Chapter 65 AURORA

“No!” I clamped my teeth over whatever else I was about to say.

One thing I’d learned in the last five years was that Augusta DeVere loved when I was imperious…to everyone except her.

“Excuse me?” she snapped. “I gave you an order, you ungrateful pup. Remember, I own everything in your life. You will obey me, or I will take it all away.”

Dane still sat close to me on the bed. He sat back, watching me. Then, to my shock, he took my hand in his and squeezed.

After so long thinking of him as someone who hated me, I was so surprised by the reassurance, I almost pulled away. But his hand felt so good around mine. I squeezed back.

“Of course, I’ll obey you, Grandmother…”

Dane scowled. I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t like to hear me swear obedience to someone, or if he didn’t like that the someone wasn’t him.

“…but I think you may have been deceived about how much progress I’m making here. We’ve already uncovered one of the three chosen of the goddess. Plus, we found the missing pages of the ancient book that should uncover the other two.”

“There are three?” she said in surprise. “Aurora, I had no idea. Why haven’t you been updating me more often?”

“I’m sorry, I was going to, but then my injury…”

I waited for my grandmother’s warmth to return. It didn’t. However, her voice wasn’t as cold as it had been at first. “Well. I suppose under the circumstances, it would be a waste to pull out the resources we’ve already invested.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said, relief flooding me. “We’ve already sunk enough cost into this that it’s worth continuing a little longer.”

“Hm,” she said. “A little longer. I won’t let the fact that I’ve already spent some money on this force my hand into spending more, however.”

“You have your cut of the pack’s profits for this month in your bank account. But I’m tired of waiting, and of you putting those heirs of mine at risk. I want the relic, Aurora, and I want it soon.”

“You’ll have it soon,” I said, relieved she wasn’t insisting we come back today.

“In under a month,” Augusta declared.

My stomach flipped over. “One month? It’s possible, Grandmother, but surely two or three months…”

“One,” she barked. “Relic or not, I want every member of the High Alpine Pack—including those children—on a flight home.”

My hand tightened around the phone. Dane sat next to me. With his keen wolf ears, there was no way he couldn’t hear every word my grandmother said.

He didn’t break eye contact with me as I took a careful breath and said, “Of course, Grandmother.”

“Good. Make it happen. Goodbye.”

With that, she hung up.

A rumble emanated from Dane’s chest. “You aren’t taking my children away from me.”

I closed my eyes. “They’re yours, but they’re also mine, and through me, they’re members of High Alpine. That’s their pack.”

“I claim them. I’ll make them part of Blue Ridge.”

My eyes flew open, and I put a hand on his chest. “Don’t. Just… wait. Give me time. Augusta cares more about what’s good for High Alpine Pack than how happy my—our—children are. Don’t be like her, Dane. We have to put our children’s happiness first.”

The muscles in his jaw worked, but he nodded. “I won’t fly off the handle, and I won’t claim them for my pack just yet. But this has to happen, Aurora. I’m not letting them go.”

I rubbed my temples. I had always looked out for the twins, and I wouldn’t stop now. But this was a bridge we could cross when we came to it. It wasn’t worth fighting Dane or my grandmother over right at this moment.

I had to change the subject. “We have a much tighter timeline than I had originally planned,” I said. “I was hoping for weeks with those two pages before we made another move, if not months. Translation is so tricky. Getting it right can’t be rushed.”

Dane grunted. “We can make it happen in a month. Maybe that’s for the best—we won’t be able to be as careful, but it also means there will be less time for outsiders to find out what we’re doing and interfere.”

“We need to meet with everyone,” I said.

“Give me an hour,” Dane said. “I’ll make it happen. And when the meeting is over…”

I looked at him curiously. “When it’s over?”

He lifted my hands and pressed my knuckles to his lips. In a move that made heat pool between my legs, he slid the tip of his tongue between my first and middle fingers in a hot, suggestive stroke. “Have dinner with me. Then stay the night. We’ve waited long enough. Say yes.”