows. I scoot closer to her on the couch. "Sweetheart, I was so wrong. I really didn't think this was possible. But I… you never lied to me. Not once. I should have believed you. I should have trusted you. I'm so fucking sorry, Iris," I say.

My voice breaks.

"I'm so sorry. And you don't have to accept it now. I just… I want the chance. If you don't accept this today, then please. Let me be yours. Let me try to spend the rest of our lives figuring out exactly how to tell you how sorry I am. How much of an idiot I was. I don't know how to tell you today, but if I have to, I'll spend every day for the rest of our lives figuring it out…"

Iris puts a finger on my lips. "Do you love me?"

My eyes go wide. "Iris…"

"Earlier, you said that you loved I was human. You said that you loved that about me. But do you love that I'm human, Thorne? Or do you love me?"

The desperation in her eyes makes my chest ache. She lowers her hand.

And I know how to say what I'm feeling.

"I love you, Iris. I love you more than I've ever loved anything in my whole fucking life. I loved you the minute I walked into the clinic, and you refused to hand that kid over to me."

Her eyebrows furrow. "A kid?"

"Teenager. Pup. He got drunk and got caught by Parks and Wildlife."

Iris pauses.

Then she bursts out laughing. "That's why you were looking for him? You needed to take a teenage werewolf who got too drunk and passed out, home?"

"Yeah. Part of the joys of being an alpha," I rumble.

Iris wipes tears from her eyes. "Oh, goodness. That is hilarious, Thorne."

"Little less funny when you have to do the whole thing," I mutter.

She leans forward. Iris presses a kiss to my lips, and I freeze. It's tender. Sweet.

Loving.

"Iris…" I whisper.

"I love you too."

My heart kicks in my chest, and Iris rubs her hand over her heart.

The bond.

"You do?"

"Yeah. That's why it hurt so bad when you didn't believe me. I love you, Thorne. And I don't know how I fell for you so fast. But I did. And now…" she takes my hand.

She puts it over her stomach.

Beneath my fingers, I feel something… pulse. It's like a miniature version of the bond that I feel for Iris.

She looks up at me. "Now, we have to figure this out. Together."

"Together," I echo.

I lean forward and kiss her, and when I pull back, there's a smile on my lips.

"So. Iris. Will you stay with me? In the pack house?"

"Will you try to make it up to me there, too?"

I grin. "Yes. I will. Every day."

When we get back,Evander is there. But he's not alone.

With him, there are more wolves. Not everyone. I see some of the pups missing, and that makes sense.

They don't need to be here for this.

Evander smiles at me. He knows exactly what we need to do.

It's time to confront the pack.

Iris stiffens, but I grab her hand. "Hold on."

"Thorne…"

"I need to start making it up to you. All of it. And I want to do that forever. But I need to start somewhere. So, let me start with this? Please, Iris?"

She hesitates, but nods.

I turn to the collected wolves, Iris' hand in mine. I take a breath.

"Thank you all for coming."

The shifters gathered in front of us blink, looking between Iris and me.

I nod. "This is Iris. She's my mate."

The word has the desired impact. A ripple of whispers cascades through the crowd, and I hold up my other hand to still them.

"Iris is my mate. If anyone has a problem with that, you're welcome to leave," I call out.

Someone shuffles. "Is it true?"

I don't respond.

The voice pipes up again. "Is she your fated mate?"

That I can definitely answer. A smile blooms across my face. "Yes. It's true. Iris and I have been blessed with a fated mate bond."

The cheer that breaks out is deafening. I laugh, waving at the crowd. "Iris is my mate. She's your alpha's mate. So will you protect her?"

"Yes!" The crowd yells.

With the cheering done, I pull Iris in for a kiss. This time, the pack goes wild.

There's even a few howls among the crowd.

Amid the cheering, Iris pulls my face down. "You didn't tell them."

"Tell them what?"

"That I'm not human."

I kiss her on her cheek. "No. I didn't."

"Don't they need to know?"

"Iris," I sigh, pulling her into my arms. "All they need to know is that I'm yours. And you're mine. And together, we're going to lead this pack. How does that sound?"

Her eyes meet mine.

Then, joy explodes from the bond.

"I think that sounds pretty darn good."