I angled my head. “More than what?”

He released a sigh. “More than half a man.”

That earned him another nipple twist.

“Damn, baby,” he said over his laughter. “Will you knock it off?”

“You deserve it for believing I’d be so shallow—and for yelling at me and…for calling Diane your…mate.” I no longer laughed and neither did he. I sat and hugged my knees. Aric tried to curl his arm around me. I shrugged him off. Now that he was healthy, I could allow myself to be mad at him.

“Celia.”

“You could have called her your girlfriend, your fiancée, or even your wife. All those terms would have hurt me less. But to refer to her as something so sacred—something only I was supposed to mean to you—Aric, nothing you could have said would’ve hurt me more.”

I wiped my tears with the backs of my hands. While I knew I should forget that moment, I couldn’t. Not then.

“Celia, the anger and hurt I experienced clouded my judgment. But in no way does that excuse how I’ve treated you.” His eyes brimmed with tears. “You are my one and only mate. I’ll never know love or happiness without you, and I’m nothing without your smile.” He clasped my hands and knelt on one knee. “I love you, sweetness….Will you marry me?”

I covered my hand over my mouth to silence my sob. I’d convinced myself I’d never hear these words. And yet there was my love, asking me, and waiting for me to answer.

I smiled at him through my tears. “How can I marry a were I’m not officially mated to?”

Aric’s eyes widened before fixing on mine. “You’re right,” he murmured. “I guess we should fix that….”

He hauled me on top of him. I licked him in places that made him growl, jerk, and beg for more while he made me scream and thrash. We were practically out of our minds, yet he managed to focus enough to reclaim me.

“Do you want me, my love?”

“Always.”

“Can I have you?” he grunted.

“Yes.”

Aric struggled for breath. “Then you’re mine…forever.”

—

The aroma of a burning fire stirred me from sleep and beckoned me to the small window. Aric knelt over a fire he’d built by the river, grilling fish on a spit constructed from twigs. I had to laugh. Show-off. The ripped pair of shorts he’d torn off me hung low on his hips. On anyone else, they’d have looked ridiculous. But my mate made everything look good. I tugged on a shirt and a pair of extra shorts I’d found and joined him. He glanced up from turning the fish and grinned.

I paused, overpowered by the stench of fish guts he’d dumped in the river. I raced downstream and vomited. Aric held back my hair. I rinsed my mouth and washed my face, embarrassed. “We have to get you back to Emme.” He sounded worried. “The wound I caused may be infected and the mountain water isn’t safe for you to drink.”

My hands skimmed over my belly. “Aric, that’s not the only reason I’m sick.”

He lifted me in his arms. “I know, sweetness. Your stomach wasn’t meant to handle the raw meat we’ve consumed. I’m taking you back to bed. You need to rest.”

“No, I’m fine—really. I just need to brush my teeth.”

He stroked my hair. “I’ll get you whatever you need. It’s my turn to care for you.”

I managed to eat a little after brushing my teeth. As Aric extinguished the fire I paced and wrestled with how best to tell him about our baby. But then something else occurred to me, causing dread to stir deep within my stomach. “Aric, is it possible Diane is pregnant?”

He stilled. Instead of telling me no, as I hoped, he walked to me slowly. He bent to cup my face, his expression bleak. “Celia, in my anger at you I didn’t remain faithful.”

I felt the color drain from my face. “Oh, God.”

“I didn’t have sex with her,” he added quickly. “My wolf denied her…but we did share moments alone.”

It was better than the alternative, and that’s what I told myself. And still the pain in my heart spread throughout my body. Aric, my Aric, had been intimate with someone else.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

The betrayal searing through my veins kept me from meeting his eyes. He said nothing more, knowing I needed time to work through the wounds his confession had inflicted. He busied himself cleaning the camp, stopping only to glance my way. When he finished, he joined me on a thick piece of driftwood where I sat. He waited, before slipping a cautious arm around my shoulders. I leaned against his broad chest, unable to fight my need to feel close to him. His response was to envelop me with his body. “Please, don’t leave me,” he whispered. “I don’t want to know a life without you.… ”

We stared at the river for a time, losing ourselves to the splash of the water against the stony bank and the call of birds soaring without a care above. I forced the anger and jealousy from my being, shoving it deep where it couldn’t poke and prod at my insecurities. Aric wasn’t perfect, but hell, neither was I. We’d messed up. A lot. We’d destroyed each other with words and actions until our souls bled. But the hurt was deep only because our love was, too.

Roses couldn’t grow without the rain, and we’d had our share of thorns and storms. So I snuggled closer against him, resolved to abandon our past and concentrate on our future, one that would allow us to marry and be with our child. It was then I decided to tell him my news. It was then a horde of familiar scents hit us at once.

We leapt to our feet to find Gemini, Koda, and Liam. They dropped the backpacks they carried, clearly surprised to find us. I couldn’t believe they were there, but what surprised me more was Koda’s smooth and healthy reddish skin beaming against the background of the deep blue sky. Long midnight hair swept past his shoulders like a yard of pure black silk. Like Aric, his scars had vanished and his mutilated skin was whole once more. “Aric?” he gasped.

Gemini carefully stepped forward. “You’re cured.”

“And Celia, you’re…alive!” Liam charged and swept me in his arms. I caught sight of the others embracing Aric while he spun me in circles. The moment he put me down, I kicked him hard in the groin. He crashed to the ground, curling into his body.