Jaime nodded. “What punishment was decided?”

“I think it would have been death if it wasn’t for Leif. The poor kid’s already lost one parent.”

“Blane’s dead?”

“No. But he was involved in a bar fight with a human, so he was dealt with by human laws.

He’s in a maximum-security prison, where he’ll stay for a very long time. Laurie’s parents spoke with Trey over the phone. They asked if he’d accept her punishment as being isolated to a cabin on the border of their territory, where she’ll be away from her pack but Leif can still visit. It gives her the opportunity to try to earn a place in her pack in a few years, but she’ll forever be confined to pack territory.”

Jaime winced. Being confined was one of the worst punishments that any shifter could have.

“Who’ll be caring for Leif?”

“His grandparents. They’re good people, and he loves them. They’ll give him the stability that his parents could never have given him. From what I understand, he more or less lived with them anyway. They’ve got no problem with me staying in contact with him.” That was good news. “I really need to take a bath.” When she felt his arm contract around her, she rolled her eyes. “I’ll only be in the next room.”

“I know. But I don’t want to let you go yet.”

“I know. But I desperately need one, and then I need food.” He nipped at her mouth. “I’ll ask Grace to bring some breakfast for us.”

“Why? We can go to breakfast with everyone else.”

“I don’t want to share you with everyone yet.”

That made her smile. “I have to at least see Gabe. He’ll be a mess until he knows I’m okay.” Dante couldn’t deny that. He’d received several text messages from her brother in the past hour—among many more from others within the pack, all of which he’d ignored. He would bet that the only reason Gabe hadn’t barged in was that he knew his sister needed rest. “Fine.” Smiling, she kissed him. “Thank you.”

“But can we do something about this first?” He flexed his c*ck inside her again, grinning wickedly at her loud moan.

“Oh yes, we certainly can.” At that moment, there was a knock at the door. “Or not.”

“Who is it?”

“I just need a quick word,” called Trey. “Of course if you’d have just answered your phone, I wouldn’t have had to come here.”

Frustrated in every sense of the word, Dante carefully pulled out of Jaime, dabbing a kiss on her mouth. Once he’d buttoned up his fly, he opened the door. “What?” he griped.

Trey arched a brow at his tone, but his expression was amused. “I didn’t want to interrupt,” he said quietly. “I just thought you and Jaime should know something.” The way Trey’s expression quickly became serious made Dante’s hackles rise. He stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “What is it?”

“Shaya’s leaving in an hour.”

“Leaving?”

“You must have seen this coming.”

Yes, he had, and so had Jaime. It didn’t mean this would be any easier for either of them, particularly Jaime, as she had grown quite close to Shaya.

“Taryn thought you and Jaime might want to stay in your room all day doing that reconnecting thing. I wanted to tell you about Shaya so that you at least left the room to say good-bye to her. Plus, I figured Jaime would do better with the news if she had prior warning.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” When he reentered his room, he saw that his mate was gone from the bed. He found her in the en-suite bathroom, lying in a bath that wasn’t even a quarter of the way full. Approaching with a smile on his face, he asked, “You couldn’t wait until there was some water in it?”

No, thought Jaime, she couldn’t, because then he would have seen the tattoo that she’d had done as a surprise. He’d been so distracted by their reunion that he hadn’t noticed yet. “Shh. I’m trying to relax.” When he squatted and dipped his hands into the shallow water, skimming them over her legs, she guessed, “You’re not going to leave the room, are you?” Nope, not at all. Maybe it was unreasonable, but Dante didn’t want to be away from her. He’d only just got her back, and the fear of losing her was still fresh in his system. Feeling her skin against his and smelling the unique smell of their combined scents were the only things keeping his anxiety at bay. He couldn’t let her out of his sight yet. Didn’t want to.

“So what did Trey want?”

He breezed his thumb over that mouth he loved. “I’m sorry, baby, but Shaya’s leaving today.” It had only been a matter of time, hadn’t it? “When?”

“In an hour.”

“Okay, I’ll make this bath a quick one. Could you go get me some clothes and lay them on the bed for me?”

“I’d rather wash you,” he said with what he knew was a devilish smile.

“So would I, but then we wouldn’t get out of here for a while.”

“True.” Still, even leaving her to go to another room was hard.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I believe you. I just don’t want to be away from you. I want to be able to see you and touch you and smell you. I’ve missed you.”

There was that talented mouth again. “And I’ve missed you.” Jaime moaned when he mashed his lips with hers, knotting a wet hand in her hair. The kiss was slow, wet, and almost like liquid. “I promise I’ll be quick.”

Getting dressed in front of Dante without him noticing the tattoo had been a lot easier than Jaime had anticipated. He’d been so distracted staring at her br**sts that her lower back hadn’t held any appeal to him. Once in her black denim jeans and red cashmere sweater, Jaime dragged a brush through her wet sable hair and tied it up into a ponytail. Then, with his arm curled around her, they proceeded through the tunnels toward the kitchen.

Occasionally he’d kiss her hair or temple, driven by a need to keep touching her. Jaime could feel the strength of that need through their bond, and tears stung her eyes as she once again remembered him saying that he loved her. Sure, it could have been just one of those things people say in desperate moments, but Jaime would prefer to believe that it was true. In any case, she was resolved that she would give him those words back later today. After the way he hadn’t given up on her or her wolf, he had earned them. It was selfish to hold them back any longer.

Just as Dante had expected, no sooner had they entered the kitchen than Shaya was wrapped around his mate like a clinging vine. Dante released several impatient sighs as each of the pack—

other than Greta, who was holding Kye—hugged Jaime and told her how glad they were that she was fine.

Dominic’s hug was extra tight. “We missed you around here.” He studied her face and sighed, smiling. “You’re so beautiful you’ve made me forget my line, but I was thinking—”

“Dominic,” bit out Dante, shaking his head.

The pervert’s shoulders slumped. He smiled again at Jaime. “I know, I know: lines are for people who are sad and pathetic. Let’s just f**k.” Dante whacked him over the head, but Dominic just laughed.

“Can’t breathe,” rasped Jaime as her brother practically folded his body around her.

“Sorry,” said Gabe, but he squeezed her even tighter. “You have no idea how worried I was.

My wolf was going insane because your wolf wouldn’t respond to him.” He pulled back and scrutinized her face. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s not healed, but she’s healing. She’s fully accepted Dante and the bond, and it’s anchoring her.”

“Just like I said it would,” Dante chipped in before he took Jaime’s hand in his in a possessive hold and pulled her to him. “Okay, okay, you’ve all had your moments with her.” As he’d told her, he didn’t want to have to share her yet.

Jaime rolled her eyes affectionately at her mate’s behavior and allowed him to lead her to the table. To her delight, Shaya sat at her other side. “I wish you didn’t have to go.” The words were so heavy with emotion that they came out in a whisper.

Shaya smiled; it was sad, but there was no hint that she was at all torn about her decision. “I needed to stay long enough to know you were okay. But now…”

“Where are you going to go?”

“Don’t worry about me. I know exactly where I’m going, and I’ll be fine.”

“You have to keep in touch.”

“I will. You guys definitely have to come visit me—slyly if it turns out that Nick doesn’t react too well to not knowing where I am anymore. If he does explode over this, don’t let him intimidate anyone into telling him where I am. He can’t know. He can’t find out, Jaime.” Jaime gripped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I promise you, he won’t. I understand why you feel you need to go. But if something happens, Shaya, if you need any kind of help, you call me. Okay?”

“I’ve already made her promise to come to us if she needs anything,” said Taryn, giving Shaya a pointed look that said she was holding her to that promise.

Shaya raised her hands in surrender. “I will, I swear.” Turning back to Jaime, she squeezed her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t believe baby Kye’s a healer.” Greta, who had obviously been eavesdropping, huffed. Her scowl was solely for Jaime. “If you think you’re going to use my great-grandson as some sort of safety blanket, you’re wrong.”

“Greta, could you not go hatch somewhere else?” Jaime gestured to her plate. “I’m trying to eat here.”

“I see you’ve still got that bad attitude.”

“It’s obviously not that bad or you’d be holding in all that hot air. I’ll work on it.” Although Shaya’s leaving hung over everybody’s head, breakfast was an unusually cheery event. That cheeriness swiftly disappeared when everyone was gathered in the parking lot, saying their good-byes to the bubbly redhead. Taryn said her good-bye last, and honestly it was like watching the end of E.T. —there was no parting the two friends as they stood hugging one another.

“I’m really going to miss that girl,” Jaime said to Dante as they watched Shaya drive off.

“Nick will be utterly pissed, won’t he?”

Pulling her even closer to him with the arm that he had locked around her, Dante nodded. “He won’t let it go when he finds out she’s gone. He’ll track her down as best he can. Luckily, she has Ryan, Trick, and Marcus working on erasing her trail.”

Setting aside her concerns for Shaya, Jaime gave her mate a mischievous smile. “Think you can track me?” She was gone before he could respond.

Figuring it was only fair, Dante gave his mate enough time to get into the forest before racing after her. Excitement, anticipation, and amusement swirled around inside him. Only yesterday he had been nearing a state of depression, tired and exasperated and faced with the frightening prospect that he might never get to hold his mate again. Now here she was playing with him, using every single trick and technique he taught her to evade capture. He doubted that there was anyone who appreciated what he had more than Dante did at that moment. Doubted that—

Motherfucker. His peripheral vision had warned him of the movement coming from his right-hand side, but it hadn’t warned him fast enough. He was now flat on his back with a hot female straddling him. Not that he was at all complaining. He slid his hands up her thighs to shape her waist.

“I taught you too well.”

Smiling smugly, Jaime bunched up his T-shirt in her hands. “I want this off.” He arched a brow. “Oh, you do?”

“Oh, I do.”

He had no problem with that. Springing upward so that he was sitting upright, Dante allowed her to slide the T-shirt over his head. Then his mouth was on hers, urging her into him, as he slid a hand into her hair and gently tugged off the tie holding it up. Long sable hair that smelled of vanilla tumbled down, sweeping over both their shoulders and down her back. He fisted his hands in it—

something he’d missed over the past month. He crushed her body to him, growling at the feel of her pebbled ni**les stabbing into his chest through her sweater. He loved the way she fit him just right. It drove home that this female had been made especially for him, was all his in every way.

“Lie back.”

He gave her order a mock frown. “You didn’t say please, baby.”

“Why would I, Popeye?” When she pressed a hand against his chest, he allowed her to push him to his back. The man really did have an amazing body. A body that she’d missed and intended to bite all over. Other than her claiming mark, all her previous brands had healed. That would never do.

Leaning over him, Jaime brushed her nose under the line of his jaw. His scent—a mix of his and hers—swam into her system, tickling her senses, comforting her and arousing her. When she bit down on his neck, he growled, but it wasn’t a sound of complaint. He tangled a hand in her hair and pressed her closer to him. Taking the hint, she bit harder and sucked. He growled his encouragement.

She kissed, licked, and bit her way along and down his chest, running her tongue between the grooves of his abs and scoring her nails down his sides. With her touch, teeth, and claws, she marked her mate over and over.

When she came to the waistband of his jeans, Jaime tugged them open and smiled at the long, hard c*ck that sprang out. How could she not? Holding Dante’s heated gaze, she licked him from base to tip, sweeping up the bead of precome there. She bit his inner thigh hard, replacing a mark that had once been there, and smiled at the way his c*ck twitched. Then she took him into her mouth.