1

Fallon

I was officially losing it.

The cameras were everywhere. Hidden in the trees and positioned on the overgrown game trails. Viewers were watching my descent into madness. So I ripped every camera in the area out.

I can’t even say I was all that panicked about waking up alone in the middle of the woods inside the nest I’d designed during the Luna Trials. It was the silence in my mind that was driving me insane.

For the past week, I’d tried to tune John out, hoping to fix whatever mess I’d started. Now that he wasn’t close enough to communicate with telepathically, what was left of my cold, dead heart was starting to bleed out into the empty forest.

Quit being dramatic. He’s on his way.

And that is half the problem.

Yep. I was going crazy.

My body physically ached for the man. I’d never ached for anyone. My wolf loved that he was our mate, but she’d never once cared to settle down. I was a dominant female. John was an Alpha. This wasn’t going to work. All I wanted was to bone and get him out of my head so I could move on with my life. He was frustrating and getting under my skin.

I didn’t like not being able to hear him.

Ever since the night my wolf marked him, he’d speak in my mind at random times. Like when I’d lie in bed or when I was standing in the shower. At first, he asked questions. What I liked. What I preferred to eat. I didn’t answer.

Why didn’t I answer?

A part of me thought it was some sort of mistake. Mating marks weren’t supposed to work that way. We shouldn’t have been able to communicate telepathically until we completed the bond. My wolf claimed him when she’d sunk her teeth into his shoulder and started the mating process, but we hadn’t actually mated. There was still a chance to break it. Unless we were…

It was impossible.

Two fated pairs in one season?

This was reality TV, not some fantasy drama.

Not funny. And you need to face the facts.

John didn’t seem to care either way.

And he was perfectly fine with our arrangement. He’d started commenting on the silence, saying he didn’t mind if I was quiet. He didn’t like to talk much either. Yet his deep and grumbly voice haunted my dreams and coaxed a yearning from me I’d never known. The way he said my name, calling to me at random times, made my knees weak and my core clench with need.

Because he’s our intended mate.

I was screwed.

And I had no one to turn to.

The boys already suspected something, but I didn’t want to hear any of their teasing. My brother was losing his own mind as he chased Aspen around. I’d asked for advice from Jenna, but she’d gotten that faraway look in her eyes all mated dams had when they spoke of the “early days” and basically confirmed my fears.

Poor Aspen was the one who’d gotten all the dirty details as I word-vomited once I’d found her in the woods. Dealing with the drama from the other Lunas wasn’t a strong enough distraction. I couldn’t shake the worry drawing my thoughts back to him. It was like a tether pulling at my chest. A constant reminder that he was far away.

But he was coming.

And now that he was finally here, I blamed the impending heat for making my heart race this chaotically. My body was reacting to the hormones. That was it. Nothing a good romp wouldn’t cure.

Standing there, across from the fire where John stood in all his naked, beastly glory, was almost more than I could take.

And I thrived on self-torture.

Delicious. My wolf licked her chops.

“I told you I’d find you.” That stupid smirk on John’s face made my belly swoop.

“Get out of my head.” I bared my teeth.

His easy-going white grin showed beneath his beard. “We’re leaving. Get your things.”

I was not, under any circumstances, about to go anywhere with this brute of a male. So what if his nieces–who were currently panicked and inching away from the fire–bragged about what an upstanding Alpha he was?

It wasn’t like a man in uniform did anything to me. I hung out with Alphas all the time. His charm, or lack thereof, was all in his massive strength, which was not my normal partner type. And I eyed the length of his cock. My cheeks heated as I forced my gaze back up. That definitely did nothing for me.

Nothing.

“See something you like?” He wouldn’t stop smiling. There wasn’t a damn thing funny about this situation. “The sooner we leave, the sooner you can test it out.”

Anger had me clenching my fists at my sides as my brother and Aspen came walking up to the fire.

“Does anyone want to explain what’s going on now?” Ranger asked.

“Ask her,” John said.

I growled, wanting to smack the goofy smirk off his face. He had no damn right to be this insufferable.

Ranger turned to Aspen and they shared lovers’ whispers as Sarah spoke to the girls and Trenton crept into the clearing.

All these people were surrounding us.

Too many people. My wolf was pacing, not liking the focus taken away from her mate.

Which was crazy.

But I’d already established that.

“We’re staying here, Uncle John.” Danielle took a small step forward.

His eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at me, but I was the one who answered.

“It’s best if we all go.” The words just slipped out of my mouth. Yes, I wanted off this mountain. But I didn’t mean ‘we all,’ did I?

“You can’t make us leave,” Amber cried.

Oh no.

I did this.

Helping Aspen to help these girls gave them all the confidence they needed to make it their season. The problem? I didn’t want it to be my season.

Too late for that, my beast reminded me.

This was all a fucking mess.

John’s expression softened, but a war played across his eyes. Even as a wolf, those warm brown eyes of his held a depth I knew I’d drown in if I wasn’t careful.

“Screw it.” I turned and ran, pulling the shirt off my head as fur broke out along my skin.

“Where are you going now?” he called after me.

“You found me once,” I said as my bones rearranged and my beast took over. She let out an excited howl and headed to our nest, leading him there. “Come find me again.”