Chapter 43 DANE

Aurora could kick and scream and argue all she wanted. I didn’t care. I’d drag her back to Blue Ridge if I had to.

I needed time to figure out what to do. Between her and the twins and Evelyn and her pregnancy…

I prepared for Aurora to fight me, but her jaw set, and she said, “Fine.”

I couldn’t help my shock. “Fine? That’s it?”

Her eyes flashed. “You’ve given me more than I expected, not just taking them from me until you know for sure. I can return the favor.”

I nodded.

Once we knew all the survivors were pulled from the rubble, including the twins’ nanny, human emergency services had showed up.

After speaking to them briefly, I took the High Alpine wolves back to Blue Ridge, as well as my sister.

When we arrived, I sent them with the wolf who served as the head housekeeper, who put them in a suite of rooms not far from mine. My sister was taken to the infirmary, where my grandfather also was.

Evelyn fumed. She followed me into my bedroom and slammed the door behind her. “What the hell are you thinking?”

I growled low in my throat. “I have dealt with a lot of shit today, Evelyn. Whatever this is, I’m not doing it.”

Her anger immediately disappeared, and she turned big, tear-filled eyes at me. “I’m sorry, Dane. What am I supposed to think? You just moved your ex into our home!”

“You hate it here. You live in the city.”

“I told you I think I like it in the woods now!” Evelyn said. She sounded so much like a petulant child, she might as well have stomped her foot.

“She’s my business partner. They’re staying,” I said.

“What about those children? I’m not blind, Dane. Or stupid. Did you know they were there? Are they yours? With her?”

I sighed. I’d always known Evelyn was intelligent enough, but she usually didn’t choose to notice things beyond herself. “I don’t know.”

I could technically claim it was the truth, since Aurora had never confirmed it. But I was certain. When I’d picked them up, I could feel it. A bond I couldn’t name. My wolf had scented them and immediately been ready to claim them as his.

Evelyn wouldn’t let it drop. “Well, what if they are yours? What does that mean for me and my baby?”

“I said I would marry you.”

She already had her mouth open, like she was ready to argue. At my words, she closed it. Then she said, “You would?”

“Aurora and I had our chance.”

“You had your chance with Ann Reed,” Evelyn pouted. “Besides, isn’t Aurora your deepest desire?”

She was pacing in front of me. When she passed, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her body full against mine. “Not anymore.”

Then I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her.

ARCHER

I opened the door to Dane’s room, only to find him kissing Evelyn.

Hard. Passionate. Possessive.

My wolf snarled and growled.

Mine!

My teeth and claws extended without me meaning for it to happen. I forced them back.

They looked up at me in surprise. Evelyn’s eyes went wide, and she took the tiniest step back.

I swallowed every wolfish instinct I had to challenge my Alpha and forced myself to be calm. No teeth. No claws.

Dane was a good man. I was loyal to him.

But I loved Evelyn.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, Alpha.”

“It’s fine.” Dane dropped his arms from around her. “Has anything changed?”

“Your sister and your grandfather are both in stable condition. Nothing has changed. The High Alpine wolves have settled in.”

Dane nodded. Evelyn didn’t move from his side. I gave them both a nod, then turned and left the room.

I walked down the hall, clenching and unclenching my fists.

Evelyn was a complication I hadn’t expected in my life. I didn’t mean to fall in love with her. Even when I knew I loved her, I’d meant to go my entire life without acting on it. She was with Dane. He was my Alpha. One of my best friends. I respected him.

Then one night I found her drunk outside his penthouse, back when he was still married. She was crying, sick.

I took care of her. The next morning, we talked. We ended up talking for hours. She came to my apartment in the city–in the same building as Dane’s penthouse, a floor down.

She told me things about her no one else knew. About her childhood. Her mother. Things I knew for a fact she still hadn’t told Dane.

That night, we slept together for the first time. The next day, she told me she wasn’t going to break up with Dane. She’d never break up with him. Because he could give her the one thing she’d never had: safety. From her mother. From the monsters she’d spent her life running from.

I understood that. We’d sworn that would be the last time.

It wasn’t. Far from it.

Now she was pregnant with my child, and she’d told Dane it was his.

I could stand for a lot of things. But this one…

There were some secrets even I couldn’t bring myself to keep, no matter how much I loved them both.

DANE

A few hours later, I left Evelyn napping in the room. It was late afternoon, but it had been a long day.

I went down to the kitchen. To my surprise, I heard children’s voices.

The twins.

Feeling like I was being pulled by fate, I stepped into the room. The little boy and girl were both seated at the table. They were eating donuts and had powdered sugar all over their faces.

Aurora was nowhere to be seen. Only Margie, the grandmotherly wolf who’d been our pack cook since I was barely older than these two.

Then the little girl saw me. She frowned, set her donut down, and climbed off the seat. Mesmerized, I watched her as she walked right up to me. Then, in a very serious voice, she said, “You might be my dad. Come on. Time for a donut.”