As if she knew what he was thinking about, she looked up from where she’d been poring over a map with Pam and caught his gaze with a smile.

He’d nearly lost her. It was so close he still woke up in a cold sweat some nights just remembering it. But she was stronger now that she had a wolf. Faster. Better able to protect and defend herself.

It had brought them closer, even as he still had trouble letting her out of his sight for very long. She got that and did what she could to stay in sight or close by. She hadn’t been home, though she and her mother had spoken—briefly—on the phone. They’d had a wake for Allie just a few days earlier, and he’d gone with her to Roseburg where they’d packed up her apartment and moved all the rest of her belongings up to Portland.

She checked in on Kathy daily, but she was forging a new life, one with Josh at her side. It wasn’t always safe, but she was loved and she filled his life in a way he’d never thought possible.

So when the shit finally hit the proverbial fan, when this Magister thing everyone spoke about in hushed voices finally made its move, he’d protect her with everything he had and they’d survive because there was no other choice.