CHAPTER SEVEN

Caleb helps me up off the mattress and pulls a key from his pocket, unlocking the door.

Silently, we slip out through the back door of the pack house, into a misty early morning. I shiver, and he takes off his coat, wrapping it around my shoulders.

He leads me away from the pack house and away from town, deeper into the woods, along narrow and overgrown trails that he seems to know very well. The whole time, he holds my hand, his grip sure and strong.

“Where are we going?” I ask as the sun begins to rise and the pack house has disappeared behind us.

“My dad’s old cabin,” Caleb explains. “The pack doesn’t know about it. It’s just for the Alpha and his family. A hideaway.”

“If it’s only for Alphas and their families, then why are you taking me there?”

Caleb stops, turning toward me and holding my face in his warm hands. “Because you’re my family,” he says. “You’re my mate.”

“But -”

“I know, I know.” Caleb’s silver eyes are tinged with sadness. “You’re an Omega, and you can’t shift. It’s not supposed to happen like this. But I know you’re my mate. Don’t pretend - you know it too.”

He’s right. Ever since we met, the certainty has been rising within me, as clear as the knowledge of my own name. I was made for Caleb, and he was meant for me.

Even if that violates every pack rule. Even if it’s forbidden.

“I know,” I say, my voice quiet and shaky. “I’m your mate, and you’re mine.”

“I love you, Sarah,” Caleb says, kissing me as the sun rises up over the mountain, bathing us in its golden glow. A few birds begin to chirp in the bushes around us.

“I love you, too.” Even though I only met Caleb a day ago, when it comes to finding your mate, time means nothing. In the marrow of my bones, in every beat of my heart, with all the breath in my lungs, I love Caleb.

Caleb smiles down at me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Now let’s get to the cabin before anyone finds us.”

The cabin is a cozy wooden structure at the bottom of a small hill. A creek runs by the front door, and we have to step across a few flat stones to get there.

“The running water masks our scent,” Caleb explains. “Keeps shifters and other beings from finding this place.”

For the first time in a long time, I feel safe. Protected.

Inside, the cabin is tidy, with a red quilt over a brown leather sofa and plush fur rugs covering the wooden floor. Caleb lights a fire in the fireplace, then pulls a fluffy towel out of a narrow cabinet nearby.

“Why don’t you take a hot bath,” he suggests, pointing to a bathroom. “Then we can talk.”

The bathtub is huge, big enough for a shifter in wolf form to curl up in, or for two people still in their human forms. Part of me wants to invite Caleb to join me, but we’ve only just met, and I could use some time alone to get my head straight.

I sink into the steamy water, sighing with relief. After the last few days, I really needed this. I even drift off for a while, relaxing in the tub, listening to the occasional sounds of Caleb moving around in the cabin on the other side of the door.

Finally, I get out of the tub and dry myself off. There’s a cozy looking flannel robe hanging on a hook behind the door, and I wrap up in that. It’s rich with Caleb’s Alpha scent, and it feels just as good as the bath.

When I return to the living room, the fire is roaring. Caleb is sitting on the sofa, and on the coffee table beside it are two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate loaded with delicious looking cheese and crackers and other snacks.

I sit down, snuggling up under the quilt that’s been laid on the couch.

“So,” he says. “Malcolm told me the pack banished you.”

“Uh huh.” I can’t meet his eyes, instead picking at a fraying thread on the quilt. “Because I can’t shift.”

***

Caleb bites his lip. He looks frustrated. “Malcolm should have waited for me,” he says. “He’s the Beta of the pack, but he’s always wanted more. Pushes me, undermines me, tries to gain power. He probably thinks banishing you in my absence makes him look more like a leader.”

“Where were you?” I ask. “I looked for you, last night.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I was here, actually. My dad left a bunch of old books on pack laws, so I came here to consult them.”

“About me.”

Caleb nods. “About what happens when an Alpha is mated with an Omega, and about pack members who can’t shift.”

“What did you find?”

Caleb sighs. “Malcolm was technically within his rights to banish you, but there are ways for an Alpha to reverse a banishment.”

“And what about us being mates?”

“That’s trickier.” Caleb reaches over and takes my hand in his, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb. “There doesn’t seem to be a way around it. It’s forbidden. It violates all the laws of the pack.”

“But...” My chest feels tight. “We’re mates. They can’t change that.”

“No, they can’t. But they can do a whole bunch of other things. Things I would never want to put you through. So I wanted to give you a choice, Sarah. I can try to reverse your banishment, but only if that’s what you want. We would have to keep our love a secret, and you’d have to put up with Miranda and Malcolm.”

I make a face. That doesn’t sound like what I want at all.

“Or,” Caleb continues, “you could stay here. The pack will think you’re gone and banished, and you won’t have to deal with them anymore. I’d spend as much time as possible with you, and once we have a male pup, he’ll be the next Alpha, and there won’t be anything Malcolm and those jerks can do about it.”

I look around the cabin. It’s wonderful, but could I really spend years here, hiding out? My parents would miss me, but I’d never have to put up with bullying at school ever again.

And I’d be with Caleb.

There’s no other choice. He’s my mate, and I’ll do whatever it takes to be with him.

“I’ll stay here,” I say.