Millie felt like her entire body had stopped functioning correctly.

Her heart was beating too fast. Her lungs weren’t working right. Her hands were shaking hard enough that she could feel the tremor even where they gripped the front of Xander’s shirt.

None of it compared to the feeling of the ring now resting on her finger.

Heavy enough to feel real.

Warm already from his hands.

She kissed him back helplessly, emotion swelling so hard in her chest it almost hurt. Xander’s hand stayed cradled against her face while the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer against him like he physically could not stand any distance between them now.

Not that she wanted any.

The bond between them felt enormous suddenly.

Mine, it hummed softly through her chest.

When Xander finally pulled back, he didn’t go far. His forehead rested lightly against hers, his breathing uneven in a way she almost never heard from him.

Millie let out a watery laugh that immediately betrayed the fact she was still crying.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.

A soft smile pulled at his mouth. “That’s generally the reaction I was hoping for.”

She laughed again, shakier this time, and immediately pressed both hands over her face.

“I cannot believe you just did that.”

“You knew I was going to propose.”

“That does not count!” she shot back, dropping her hands just enough to stare at him. “You said you would propose. You didn’t say you were going to go it in the middle of a magical forest picnic while the sky looks like a fantasy novel.”

His smile widened.

“You said you wanted a proper proposal.”

“This is offensively proper,” she informed him emotionally.

That finally pulled a real laugh out of him, low and warm and so obviously relieved that her chest tightened all over again.

Relieved.

Xander McCollough had actually been nervous she might say no.

The realization hit her hard enough that her expression softened instantly.

“Oh,” she murmured quietly.

His brows lifted slightly. “Oh?”

“You were really nervous.”

His face did something complicated for half a second, like instinctively he wanted to deny it before deciding honesty was probably useless now.

“A little,” he admitted.

Millie stared at him in disbelief. “Xander.”

“I know logically you love me,” he said, voice quieter now. “But there’s still a difference between hoping someone will choose you and hearing them actually say yes.”

That hit her square in the chest.

Her eyes burned all over again immediately.

“We literally already got the license, Xander.”

He shrugged. “But what if I missed the mark on the proposal and you said no?”

“Oh no,” she breathed. “Don’t say emotional things right now, I’m already barely holding it together.”

A helpless laugh escaped him.

Then she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him again before he could recover.

Harder this time.

Xander made a soft surprised sound against her mouth before immediately kissing her back with equal intensity, his arms tightening around her waist until she was nearly flush against him.

Millie could feel his heartbeat hammering against her chest.

Feel the relief still moving through him in warm crashing waves across the bond.

Her fiancé.

She pulled back just enough to stare at him again like she still couldn’t quite process he was real.

“You sneaky, sneaky man,” she whispered.

His mouth twitched. “I prefer romantic.”

“I told you I wanted a proper proposal, not immediate emotional devastation.”

“That part may have been unavoidable.” She huffed out another laugh and finally looked down at the ring properly, and promptly forgot how to breathe again.

The moonstone glowed softly beneath the lantern light, flashes of silver-blue shifting beneath the surface every time she moved her hand. The black diamonds sharpened it somehow instead of darkening it, dramatic and elegant against the antique detailing carved into the band.

It looked old-world.

Romantic.

Like something out of another lifetime.

“Xander,” she whispered softly, turning her hand slightly as the stone caught another flicker of sunset light. “It’s beautiful.” Warmth flooded through the bond instantly, tinged with unmistakable nervousness.

“I designed it,” he admitted quietly.

Her head snapped back up. “You designed this?”

A faint flush touched the tops of his cheeks, almost hidden by the fading light. “Yeah.”

“Like—designed designed?”

“Yes, sweetheart, that is generally how custom rings work.”

She stared at him in absolute disbelief.

“You impossible man.”

His smile softened slightly as he reached for her hand again, thumb brushing lightly across the side of the ring.

“I wanted something that felt like you.”

Millie looked at him for a long moment, the lantern light flickering softly across his face while the last streaks of sunset burned behind him through the trees.

This beautiful, terrifying, loyal man.

This man who would walk into war for her without hesitation.

This man who had built her a lantern-lit clearing in the woods and forgotten his entire proposal speech because she made him nervous.

Her chest felt too full. “I really love you,” she whispered.

Something in his expression softened instantly into pure affection. “I should hope so,” he murmured. “You agreed to marry me.”

She laughed softly through the lingering tears and rested her forehead against his again.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

The woods around them had gone quieter now, dusk deepening slowly between the trees while lantern light flickered warmly around the blanket and picnic setup behind them.

The air smelled like summer grass and pine and him.

Safe.

Home.

Then Xander glanced toward the blanket behind them.

“Well,” he said carefully, “assuming you still intend to marry me after this deeply offensive manipulation—” She snorted. “—I did actually bring dinner.”

Her stomach chose that exact moment to betray her with a quiet growl. Xander looked unbearably pleased with himself.

Millie groaned softly and hid her face briefly against his chest. “You can never know peace again after hearing that.”

“Too late,” he informed her solemnly. “I’m going to think it’s adorable forever.”

“Cruel.”

“Fiancé,” he corrected gently.

The word hit her like a warm wave all over again.

Millie looked down at the ring once more, then back up at him.

Fiancé.

Future husband.

Mate.

Her person.

And somehow, impossibly, despite everything waiting for them beyond this clearing—

She felt happy.

Xander

Xander had never been particularly good at sitting still inside happiness.

Even now, with Millie tucked against his side beneath a sky streaked in fading violet and gold, some part of his mind still kept trying to move ahead. Logistics. Ireland. Security. Timelines. Risks.

But every time he started drifting too far into it, Millie would say something that dragged him right back into the present.

Usually by bullying him affectionately.

“You absolutely knew I was going to say yes,” she accused again as she sat cross-legged on the blanket beside the picnic basket.

“I hoped.”

“You designed a custom ring.”

“I am capable of long-term planning.”

“You are impossible.”

“You’re biased.”

“I’m correct.”

A laugh escaped him quietly as he handed her one of the containers he’d packed earlier.

Warm lantern light flickered around them softly now, casting gold across the blanket and catching the moonstone every time Millie moved her hand.

His fiancé.

Christ.

The thought still hit him like a physical thing every single time.

Millie settled against his side as they ate, her shoulder pressed warmly into him while the forest hummed softly around them in deepening twilight. The sunset had faded almost entirely now, leaving behind dusky purples and the first scattered stars beginning to appear overhead.

“You really did all this yourself?” she asked after a while, glancing around at the lanterns again.

“I had some help.”

“From who?”

“Pinterest.”

She barked out a startled laugh so suddenly he nearly choked on his drink.

“You used Pinterest?”

“I’m not proud of it.”

“Oh my god.”

“It was tactical research.”

“You researched romance?”

“I research everything.”

“That is somehow both incredibly sweet and deeply concerning.”

“That’s generally my brand.”

Millie laughed again, leaning more fully against him as she picked at the fruit he’d packed into one of the containers.

Warmth spread steadily through his chest at the sound.

This.

This was what he wanted.

Not pack politics.

Not leadership.

Not violence.

This.

Her beside him. Easy laughter. Shared meals. Futures being discussed like they actually belonged to them.

The thought tightened painfully around his ribs for a moment.

Because now he had something real to lose.

Maybe he always had.

Maybe he just finally understood the scale of it.

Millie glanced down at her ring again, still visibly unable to stop doing that every few minutes.

“You know,” she said casually, “I still think it’s insane that we’re getting married on Thursday.”

Xander smiled faintly. “Technically you agreed to it.”

“Under emotional duress.”

“You proposed emotional duress first.”

“That is not legally binding.”

“Give me forty-eight hours.”

She snorted hard enough that she nearly dropped her fork.

God, he loved making her laugh.

The sound of it settled something restless inside him every single time.

Millie shifted slightly so she could look up at him properly. “It’s weird,” she admitted more quietly after a moment. “I always imagined if I got married there would be this huge buildup. Planning and flowers and family drama and a venue and—”

“And significantly less supernatural political instability?”

“That too.”

Xander’s hand slid instinctively along her back, thumb brushing lightly against her side beneath the hoodie.

“We can still have all of that someday,” he said softly. “If you want it.”

Her expression softened immediately.

“A real wedding?”

“A real wedding,” he confirmed. “The courthouse is just paperwork.”

Her eyes searched his face carefully. “You’d do that?”

The question hit him strangely.

Like she still didn’t fully understand yet that there was very little on earth he wouldn’t do for her now.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, “if you decide you want a castle and twelve hundred flowers and some terrifyingly expensive cake, I’ll make it happen.”

A laugh escaped her softly. “I don’t think I want a castle.”

“Good. Castles are difficult to heat.”

“You are such an old man.”

“And yet you’re marrying me anyway.”

“Questionable judgment on my part.”

“Very.”

She smiled into his shoulder then, quieter now.

“What would you want?” she asked after a moment.

“For the wedding?”

She nodded.

Xander thought about it honestly.

Then shrugged slightly.

“You there,” he answered simply.

The look she gave him after that nearly killed him on the spot.

“Xander.”

“What?”

“You can’t just say devastatingly romantic things casually.”

“I literally proposed to you tonight.”

“Yes, and I’m fragile now.”

A grin tugged at his mouth as he kissed the top of her head.

Eventually dinner gave way to lingering conversation and half-finished teasing until the lanterns had become the primary light source in the clearing.

Millie tried to help him clean up.

Tried being the operative word.

“Sweetheart.”

“I’m assisting.”

“You’re holding one napkin.”

“It’s moral support.”

“That’s not how cleaning works.”

“It is for me.”

He laughed quietly and stole another kiss from her anyway before packing away the containers and resealing the basket.

Then, once everything was cleaned and put away, Xander moved around the clearing lowering the lantern flames one by one until the light softened into something dimmer and more intimate.

The forest deepened around them.

Above the clearing, the stars had fully emerged now, scattered bright and endless across the sky.

Millie made a soft sound when he settled back onto the blanket beside her again.

Then she immediately curled into him.

Like it was instinct now.

Like home.

Xander stretched out on his back and pulled her carefully against his chest, one arm beneath her shoulders while she rested partially across him, her head tucked beneath his chin.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

They just watched the stars.

The lantern light flickered softly around the edges of the clearing while cool night air drifted gently through the trees.

Peaceful.

Temporary maybe.

But real.

Millie traced lazy patterns against the center of his chest through his shirt. “Do you think we’ll eventually settle here again?” she asked softly.

The question tightened something quietly inside him.

Because neither of them said if.

Just eventually.

Someday.

After.

“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. “Maybe.” His fingers slid slowly through her hair. “I think a lot depends on what happens when we get there.”

She nodded slightly against him.

Neither of them mentioned timelines.

Neither of them acknowledged the possibility that Ireland might become permanent in ways they hadn’t fully prepared themselves to face yet.

Instead she said quietly, “I want a garden someday.”

Xander smiled faintly into her hair. “A garden.”

“Mhm.”

“You kill succulents.”

“That was one time.”

“It was six plants.”

“They were weak.”

He felt her laugh against his chest.

“But,” she continued stubbornly, “I want a real garden. Herbs. Vegetables. Flowers.”

“We can do that.”

“And a big kitchen.”

“You already barely fit inside our current kitchen without reorganizing things aggressively.”

“Our current kitchen is tiny.”

“You alphabetized the spice cabinet.”

“Because chaos is the enemy.”

He laughed softly.

The image settled unexpectedly easily into his mind though.

Her barefoot in some future kitchen. Sunlight through windows. Music playing somewhere softly while she cooked and complained about him stealing ingredients before dinner.

Dangerously domestic thoughts.

Dangerously wanted thoughts.

Millie tilted her head slightly to look up at him. “How many kids do you want?”

The question hit him hard enough that he went still for half a second.

Not because he hadn’t thought about it.

Because he absolutely had.

More than once.

Usually at deeply inconvenient moments.

Xander stared up at the stars for a long moment, honestly considering it.

Then finally he shrugged slightly.

“Just… a bunch.”

Millie burst out laughing immediately, the sound bright and helpless against the quiet woods.

“A bunch?” she repeated incredulously.

“Yes.”

“That is not a number.”

“It’s a strong estimate.”

“How many is ‘a bunch’ exactly?”

“I don’t know.” He considered seriously. “Enough to form a small army.”

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“You’ve thought about this.”

“Obviously.”

She laughed harder, burying her face briefly against his chest.

Xander smiled helplessly down at her, warmth spreading slowly through him again.

“What about you?” he asked quietly.

Millie hummed thoughtfully. “At least two.”

“Two?”

“Mhm.”

“Specific.”

“Well someone has to balance your apparently limitless ambitions.”

“My ambitions are reasonable.”

“You want enough children to qualify as a militia.”

“That feels exaggerated.”

She tilted her head up immediately. “Does it?”

He considered.

“…No.”

That earned another laugh from her.

And lying there beneath the stars with her wrapped around him, engagement ring glinting softly in lantern light, Xander thought distantly that maybe this was the first time in years he’d allowed himself to imagine a future beyond survival.

Millie

The two days after the proposal blurred together in a way Millie couldn’t have explained if she tried.

Not because nothing happened.

Because everything did.

There were receipts and decisions and conversations that felt too normal for the fact that she was, in fact, getting married on Thursday.

To a man who was not, strictly speaking, normal.

She went dress shopping with Sara first.

That had been its own kind of surreal.

Sara had taken one look at the ring on her finger and immediately stopped walking.

“No,” she said flatly.

Millie blinked. “No what?”

“No as in I refuse to process this before coffee.”

“I already had coffee.”

“Then I refuse to process this sober.”

It had taken an hour, two stores, and one very emotional dressing room moment before Millie actually found something that felt right.

Not extravagant. Not dramatic.

Simple. Clean lines. Soft fabric that moved easily when she walked.

Something that felt like her, not like a version of herself she had to become for the occasion.

Sara had cried anyway.

“I feel like I should be more surprised,” she’d admitted later, sitting on the curb outside the shop while Millie carried the dress bag carefully in her lap. “But honestly? It’s you and the weird immortal forest boyfriend. This tracks.”

“He is not immortal,” Millie said automatically.

Sara gave her a look.

“…Probably not immortal,” Millie amended.

That had earned her a laugh.

Her last shift at the diner felt even stranger.

Everything there was exactly the same as it had always been—greasy heat, the sound of dishes clattering, the smell of coffee that had been sitting too long—but she moved through it like she was already half gone.

Danesh had hugged her at the end of it, longer than usual. “You’re sure about this?” he asked quietly.

Millie hesitated just long enough to feel the weight of the question settle properly. Then she nodded. “Yeah.”

Danesh studied her face for a moment, then exhaled through his nose like he was accepting something he didn’t fully understand.

“Alright,” he said finally. “Then don’t disappear without saying goodbye properly, yeah?”

“I won’t.”

But even as she said it, she knew goodbye didn’t feel like the right word.

Because she was leaving.

But she wasn’t leaving alone.

That night was the first of the “training” as he was calling it. Teaching her how to use the bond ot protect herself when they were in Ireland. Xander picked her up that night like he had started doing without even thinking about it anymore.

Like she weighed nothing.

Which, according to him, she apparently didn’t anymore.

The bond training started the moment they stepped into the woods.

It wasn’t soft.

Not at first.

Xander had gone from gentle fiancé in the clearing to something sharper the second they were alone under the trees again.

Focused. Intentional.

“You need to understand what the bond actually is,” he said, pacing slowly in front of her. “Not poetry. Not instinct. Power.”

Millie frowned slightly. “It feels like instinct.”

“It is instinct,” he corrected. “But instinct can be shaped. Directed.”

She watched him carefully.

“And I can use it like… what? Magic?”

He gave her a look. “If you call it magic again I will make you do pushups.”

“I feel like you would enjoy that.”

“I would not.”

“You absolutely would.”

He paused.

“…A little.”

That had made her laugh harder than she expected, but then it shifted. The tone changed.

Xander stopped pacing. “Try it,” he said simply.

Millie hesitated. “Try what?”

“Reach for it.”

“That is not helpful instruction.”

“It’s the only instruction.”

So she did. At first, nothing happened.

Then something did.

It wasn’t a sound or a flash or anything dramatic like she expected. It was more like awareness expanding suddenly inside her chest, like something she had always had but never noticed until it shifted into focus.

The bond.

Warm.

Alive.

Threading between them like an invisible current.

Xander’s expression changed immediately, subtle, but sharp.

“Again,” he said quietly.

So she did, and this time it responded. Not just a feeling this time, but pressure, movement. The air around her seemed to tighten in response to her attention, like the forest itself was listening.

Xander went still. “Right,” he said slowly.

Millie blinked. “What?”

He stared at her like he was recalibrating something internally. “You’re not supposed to pick it up that fast,” he said.

“That sounds like a you problem.”

He shot her a look. “It is absolutely a you problem if you overuse it and hurt yourself.”

“I’m not overusing anything.”

“You just made the air change density.”

“I did what now?”

He exhaled sharply through his nose, dragging a hand through his hair.

“Christ,” he muttered. “Of course you did.” That night ended with him making her stop early.

The next night, he pushed her further. Showed her how to direct it outward, not just feel the bond. How to push through it. Shape it into something external.

Something solid.

A force.

Millie had tried not to think too hard about the implications of that, because thinking too hard about being able to physically affect the world through something she barely understood felt like a fast track to panic.

But she learned quickly.

Too quickly, apparently.

Because on the third night, everything changed. They were deeper in the woods this time, far enough from the clearing that the trees closed in thick around them. Xander had been circling her slowly, watching.

“Don’t think,” he said. “React.”

“I am thinking,” she shot back.

“That’s your first problem.”

“Wow. Supportive.”

“Millie.”

“Fine.”

She reached for the bond again, and this time it snapped into place much faster. The connection felt easier and stronger, as though it had been waiting for her to truly understand it before responding.

Xander’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her. “Good,” he murmured.

Something in his tone sharpened her focus even further. Before she could analyze it, he moved.

Fast.

It was a test.

A pulse of pressure pushed through the bond, carrying a clear challenge.

Millie reacted on instinct. She did not stop to think about what she was doing. She simply pushed back with everything she had.

The response was immediate.

Power surged out of her like something that had been released. It was neither gentle nor controlled. It was raw, instinctive, and far stronger than she intended.

Xander froze in the middle of a step.

Then he lifted off the ground.

Millie’s eyes widened instantly.

“Oh my—”

She never finished the sentence. Her control faltered for just a moment, and the force shifted.

Xander was thrown.

He slammed into the ground nearly twenty feet away, hitting with enough force to send leaves and debris scattering violently in every direction.

Millie stood completely frozen.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then the horror of what she had done crashed over her.

“Oh my god,” she breathed. “Oh my god, Xander, I didn’t— I didn’t mean— I—”

She moved immediately, panic flooding her chest as she ran toward him.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, are you okay, I didn’t know I could—”

Millie stopped abruptly when she reached him.

Xander was sitting up slowly, blinking once, then twice, as though he was still processing what had just happened.

She hovered nearby with her hands slightly raised, looking almost afraid to touch him.

“Are you hurt?” she asked.

He did not answer right away. Instead, he looked up at her.

“Jesus Christ.”

Millie’s stomach dropped instantly.

“I’m sorry—”

Xander blinked again. Then, very slowly, a grin spread across his face.

“You’re a fecking natural, love.”

For a moment, he remained where he was, not injured and not even particularly winded. He simply seemed to be recalibrating after what had happened.

Millie hovered over him anxiously, panic radiating through the bond in sharp, frantic waves.

“Oh my God,” she said again, her voice tight with worry. “I didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t. I didn’t know it would do that.”

Xander pushed himself upright, rolling onto one knee before standing. Leaves clung to his jacket, and a smear of dirt marked one shoulder, but he made no effort to brush any of it away.

Instead, he looked directly at her.

The emotion that surged through the bond nearly made her stagger.

Pride.

Not gentle pride or quiet approval, but something deeper and far more instinctive. It was possessive, fierce, and immediate. It felt like a part of him had recognized strength and claimed it without hesitation.

His expression reflected exactly what she felt.

He looked calm, focused, and entirely unbothered.

As though being launched across a forest floor by his fiancée was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Millie blinked in disbelief.

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” Xander repeated, sounding genuinely confused by the idea.

“Yes,” she said. “I just launched you.”

He tilted his head slightly as he studied her. Then he rolled his shoulders once and exhaled slowly, settling back into himself.

“Again.”

Millie stared.

“What?”

“Again,” he repeated, more firmly this time.

Then he began circling her.

Not cautiously. Not slowly.

Deliberately.

Measuring.

The change in him was immediate. The stunned man who had been lying on the ground moments ago vanished, replaced by something sharper and more focused. There was an undeniable Alpha presence in him, one she was only beginning to understand.

Millie turned with him, her pulse still racing.

“Xander—”

He ignored the protest.

Instead, she felt it.

Pressure.

At first it was not physical. It came through the bond itself, reaching toward her like an invisible force testing its limits against her own.

A challenge.

Her instincts reacted before her thoughts could catch up.

The bond surged.

And she pushed.

The force exploded outward once more.

Xander was lifted cleanly off the ground for a second time.

Millie sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh my—”

This time, however, he was ready.

He twisted in midair and braced against the force, attempting to redirect it back toward her. She felt the shift immediately. His power pressed forward through the bond, trying to overwhelm hers.

For a split second, she nearly lost control.

Then something clicked.

Oh.

The realization came suddenly.

He’s trying to use the Alpha thing on me.

A small smile flickered across her face despite herself.

“Nice try,” she muttered.

Instead of pushing harder, she changed tactics.

This was no longer force against force.

It was control.

She reached for what he was sending her, caught hold of it, and wrapped herself around the flow of it. Then she twisted it and redirected it back through the bond, turning the current in on itself.

Xander’s eyes widened.

“Millie—”

Too late.

The force snapped back into him with startling precision.

He rose even higher this time, suspended completely in the air for a fraction of a second.

Then she pushed again.

Hard.

Xander went flying.

Farther than before.

He hit the ground and rolled, momentum carrying him through the leaves before he finally came to a stop.

Millie froze.

“Okay,” she said quickly, “that one was definitely worse. I might have overdone it.”

Xander sat up slowly.

Then he stood.

This time he was much farther away, nearly a football field’s length from her, framed by trees and the fading twilight.

For a long moment, he simply stared.

Then he started running.

Millie instinctively stepped backward.

He crossed the distance in seconds, boots thudding against the forest floor before he stopped directly in front of her.

His breathing remained steady.

His eyes were sharp.

And he looked absolutely thrilled.

“How the feck did you do that?” he demanded.

Millie blinked.

“I... don’t actually know.”

His gaze never left her face. He looked as though he could not decide whether to be impressed, concerned, or both.

“I could feel your power reaching out,” she explained slowly. “And I just... I don’t know. I wrapped it around you and pushed it back.”

A brief silence followed.

Then he nodded.

“Good.”

Millie frowned.

“Good?”

“Yes.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She stared at him for another second before letting out a disbelieving laugh.

“Are you okay? We’re getting married in the morning, and I’d really prefer you not to be broken when we do.”

That finally earned a grin.

“Oh, I’m just fine, sweetheart,” he said calmly.

She narrowed her eyes.

“You’re enjoying this.”

“I am assessing.”

“That is a lie.”

A low chuckle escaped him, and some of the tension left his shoulders.

Then he stepped closer again, moving more slowly this time.

The amusement remained, but something more serious settled beneath it.

“You’re adapting faster than I expected,” he admitted.

Millie raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds like a problem.”

“It isn’t,” he said immediately.

Then he paused.

“It just means Ireland got a lot more interesting.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Xander woke slowly, dragged up from sleep by warmth and weight and the familiar scent of Millie pressed against him.

For a few seconds, he didn’t move.

He just stayed there.

Her head rested on his chest, one arm thrown loosely across his waist, her fingers curled lightly into the fabric of his shirt like she’d anchored herself there sometime in the night. One of his arms was draped around her shoulders, the other tangled loosely with hers beneath the blanket.

Outside, the city was still dim with early morning light, soft and grey-gold filtering through the trees.

The world felt suspended. Quiet. Safe.

For a man whose life had been anything but that, it almost didn’t feel real.

Millie shifted slightly against him with a soft sound, waking slowly. Her eyes blinked open against his chest before she tilted her head up to look at him.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then she smiled sleepily.

“Hi,” she murmured.

Xander’s mouth curved faintly. “Hi.”

Her fingers flexed lightly against his shirt. “We’re getting married today.”

“I’m aware,” he said dryly.

That earned him a soft laugh, still rough with sleep.

“Just checking you didn’t forget,” she said.

“Impossible,” he replied. “I’ve been reminded every three seconds since yesterday.”

She hummed in satisfaction and settled back against him again for a few more seconds like she wasn’t quite ready to move yet.

Neither was he.

Eventually, though, reality crept in.

The wedding.

Courthouse.

Simple ceremony.

Legal paperwork that would, in effect, bind their lives together in ways far more complicated than the ink on the page suggested.

Millie finally sat up, stretching slightly before brushing a kiss against his jaw.

“I’m going to shower first,” she said.

Xander nodded. “I’ll go after.”

She hesitated for a second, then pointed at him. “No peeking at the dress.”

He raised a brow. “I’m not twelve.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“That feels unfair.”

“It is not.”

Then she disappeared into the bathroom with her dress carefully in hand, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Xander exhaled slowly, pushing himself up from the bed.

For a moment, he just sat there.

Then he ran a hand through his hair and stood.

The next hour passed in quiet motion.

He showered second, the hot water clearing the last remnants of sleep and grounding him in the day ahead. By the time he stepped out, towel wrapped loosely around his waist, his mind was already moving ahead: timing, travel logistics, paperwork, the hundred small details that kept everything from falling apart.

Today was simple.

Today was necessary.

Every so often, the bond between them pulsed gently.

By the time he finished, he was standing by the window when the bathroom door finally opened.

Millie stepped out.

And Xander’s entire brain stopped functioning.

For a moment, there was nothing.

No thoughts.

No plans.

No Ireland.

No pack.

No war.

Just her.

The dress was ivory satin, catching the morning light like it had been made from something softer than fabric. It had a square neckline that framed her collarbones perfectly, thick straps resting delicately on her shoulders. The bodice hugged her curves in a way that felt effortless, like it had simply been shaped around her rather than tailored.

From the waist down, it flared gently, tea-length, moving with her as she stepped forward.

Not dramatic.

Not excessive.

Perfectly her.

Her dark brown curls were half-up, half-down, styled so they fell down her back in soft waves, threaded through with tiny shimmering crystals that caught the light every time she moved. A small veil was clipped at the back, barely there but enough to shift the entire meaning of the moment.

She looked… unreal.

In a how-is-this-happening kind of way. Like something the world hadn’t meant to let him keep.

Millie paused just inside the doorway, suddenly shy under his stare.

“What do you think?” she asked softly.

Xander opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

He closed it again. Tried once more.

Still nothing.

His chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with nerves and everything to do with overwhelming certainty.

Fionn stirred immediately beneath his skin.

Oh, the wolf was very pleased.

Mine.

The word rolled through him like a deep, satisfied growl.

Xander finally managed to breathe out slowly, his gaze still locked on her like if he looked away, she might disappear.

“I think,” he said quietly, voice rougher than he intended, “that I’ve completely underestimated you.”

Millie blinked. “That sounds… ominous.”

“It isn’t,” he said immediately. “You look… stunning.” Even to him, he sounded a little breathless.

She huffed a small laugh, clearly relieved by the simplicity of it. “Just stunning?”

Xander stepped closer before he even consciously decided to move, stopping only when he was in front of her.

His hands lifted carefully, not quite touching her yet.

Like he was asking permission with the silence alone.

“You look like something I don’t deserve,” he said honestly.

That made her expression soften instantly. “Xander…”

He shook his head slightly, still staring at her like she was the only thing in the room that mattered. “I’m serious,” he added. “You’re…” He exhaled slowly, a faint, almost disbelieving smile pulling at his mouth. “…everything.”

The bond between them tightened warmly, like it agreed.

Millie’s eyes softened in return, emotion flickering there again. “You clean up pretty well too,” she said quietly.

A low laugh escaped him, grounding him just enough to keep from getting lost in the moment entirely.

He finally reached for her, hands settling gently at her waist. She just stepped into him.

Xander leaned down slightly, resting his forehead briefly against hers, letting himself breathe her in for a second.

They were getting married today.

And for the first time in a very long time, Xander didn’t feel like he was walking toward a battle.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

Millie had thought the drive to the courthouse would feel surreal.

It didn’t, it felt oddly normal.

Which somehow made it worse.

Xander drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely on her knee like he needed to be touching her in some way or he’d forget she was real. Every so often, she caught him glancing over at her, not in a distracted way, but in a steady, almost unreadable one, like he was still trying to process the fact that she was sitting there in a wedding dress beside him.

The ring felt heavier on her finger than it had in the woods.

When they pulled up outside the courthouse, Millie finally exhaled.

“There’s no turning back now,” she said lightly, mostly to keep her voice from wobbling.

Xander parked and turned off the engine before looking at her properly.

“There was never going to be a place to turn back,” he said simply.

That should have sounded intense. It just sounded true.

Millie nodded once, then reached for his hand.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go get married.”

Inside, the courthouse was exactly what she expected and somehow not at all what she felt like she was doing.

Neutral walls. Quiet footsteps. The faint echo of other lives happening in other rooms.

It should have felt impersonal.

Instead, everything felt hyper-focused, like the world had narrowed down to this one hallway and the door at the end of it.

And then she saw them.

Sara was standing near the entrance, arms crossed, looking like she was trying very hard not to be emotional about the entire situation and failing miserably at it. Beside her was Tony, who looked like he had been dragged into something vaguely illegal but had accepted it with resignation and curiosity.

Sara saw Millie first.

Her expression broke immediately.

“Oh my god,” she said.

Millie let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Hi.”

Sara stepped forward quickly, eyes flicking over Millie’s dress, her hair, the ring on her finger.

“You look insane,” Sara said.

“Good insane or bad insane?”

Sara blinked. “Good. Obviously good. You look like you walked out of a romance novel and punched reality in the face.”

Millie laughed, tension easing slightly from her shoulders. Tony gave Xander a long look, then nodded once.

“You’re the one,” Tony said.

Xander tilted his head slightly. “I am aware.”

That earned a snort from Sara.

“Please don’t start philosophizing at the courthouse,” she muttered.

Millie stepped forward and hugged Sara quickly. Sara hugged her back harder than expected. “You’re really doing this,” Sara whispered.

Millie closed her eyes for a second. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I am.”

Sara pulled back, eyes suspiciously shiny. “Okay. Fine. I’m fine. I’m normal about this.”

Tony raised a brow. “You’re not normal about anything.”

“I could be normal if I wanted to be.”

Tony snorted. “You absolutely could not.”

Sara pointed at him without looking. “Don’t ruin my emotional composure.”

Tony sighed. “I’m not.”

Xander stepped slightly closer to Millie, his hand brushing the small of her back in a grounding motion.

The touch helped more than she wanted to admit.

“Ready?” he asked softly.

Millie nodded.

“Yeah.”

The ceremony room was small.

Simple.

A clerk, a desk, two chairs.

No music. No decorations.

Just paperwork and an officiant who looked like they had done this a thousand times and would do it a thousand more.

Which, in a way, made it feel even more real.

Sara and Tony took their places as witnesses, standing slightly behind them.

Millie stood across from Xander, her hands lightly trembling despite her best efforts to stop it.

Xander noticed immediately.

Of course he did.

His hand shifted slightly, brushing hers once.

“Hey,” he murmured under his breath.

She looked up at him.

His expression was steady, calm. The bond between them was anything but calm. It was warm, alive, anchored tightly around her like a promise that had already been made long before anyone else got involved.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” he said quietly.

Millie huffed a small laugh. “Says the man who proposed in a forest with lanterns and forgot his speech.”

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. “Fair.”

The officiant began speaking.

Words about commitment. Responsibility. Legal bonds. Names exchanged.

Millie heard them, but they felt distant, like background noise to something much louder happening beneath everything else.

This was real.

Xander’s gaze didn’t leave her once.

When the moment came, her voice didn’t shake as much as she expected. “I do,” she said.

Xander’s answer came immediately after. “I do.”

Sara made a very quiet, very emotional sound behind them. Tony pretended not to notice.

Then the paperwork was signed.

And suddenly it was done. Just like that.

The officiant smiled. “Congratulations.”

Millie stared at the paper for a second like it might rearrange itself into something less life-altering.

Then Xander turned slightly toward her. “Mrs. McCollough,” he said softly.

Millie looked up at him, and something in her chest tightened sharply.

“That’s going to take some getting used to,” she admitted.

His expression softened in a way she was starting to recognize as dangerous for her emotional stability.

“We’ve got time,” he said.

She laughed under her breath.

“Do we?” A flicker of something passed through his eyes.

Not doubt, but an awareness of everything they were both not saying. “Eventually,” he said.

Millie stepped closer before she could overthink it and grabbed the front of his shirt lightly. “Kiss your wife,” she said quietly.

Xander’s brows lifted slightly. “Bossy already.”

“Absolutely.” That earned a faint exhale of amusement from him before he leaned down and kissed her. Behind them, Sara made another sound of distress. Tony sighed like a man watching history unfold against his will.

When Xander finally pulled back, Millie stayed close, forehead resting briefly against his.

Outside, the world kept moving like nothing had changed, but inside that small courthouse room, everything already had.

Xander barely slept that night.

Not because the afternoon’s misunderstanding. It bothered him how easily she thought he could throw her aside, but it wasn’t what kept him up. She was curled into his side, her naked body pressed against his. She’d fallen asleep hours before, while his knot was still lodged inside her.

He couldn’t sleep because every time he closed his eyes, Ireland waited for him.

Blood dripping on wet stone.

Voices raised in challenge.

The old grey stone estate house lit softly against storm clouds.

Millie standing in the middle of it all, wrapped in purple light and storm clouds.

He had no idea what it meant, but it terrified him all the same.

By three in the morning, he gave up pretending any sort of restful sleep was coming. Carefully, he slipped out of bed without waking her, slipping on a pair of joggers and his glasses, and padded barefoot into the kitchen. The apartment was dark except for the dim light above the stove, casting long shadows across half-packed boxes and stacks of folded laundry Millie had abandoned earlier.

He braced both hands on the counter and stared out the window into the rain.

Fionn stirred beneath his skin. You are spiraling.

“I’m planning.”

You are catastrophizing.

Xander exhaled sharply through his nose. “Helpful distinction.”

The wolf said nothing after that, which usually meant he was right.

Xander dragged a hand through his hair and forced himself to think practically.

One week.

Seven days to prepare Millie for a world she didn’t truly understand.

Seven days to lock down business operations here.

Seven days to figure out who in Ireland could still be trusted.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, he had promised her a proposal worthy of her.

Christ Jesus what on earth was he thinking?

A soft sound behind him made him turn.

Millie stood in the hallway wearing one of his old university shirts, sleep still heavy in her eyes. Her hair was a mess around her shoulders.

“You disappeared,” she murmured.

His chest tightened instantly at the sight of her. “Sorry sweetheart. I couldn’t sleep.”

She studied him for half a second before crossing the kitchen without another word. She slid directly into his space, arms wrapping around his waist as she pressed her cheek against his chest.

The tension in him eased slowly.

“You’re thinking too loudly,” she mumbled.

He huffed a quiet laugh. “Is that so?”

“Mmhmm.” Her bond awareness was getting sharper already. That was going to help her when they got to Ireland. She needed to learn how to use it to protect herself. As hard as he was going to try, he wouldn’t be able to protect her 24/7. He should be worried about that.

Instead, he just rested his chin lightly against the top of her head and closed his eyes.

“You should be sleeping,” he murmured.

“So should you.”

Fair.

For a while neither of them moved.

“Are you regretting agreeing to take me?”

The question hit him hard enough that he pulled back immediately to look at her. “No.” She held his gaze carefully, searching. “I’m scared,” he admitted quietly. “But that isn’t regret.”

Something vulnerable flickered across her face before she nodded once. “Okay.” She trusted him, fully. Trusted that he would keep her safe. The knowledge felt almost unbearable sometimes.

He kissed her forehead slowly. “Go back to bed, sweetheart.”

“You’re coming with me.” It wasn’t phrased like a question.

He smiled faintly despite himself. “Bossy girl.”

“You like that about me.”

“I do,” he admitted, with a soft smile.

He followed her back to bed. This time, with her tucked against his side and one of her hands spread over his chest, sleep finally came.

But the images of Ireland plagued him still, blood dripping on stones, and his mate wrapped in purple light and storm clouds.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning was chaos.

Not dramatic chaos, but something worse: domestic chaos.

Millie’s version of “packing” apparently involved creating increasingly unstable clothing piles across every available surface in the apartment.

For his part, Xander kept making increasingly more complex lists every day, and the fucking things kept disappearing. He swore he had a stack of them sitting on his desk and by the next day when he looked they’d be gone.

Xander found one in the freezer.

Another somehow ended up under a couch cushion.

A third was stuck to his laptop with a magnet clip Millie swore she hadn’t touched.

By noon, he was standing in the kitchen staring at three open suitcases while Millie sat cross-legged on the floor arguing with herself about sweaters.

“We are going to Ireland,” she said. “I need sweaters.”

“You’ve packed twelve.”

“It’s cold there.”

I shook his head. “It is June.”

“It’s still Ireland.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sweetheart.”

She shot him a look. “You don’t understand women’s layering needs, Xander.”

“I survived there for twenty-eight years.” He reminded her.

“Yes, but you’re genetically resistant to weather.”

He stared at her.

She stared back.

“Christ, woman, you know you’re supposed to be intimidated by me, don’t you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, well, I’ll take that under consideration.”

And fuck, there it was again, that horrible, dangerous thing where she could drag amusement out of him no matter how grim everything felt.

Fionn approved immediately.

Stop needling her, she’s happy.

“We are not taking all twelve sweaters.” He advised.

“I absolutely am.”

“We are not.” He said staring down at her.

“Fine,” she sighed dramatically. “Ten.”

“Five.”

“Nine.”

“Six.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Eight and I stop hiding your lists.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You hid my lists?”

“No,” she said innocently, batting her eyes at him. “But now you’ll never know.”

He should not have found that as endearing as he did. By the end of the afternoon they settled on seven sweaters, which he was fairly certain meant she had won.

Later, while Millie showered, Xander made calls from his desk in the living room.

Three to Ireland.

Two to New York.

One to a private security contact in Seattle.

By the time he hung up the last one, his jaw ached from clenching it.

“They’re moving faster than Owen thought,” he said quietly.

Fionn’s presence sharpened instantly.

The eastern territory lines were already destabilizing. Smaller packs were splitting allegiance. Challenges had started before formal declarations had even been made.

Which meant desperation was winning over law.

That never ended cleanly.

Xander stared out over the parking lot below.

He had hoped for more time.

Now he wasn’t sure they even had the week.

Millie stepped out from the bathroom, hair braided over her shoulder.

She took one look at his face and sighed softly. “That bad?”

He sighed. “Potentially.”

She nodded once and leaned against the wall beside his desk. It grounded him more effectively than anything else had in years.

“You don’t have to shield me from every update,” she said quietly.

“I know.”

“You’re still doing it a little.”

He looked down into his tea. “I’m working on it.”

That earned him a small smile. “I know, and I appreciate it.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Try not to stress out too hard. We don’t know what we don’t know.” He nodded. Sage advice coming from a woman who thought she’d never met a werewolf before him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following day was worse.

Not externally.

Externally, it was productive.

Millie gave notice to Danesh.

Xander finalized temporary management for his contracts and research accounts.

They filed paperwork for the marriage license.

That part nearly broke him, not because he didn’t want it, because he did, he wanted it far more than he thought he would. Sitting beside Millie in the county courthouse while she absentmindedly tapped her fingers against his knee under the table, he had the sudden overwhelming realization that this was real.

She was going to be his wife.

Legally.

Publicly.

Ours, Fionn rumbled with deep satisfaction.

Xander almost smiled despite himself.

Millie glanced sideways at him immediately. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That was a suspiciously emotional ‘nothing.’”

He looked at her for a long second. “I like seeing our names together.”

Her expression softened so fast it nearly hurt to look at. “Oh.”

Afterward, they walked back to the truck in comfortable silence. Halfway there, Millie slipped her hand into his.

The bond flared warm and steady.

Mine, Fionn purred inside him. His wolf was becoming embarrassingly sentimental.

That evening, after dinner, Millie fell asleep on the couch halfway through a movie she insisted she was still watching, while Xander worked at the computer next to her.

He’d turned in his chair to stretch, and saw her curled against the cushions with one sock on, the other somewhere under the coffee table, breathing softly.

For a long moment, he simply sat there watching her.

His mate.

His soon to be wife.

The woman preparing to walk willingly into a war beside him without thinking twice.

Fear clawed at his ribs so hard it almost stole his breath. Now that she was coming with him, the stakes had changed completely. He’d always had self interest in maintaining the status quo, the power structure as it had worked for over three thousand years. He didn’t relish the thought that it might end because of him, but now… now he had a true personal stake in this uprising.

A wife, and someday, a family.

If he failed before, he lost a territory.

If he failed now, he wouldn’t just lose his life, he’d get her killed.

Fionn rose beneath his skin like thunder.

We will not fail her.

“No,” Xander murmured softly. “We won’t.”

Millie shifted slightly in her sleep.

Xander crossed the room quietly and lifted her carefully into his arms.

She stirred immediately, blinking sleepily against his shoulder. “M’awake.”

“You’re asleep.”

“Nope.”

“Sweetheart, you were drooling on the sofa.”

“That sounds fake,” she said on a long yawn.

He smiled, shaking his head. By the time he carried her into the bedroom, she was asleep again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next afternoon, Xander parked outside the jeweler ten minutes early.

Rain misted lightly across the street, silver against the pavement.

For a moment, he stayed inside the truck with both hands gripping the steering wheel. His pulse was steady. The kind of dangerous calm that came right before a fight. He blew out a long breath and forced himself to blink. This mattered more than facing challengers ever had.

He thought about Millie standing in the kitchen asking to be chosen.

Not managed.

Chosen.

Another slow breath left him. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and pocketed them as he slid out of the driver side door. Slamming the door closed and stepped up on to the curb, and forced his shoulders as straight as he could get them.

The bell above the jeweler’s door chimed softly as Xander stepped inside.

Warm light spilled across polished glass cases and dark wood displays, the entire shop carrying that quiet, expensive stillness luxury places always seemed to cultivate. Normally, he would have found it faintly irritating.

Today, he barely noticed any of it. A woman came out from behind a corner, her dark hair pulled back from her severe features. “Hello, can I help you find something.”

Xander shook his head, pushing his glasses up absent mindedly. “No, I’m here for a pick up. Xander McCollough.”

The woman instantly warmed. “Mr. McCollough.” The woman behind the counter smiled immediately in recognition. “Perfect timing, it’s ready. Excuse me while I go get it.”

Something in his chest tightened. He nodded once. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She disappeared briefly into the back room, leaving him standing alone near the counter with his hands shoved into his pockets to keep himself from fidgeting like a teenager.

Fionn was entirely unhelpful.

You are nervous.

“I’m not nervous.”

You are absolutely nervous.

Xander ignored him.

The woman returned carrying a small dark box carefully in both hands. She set it gently onto the velvet display pad between them and opened it.

Xander forgot how to breathe for a second.

Fucking Christ.

Even knowing exactly what he had designed had not prepared him for seeing it finished.

The moonstone caught the warm overhead light immediately, opaline colors shifting beneath the surface like silver-purple-blue blue smoke trapped inside stone. The cathedral setting lifted it elegantly without looking delicate, vintage details carved with intentional wear into the metalwork so it looked like something old enough to carry history.

Something treasured.

The black diamonds on either side grounded the glow of the center stone perfectly.

Shadow and moonlight.

Softness and strength.

Millie.

His chest tightened hard enough that it almost hurt. “Does it meet to your specification Mr. McCollough?” the woman asked carefully.

Xander stared at the ring another second before answering quietly, “It’s perfect.”

And God, it was. Not flashy, or ostentatious. Beautiful in the exact way she was beautiful. The kind of beauty that revealed itself slowly until suddenly it became impossible to look away.

The engravings along the band were even better than he had hoped, intricate antique flourishes curling through the metal like old storybook vines. He could already picture her turning it beneath the light to study every detail.

Could already imagine it on her hand.

His wife.

The thought still hit him with startling force every single time.

The jeweler smiled faintly, clearly pleased by his reaction. “You designed this yourself?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “That’s rare these days.” She glanced down at the ring again. “You clearly know her very well.”

Something warm and fierce settled low in his chest. “I do.”

The woman carefully closed the box and handed it to him.

The weight of it in his palm felt strangely significant for something so small.

A future condensed into velvet and stone.

“Good luck, Mr. McCollough.”

His mouth twitched faintly. “Thank you.”

Then he walked back outside into the late afternoon sun, the warmth of the day settling across his shoulders as he slipped the ring carefully into the inside pocket of his jacket.

He stood beside the car for a moment, staring out across the quiet street while his pulse slowly picked up.

Tonight.

He was proposing tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By four o’clock, Xander had fully accepted that he had lost his mind.

Not because he was proposing.

That part felt inevitable now. Solid in a way very little else in his life ever had.

No, the madness came from the fact that he was currently carrying lanterns, blankets, food containers, and an unreasonable number of pillows through the woods while arguing internally with a six-hundred-pound wolf spirit.

More candles.

“No.”

Candles would improve atmosphere.

“We already have lanterns.”

Lanterns are not candles.

Xander adjusted the basket beneath one arm. “You are becoming alarmingly invested in ambiance.”

She deserves ambiance.

“That sentence alone is upsetting.”

Fionn ignored him completely.

The clearing came into view through the trees a few minutes later, and despite himself, Xander slowed slightly.

The evening was warm and dry, the air carrying the scent of pine and sun-warmed earth. Golden light filtered through the branches overhead, the last stretch of daylight softening everything it touched.

This was where Fionn had first brought her.

Where she had stood barefoot beneath moonlight looking impossibly small and impossibly brave all at once.

Where she had accepted him without truly understanding what he was.

The memory hit him harder now.

Because she understood now.

Or at least, she understood enough to know exactly what she was choosing, and she was still choosing him anyway.

Something deep in his chest pulled tight.

Quietly, he started setting everything up.

The blanket went first, spread beneath the massive trees near the edge of the clearing where the grass stayed soft and cool even after warm days. Then the lanterns, hung carefully around the perimeter so they would cast low amber light once dusk settled in.

He arranged the pillows next, muttering under his breath when Fionn insisted there still were not enough.

“She is not moving into the forest.”

Comfort is important.

“She’s going to be here for one evening.”

Exactly.

By the time he finished unpacking the picnic basket, twilight had begun creeping through the woods in soft shades of blue and gold.

The entire clearing glowed.

The lanterns flickered gently between the trees. The blanket sat surrounded by soft light and shadows, intimate without feeling overly staged. The air was warm enough that the night promised comfort instead of chill, crickets already beginning their steady song somewhere deeper in the woods.

It looked…

Romantic.

Very romantic.

Alarmingly romantic.

Xander stood in the middle of it all with his hands on his hips, staring at the setup like it had personally betrayed him.

“You’ve created a proposal trap.”

Fionn sounded smug.

Correct.

“I hate that word.”

You are welcome.

Xander rubbed a hand over his face.

Then his phone buzzed.

Millie: Leaving work now ❤️

His chest did that thing again: that terrible, aching tightening she somehow caused with frightening consistency now.

He typed back quickly.

Xander: I have a surprise for you when you get home.

The typing bubble appeared almost immediately.

Millie: Should I be concerned?

Xander: Probably.

Three dots appeared again.

Millie: That somehow makes me less concerned, not more.

A reluctant smile pulled at his mouth.

Christ.

He was gone for her. Entirely. Hopelessly.

Fionn practically preened beneath his skin.

Ours.

Xander looked around the clearing one final time, lantern light beginning to glow softly against the deepening dusk. Then he slipped a hand into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers carefully around the velvet ring box.

Tonight. His pulse finally started to climb.

Not battle nerves.

Not fear.

Something infinitely more dangerous.

Hope.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Millie

By the time Millie walked the few blocks to the apartment, the sky had begun slipping into that soft golden-blue stretch that only lasted for a another hour or two before dusk fully settled in.

She adjusted her purse higher on her shoulder and let out a slow breath as warm evening air brushed against her skin.

What a completely absurd week.

Three days ago, she had been worried about unpacking the rest of her boxes and whether or not she was going to survive another budget meeting with Danesh.

Now she was apparently preparing to move to Ireland with her werewolf soulmate while some kind of supernatural political war loomed in the background.

And because why not add a little extra chaos to the insanity that is life, unbelievably, the thing currently occupying the most space in her brain was the fact that Xander had already bought her an engagement ring.

Her stomach flipped again.

Weeks. He had been planning it for literal weeks.

A helpless smile tugged briefly at her mouth before she climbed the stairs to the apartment. The apartment was quiet when she stepped inside.

“Xander?” she called automatically.

No answer.

She frowned slightly, slipping her shoes off by the door before pulling her phone from her purse.

Millie: Hey. I’m home. Where are you?

She wandered farther into the apartment while waiting for him to respond, dropping her bag onto the couch. There were still traces of the last two days everywhere. Open boxes. Half-folded laundry. A legal packet from the county clerk sitting on the kitchen counter.

Marriage license paperwork.

The sight of it still made her feel a little dizzy.

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

Xander: Be home soon.

Another message appeared almost immediately after.

Xander: Get comfortable clothes on. We’re going out.

Millie blinked.

Millie: …Should I ask questions?

Xander: You can.

Millie: Will you answer them?

There was a pause before his response came through.

Xander: No.

A laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

Millie: That tracks.

Millie: Should I be expecting my boyfriend or X tonight?

Xander: I am not even going to dignify that with a response, love.

Xander: Wear shoes you can walk in.

Her brows lifted slightly.

Millie: How much walking?

Xander: Enough that I’ll carry you if you complain too much.

Heat crept immediately into her face despite herself.

Millie: Sir, that sounds suspiciously like a threat.

Xander: It was a promise.

Her stomach did another ridiculous little flip. Honestly, it was becoming embarrassing how easily that man affected her now.

Still smiling faintly, she headed toward the bedroom.

The bond between them felt steady tonight. Warm. Anticipatory in a way she couldn’t fully explain. Like something sat quietly behind his emotions that he was trying very hard not to let her feel directly.

That alone made her suspicious.

Millie changed into soft black leggings and one of Xander’s hoodies, the oversized fabric swallowing her hands. She pulled her hair back loosely and swapped her work shoes for comfortable cross trainers.

Then she paused in front of the mirror. “You’re overthinking this,” she muttered to herself immediately.

Because she absolutely was.

The logical part of her knew that, but another part of her kept replaying the last few days over and over again.

The way he had looked at her when she asked if he actually wanted to marry her.

The way his voice had softened when he told her he had already planned to ask.

The fact that he already bought a ring.

Her chest tightened warmly.

No. She was not going to spiral into proposal theories because the man told her to wear practical shoes. That was unhinged behavior. If he was going to propose, she’d probably need heels, and a nice dress.

Nope. She pointed at herself in the mirror. “Stop it.”

A soft knock sounded against the apartment door a few minutes later.

Her pulse jumped immediately.

Millie crossed the apartment and opened the door to find Xander leaning casually against the frame, one hand tucked into the pocket of his dark Carhart jacket.

She immediately forgot every coherent thought she had previously possessed.

He looked unfairly handsome.

The evening sunlight caught against the edges of his dark hair, his glasses slightly lower on his nose like he had been rubbing at his eyes. He wore dark jeans and a charcoal henley beneath the jacket sleeves he had pushed halfway up his forearms.

He looked relaxed, but there was something underneath it too.

Something taut and deliberate humming quietly beneath the bond.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched him lean against the doorway. “Did you just knock on your own apartment door?”

Xander’s mouth twitched faintly. “It’s our apartment now, sweetheart.”

The simple correction made warmth bloom instantly in her chest.

Still, she rolled her eyes dramatically, even as she smiled. “That was disgustingly smooth.”

“I had a whole speech prepared,” he said solemnly. “Something about wanting to make sure my girl still invited me inside.”

Millie stared at him for half a second before heat rushed straight into her face. “Oh my god.”

A quiet laugh escaped him, low and warm and entirely too pleased with himself. “You’re blushing, beautiful.”

She dropped her head into her hands. “I hate you.”

He laughed, flashing those damn dimples at her. “No, you don’t.” Unfortunately, he sounded entirely certain about that. Which was irritating because he was right.

Ugh.

She crossed her arms lightly, forcing herself to fight against the immediate instinct to walk directly into him. “You are being super weird tonight.”

He shrugged, still grinning at her. “I’m always weird.”

“True,” she admitted. “But this is weird even for you.”

That earned another soft laugh from him. “There’s my girl,” he murmured. The affection in his voice hit her square in the chest. Before she could recover from that, he stepped forward, cupped the side of her face briefly, and kissed her softly. Less of a real kiss and more of a simple brush of his lips against hers.

Just warm and grounding and intentional enough to make her stomach flutter anyway. When he pulled back, his thumb brushed once across her cheek. “Come on, sweetheart.”

She followed him downstairs trying very hard not to overanalyze literally everything. She failed almost immediately.

Xander was absolutely acting like a man with a secret.

He opened the passenger door of the truck for her automatically, one hand resting briefly against the top of the frame while she climbed in.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome, love.” His hand brushed lightly across her knee once he settled into the driver’s seat, casual enough that it should not have affected her as much as it did.

The truck rumbled to life beneath them. Millie waited until they pulled out of the parking lot before glancing sideways at him.

“So,” she said carefully.

“So,” he echoed.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He said with a smirk.

“You’re enjoying this entirely too much.”

“A little,” he admitted.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “You’re smiling.”

He huffed. “I smile sometimes.”

“Not like this.”

That got a real laugh out of him, low and warm.

“You’re very observant tonight.”

She nodded. “I have to be. You’re sneaky.”

He snorted. “Says the woman who hid my packing lists.” He gave her knee a playful squeeze.

She made a satisfied noise. “I regret nothing.”

His hand tightened briefly on the steering wheel as another smile tugged at his mouth.

The city slowly gave way to quieter roads as they drove, evening sunlight stretching long across the trees and hills around them. The windows were down slightly, warm air moving softly through the cab carrying the scent of pine and dry grass.

Millie relaxed gradually as the miles slipped by beneath the tires. At first, every shift in the bond between them had made her tense instinctively, waiting for something sharp or dangerous to surface. But whatever this was, it didn’t feel wrong. The connection remained steady and warm beneath her skin, pulsing softly like a second heartbeat tucked just under the surface of her body. Constant. Quiet. Reassuring in a way she still didn’t entirely know how to process.

Still… there was definitely something Xander wasn’t telling her.

Not hiding in the cold, threatening way he had before, with walls and secrets and calculated distance. This felt… different. More controlled than concealed, like he was holding something carefully behind his ribs, containing it with deliberate restraint rather than trying to bury it.

Her gaze drifted toward him again before she could stop herself.

Xander looked perfectly calm from the outside. One hand rested loosely against the steering wheel while sunlight filtered through the trees, flickering across the sharp line of his jaw and catching in the dark strands of his hair, his other hand on her knee when he wasn’t shifting gears. His posture stayed easy, relaxed enough that most people probably wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

But she could feel it now, the tension beneath the surface.

Nerves.

The realization hit hard enough to make her blink.

Xander was nervous.

That alone was unsettling enough to send a nervous flutter spiraling through her stomach.

Oh no. No, no, no.

Millie immediately turned toward the window instead, fixing her attention on the blur of passing trees like they were suddenly fascinating.

“You okay?” Xander asked after a moment, faint amusement threading through his voice.

“I’m great.”

“You sure?”

“Mmhmm.”

A low chuckle slipped out of him. “You suddenly look very concerned, sweetheart.”

“I’m literally just sitting here.”

He laughed again, warmer this time. “You’re sitting there with a very determined face.”

Millie shot him a glare. Xander answered it with an easy grin that looked entirely too pleased with itself, and somehow that only made the heat in her face worse.

About ten minutes later, the road curved again, and something in the scenery tugged at her memory.

Millie slowly straightened in her seat.

Wait.

Her eyes narrowed as the trees thickened around the road, growing more familiar with every passing second.

“No way,” she murmured.

Xander said nothing, and that confirmed it.

Her pulse kicked immediately as recognition settled in.

This was the road. The same one he had driven down the night he brought her out for the full moon. The night everything between them had changed.

Warm twilight filtered through the trees now, the setting sun painting the edges of the forest gold as the truck continued down the narrow road.

Beside her, Xander had gone quieter.

Millie’s heartbeat climbed higher the farther they drove.

Then finally, the truck slowed and turned into the same clearing they had parked in before. The engine rumbled softly as Xander pulled into place and shifted the truck into park.

Outside, the sun hung low against the horizon, casting amber light through the trees while dusk gathered softly at the edges of the woods.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

The woods around them hummed softly with evening sounds, wind stirring through the trees in slow waves while the last of the sunlight filtered gold through the branches overhead.

Then Xander unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over at her. “Come on, sweetheart.”

Millie narrowed her eyes immediately. “That tone means you’re up to something.”

His mouth twitched. “I am deeply offended by how little faith you have in me.”

“You literally admitted you had a secret a half hour ago.”

“I admitted no such thing.”

“You absolutely implied it.”

He only smiled as he climbed out of the truck.

Well that wasn’t reassuring.

Millie followed more slowly, her pulse already doing ridiculous things as she shut the passenger door behind her. The evening air wrapped warm around her skin, carrying the scent of pine needles and sun-warmed earth.

Xander came around the front of the truck and held out his hand. The gesture was simple. Casual. Still, something inside her softened instantly.

She slipped her hand into his, and smiled when the bond flared warm and content beneath her ribs.

“There she is,” he murmured quietly, squeezing her fingers once before guiding her toward the tree line.

Millie glanced ahead suspiciously. “How far are we walking?”

“Not far.”

“That sounded evasive.”

“It sounded accurate.”

“Mmhmm.”

He laughed softly under his breath as they stepped onto the narrow trail.

The forest looked different this time. The last time he had brought her here, everything had felt sharp and surreal and terrifyingly unknown. Moonlight and magic and the impossible realization that monsters were real.

Now the woods felt… softer somehow.

Familiar.

Not safe exactly, she wasn’t sure anything connected to werewolves would ever qualify as fully safe, but hers in a strange way. Beside her, Xander kept his pace slow enough for her to follow easily over roots and uneven ground.

Which was thoughtful.

Unfortunately, nature itself seemed personally committed to humiliating her.

Less than two minutes into the walk, the toe of her shoe caught on a root hidden beneath leaves.

“Oh my—” She stumbled hard sideways.

Xander caught her instantly, one arm wrapping around her waist before she could fully faceplant into the forest floor.

Millie clutched his arm with a horrified gasp. “That root attacked me.”

His shoulders shook immediately.

“That’s a very serious accusation,” he said solemnly, clearly seconds from laughing.

“It came out of nowhere, Xander.”

“Sweetheart, it was attached to the ground.”

“And?” A full laugh escaped him then, warm and low and unfairly pretty in the quiet woods.

God, she loved that sound.

He steadied her carefully before releasing her waist. “You alright?”

“Physically, yes,” she grumbled. “Emotionally? No, utter humiliation is running rampant.”

His grin widened, but they kept walking.

For approximately another ninety seconds.

Then Millie stepped directly into a shallow dip in the earth she hadn’t seen.

“Jesus—” She pinwheeled violently.

Xander caught her again, this time he actually laughed aloud.

“Oh my god,” she muttered into his chest. “You’re enjoying this.”

“A little,” he admitted.

“You’re evil.”

He laughed again. “You’re clumsy.”

“I’m being sabotaged by the environment.” She declared with a nod.

“Ta forest ‘as declared war on you personally, ‘as it?” He asked trying to stop laughing

She narrowed her eyes at him. “That sounded suspiciously Irish.”

His eyes gleamed behind his glasses as he looked down at her, amusement softening every hard edge of his face.

It hit her suddenly, how much lighter he’d become around her.

Not entirely. The weight he carried was still there beneath everything else. Ireland was still waiting for them. So was whatever storm was coming. But he wasn’t “hoodie guy” in the least anymore.

This version of him existed now. Warm. Teasing. Happy.

The realization wrapped itself quietly around her heart.

Xander brushed his thumb once against her side before stepping back again. “Think you can survive the remaining thirty feet?”

Millie narrowed her eyes. “I survived a dinner rush and late nights at a diner half a mile from a major university. I’ll survive the woods.”

“Very brave.”

“I know.” She made it exactly twelve more steps before her shoe slid sideways on loose pine needles. “Oh, for fuck’s—”

Before she could fully lose her balance, Xander’s laughter broke loose outright.

Not the quiet amused huff she usually got from him, but real laughter.

Rich and helpless and completely unrestrained.

Millie grabbed his arm dramatically. “I hate this forest.”

“You are losing a fight against stationary objects.”

“They keep moving!”

“They are trees, sweetheart.”

“That sounds like something the trees would say.”

At that point he bent slightly, laughing hard enough to duck his head.

She stared at him in betrayal. “You’re supposed to support me emotionally.”

“I am supporting you physically with alarming frequency.”

“That was one time.”

“Three.”

She huffed a breath. “Traitor.”

Still grinning, Xander straightened and looked at her for one long amused second.

Then, without warning, he slid one arm behind her knees and the other around her back and lifted her clean off the ground.

Millie yelped automatically, grabbing his shoulders as the world tilted. “Xander!”

“You’ve lost walking privileges.”

Her stomach flipped violently for reasons entirely unrelated to balance. “You can’t just revoke my walking privileges!”

“I can.” He adjusted her more securely against his chest like she weighed absolutely nothing. “I’m very powerful.”

“That is not how laws work.”

“I’m Irish. Different system.”

She barked out a startled laugh. Being held by him was becoming dangerously addictive.

The steady strength of his arms. The warmth of him surrounding her. The quiet ease with which he carried her through the woods like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Millie rested one hand lightly against the side of his neck as they continued through the trees.

“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “this feels suspiciously convenient for you.”

“Hm?”

“You threatened earlier that you’d carry me if I complained.”

“I did.”

“And now suddenly I’m being kidnapped through the forest.”

“You tripped three times.”

“Allegedly.”

His chest vibrated beneath her with another laugh.

The woods grew quieter around them as dusk deepened, but then light beginning to flicker faintly somewhere ahead between the trees.

Millie blinked.

Wait.

Her attention shifted past his shoulder.

Soft amber light glowed through the clearing ahead.

More than one light.

A lot more.

Her breath caught slightly.

Xander felt it instantly.

His arms tightened around her almost imperceptibly as his pulse jumped beneath the bond.

Nervous.

Oh.

Oh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Xander

Xander stepped into the clearing and felt his entire chest tighten. He set her down in front of the little oasis he made and stepped a half step back.

The lantern light caught in her hair as she turned slowly beneath the trees, the soft gold glow weaving through dark strands until it looked almost unreal. Behind her, the sunset burned across the horizon in violent streaks of pink and orange and deepening violet, the colors spilling through the clearing like paint across water.

Even to him, it looked almost enchanted.

Like the Fae had cracked open a hidden piece of their world for one evening and allowed her inside it.

And somehow she still outshone all of it.

She stood there in black leggings and his oversized hoodie, cross trainers dusted faintly with dirt from the walk through the woods, and Xander genuinely could not imagine anything more beautiful if he tried.

Not jewels.

Not gowns.

Not queens.

Just her.

His mate.

The woman who had walked willingly into his chaos and looked at him like she still saw something worth loving inside it.

Something deep and aching pulled through his chest.

Perfect.

She was absolutely perfect.

Her voice drifted softly across the clearing.

“It’s amazing.”

Warmth spread instantly through the bond, so strong it nearly staggered him.

Now, Xander, Fionn prompted.

Right.

The proposal.

Xander inhaled slowly, trying to steady the sudden violent pounding of his pulse. Then he lowered himself carefully onto one knee in the grass and let out a silent breath.

This was fine.

He had planned this.

He had a speech.

An excellent speech, actually.

Thoughtful. Romantic. Well structured.

He just needed her to turn around.

Millie turned with a disbelieving smile already forming on her face.

Then she saw him on a knee behind her, and her breath caught sharply.

One hand flew instantly to her mouth, her eyes widening so fast it nearly undid him right there.

And suddenly, nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

His mind went completely blank. Every single carefully prepared word vanished instantly like someone had blown them out of his skull with a leaf blower.

Fionn sounded deeply offended.

Say something.

Xander stared up at her for one horrifying second longer.

Still nothing.

Then, because apparently honesty was all he had left, a quiet laugh escaped him. “I forgot the speech I planned.”

Millie let out the smallest watery huff of laughter behind her hand, her eyes already shining.

Christ.

That somehow made her even prettier.

Xander shook his head slightly, grinning helplessly up at her. “You make me lose my train of thought,” he admitted softly. “That’s… never happened to me before.”

He had spent his entire life composed. Controlled. Deliberate.

Then Millie walked into his world and apparently rewired his entire nervous system. His chest tightened painfully as he looked at her standing there in lantern light and sunset glow.

“You…” Another soft laugh escaped him as emotion clogged unexpectedly behind his ribs. “You are the most amazing creature I’ve ever met.”

She took a deep shuddering breath as she watched him.

“The light to my dark,” he continued quietly, the words settling deep and certain between them. “The half of my soul I didn’t even know I was missing until I found it.”

The bond pulsed hard beneath his skin.

Certain.

Absolute.

Home.

Xander reached into his jacket pocket carefully and pulled out the velvet ring box.

Millie made the softest broken sound when she saw it.

God, don’t cry or I’ll lose the rest of my brain, he thought wildly.

His fingers tightened slightly around the velvet box before he opened it carefully and held it out toward her.

For a second, neither of them moved.

The lantern light caught the ring immediately, the opaline moonstone glowing with that strange shifting light that had captivated him the moment he saw it. Soft silver. Pale blue. A faint wash of violet hidden beneath the surface like moonlight trapped beneath water. The black diamonds on either side sharpened the glow instead of dimming it, dark against light, shadow framing something luminous.

Just like her.

God, it looked like her.

Not polished perfection. Not something cold or overly pristine. Something beautiful because it felt alive. Warm. Ethereal. A little wild around the edges.

The intricate engraving around the band flashed faintly as the light shifted, delicate antique details worked into the metal by hand. He remembered obsessing over every part of it. The cathedral setting. The vintage design. The balance between elegance and strength.

He had wanted something that looked like it belonged to her.

Something worthy of her.

And standing here now, with the sunset burning behind her and tears gathering in her eyes, he had the sudden overwhelming realization that no ring on earth could actually accomplish that.

Still, he hoped this came close.

Xander inhaled slowly, trying to steady the emotion tightening around his ribs. His heart was pounding hard enough now that he could feel it in his throat, his pulse loud in his ears despite the quiet hush of the forest around them.

He swallowed hard as he looked up at her fully.

At the way her hand still hovered near her mouth like she couldn’t quite believe this was happening. At the stunned, aching hope written openly across her face.

And Christ.

He loved her so much it frightened him.

Not the sharp, possessive intensity of the mating bond.

Not just that.

Her.

The woman herself.

Her kindness. Her stubbornness. The way she challenged him. The way she looked at him like he was worth saving even when he wasn’t entirely sure he believed it himself. She had somehow become the center of every future thought he possessed without him even realizing when it happened.

Xander swallowed once before speaking, his voice quieter now, roughened around the edges with feeling he wasn’t even trying to hide anymore.

“You are my home. My peace. My favorite thing in this entire world.” For one small moment, he simply looked at her, eyes bright with nerves and hope and something so painfully sincere it made his breath unsteady. “Will you do me the most incredible honor,” he asked softly, “of becoming my wife?”

The words settled between them beneath the glow of lantern light and fading sunset.

Millie made the smallest sound then, almost like her breath caught too sharply to fully inhale afterward. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks now.

She stared at him for one heartbeat. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out at first. Her eyes searched his face like she was trying to take in every second of this moment all at once.

Then slowly, shakily, she nodded.

Once.

Then harder.

Emotion overtook the movement completely before she whispered softly, “Yeah.”

The single word hit him harder than any blow he had ever taken in his life.

Relief detonated through him so fast and so intensely that for one disorienting second he genuinely thought his knees might give out beneath him.

Mine, Fionn thundered triumphantly beneath his skin.

Ours.

Joy surged violently through the bond, so powerful and consuming that Xander nearly laughed aloud from the sheer force of it. Or shifted. Or both.

Instead, he stood quickly, almost too quickly, his entire body suddenly too full of feeling to remain still.

He crossed the small distance between them carefully, reverently, like approaching something sacred.

Maybe she was sacred.

Maybe she always had been.

Millie’s hands trembled slightly when he reached for her left hand, her fingers warm and soft against his own. His pulse hammered wildly beneath his skin as he slid the ring carefully onto her finger. Xander held her gently, his thumb brushing once across her knuckles as his chest tightened almost painfully again.

His fiancé.

His future wife.

His mate.

His home.

The moonstone caught the lantern light again as it passed over her second knuckle, glowing softly between them like captured moonlight.

Xander looked up instinctively.

Her eyes met his immediately.

Wet. Bright. Completely wrecking him.

And suddenly all the fear and tension and uncertainty of the last week faded quietly into the background beneath something stronger.

A soft, helpless smile pulled across his mouth, affection and awe written plainly across his face.

“My fiancé,” he whispered as he slid the ring fully into place and rose the final inch between them, one hand lifting to cradle her face gently before he kissed her.

Millie melted into him instantly.

The kiss wasn’t frantic, or desperate.

It was full; a promise of more, of a life built together.

When she curled her hands into the front of his shirt, the newly placed ring cool against his skin, Xander thought distantly that he would burn the world to ash before letting anyone take this from him.

Millie wasn’t entirely sure what she expected when she stepped back outside, but it wasn’t him still being there.

Some small, fragile part of her had prepared for the space to be empty again, for him to disappear the way his words in the alley had made it feel like he already had. Seeing him waiting where she had left him pulled something tight in her chest. It didn’t fix the hurt, but it steadied her just enough to keep her from falling apart completely.

“I’m ready,” she said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she stepped up beside him.

He nodded, his expression quieter now, more deliberate. “Thank you,” he said.

She didn’t respond. She didn’t trust her voice to hold steady if she tried.

They started walking without another word, falling into step beside each other as they left the back of the diner and moved out onto the sidewalk. His apartment was only a few blocks away, a walk she had made countless times before. Usually, those walks were easy. Comfortable. Filled with small conversations, teasing, or silence that felt warm instead of heavy.

This felt nothing like that.

They stayed close, but they didn’t touch. The absence of it felt louder than anything else. Normally, his hand would find hers without thought, his fingers threading through hers like it was instinct. Now there was space between them, careful and intentional, and she hated how much she noticed it.

The bond between them had not gone quiet, but it felt wrong. Tight. Strained in a way that made her chest ache. She could feel him holding something back, could feel the pressure of it sitting just beneath the surface, waiting.

It made her stomach twist.

Streetlights cast soft pools of light along the sidewalk as they walked, the quiet of the late evening settling around them. Millie kept her gaze forward, her arms folding loosely across her middle like she was trying to hold herself together.

She had been in the middle of moving into his place. Boxes of her things were still scattered through his apartment, half unpacked, her life already woven into his in a hundred small, ordinary ways.

Now everything felt uncertain.

“Are you actually going to tell me?” she asked finally, her voice calm but thinner than she wanted it to be.

He didn’t answer right away. She felt the hesitation immediately through the bond, sharp and unmistakable. Her steps slowed slightly before she forced herself to keep walking.

“You promised,” she added, quieter now.

“I know,” he said on a sigh.

She turned her head, looking at him fully as they reached the corner. “Then don’t shut me out again,” she said. “Because I won’t stay if you do.” The words came out before she could soften them, but once they were said, she didn’t take them back.

He looked at her then, something shifting in his expression. “I’m not shutting you out,” he said.

She held his gaze for a moment, searching for any sign of hesitation, any hint that he might pull back again. The bond trembled, but it didn’t retreat.

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay.”

By the time they reached the door, her pulse had started to pick up again. This was it, whatever he had been keeping from her, whatever had been strong enough to make him push her away, it was waiting just on the other side.

He opened the door and held it for her. She stepped inside, the scent of him wrapping around her immediately, familiar and grounding and painful all at once.

Her things were still there: boxes by the wall, jacket draped over the back of a chair, a pair of her shoes by the door. Proof that this was supposed to be her home too.

Millie stepped further into the apartment and set her purse down slowly, her hands lingering on it for a second longer than necessary before she let go.

The distance between them felt sharper inside these walls.

“Okay,” she said, her voice steady despite everything twisting inside her. “We’re here.” Her eyes locked onto his. “Start talking.”

Millie held his gaze, her arms still loosely crossed as if bracing herself for impact. The apartment felt too small for the weight of whatever he was about to say. The familiar space, half filled with her things, no longer felt entirely safe. It felt like a place caught between two versions of their life. One that had existed this morning, and one that was about to replace it.

Xander didn’t speak immediately. He ran a hand through his hair, pacing once across the living room before stopping in front of her again. This time, he didn’t look away.

“I had a visitor today,” he said. Millie frowned slightly, though her chest was already tightening again. “My cousin, Owen.”

Something in his tone made her straighten. “You’ve never mentioned him.”

“I haven’t mentioned a lot about home,” he said quietly. “I don’t talk about home much.”

Her stomach twisted. “What does that have to do with you leaving?” she asked.

“Everything,” he answered. The word settled heavy between them. She felt it through the bond, the truth of it, the weight. Whatever this was, it was not small. It was not temporary. It was not something that could be brushed aside.

“Things there… are not stable.” He exhaled, like even that was an understatement. “After I left, leadership passed the way it was supposed to, but the one who took control isn’t fit for it.”

Her mind tried to catch up, to place this in something that made sense. “So this is… what? Politics?” she asked, though it sounded weak even to her own ears.

Xander gave a humorless huff. “If only it were that simple.” The bond shifted, unease threading through it. “There is conflict,” he said. “Violence. The pack is fracturing. People are choosing sides.” He paused, watching her carefully. “Many of them want me to come back.”

Millie’s breath caught slightly. “You said when you left that was it, that you were done with all of that.”

“I was,” he said. “I am.” He sighed, shoving his glasses further up his nose in an absentminded nervous gesture. “But it doesn’t change what I am.”

Something in his voice made her chest tighten again. “Which is?”

His jaw flexed slightly before he answered. “The McCollough Alpha.” The word settled into her like a stone dropping into deep water.

She stared at him. “You’re serious.”

“Yes.” The bond pulsed, steady and undeniable.

Her thoughts scattered for a second before pulling back together. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Okay… so they want you back. That does not explain why you think you have to go. You said it yourself, you left.”

“I did,” he agreed. “But it is not that simple anymore.”

“Why?” she asked. “I’m not trying to be argumentative, I’m just trying to understand.”

He hesitated. There it was again, that fucking hesitation. His eyes closed briefly, like he was bracing himself. “Because of you,” he said.

“What?” she whispered.

“They felt it,” he said. “When I marked you. The entire pack felt that I had taken my mate.” His gaze locked onto hers. “They know I have my fated.”

The bond flared at that, like it recognized the truth before her mind fully did.

Millie’s stomach dropped. “Why does that matter?” she asked slowly, though dread was already curling through her.

Xander didn’t look away from her when he answered. “Because that makes you important,” he said slowly. “It makes you… leverage.” The word felt wrong the second it landed, like something cold sliding down her spine.

“Leverage,” she repeated, barely above a whisper.

“They will want to control me, and now they have a weakness,” he said, his voice tightening despite his effort to stay calm, “You.”

The room seemed to tilt slightly.

Millie’s arms dropped to her sides without her realizing it. “You are saying…” she swallowed, trying to steady her voice. “You are saying someone might come here. For me?”

He swallowed, his voice thick. “Yes.”

No hesitation that time, just the terrifying truth that she now was beginning to understand he was trying to protect her form. Fear flickered sharp and immediate in her chest, but it was quickly followed by something else. Anger. Confusion. Hurt.

“And your solution to that,” she said slowly, “was to not tell me?”

His expression shifted, something heavier settling in his eyes. “Fionn believed it was the safest option,” he said. “To keep you out of it. To keep you in the dark so no one could use what you didn’t know.” He sighed and shook his head. “Plausible deniability.”

Millie let out a small, disbelieving breath. “So I just… what? Go on with my life like nothing is wrong while there is a target on my back I don’t even know about?”

“He was trying to protect you,” he said.

Her eyes flashed. “You were both making decisions for me,” she shot back.

He took that without flinching this time.

“Yes,” he said. “We were.” The honesty of it caught her off guard. “The thought was if I handled it,” he continued, “if I went back and ended it quickly, you would never have to feel any of this.”

Her chest ached at that. “And leaving me here without answers was supposed to make that better?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think that far ahead. All either of us wanted, was you safe.”

Silence stretched between them, thick with everything that had already been said.

He stepped closer, slowly this time, giving her space to pull away if she needed to. “I was wrong,” he said, his voice steady but rough around the edges. “About keeping this from you. About shutting you out.”

The bond shifted again, something in it loosening, not fixed but no longer tearing the way it had been. “You are not someone I can protect by lying to,” he continued. “You’re my mate. My partner.” His voice softened slightly. “The woman I love.”

Her breath caught, but she didn’t look away. “I can’t hurt you,” he said. “Not even if I tell myself it is for your safety.”

Millie searched his face, looking for any sign that he might pull back again. “You should have trusted me with this from the beginning,” she said quietly.

“I know,” he answered.

“And you are still leaving,” she added.

His jaw tightened slightly. “Yes.”

The word hurt, but it didn’t land the same way it had before. Now she understood why, she understood what was at stake. “You really think going back will fix whatever is happening?” she asked slowly.

“I think it gives me a chance to end it,” he corrected. “To take control of what is mine and make sure no one ever comes near you because of it again.”

Millie let out a slow breath, her mind racing as she tried to process everything.

Her chest tightened again, but this time she didn’t step back. “Okay,” she said finally, her voice quieter but steadier than before. She looked up and met his eyes. “Then we figure this out,” she said.

Not you. We.

The word settled between them, fragile but unbroken.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Xander stood there for a moment, the weight of everything he had just said still hanging in the air between them. She had not walked away. She had not shut down. She had stepped closer, even if it was only in the quiet resolve behind her words.

It made something in his chest ache.

He hesitated, then lifted a hand slightly before stopping himself. “Can I…” he started, his voice rougher now, uncertain in a way she had never heard from him before. “Is it okay if I touch you?”

Millie stared at him for half a second, then gave him an exasperated look, shaking her head.

“Xander, I can be mad at you, but that does not change our relationship,” she said. “I am beyond frustrated with you, but if you don’t come over here and hug me right now, I swear to god, I won’t forgive you.”

Relief broke through him so fast it almost made him lightheaded. A quiet huff of breath left him as he closed the distance between them, pulling her into his arms without hesitation. He held her tightly, one hand pressing into her back, the other coming up to cradle the back of her head as he buried his face in her hair.

“I am so sorry,” he murmured against her. “I should have trusted you with this.”

She hugged him back just as tightly, her arms wrapping around him like she had no intention of letting go anytime soon. The bond between them shifted again, the strain easing just enough to let warmth bleed back through.

They stood there like that for a moment, holding onto each other like it was the only solid thing left.

When she spoke again, her voice was soft and still firm with resolve. “I’m going with you.”

Xander went completely still. The words hit him like a physical force, locking every muscle in his body in place.

“No,” he said immediately.

He pulled back just enough to look at her, his hands still on her arms like he was afraid she might disappear if he let go. “Millie, no.”

Her expression didn’t waver. “Yes.”

“No,” he repeated, sharper now, fear threading through the word before he could stop it. “Absolutely not.”

Her brows pulled together. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“Yes, I do,” he shot back, his voice tightening. “When it comes to your safety, I absolutely fecking do.”

Her eyes flashed. “You just said you were not going to do that again.”

“That is different,” he said quickly.

“How?” she demanded.

“Because this is not hypothetical,” he said, his grip tightening slightly on her arms. “This is not me overreacting or shutting you out. This is real, Millie. This is dangerous.”

“So I am supposed to stay here?” she fired back. “While you walk into that alone?”

“Yes.” The word came out without hesitation.

Which only proved to make her more angry. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. You just told me people could come here for me anyway. So how exactly is me staying here safer?”

She wasn’t wrong.

He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair as he stepped back, trying to think, trying to get ahead of the argument that was already unraveling faster than he could control.

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.

“How?” she pressed. “From half a world away?”

“I have people,” he said. “I can put protections in place. I can make sure you are not alone.”

Her expression hardened. “I don’t want ‘people,’ Xander. I want you.”

His chest tightened painfully.

“And I can’t be in two places at once,” he said quietly.

“Then don’t leave me behind,” she said.

The simplicity of it made something in him twist.

He shook his head again, more firmly this time. “I am not bringing you into that,” he said. “You have no idea what it is like there right now.”

“Then tell me,” she shot back.

He went still.

“You just told me you wouldn’t shut me out,” she continued, her voice breaking slightly but holding steady. “So stop doing it halfway. If it is that bad, then I deserve to know what I would be walking into.”

He stared at her, conflict tearing through him.

Images flashed through his mind unbidden. The blood that came with the challenges. Training in the sleeting rain. The kind of violence that didn’t follow rules, no matter what anyone claimed.

“That is exactly why you are not going,” he said, his voice dropping. “Because I know what it is like, and I am not taking you into something like that.”

“And I am not letting you go alone,” she said just as firmly.

Silence fell between them again, thick and unyielding.

The bond pulsed, strained once more, caught between two equally immovable decisions.

Xander exhaled slowly, his hands dropping to his sides as he looked at her. “You don’t understand what you are asking,” he said.

“Then make me understand,” she replied.

He held her gaze for a long moment, something shifting behind his eyes. Not anger this time.

Fear, but not for himself.

For her.

“I would rather walk into that alone,” he said quietly, “than risk anything happening to you because I brought you with me.” He shook his head. “Do you understand what it would do to me if something happened to you, Millie?”

Millie’s expression softened, but she didn’t back down.

“And I would rather face it with you,” she said, “than stay here and wait for something to happen without you.”

The words settled between them, heavy with truth.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them gave in.

Xander’s jaw tightened as she spoke, but he didn’t interrupt her.

“You told me that having your mate makes you stronger, right?” Millie said, her voice steady despite everything. “You even told me I could learn to use it. The bond, remember?”

He remembered.

He remembered the exact moment he had said it, the way the bond had flared between them, the way her presence had steadied him in a way nothing else ever had. It was not theory. It wasn’t hope.

It was just a fact.

Having her near made him stronger. Being the McCollough Alpha already made him difficult to kill. Having her tied to him, fully, completely, made him something else entirely.

Something far more dangerous.

“But that still leaves you vulnerable,” he said, though the argument felt thinner now.

Millie shook her head immediately. “No. It does not leave you vulnerable. It changes the equation.”

He frowned slightly. “How?”

“If you have people in Ireland you could send here to protect me,” she said, “then why could they not do that there?”

He opened his mouth, but she kept going before he could answer.

“Why could they not protect me there while you handle what you need to handle?” she pressed. “At least there, you are not across an ocean from me. At least there, you can actually get to me if something goes wrong.”

That stopped him, because again, she was not wrong.

“And maybe,” she added, softer now but no less certain, “I can be useful. If only to… I don’t know, amplify whatever it is I amplify for you.”

Xander let out a quiet breath, dragging a hand down his face as he turned slightly away from her.

“You are not a tool,” he said.

“I didn’t say I was,” she replied. “I am saying I am not helpless or useless.”

He looked back at her, something conflicted and heavy in his expression. “You have no idea what you would be stepping into,” he said again, quieter this time.

“Then stop saying that like it ends the conversation,” she shot back. “Explain it to me.”

He hesitated, but slowly, he nodded.

“It is not just politics,” he said. “It’s… violence. It’s challenges that are not fair, not clean or just. People don’t wait their turn or follow rules when they are desperate.” His voice tightened slightly. “They ambush. They manipulate. They use whatever they can.”

Her stomach twisted, but she held his gaze. “Including me.”

“Yes,” he said bluntly.

“Okay,” she said, taking that in with a slow breath. “So that is true whether I am here or there.”

She gave him a steady look.

“You said it yourself,” she continued. “If they want leverage, they will look for me. That does not magically stop because I stay in Corvallis.”

His jaw flexed. “No, but it makes it harder.”

“And it makes you farther away,” she countered immediately. “Which makes it easier for them if they do find me.”

She took a small step closer to him, not pushing, but not retreating either.

“I am already in this, Xander,” she said more quietly now. “You said that. Your cousin said that. The bond says that.” Her hand lifted slightly, hovering between them before dropping again. “Pretending I’m not doesn’t protect me. It just leaves me unprepared and vulnerable.”

He swallowed, the truth of that settling heavily in his chest.

“I don’t like this,” he admitted.

“I know,” she said softly. “I don’t like it either.”

“That is not what I mean,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t like the idea of you being anywhere near that place. Near them.”

“Because you care about me,” she said. “I get that.”

“Because I love you, and I know what they do,” he corrected.

She didn’t flinch. “Then I would rather face that with you than be blindsided by it without you.” The words hit him hard, square int he chest.

He turned away again, pacing a few steps before stopping, his hands bracing on his hips. “You are asking me to take you into a war,” he said on a breath. “Sweetheart, I don’t know that I can do that. That I could risk that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “That I could risk you.”

“No, Xander, that’s not what I’m asking.” She waited until he turned back to look at her. “I am asking you not to leave me out of one that already involves me,” she replied.

He let out a sharp breath, frustration and fear tangling together.

“You don’t know how to defend yourself in that kind of situation,” he said.

“Then teach me,” she shot back immediately.

He blinked at her.

“Teach me,” she repeated, more firmly. “You said I could learn about the bond. You said it could do things. So teach me how to use it.”

“It is not that simple,” he said.

“Nothing about this is simple,” she replied.

Another silence fell between them, but this one felt different. Less like opposition. More like something being worked through, piece by piece.

“You would be under my protection constantly,” he said after a moment.

She nodded immediately. “Agreed.”

“You would not be able to just… go wherever you want. Not at first, and maybe not ever while we’re there.” He warned.

“Okay.”

He frowned. “You are agreeing very easily.”

She huffed out a small breath. “Because the alternative is sitting here waiting for something bad to happen while you are across the world.”

He looked at her for a long moment.

“You really are not going to let this go,” he said.

“No,” she said simply.

Something almost like a laugh escaped him, though there was no humor in it. “Stubborn,” he muttered.

“You like that about me,” she shot back.

“I do,” he admitted. “Just… maybe not right now.”

A small, fleeting smile touched her lips before fading again.

He ran a hand through his hair again, pacing once more, slower this time. “If I take you,” he said carefully, “things will have to change.”

“They already have,” she replied.

He nodded slightly, conceding that point.

“You stay close to me,” he continued. “At all times, especially at the beginning. No wandering off. No taking risks to prove a point.”

“I am not trying to prove a point,” she said. “I am trying to stay alive.”

He nodded absently. “Good,” he said. “Because I won’t hesitate to lock things down if I think you are in danger.”

She raised a brow. “Lock things down?”

“You won’t like it,” he said plainly.

She held his gaze for a second, then nodded. “Then don’t make me test that.”

That earned a quiet exhale from him. “You listen when I tell you something is not safe,” he added.

“I will,” she said. Then, after a beat, “As long as you are actually communicating with me.”

He winced slightly. “Agreed.”

Finally, he looked at her fully again. “You are sure about this,” he said.

It was not a question. It was a last chance to back out.

Millie stepped closer, closing the remaining distance between them. “Yes,” she said.

The bond pulsed, steady and certain. Xander closed his eyes briefly, then let out a long breath as something in him finally gave way. “Alright,” he said.

Her breath caught slightly. “Alright?”

He opened his eyes, meeting hers. “Alright,” he repeated. “You’re coming with me.”

Relief and something sharper flickered across her face at the same time.

“But we do this my way,” he added. “Carefully. Strategically. I am not taking unnecessary risks with you.”

“I would expect nothing less,” she said.

He studied her for another moment, then reached for her again, slower this time, giving her space to pull away. His hands settled on her waist, grounding himself in the reality of the decision he had just made. “Promise you’ll trust me when we’re there. I may not always have the ability to stop and explain,” he said quietly.

“I trust you with my life, Xander,” she replied, quietly.

He let out a soft breath, pulling her closer again, his forehead resting briefly against hers.

“Yeah,” he murmured. Xander didn’t step away from her immediately. His hands stayed at her waist, grounding himself as much as holding onto her, like if he moved too quickly the entire conversation might fracture again.

His mind was already moving ahead, calculating, weighing risk against time, time against preparation. “We can’t leave immediately,” he said finally.

Millie tilted her head slightly. “I was not expecting to.”

He let out a small breath, something almost like relief slipping through. “Good.”

She watched him closely. “How long do you think we have?”

That question sat heavier than he wanted it to.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “If things are as unstable as Owen says, it could escalate quickly. Or it could hold for a little while longer.” He paused, jaw tightening slightly. “I don’t like relying on that uncertainty.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “So what do we need before we go?”

He studied her for a second, noting the shift. She was not reacting emotionally now. She was thinking, planning.

Adapting.

It made something in his chest pull tight in a different way. “Time,” he said. “Not a lot, but enough to prepare properly.”

“How much is ‘enough’?” she asked.

Xander hesitated, then answered more carefully this time. “About a week.”

Millie blinked. “A week?”

He nodded once. “Give or take a day. Any longer and we risk things getting worse without me there. Any sooner and we leave unprepared.”

Her brows drew together. “So this is not just about packing a suitcase.”

“No,” he said, almost under his breath.

She studied him, then asked, “Is this for me, or for you?”

He didn’t deflect this time.

“Both of us,” he said.

She held his gaze for a second longer, then nodded slowly. “Okay. Then walk me through it.”

That caught him slightly off guard.

“Walk you through it,” he repeated.

“Yes,” she said. “If I am going, I need to know what the week actually looks like. Not just that we are leaving.”

He exhaled quietly, then nodded. “Alright.”

He stepped back just enough to think clearly, one hand dragging through his hair before dropping again.

“First, you,” Xander said, steadying his voice as he shifted them back into something practical. “Your job. You will need to give notice.”

Millie blinked, the shift in topic catching her slightly off guard. “My job,” she echoed, though her tone was less certain now. “Or…” she started, then faltered slightly. “I mean, I could just take some time off. Like… not quit, just… leave things open-ended until we get back.”

Xander went still for a fraction of a second. There it was, the part she had not fully grasped yet.

“Millie,” he said, softer now. “I don’t know when we are coming back,” he said.

The words landed gently, but they didn’t feel gentle. Her expression shifted almost instantly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly that,” he said, holding her gaze. “This is not a trip with a timeline. It is not a few weeks, or even necessarily a few months.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully. “It depends on how things unfold when we get there.”

Her arms tightened slightly across her chest. “So… you are saying I might not come back here for a long time.”

“Yes.”

He could feel it through the bond, the way that realization hit her, the way it spread outward into everything else she had not yet considered.

“My job,” she said again, but this time it sounded different. Quieter. “My life here…”

His chest tightened at that. “I know,” he said gently.

She looked around the apartment without really seeing it, her gaze catching on her boxes, her things, pieces of a life that had felt stable just hours ago.

“I thought…” she started, then stopped, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t even know what I thought.”

“That we would go, fix it, and come back,” he said.

She looked at him again. “Yeah.”

“I would like that too,” he admitted.

“But you don’t think that is realistic,” she said.

He didn’t lie to her. “I think it is possible,” he said carefully. “But I can’t promise it.”

That was worse, in some ways, than a flat no. She exhaled slowly, her shoulders dropping just a fraction as the weight of it settled in. “So I can’t just… leave things open,” she said.

“No,” he said quietly. “It wouldn’t be fair to them, and it would leave you tied to something you may not be able to come back to anytime soon.”

She nodded faintly, even though it was clear she didn’t like it.

“Danesh deserves proper notice,” he continued, his tone still gentle. “You deserve to leave on your terms, not disappear and hope you can pick it back up later.”

Her throat moved slightly as she swallowed. “That feels very final.”

“It isn’t permanent,” he said.

She huffed out a small, shaky breath. “That isn’t better.”

“I know,” he said.

Silence stretched between them again, but this time it was heavier. Not tense in the same way as before, but real in a way that settled deeper.

After a moment, she nodded.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll talk to Danesh tomorrow.”

Xander watched her closely. “Are you alright?”

She gave a small, tight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “No,” she said honestly. “But I will be.”

His chest ached at her honesty.

She glanced down, then back up again. “I can still help train someone this week,” she added, like she was trying to anchor herself in something practical. “Make it easier on them.”

“That would be good,” he said softly.

She nodded again, more firmly this time, like she was locking the decision into place.

“Okay,” she repeated.

And this time, even though it was hard, she didn’t hesitate.

“And my stuff,” she added, glancing toward the boxes still scattered through the apartment. “I guess I need to actually finish moving in… just to turn around and leave again.”

Something about that twisted in his chest.

“You don’t have to unpack everything,” he said quietly.

She gave him a look. “I know. But I need to decide what comes with me and what stays.”

He nodded. “Travel light. We can arrange for anything else later if needed.”

“Later,” she repeated softly, like she was testing the word.

He didn’t miss that.

“Yes,” he said. “Later.”

She watched him for a moment, then asked, “What about you?”

He stilled slightly.

“What do you need this week?” she clarified.

Silence settled between them again, thoughtful this time, both of them turning over everything that still needed to happen.

Then Xander’s expression shifted slightly.

Millie noticed it immediately. “What?”

He exhaled slowly, like he had been hoping to delay this part. “There is… one more complication.”

Her stomach dropped a little. “Of course there is.”

“It is not about the pack,” he said quickly. “But it is about logistics.”

“That does not make me feel better,” she replied dryly.

He almost smiled, but it faded quickly. “Your passport will get you into Ireland,” he said. “You can stay for up to ninety days without a visa.”

“Okay,” she said cautiously. “That sounds manageable.”

“It is,” he agreed. “If this were short term.”

Her expression shifted again. “But it is not.”

“Well, I don’t know,” he said.

She let out a slow breath. “So what, I apply for a visa while I am there?”

“You could,” he said. “But those take time. Processing, approvals… and during that time, your status would be uncertain.”

“I don’t love the word ‘uncertain’ anymore,” she muttered.

“Neither do I,” he said quietly.

She looked at him. “So what is the actual solution?”

He hesitated, and that was enough to put her immediately on edge again.

“Xander.”

He met her eyes, steadying himself. “I have dual citizenship,” he said. “Ireland and the US.”

“Okay…”

“The simplest way to ensure you can stay,” he continued, “legally, without delay or risk of being forced to leave…”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Xander.”

“…is if you’re my legal wife.”

The words landed hard. Millie blinked at him.

“Your legal wife,” she repeated.

“Yes.”

She continued to blink at him silently, as if waiting for the punch line of a joke. “You’re serious,” she said slowly.

“Yes.”

“In the next week,” she added.

“Yes.”

She stared at him like she was trying to decide if this was real or if she had finally reached her limit for the day. “You just told me there is a war waiting for you in Ireland,” she said. “And now your solution is… we get married before we go.”

“It is not just a solution,” he said carefully. “It is the most secure option.”

Her hands lifted slightly, then dropped again. “That is not what I meant.”

“I know,” he said.

She let out a breath that almost turned into a laugh, but not quite. “Do you hear how this sounds?”

“Yes,” he said calmly.

“And you are still saying it like this is a normal, reasonable plan.”

“It is reasonable,” he replied. “Given the circumstances.”

“The circumstances are insane,” she shot back.

“That does not make the solution less valid.”

She turned away for a second, pacing a few steps before turning back to him. “This is not just paperwork, Xander.”

“I know that.”

“This is not just some technicality so I can stay in a country longer than three months,” she continued. “This is marriage.”

“Yes.”

“To you.”

His brows lifted slightly. “I would hope so.”

She stared at him.

That earned the smallest flicker of something in her expression, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“Don’t joke right now,” she said.

“I’m not,” he said, sobering immediately. “Not about this.”

Silence stretched again, but this time it was charged with something different. Not just fear. Not just logistics.

Something deeper.

“You are asking me to marry you this week,” she said quietly.

“I am asking you to consider it,” he corrected.

“That is not better.”

“It is more accurate.”

She shook her head slightly, overwhelmed. “Xander…”

He stepped closer, not crowding her, but not distant either.

“I am not saying this lightly,” he said. “If there were another option that gave you the same level of protection and stability, I would take it, but the fact is, if you’re married to an Irish citizen, you can apply for Irish citizenship once we arrive.”

Her chest rose and fell slowly as she tried to process.

“This is not how I imagined this happening,” she admitted.

“Yeah, this wasn’t my plan,” he said.

Her eyes flicked up to his. “You thought about it before this?”

He held her gaze. “Yes.”

That quieted her for a second.

“I didn’t plan for it to happen like this,” he continued. “But I have thought about it. About you. About us. I had a plan.”

The bond pulsed faintly, steady.

“This is not just about Ireland,” he said. “It is about making sure you are protected. That no one can question your place at my side. Legally or otherwise.”

She swallowed. “And if I say no?”

His jaw tightened slightly, but his voice stayed even. “Then we find another way. It will be harder. Slower. Less secure.”

“But still possible.”

“Yes.”

She studied him carefully. “And you would still take me?”

“Yes.”

She looked down for a moment, then back up again.

“This is fast,” she said.

“I know.”

“This is… really fast.”

“I know,” he repeated.

She exhaled slowly. “I haven’t even finished moving in with you.”

His mouth twitched faintly. “Technically, this would solve that.” She gave him a look. “Too soon,” he conceded, giving her a crooked smile.

A small, unwilling breath of amusement escaped her, then faded again. “You are serious about this,” she said.

He nodded slowly. “I am.”

“This is not just because of the visa.”

“No,” he said quietly.

Her eyes held his. “Then why?” she asked.

The question settled deep. Xander didn’t look away.

“Because you are already my mate,” he said slowly. “Because I love you.” He reached out and pressed his palm to her cheek. “Because in every way that matters, you already are. It is just… formalizing what already is.”

Her breath caught slightly.

“And because,” he added more softly, “if I am asking you to walk into this with me… I want you to have every protection I can give you. Every right, and every claim. Wolf and human.”

Millie looked at him for a long moment, her thoughts clearly still racing, but no longer scattered.

Millie was quiet for a long moment, her thoughts clearly still turning over everything he had just said. Then her gaze lifted back to his, sharper now. Searching.

“You really want to marry me?” she asked. The question landed differently than everything else. “Not because of this,” she continued, gesturing vaguely between them. “Not because it makes things easier or safer, or because it solves a problem.”

She shook her head slightly, her voice softening but not losing its edge.

“I don’t want to be an obligation,” she said. “Or a task to be checked off.” Her eyes locked onto his. “I want to be chosen, Xander.”

Something in his chest shifted, deep and certain. He smiled at her, not amused, not deflecting. Just… sure. “You are,” he said.

Before she could overthink it, before she could spiral into everything this meant, he leaned in and kissed her softly, drawing her into him. He cupped her face in his hands, and felt her arms slide along his waist and grip at the fabric of his shirt.

His pulled his lips from hers with a quiet sigh, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I already bought the ring,” he said quietly, pulling back to see her expression.

Millie blinked at him. “Come again?”

He grinned slightly, pushing his glasses back up his nose in a familiar, almost boyish gesture that felt wildly out of place in the middle of everything else. “I already bought your ring,” he said. “Well… I ordered it. It is being made.”

She just stared at him. “You’re serious,” she said slowly.

He nodded. “Very.”

Her mouth opened, then closed again as she tried to catch up. “You have been… looking for an engagement ring?”

“For weeks,” he confirmed.

“Weeks,” she repeated, like the word itself might help her process it. “When did you even start doing that?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Before I asked you to move in,” he said. “Since the night you met Fionn.”

Her breath caught. “Xander…”

He shook his head slightly, not dismissing her reaction, just acknowledging it. “I know it’s fast,” he said. “I know how it sounds.” He let out a small breath. “But you need to know, this is not something I decided because of Ireland. That just… accelerated things.”

She was still staring at him, stunned.

“I love you,” he said simply. “That part is not complicated to me.” His voice softened slightly. “You are my fated mate. The one person I want beside me. Always.”

He stepped closer, closing the space between them again, his hands settling at her waist. “I have known for a while that I was going to ask you,” he continued. “I just didn’t think it would look like this.”

The words settled between them, steady and unshaken. Millie exhaled slowly, like something inside her had just shifted into place. She huffed out a small breath, somewhere between overwhelmed and incredulous, but there was something else there now too. Something softer.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “And I want you you to belong to me in every way I can have you, Millie.”

Slowly, she pulled back from his embrace, his arms still around her, but space now between them. “If you are going to ask me to marry you,” she said slowly, “you are not getting away with doing it like this.”

His brows lifted slightly. “Like what?”

“Like it is a logistics meeting,” she said, gesturing lightly between them. “A visa solution with emotional benefits.”

A quiet huff of amusement left him. “That is not what this is.”

“I know,” she said, softer now. “But it is how you are presenting it.”

He studied her. “Then how should I be presenting it?”

Her expression shifted, not uncertain, but intentional.

“I don’t need the ring,” she said. “Not right now. I know it is coming, not that it truly matters. But…” She stepped a little closer, her voice gentler. “I still want a proper proposal.”

That caught him off guard in a way very little did.

“A proper proposal,” he repeated. “Sweetheart, the full moon is two weeks away, I don’t have-” She held up a hand stopping him.

“I want you to ask me because you want to marry me. Not because it makes things easier. Not because it solves a problem.” Her eyes held his. “Because you are choosing me.”

Something in his chest pulled tight, then settled into something warm and unwavering. “Alright,” he said quietly.

She blinked. “Alright?”

Xander held her gaze, something steadier than hesitation settling into place.

“Yes,” he said again, softer this time. “Alright.”

It wasn’t agreement in the casual sense. It was commitment. A recalibration.

For a moment, he just looked at her, really looked. The way her shoulders were still slightly tense, like she was bracing for him to push back. The way her eyes searched his, not for reassurance alone, but for truth. For intention.

She wanted to be chosen.

Not managed. Not protected out of obligation. Chosen.

The distinction mattered more than anything else she’d said.

A slow breath left him, and with it, something shifted internally, something subtle but important. He’d been approaching this like a problem to solve, variables to stabilize. Risk, legality, timelines. All of it mattered. But he could see now, clearly, that he’d been speaking around the one thing that didn’t require strategy.

“I can do that,” he said, voice low but certain.

Millie watched him carefully. “You’re not just saying that?”

“No.” A faint, almost rueful smile touched his mouth. “If anything, I’m realizing I should have done it that way from the start.”

That earned the smallest flicker of something warmer in her expression.

Xander tilted his head slightly, studying her like he was committing the moment to memory. “You’re right,” he continued. “You deserve more than me standing here outlining immigration benefits.”

Her lips twitched. “That was a the point I was trying to make.”

“Understood,” he said dryly.

Silence settled again, but it had changed. Less sharp. Less precarious.

More… anticipatory.

He let his hands fall from her waist, not withdrawing completely, just giving her space—intentionally this time. Not distance. Respect.

“A proper proposal,” he murmured, almost to himself, like he was testing the shape of it.

Then his gaze flicked back to hers, something quieter but more deliberate behind it now. “You realize,” he added, “that you’ve just made this significantly more complicated.”

“I did warn you,” she said lightly.

“Yes,” he agreed. “You did.”

Another beat passed. Then, more seriously—

“We’re still leaving in a week,” he said. “That part doesn’t change.”

“I know.”

“And the situation there is still…” He exhaled faintly. “What it is.”

“I know that too.”

His eyes held hers, searching for any hesitation she might still be hiding.

“I’m not asking you to ignore that,” he said.

“I’m not,” she replied. “I’m just asking you not to reduce this to accommodate it.”

Xander nodded once. “Fair.”

A quiet pause stretched between them, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

“Millie.”

Something in his tone made her straighten slightly.

“When I ask you,” he said, deliberate now, “it won’t be because of Ireland.”

Her breath hitched, just a little.

“It won’t be because of timing, or risk, or anything else pressing in on us.” His voice softened, but didn’t lose its certainty. “It’ll be because I want a life with you. After all of this. Beyond it.”

Her eyes didn’t leave his.

“And,” he added, a faint edge of something almost teasing threading through, “you should be prepared for the fact that I’m not going to do it halfway.”

That finally pulled a real reaction from her, a small, surprised smile. “No?”

“No,” he said simply. “If I’m doing this properly, I’m doing it right.”

She studied him for another long second, like she was recalibrating him the same way he had just recalibrated himself.

“Okay,” she said.

There was still nervousness there. Still the weight of everything they hadn’t solved. “We still have to get married before we leave.”

She nodded. “I know.” She looked away. “We should get the license started. I think it takes a few days.”

He nodded, his mind already hard at work refining his plan for the way he’d proposed. He tried not to grin at her.

His original plan would still work. It would be closer to the new moon than the full, but, he could still make it work.

But refine it, Fionn butted in.

Xander almost sighed. Talking to me again, are you?

Fionn rolled his eyes. You were ignoring me.

Xander nodded at the wolf. You were giving me a shite time. So yeah, I was ignoring you.

Millie started moving around looking at the different stacks of boxes, murmuring to herself.

He had a day and a half to make sure the ring was ready, and plan a proposal worthy of her. She said something to him he didn’t hear, and tossed him a grin over her shoulder.

He smiled back automatically.

His wife.

His beautiful, sweet, generous, kind, human wife.

Ours. Fionn rumbled.

For always, Xander agreed. He continued to watch her for a few moments, before pushing himself off the kitchen counter.

“Millie.”

She paused and turned around, eyebrow raised. He hesitated for half a second, then nodded toward the hallway. “I am going to make a few calls.”

“More logistics?” she asked.

Something like that, he thought. “Yeah,” he said instead. “I need to get my work load settled and get some logistics in Ireland squared away.”

She nodded, crossing to him and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his lips. “I’m going to go start some laundry and decide on what clothes I want to take with us.”

He nodded, pulling her into him once more. “We’re really doing this,” she said softly against him, her arms wrapping around him.

“Yeah, we really are.”

She stepped back, giving him a smile before moving down the hallway to the bedroom, closing the door softly.

Xander exhaled slowly, leaning back onto the kitchen counter. His hands braced on the edge for a second, grounding himself.

Everything he had walked away from was now about to collide directly with the one thing he had built here.

Millie.

Fionn stirred beneath the surface, quieter now but no less present. We will need to be ready.

“I know,” Xander murmured under his breath.

He reached for his phone, hitting the contact and pressing the screen to his ear.

“Yes,” he said when the voice on the other end answered. “It is Xander McCollough. I need to confirm a delivery.”

“Hello, Mr. McCollough. Is this about the ring you ordered this morning?” The friendly female voice asked.

“Yes, the ring.”

“Absolutely, how can I help, sir?”

His grip tightened slightly on the phone. “How soon can it be ready? I’ve had an unexpected event happen, and I need it as soon as possible. I’ll pay extra if needed.”

The voice hummed and he heard keys clacking in the background. “Mr. McCollough, it looks like its already in process. We must not have had any other custom orders. I’m currently showing it should be ready by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Good,” he said quietly. “Make it happen. If extra charges are involved, its fine. I need it tomorrow.”

“Understood, sir. You should be able to come pick it up by two.”

“Great. I’ll see you then. Thank you.” When the call ended, he stayed where he was for a moment, phone still in hand. The apartment was silent again, except for the faint sound of Millie moving in the bedroom.

A week.

He thought about Ireland again. About the pack. About the war waiting for him there.

Then he thought about her standing in this kitchen, telling him she was coming with him anyway. His chest tightened, something complicated and heavy settling in.

This was going to be the longest week of his life.

Millie

It was just after eight when the bell above the door rang.

Millie didn’t need to turn around to know it was Xander. It wasn’t the bond that told her he’d walked into her space. It was her awareness of him. The energy he put out that immediately called her to him like gravity.

A smile curved her lips before she even glanced over her shoulder.

Xander. Her Xander.

He stood just inside the door, looking unfairly good in a way that should’ve been illegal for a man who claimed he “didn’t try.” His dark t-shirt was slightly rumpled, his favorite jeans, those damn Converse. The only time he wasn’t wearing them was when he was naked. His glasses were sliding low on his nose, his black hair a mess like he’d run his hands through it a few too many times.

Her chest tightened, pleasantly.

God, she loved him.

She wiped her hands on her apron and moved without thinking, slipping around the counter in two quick steps and heading straight for him.

“Hey,” she said softly as she rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You are early tonight, handsome.”

That was when she felt it. It didn’t come from anything physical he did, but from somewhere deeper, inside the bond they shared. A ripple moved through it, sharp and cold in a way that immediately felt wrong.

Her smile faltered as the sensation settled in. Her hand lingered on his arm as she pulled back, her eyes searching his face for an explanation.

“Xander,” she said, her voice quieter now, edged with concern. “What is wrong?”

His expression barely shifted, but she could feel everything he was not saying. She could feel the tension in him, the restraint, and the way something inside him was wound far too tight. She recognized it for what it was immediately. He was starting to spiral over something.

His gaze flicked briefly around the diner, which was mostly empty except for a couple of late customers and Jenna behind the counter.

“Can you take a break?” he asked. His tone was too controlled and too careful, and it immediately set her on edge. “We need to talk.”

Her stomach dropped at the words, a heavy sense of dread settling in. Still, she nodded quickly.

“Yeah, of course,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Jenna, I need to take a break. Can you watch my table?”

Jenna didn’t even look up as she answered. “Got it.”

Millie turned back to him, trying to keep her voice light despite the unease building in her chest. “Let us go out back,” she suggested.

She held her hand out to him.

He hesitated.

It was only for a second, but she felt it as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud. The hesitation landed like a crack forming straight down the center of her chest. Her heart gave a sharp, painful thud as the question rose unbidden in her mind.

Why was he hesitating?

Then he took her hand, but the movement was slow.

His palm slid against hers and his fingers laced through hers, but something about it felt different. It lacked the immediate, grounding certainty she had grown used to. Instead, it felt careful and measured, as though he were holding something fragile rather than reaching for something that was his.

Her chest tightened at the unfamiliar distance already forming between them.

She didn’t say anything, leading him behind the counter, through the back door, into the alley.

The night air was cool, brushing against her skin, but it didn’t do anything to settle the sudden, rising unease curling in her stomach.

This was where he’d kissed her the first time.

Where everything had shifted.

Where she’d thought, hoped, everything had started.

She turned to face him, dread filling her already. “What’s going on?” she asked.

There was no teasing and no deflection this time, only a quiet that settled heavily between them.

He let go of her hand. That hurt more than she cared to admit. Millie’s fingers curled slightly where his had been, as though they didn’t know what to do without him there.

Xander shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders tense as he searched for words. “I…” he started, but then he stopped.

She felt everything he didn’t say. She felt the hesitation, the conflict, and the fear. There was something else too, something that made her stomach drop in a way she could not ignore.

There was distance.

“Xander,” she said, her voice tightening even with her effort to stay calm. “You are scaring me.”

His eyes snapped to hers and softened immediately. “Hey, sweetheart, no,” he said quickly. “Don’t do that.”

“Then don’t stand there looking like you are about to tell me your about to dump me,” she shot back, her words sharper than she intended.

He flinched, just barely, but it was enough for her to see it and feel it.

Her heart started pounding harder in her chest. “Just listen for a second,” he said, dragging a hand through his hair as he exhaled.

That made everything worse.

It made it so much worse, because people only said things like that when something bad was coming.

Her chest constricted painfully. “Okay,” she whispered, but the dread was already filling her chest. The hollow ache of knowing this conversation was going to end the happiness they’d shared the last few months.

He looked at her, really looked at her, as though he was trying to memorize every detail. The tether between them hurt, as if something inside it was beginning to pull away. She stopped touching the bond, she didn’t want to keep touching it. She could feel the pain there, the pain she didn’t want to acknowledge even existed yet.

“I have to go,” he said finally. The words landed heavily between them.

Her brows knit together as confusion and dread tangled together. “Go where?”

He hesitated for a beat before answering. “Back home. To Ireland.”

Millie blinked at him as she processed the word. “Ireland,” she repeated slowly. He nodded. “For what?” she asked, though her voice had already begun to shake.

He hesitated again, and this time it lasted too long. “I have some things I need to take care of,” he said.

Her stomach twisted sharply. “That is not an answer.”

“I know.”

“Then give me one,” she pressed, her voice breaking at the edges. “Xander, what is going on?”

He looked away. Something inside her began to splinter.

“You are hiding something,” she said.

“I am not,” he started.

“You are,” she cut in, shaking her head. “I can feel it.” The bond between them pulsed unevenly now, strained in a way that made it impossible to ignore. “You’re trying to shutting me out,” she whispered.

His jaw tightened. “I am not trying to.”

“But you are,” she said, her voice cracking. “You are, and it feels like you are pulling away from me.”

“I am not,” he said quickly.

“Then why does it feel like that?” she demanded, searching his eyes.

He didn’t answer. The silence said everything.

Her chest started to caved in. “How long?” she asked, quieter now. Fragile.

He looked away from her. “I don’t know.” The words hit like a physical blow.

Her breath caught. “You don’t… know?” she repeated.

He shook his head slightly. “It depends.”

“On what?”

Another pause.

“Things,” he said vaguely.

She let out a shaky, disbelieving laugh. “Things?”

“I can’t…” he stopped, frustrated. “I can’t explain everything right now.”

“Why not?” she shot back. “I’m your-” she cut herself off, but it was too late. The words hung there anyway.

Girlfriend.

Wolf-wife.

Mate.

Whatever they were.

His.

“Millie…” He said taking a step toward her.

“No,” she said, stepping back slightly. “No, you don’t get to just say you’re leaving, leaving the country, by the way, and then tell me you ‘can’t explain.’”

“I’m not leaving you,” he said.

Her eyes snapped to his. “Then why does it feel like you are?”

She felt it land, felt his flinch, because even if he isn’t admitting it, that’s exactly what he was doing. Through the bond, there it was again. That same terrible, quiet truth he wasn’t saying out loud.

I don’t know if I’m coming back.

Her heart shattered like a thin piece of glass dropped from the roof onto concrete, tiny splinters showering in all directions.

She stared at him, her vision blurring as tears burned behind her eyes.

“You’re not coming back,” she said softly.

His expression broke. “That’s not-”

“You don’t know if you’ll come back,” she corrected, her voice trembling. “Which means you might not.”

“Millie…”

“You’re leaving me,” she whispered.

“I’m not,” he started.

“You are,” she said again, more firmly now, even as her voice cracked. “You are, and you won’t even tell me why.”

He took a step toward her.

She stepped back, the movement was instinctive and immediate.

It destroyed him, she could feel his ache through the bond.

If she let him close to her right now, she knew she’d break completely.

“I thought, ” she started, then stopped, shaking her head as tears finally spilled over. “I thought this was… something.”

“It is,” he said, voice rough. “Millie, this is everything.”

“Then why does it feel like I’m the only one holding onto it?” she demanded.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

She froze. “What?”

He closed his eyes briefly, like he’d said too much.

“Protect me from what?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He didn’t answer, because of course he didn’t.

Her laugh this time was hollow. “Unbelievable,” she breathed.

“Millie.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, you don’t get to do this.”

“Do what?”

“This,” she gestured between them, frantic now. “Decide what I can and can’t handle. Decide what I get to know. Decide that you’re just going to disappear and I’m supposed to just, what? Be totally fine with it? Wait for you when you probably won’t be back?”

His silence was answer enough.

“You expect me to just… stay here?” she whispered. “While you go off to deal with whatever this is and maybe come back?”

“I will come back,” he said, but there was a tick of uncertainty in his voice.

God, she felt that. Her heart broke all over again. “You don’t know that,” she said.

He didn’t respond. Tears streamed freely down her face now, but she didn’t bother wiping them away. She just stared at him.

At the man she’d fallen in love with so fast it terrified her. At the man who had just as quickly, become something she might lose.

“When?” she asked.

“What?”

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon.”

Her breath hitched. “Tonight?”

“No.” He said running a hand through his hair.

“Tomorrow?”

He sighed heavily. “…I don’t know.” That was worse.

That meant he’d already been planning it. Already decided. Already halfway gone.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Millie, please.” He took a small step toward her again, his eyes pleading.

She shook her head, stepping back again. “I need to go back inside,” she said, her voice hollow now. “I have tables.”

“Millie,” he started again.

“I can’t do this right now,” she cut in, not looking at him anymore. “I can’t stand here and pretend this doesn’t feel like you’re ripping something out of me.”

The tether between them strained, tight, aching.

“I love you,” he said, letting the words fall between them.

The words hit her like a knife.

Cruel in their timing.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t say that right now.”

“Why not?” he asked stepping toward her. “It’s true.”

“Because it doesn’t feel true,” she said, her voice breaking completely. “Not when you’re walking away. From me, from, what I thought we were trying to build together.”

“I’m not walking away from you.”

She opened her eyes then, unable to keep the sadness from her eyes. “You already did,” she said softly. She looked past him into the alley around them. “When you decided how this was going to go, without even talking to me, without giving me any options or…” she shook her head. “You made a unilateral decision and it didn’t matter what my opinion or feelings were.” She looked back at him. “You made a decision, and I just have to live with it.”

He watched her, and she could feel the bond stretching hard between them.

She turned before he could say anything else, pushing open the back door with shaking hands and stepping back into the diner.

She stood just inside the door for a long minute, her entire body starting to go numb.

“Millie?” Jenna’s voice cut through the fog. “You good?”

Millie blinked, forcing herself to focus. “Yeah,” she said automatically, already reaching for a rag. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Liar.

She turned away before Jenna could look too closely and ducked into the small staff bathroom. The fluorescent light was too bright, too harsh. It made everything feel more real than she wanted it to be. She braced her hands on the sink and stared at herself in the mirror.

Red eyes. Tear-streaked cheeks.

God.

Her breath hitched.

“No,” she whispered to herself, grabbing a paper towel and turning on the tap. “No, not right now.”

She wiped her face quickly, aggressively, like she could erase the last ten minutes if she just scrubbed hard enough.

By the time she stepped back out, her face wasn’t perfect, but it was passable.

Good enough.

She forced a smile onto her lips like armor and stepped back into the diner. He wasn’t there. Her gaze flicked automatically to the door. The space where he’d been standing earlier felt… wrong. Hollow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Xander didn’t realize how long he had been standing there. One second she was there in front of him, and the next he was staring at the back door of the diner. He blinked at it, then pulled the door open, stepping just inside the door. He looked around, but didn’t see Millie.

Fluorescent light spilled out across the floor, and then Millie stepped into view. Her eyes were still red, her lashes damp, her expression guarded in a way that made something in his chest tighten painfully. She looked smaller than she had just minutes ago, as if the distance between them had already done damage he could not yet measure.

He moved before he could second guess it. In two quick strides, he closed the space between them and reached for her, his hand wrapping gently but firmly around her wrist. She startled at the contact, her gaze snapping up to his, wary now.

“Can ya come ‘ome?” he asked, the words coming out rough and too fast, his accent thicker as he lost composure. He forced himself to slow down, to steady his voice. “I am not leavin ya, but I canna explain everything ‘ere.” He shook his head slightly, frustration flickering across his face. “Please, love. Will ya ‘ome home wit meh?”

Fionn reacted instantly, a sharp, forceful denial rising up inside him, but Xander pushed it down without hesitation. He didn’t have room for that voice right now.

Millie frowned, hurt and suspicion mingling in her expression. “Why? Xander, you just said—” She began to pull her hand back, but he stepped closer instead. His free hand came up to cup her face, his touch careful and grounding, his thumb brushing lightly beneath her eye where a tear had dried.

“Love, please,” he said more quietly, his voice steady despite the tension coiling inside him.

Inside, Fionn lashed out again, furious and unyielding, but Xander held firm. He shut it out with deliberate force, focusing only on the woman in front of him. This choice was his, not Fionn’s.

Millie searched his face, her gaze sharp despite the emotion lingering in her eyes. He could feel the weight of that moment, the fragile edge they were both standing on. If she refused him now, he was not sure how he would recover from it.

After a long breath, she gave a small nod. “Okay. Let me talk to Jenna.”

Relief washed through him so quickly it left him almost unsteady. He nodded back, releasing her but staying close. “T’ank ya.”

She slipped back inside, the door closing behind her, and Xander was alone once more. This time, the silence felt different. It was no longer empty, but charged with anticipation and consequence.

Fionn’s anger pressed hard against his control. This is a mistake.

Xander stared at the closed door, his jaw tightening. “No,” he muttered under his breath. “What I did before, listening to your stupid idea to keep her in the dark… that was the mistake.”

You will put her in danger.

“She is already in danger,” Xander replied quietly. “She deserves to know why.”

You are choosing her over survival.

“I am choosing her over lying to her,” he said, his voice firm despite the tension running through him.

Silence followed, heavy and cold. Then Fionn’s voice cut through again, quieter but no less sharp.

If she rejects us…

“She won’t,” Xander interrupted, though he could not fully silence the flicker of uncertainty beneath the words. He lifted his chin slightly, resolve settling deeper within him. “I trust her.” He shook his head. “You trust her too.”

The words felt final, like a line he could not uncross. Fionn recoiled at that, anger giving way to something darker and more distant, but Xander didn’t waver. For the first time since she had walked away, he felt certain.

When the door opened again, Millie stepped back outside with her bag over her shoulder. She paused when she saw him still there, as if part of her had expected him to leave.

“I am ready,” she said.

Xander nodded and moved to her side, close enough to offer presence without crowding her. “Thank you,” he said quietly. This time, he meant it without hesitation.

Xander

The cursor blinked at him, patient and faintly accusatory.

Xander leaned back in his chair, dragging a hand down his face as the half-written report glowed on the monitor. Clean lines of language sat there—precise, clinical, detached. Exactly how he usually liked it.

Only today, his focus kept slipping back to Millie.

The tether between them hummed softly, steady and alive. He could feel her even now, like distant warmth at the edge of his awareness. She was working, having taken an extra shift since the diner was short staffed, moving through the world as if she hadn’t quietly become the center of his.

Fionn shifted beneath his skin, content in a way that wasn’t entirely his.

She is ours.

“Yeah,” Xander murmured, eyes still on the screen. “I’m aware.”

He tried to refocus, scanning the report again. The retailer had been thorough. Almost annoyingly so. Minimal vulnerabilities, clean architecture. He’d expected friction, something to dismantle, something to fix.

Instead, he’d finished early.

Which meant he had time to think, and the last few weeks, that meant finding an engagement ring.

He sighed. Engagement rings had been occupying more space in his mind than he cared to admit.

He’d been searching for weeks now. Ever since that night in the forest, since Millie had met Fionn properly, not just as a presence, but as something undeniable, he’d known it wasn’t a matter of if. It was a matter of when. And more importantly, how.

He’d opened the custom jeweler’s site earlier while she was in the shower. Just to look. Just to refine an idea he’d already been turning over for days.

But somewhere between scrolling and selecting, the idea stopped being theoretical. If he couldn’t find the perfect ring, he would make it.

So he did.

An hour slipped away without him noticing.

He shaped something that felt like her more than it felt like metal and stone: vintage in style, a cathedral setting rising with deliberate elegance. At its center, an opaline moonstone, soft, shifting light trapped into something solid. Black diamonds flanked it on either side, subtle but sharp, like shadow holding space for glow. The band was hand-engraved, intricate with a worn, antique character he knew she would recognize immediately.

It unmistakably her, but also… him. She was the light to his dark. The moonstone at the center of his world, surrounded by the black diamonds that represented him.

He opted for the rush, wanting the ring as soon as possible.

When he finally sat back, the total sat there on the screen.

Just north of six thousand dollars.

Hs blew out a breath, but didn’t hesitate. She was worth that, and more. A few hundred thousand more, if that’s what it took to get it right.

Card in hand, he completed the purchase.

The shop was only a few miles away. The confirmation page informed him, politely, that it would be ready in a few days.

A few days.

He exhaled slowly, leaning back again as the cursor kept blinking in the background, forgotten.

Surely he could wait that long. It would give him time to plan the perfect proposal, although he already had an idea.

They would go out to the forest on the full moon. Back to the clearing. He’d have a blanket ready for them, the ring tucked away, hidden. Then when the moon was at its highest, he’d ask her.

It is good, but needs to be refined, Fionn advised.

Xander nodded, but it was a start.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

His fingers hovered over the keyboard before freezing entirely, the unfinished sentence hanging there on the screen like something abandoned mid-thought.

A sharp knock struck the door.

It was not tentative, and it was not polite. It carried intention, heavy and deliberate, the kind that didn’t ask permission so much as announce inevitability.

Fionn surged at once, the earlier calm dissolving in an instant.

Wolf.

Xander was already moving before the second knock could land. His chair scraped softly against the floor as he stood, his body shifting into motion with a focus that cut through the lingering haze of distraction.

The scent reached him before he made it halfway to the door.

Familiar. Too familiar.

It tightened in his chest in a way he didn’t immediately have words for, something instinctive and old and unwelcome.

“Owen,” Xander breathed, the name leaving him before he could stop it. He crossed the remaining distance and yanked the door open.

Owen stood on the other side.

“Jesus,” Xander muttered.

Owen let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “’Tat bad, euh?” Xander didn’t answer. He stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug.

For a second, just a second, Owen went rigid. Slowly, he raised his arms and patted Xander awkwardly. “Feck, it’s good to see you,” Xander said, voice rough.

“Yeah,” Owen replied quietly. “Ya, too.”

They pulled back, Xander’s hands landing on his cousin’s shoulders as he looked him over again, more carefully this time. “You look like shite.”

Owen snorted. “Good ta know some tins haven’t changed.”

“Come in,” Xander said, stepping aside.

Owen walked in slowly, eyes scanning the apartment.

“Jesus,” Owen muttered. “Ya movin’?” He asked with a nod toward the boxes.

“No.”

Owen rubbed the back of his neck, “Tin what’s wit all ta boxes?”

Xander shook his head, closing the door. “My girlfriend is moving in.”

“Oh.” Owen said slowly. “De one ya marked?” Xander gave a stiff nod. Owen nodded, looking away toward the boxes scattered through the room. “Ta pack felt tat.” He looked back up at Xander, green eyes flashing, “when ya marked her.”

Xander sighed and nodded. “I figured.”

Owen grinned at him. “You sound almost American.”

Xander snorted. “Fecking Christ Jesus, Owen, are you serious?”

“Aye,” Owen grinned at him. “It’s good ta see ya, Xan.”

Xander stood back and took in Owen. He looked like him, same black hair, same green eyes, the same sharp architecture of bone that marked their shared bloodline. The resemblance was undeniable, immediate, like looking into a fractured reflection.

But where Xander stood grounded and controlled, Owen looked as though he had been worn down by time rather than shaped by it.

He was thinner than he should have been, the edges of him pulled tight in a way that suggested neglect more than discipline. Exhaustion sat heavy in his posture, in the slight slack of his shoulders, in the faint instability of someone who had been running far too long on far too little.

He looked tired in a way that went beyond sleep, as though rest alone would not be enough to fix whatever had brought him here.

“Sit down before you fall down.”

Owen didn’t argue. He dropped onto the couch like it had personally offended him, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Xander moved into the kitchen, pulling a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and tossed it to him. Owen caught it easily, twisting the cap off and downing half of it in one go.

“Better?” Xander asked.

“Marginally.” Xander leaned against the counter, arms crossing. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Three years.

Three years since he’d seen anyone from home.

Three years since he’d walked away from everything.

Fionn stirred, uneasy now. Pack.

“Why are you here, Owen?” No preamble, no dancing around it.

Owen let out a slow breath, staring down at the bottle in his hands.

“Nice ta see ya, too.” He snickered.

“Owen.” Xander said, unintentionally letting his tone reflect his status it he pack.

That got his attention, wincing. His gaze lifted, something serious settling in his expression.

“Ya know ‘tat de pack felt it, didn’ ‘cha?” Owen asked.

Xander went very still. The tether pulsed faintly, like it knew exactly what they were talking about.

“…felt what?”

Owen gave him a look. “Don’t insult me,” he said quietly. “Ta bond, ta mark ya gave yer mate.”

Fionn lifted his head, alert. They know, he said slowly, voice low, cautious.

Xander’s jaw tightened. “How?”

“Ta ‘ole pack felt it,” Owen said. “Ta Alpha marked ‘is mate. We all felt ta claim.”

There it was, out in the open.

Xander didn’t deny it. “Yeah,” he said simply.

Owen studied him for a long moment. Then something like relief flickered across his face. “Good,” he said. “At least something’s gone right.”

Xander frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Owen leaned back into the couch, exhaling slowly. “It means everything’s gone to shit back home.”

Xander’s posture shifted, he turned resting his back against the counter, and started into the empty space of the kitchen. He knew this was going to come eventually, he just hadn’t thought that Millie would be the catalyst. “Start talking.”

Owen nodded once. “After ya left,” he began, “tings held together for a while. Yer people, yer Betas, ta loyal ones, they tried to keep it stable.”

Xander’s jaw flexed. “My Betas,” he repeated, voice thick with sarcasm.

“Yeah,” Owen said. “Ta ones who didn’ try ta kill ya every other week.”

Fionn growled low. Weaklings.

“Then Lia stepped in,” Owen continued. “Or, Liam did.”

Xander’s expression darkened immediately. “Of course he did.”

“Married inta power,” Owen said bitterly. “An’ he’s been clingin ta it ever since.”

“And Lia?” Xander asked, voice tight.

Owen hesitated, giving him all the answer he needed.

“Fecking Christ,” Xander muttered, pacing now. “She let this happen?”

“She didn’ let it,” Owen said quickly. “She’s tryin’, Xander. But Liam, he’s… not ta alpha.”

Xander snorted. “That’s obvious, he’s barely a beta on a good day.”

“He’s paranoid,” Owen went on, his tone hushed. “Aggressive. He’s been pickin fights wit ta neighboring packs, pushin’ fer land ‘tat we dinna need.”

Xander stopped pacing. “He’s going to get people killed.”

“He already has.” Owen all but whispered staring at the coffee table.

Silence slammed into the room.

Fionn’s rage flared, hot and immediate. He is unfit.

Xander’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “How bad?” he asked quietly.

Owen met his eyes. “Bad enough ‘tat people ‘re startin’ ta choose a side.”

Xander exhaled slowly, he knew exactly what that meant.

“An uprising,” he said.

Owen nodded.

“Yer loyalists wan’cha back,” he said. “Tey always have. But now?” He shook his head. “Now tey’re getting’ desperate, cousin.”

“I abandoned the pack,” Xander said flatly. “That’s how this works, those are the rules the Elders put in place. I walked away.”

“Ya survived,” Owen shot back. “Tat’s wha’cha did.”

“Ya tink I dinna know why ya left?” Owen continued, voice tightening. “I was there, Xander. I saw what tey were doin, those challenges winna about strength. Tey were about tearing ya down piece by piece.”

Fionn snarled.

“Tey wouldn’t stopped until tey killed ya,” Owen said aloud, like he could hear it too. “And fer what? Pride? Tradition?”

Xander dragged a hand through his hair, turning his gaze away from Owen and back into the empty space of the kitchen. “I made my choice.” He folded his arms again. “I won’t drag her there. They’ll use her against me.”

“Yeah,” Owen said quietly. “Yer mum sent me.”

Xander turned back slowly, his eyes meeting Owens across the room. “What?”

“Aunt Rosemary,” Owen said. “She sent me.”

Something tight and unfamiliar twisted in Xander’s chest. “Mum?” he almost said out loud, but caught himself. “Why?” he asked instead.

Owen held his gaze.

“She wants ya ta come home.” The words hit harder than they should have. “Wit yer mate,” Owen added.

The tether flared at that, bright and hot. He could feel Millie, she was sipping coffee as she worked. Her mood was bright, happy. He could feel her contentment with life humming through her. The distinct feeling of ‘no one told me it could be this good,’ humming through her veins.

Fionn surged forward. No. Our mate will go nowhere near them. She isn’t safe among them.

Xander’s jaw clenched. “No.”

Owen blinked. “Ya didn’t even-”

“No,” Xander repeated, sharper now. “I’m not bringing her there.” He caught his cousins eye. “She wouldn’t be safe there, you know that as well as I do.” He shook his head looking away and sighing. “She’s not apart of this.”

“She’s already part of it,” Owen said. “The moment tat ya marked her, she became tied to ta pack whether ya like it or not.”

“Don’t,” Xander warned, hackles raising.

Owen leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Ya tink tis stays contained?” he pressed. “Ya tink ta wolves challengin Liam won’t realize what yer bond means? What she means?”

Xander went very, very still. “Say that again,” he said quietly.

Owen hesitated, but he didn’t back down. “She’s leverage, Xander.”

The room dropped ten degrees, as licks of Xanders power flashed through the room with ice cold rage.

Fionn’s rage exploded, violent and immediate. They will not touch her. We’ll kill every last one of them if we have to.

Xander’s voice was ice. “If anyone goes near her-”

“I know,” Owen cut in quickly. “I know. Tat’s why I’m ‘ere.”

A long, tense silence stretched between them.

“Come home,” Owen said finally. “Take back yer pack. End tis ‘fore it gets worse.”

Xander stared at him, and saw it all. The exhaustion in his face, the desperation he wasn’t even trying to hide anymore, the reality of everything he’d left behind.

Everything that was still his, whether he wanted it or not.

The tether pulsed again, and he could almost smell her.

Millie.

His chest tightened. “I have a life here,” he said quietly.

Owen’s expression softened, and he glanced around at the boxes. “I can see that.”

“And I’m not risking her,” Xander added.

“You won’t be,” Owen said. “Not if you end this quickly.”

Fionn growled. Or we end them.

Xander exhaled slowly, the weight of it all settling heavily on his shoulders.

Alpha. His fated mate. His pack. All of the responsibilities of each of those things stacking on his shoulders. His past and present colliding in a way he’d known, deep down, would happen eventually.

He just hadn’t expected it this soon. “I need time,” he said finally.

Owen nodded. “Take it,” he said. “But not too much.”

Xander’s gaze flicked toward the window, toward the world outside, where Millie was, where his life was, then back to Owen.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I know.”

The apartment felt smaller after that.

Like Owen had taken up too much space just by being there, by bringing everything Xander had spent three years burying right to his doorstep.

Owen shifted first, standing slowly and rubbing the back of his neck. “I should go.”

“Yeah,” Xander said, though the word didn’t sit right in his chest.

Owen gave him a small, tired smile. “Long trip back,” he hesitated, something softer breaking through the tension, “Maeve’s due any day now.”

Xander’s brows lifted. “You’re serious?”

Owen nodded, and for the first time since he’d walked in, there was something like light in his expression. “Yeah.”

Xander let out a quiet breath, stepping forward and pulling him into another hug, tighter this time. Warmer.

“Yer all grown up, aren’cha?” he murmured against his cousin’s shoulder. “Married? A pup on the way?”

Owen huffed a quiet laugh. “Someone had ta be responsible.”

“Wasn’t going to be me,” Xander said dryly.

They pulled apart, and Xander nodded once, firm, patting his shoulder. “Congratulations.”

Owen held his gaze, something unspoken passing between them. “Thanks.” Owen turned, opening the door and stepping out into the hall.

Xander stayed in the doorway, watching him go.

Owen made it a few steps, before he stopped and turned back toward Xander. “Please, Xander,” he said, voice quieter now. “Come home. We need ya.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just turned away and disappeared into the service stairs.

The hallway fell silent.

Xander stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty space where his cousin had been. After a long moment, he closed the door softly.

He made it to the couch on autopilot, sitting down heavily, elbows braced on his knees, hands dragging through his hair.

“Feck.” The word came out rough. Hollow.

Fionn was already there. Not distant or quiet, but fully present. We will go back.

Xander let out a sharp breath and shook his head. “Of course that’s your answer.”

Fionn’s presence pressed forward, insistent and unyielding. They are our pack, our people.

“I left,” Xander shot back, lifting his head as tension crept into his voice. “I walked away, and that is how this works.”

Fionn’s response came with a low, restrained growl that echoed through him. You survived. You were being hunted in your own home.

Xander’s jaw tightened as the memories resurfaced whether he wanted them to or not.

He remembered exactly what it had been like.

The so-called challenges had not been honorable fights or tests of strength. They had been ambushes, carefully set and deliberately unfair. They had been poisoned alliances and quiet betrayals. They had been men who smiled at him in the morning and then tried to tear his throat out by nightfall.

“I’m not doing that again,” he muttered, the words firm despite the tension beneath them.

Fionn answered with certainty, his voice steady. Correct, you will do it the right way.

Xander let out a short, humorless laugh and shook his head. “The right way?” Xander shook his head. “How would this be any different now?

Fionn didn’t hesitate. This time, we have her.

At the thought, the tether between them pulsed.

Millie filled his awareness in an instant: warm, bright, steady, and completely unaware of the storm gathering around her.

Xander’s chest tightened painfully as the reality of it settled in.

“That is exactly the problem,” he said quietly.

Silence stretched between them, heavy and expectant, before Fionn spoke again with quiet, undeniable certainty.

If we don’t go, they will come for her.

Xander went completely still as the words landed with the sharpness of a blade.

“They wouldn’t,” he said automatically, the denial coming too quickly to be convincing.

Even as he said it, he knew better. “We promised her they wouldn’t.”

You should not have promised that.

“No,” Xander said again, shaking his head. “There are rules.”

They are desperate, the wolf said, voice low and certain. Desperate wolves don’t follow rules.

Xander’s hands curled slowly into fists as the weight of that truth settled over him.

“Owen said it like it was a possibility,” he muttered. “Not a certainty.”

He was trying not to scare you.

“That’s working out great,” Xander snapped. He pushed to his feet, pacing now. Energy buzzing under his skin, sharp and restless. “If I go back,” he said, thinking out loud, “I walk straight into a power struggle. Liam won’t just hand it over.”

Then we take it, we are the McCollough Alpha. Not Liam. Fjándr.

Xander snorted. “Bastard is an understatement,” he bit out. He’d never been a fan of his sister’s husband. He’d always been power hungry, and had preyed on his sister, in Xander’s opinion. Now, his name tastes bitter and ashy in his mouth.

“And if I don’t?” Xander shot back. “If I stay here?”

Fionn didn’t answer immediately.

That was worse. “Say it,” Xander demanded.

Then we wait.

His stomach dropped as dread settled in. “For what?”

Fionn answered without hesitation. For them to decide when they will bring the fight to us.

Xander’s chest constricted at that. It wasn’t just him anymore, but her as well, because it was always include her now whether he wanted to admit it or not.

He dragged a hand down his face and exhaled hard as the weight of that reality pressed in. “Fecking Christ,” he whispered under his breath.

The apartment suddenly felt too quiet, and the silence no longer felt peaceful. It felt exposed, as though the walls were no longer enough to keep anything out. His gaze flicked toward the door and then toward the windows, scanning automatically.

Every instinct he had as an Alpha, as a wolf, and as a man was screaming the same thing, over and over again.

Protect her. No matter the price, protect her.

He forced himself to speak, trying to anchor his thoughts in something rational. “They will not come here. They will not cross the ocean for this.”

Fionn’s voice cut through him immediately, cold and certain. For the McCollough Luna? They would cross any distance.

The implication landed hard. Xander stopped pacing as that truth settled heavily into his bones. “Jesus Christ.” Fionn was right. He knew Fionn was right, but he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to lose this life he was building. Didn’t want to lose Millie.

His hands shook slightly as he braced them on the back of the couch, grounding himself in something solid.

“She is at work,” he said suddenly, the thought hitting him with urgency.

The tether pulsed again in response. She was there, alive and fine, but still too far away for his comfort.

She always felt too far away.

Fionn surged restlessly, Go to her.

Xander clenched his jaw as frustration and fear tangled together. “I cannot hover over her every second of every day.”

Fionn’s response was immediate. And yet you will still try.

A rough breath escaped Xander as he nodded slightly. “Yeah, I will.” Silence followed again, thick and heavy with everything left unsaid.

“What do I do?” he asked finally. “I have to protect her, Fionn. No matter what it takes.” For once, he truly didn’t know.

Fionn didn’t answer right away, and when he finally did, his voice was quieter than before, but no less sure.

We choose her.

Xander snorted. “That’s not an answer.”

Fionn shrugged. It is the only one that matters. You said it yourself. Whatever it takes.

Xander closed his eyes as something in his chest ached at the simplicity of that answer. “Even if that means abandoning her? Going back to Ireland?”

If it would keep her safe, would you not?

Xander sighed. If it kept her safe, he’d do anything. If his death would solve it, he’d end it all with a smile on his face.

Fionn gave a solid nod. Yes, we would die happy to keep her safe.

Xander began pacing again, faster this time as his thoughts spiraled. “She deserves to know,” he muttered.

No.

Xander stopped mid step and frowned. “What do you mean no?”

This will frighten her.

“She has already seen me tear myself apart and turn into a wolf,” Xander snapped. “I think her threshold for frightening things is already pretty high.”

This is different, Fionn insisted.

“Yeah,” Xander said quietly. “It is.” His voice dropped further as the truth of it settled in. “This is a real threat.”

This was not just shock or transformation or something momentary. This was consequence, danger, and a past that refused to stay buried. He swallowed hard as the implications lined up in his mind.

“She deserves a choice. If this is going to affect her, and it already does, then she deserves to know what she is tied to.”

Fionn didn’t argue, but he didn’t agree either, and that silence pressed in harder than words.

“You felt it,” Xander continued. “What Owen said and the way the pack reacted to the bond.”

Yes.

“They know she exists,” Xander said.

Yes.

“And if they know,” Xander began.

They will look, Fionn finished. The words settled like ice in his veins.

Xander sank back onto the couch more slowly this time and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor.

“She was just living her life,” he said quietly. “She was going to work, making coffee, and laughing at dumb jokes.”

The tether pulsed again, soft and steady, completely unaware of everything closing in around her.

“And now she is tied to this,” he finished. “To me.” Guilt washed over him. If he hadn’t gone to the diner that night, if he’d never met her, her safety wouldn’t be in question now. She would be living her life, enjoying her friends, enjoying her life.

But now… she was tied to him, to his past, and to a war she had never chosen.

Fionn shifted closer within him. She chose you. She chose us.

Xander’s throat tightened at that. “Did she?” he whispered. “Or did I just drag her into something she didn’t understand?”

She felt us, and stayed anyway.

That much was true.

Every instinct she had should have told her to run, and she had not.

Xander leaned back slowly and stared up at the ceiling as another thought took shape. “What if I go back and end it quickly, take the pack back, and then return here?”

Fionn was quiet for a long moment. You think it will be quick?

Xander didn’t answer because he already knew better. There was nothing quick about pack politics, or power, or blood.

“What if I take her with us?” he added.

Fionn’s reaction was immediately violent. No!

Xander winced slightly. “Yeah, I thought so.”

You said it yourself, Xander. We will not take her into that abyss.

“Then I leave her here?” Xander asked. The words tasted like ash in his mouth.

Fionn didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to.

Xander let out a quiet, bitter laugh. “Every option is shite.”

Fionn agreed.

A long silence followed before Fionn spoke again, quieter this time. But one option keeps her safer than the others.

Xander closed his eyes, already knowing which one that was, and hating it viscerally. His chest rose and fell slowly as the weight of everything pressed down on him, the pull between pack, mate, duty, and love tangling into something impossible to separate.

The tether pulsed again, warm and steady. She was safe for now. She was happy.

His jaw tightened. “I need to see her,” he said finally.

Fionn nodded. Yes.

Xander pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his jacket without hesitation, acting before doubt could take hold again. Thinking too much had become the problem, and right now the only thing he knew for certain, the only thing that mattered, was her.

They got back to her apartment shortly after their conversation. “Do you mind if we stay here tonight?” she asked, closing the door behind them. “I’m exhausted.”

Xander nodded. “That’s fine, sweetheart.” Before she could move away, he was on her, pressing her up against the front door, his lips capturing hers in a hard kiss. One hand on her cheek, the other pressed against the door beside her head.

He pulled his lips away, but maintained the closeness as his hand trailed down her neck to her collarbone then to the tops of her exposed breasts. “This fecking dress,” he said as he slid his finger down and around her hardening nipple that the dress did nothing to hide. “Has been torture to be around tonight.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “As soon as you walked out in it I was hard as a fecking rock.” He leaned in and nipped at her earlobe. “Was that on purpose?” She sighed, but said nothing, just tilted her head away from him slightly, giving him better access to her neck.

“Hmm, I see,” he mumbled, his hand sliding back up her neck to the back, and pulled the halter strap from the back of her neck over her head and let it fall, her breasts that had been held up and tight by the dress fell out. Xander slid his hands over her, keeping her pressed tightly to the door.

She sighed again, whimpering low in her throat. “You drove every man in that club insane tonight,” he whispered as he plucked at one of her nipples, making her arch up against his hand. “They were all looking at you, wanting to touch you.” His hand slid up her chest sliding along her collarbone until his fingers could wrap around her neck. He leaned forward next to her ear, biting it gently.

“Remember your word: Poughkeepsie.” She groaned and nodded.

He tightened his fingers lightly around her throat. “This body belongs to me,” he growled in her ear. “No other man or wolf will ever touch you, understand?” She nodded, head still turned away. He lifted a finger, pushing her chin back to his face. “Look at me.” Her eyes opened slowly, and even without touching the thread between them, he could see the desire on her face, plain as day.

“Do you understand me?” She nodded. He tightened his fingers on her neck. “Say it.”

She swallowed. “I belong to you,” she whispered.

He grunted. “Good girl.” He slid his hand down from her neck again, skimming down her breast to her nipple, pinching it hard. She yipped, squirming. He smiled at her and took a step back, and started to pull at his belt.

“Pull your hair out of that ridiculous twist.” She reached up immediately and pulled the pins from her hair, letting the heavy hair fall behind her back. He slowly pulled the belt from the loops as he watched her. When she finally shook the hair out and nodded.

“Bedroom.” He said, taking a step back. “Now.”

She tossed the pins on her coffee table as she practically ran to the bedroom. He was right behind her. “Give me your hands.” She turned and held her hands out. He wrapped his belt around them, then yanked it tight. She tried to wiggle her wrists and couldn’t move them. “Get on the bed, and grab the headboard. She complied immediately, the dress ridding up her thighs as she moved on the sheets.

He climbed on top of her, straddling her chest, and took the belt and wrapped it around two of the wrought iron slats and then buckled it tightly. “Pull on that.” She pulled on the belt, and nothing moved. He grunted. “Good.”

He continued to sit on her chest, staring down at her. “Don’t move.” He commanded as he slipped off of her. She turned her head to watch as he tossed his glasses on her bedside table, dropped his pants and underwear, pulling the t-shirt off his chest and tossing it behind him. He reached over, and began to pull the dress down her body, pulling it over her feet and then throwing it aside.

“Black lace panties,” he said appreciatively. He glanced up at her face. “I bet they’re soaked.” She bit her lip, as he reached over, sliding a finger over pussy, and groaned. “Oh they’re so wet, baby.”

He didn’t give her time to think, he just yanked, and the black lace gave way, shredding under his hands. He threw them aside, and looked down at her naked body, seemingly to appreciate what he was looking at.

He climbed back on to the bed sliding back up to her chest. He grabbed the pillow next to her and pulled her head up to give her more height.

“Open your mouth,” She complied immediately. He raised up on his knees, grabbing the top of the iron headboard for leverage and fisted his cock, watching her lick her lips, eyes glued to his fist, sliding up and down his shaft. “Tell me you want me to feck that pretty mouth,” he commanded.

“Please,” she whispered.

He dropped his cock and pinched one of her nipples. “Say it.”

She moaned under him. “Fuck my mouth, Xander.”

He grunted and fisted his cock again, leaning forward, pressing it against her open lips, holding it, and simply running it against her skin. Her tongue flicked out, sliding against the crown, and making him groan. He flexed his hips forward and slid the first few inches into her mouth. He let go and gripped the iron headboard with both hands.

He rocked his hips forward watching her swallow every inch he gave her. Her tongue sliding against him, her moans vibrating up from his cock through his entire body. He pressed further forward, forcing her to take his entire length down her throat, and held himself there.

Her eyes flicked up to him, tears leaking down from the corners of her eyes. “This mouth belongs to me,” he said, his voice low and commanding. He slid back, pulling out of her mouth completely. He scooted down her chest slightly, and grabbed her tits, pressing them together roughly and then shoved his cock between them.

She moaned loudly, his hands holding them together tightly, almost to the point of pain, as he rocked forward and back. “These tits belong to me.” He pinched one of her nipples roughly. “Do you understand?”

She moaned, her eyes closed, her back arching into his touch. “Yes.”

He gripped her breasts harder, knowing he would leave bruises of his touch. “Tell me.” He thrust between her breasts again, making her moan.

“My body belongs to you.” She said on a whimper.

He released her breasts, letting them fall back and he slid further down, pushing her legs apart, and settling between them. He shoved her knees up toward her chest, the move fast and almost painful. He looked down at her pussy and smiled. “I’m glad you finally understand,” he said gruffly, staring down at her glistening lips. “You belong to me.”

He moved then, sliding back and pressing his lips to her. She screamed above him, hands pulling on the restraints as he shoved his tongue inside her. Gods, her taste was intoxicating, addictive. He rolled his tongue forward, sliding up to her hardened clit. He flicked it, making her arch and cry out again.

He moved, sliding his left hand up her thigh, then to her pussy. He ran them through her wetness, then, as he started to roll his tongue over her tight nub, he pressed two fingers inside her, palm up, and started to fuck her.

Her heels pressed into her bed, her hips raising up to take his mouth and fingers deeper. Xander moaned low in his throat. “This is mine,” he said against her.

She groaned again, head tossing from side to side on the bed. He withdrew his fingers, pulling his lips from her, and looked up at her. “Tell me,” he commanded.

“Please,” she whimpered.

He slapped her pussy with his wet left hand, making her gasp and arch against him. “Tell me this pussy belongs to me, Millie,” he growled, voice low.

“Yes,” she whimpered, and he slapped her pussy again. “Yes, it belongs to you, Xander.”

He grunted. “Good girl,” pressed his fingers back inside her slowly and licked at her clit. She moaned loudly, her body moving of its own accord on him. He crooked his fingers inside her, knowing this is exactly what would force the orgasm out of her.

“Come for me,” he said then rolled his tongue on her clit again. “Make a mess on me, Millie,” he whispered against her, his tongue moving faster now, lapping, and stroking her. “Come for me, Millie. Now.” His voice deepened, and he allowed just the smallest amount of his power to slide out of him and through the bond.

Millie screamed, no words, just one loud, gut wrenching scream as she came. He didn’t stop, kept fucking her with his fingers, kept lapping as best he could with her erratic movements. He felt the gush on his fingers and couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile that spread across his face.

She came down slowly, her walls still contracting tightly on his fingers. “Again,” he commanded, and pulled her clit into his lips.

“Fuck, Xander,” she moaned her thighs shaking. He suckled her clit, relishing in how her back arched. “Oh my god, don’t stop,” she cried, pulling on the restraints. He grinned against her pussy. He released her clit from his lips and started to flick at it with the tip of his tongue.

“Oh, shit,” she moaned her hips bucking hard. “Just like that, please,” she begged.

“That’s right,” he grinned up at her. “Beg me to make you come.”

She moaned again. “Make me come, please. Oh god, please.”

He grunted, stiffening his tongue and flicking fast and hard against her clit. “Oh god,” she moaned. He increased the speed of his fingers inside her, and reached up with his other hand, and grabbed her breast tightly. “I’m so close,” she cried.

He pinched her nipple and sucked her clit back between his lips again, and she shattered. Her body stiffening, pussy soaking his fingers and chin as it constricted tightly against him. “That’s my good baby,” he crooned against her.

He pulled his fingers from her slowly, and slid up the length of her body, kissing her skin as he went. He pressed his body flush against hers, and kissed her. Forcing her to taste her cum from his lips. “Lick my face clean,” he commanded. “You squirted all over me.”

She complied immediately, tongue flicking out to clean his lips and chin. He groaned, relishing the feel of her tongue and lips against his chin and throat. He pressed his cock against her, and when she whimpered, he thrust hard inside her, her gasp feeding in to his desire.

“I’m going to fuck you hard, Millie,” he grunted, pulling back then sliding back in hard.

“Yes, please,” she moaned. “Harder.”

“You want me to fuck you harder? Is that what you said?” He asked, pulling almost completely out and then thrust hard back inside her.

“Yes, sir, please,” she moaned.

Xander shuddered with pleasure. “Call me ‘tat ‘gain,” he grunted, slamming inside her.

“Sir,” she moaned. “Faster, sir, please.”

He pulled out completely, and before she could moan her discontent, he flipped her over and forced her onto her knees. “Wider,” he commanded and pushed her thighs wider with his own. He held himself in his hand, her wetness thick on him. He lined his head up to her, and grabbed her hips, yanking her back against him as he thrust hard.

Millie screamed again, her pussy contracting around him. He slapped her ass hard, the pale flesh turning pink, and her pussy tightened around him. He slapped the other side, and had the same effect, her pussy tightening against him. He leaned forward, collecting her hair in his left fist and pulled it back hard. He started to fuck her then.

This wasn’t love, this wasn’t tender or gentle. This was rut, primal and claiming.

She moaned tilting her hips allowing him deeper. “Feck yes,” he grunted and pressing himself deep, and holding it there, feeling her cervix start to give under the pressure of him. “I’m going to put my pup in this tight little pussy,” he grunted, and felt her entire body tremble.

She might not want a baby right now, fecking hell, the thought of it seemed to turn her on.

He pulled back and the pounded back into her, the fist in her hair tightening.

God how many times had he fantasized about this exact thing? Her arms restrained, her hair in his fist, his cock in her pussy? His thrusts were hard and fast, punishing in their intensity. He pulled back out, releasing her hair, and forced her back on to the flat of her back.

He pushed back inside her and dropped his body against hers. “I want you to watch me while I come in you.” He grunted, pounding back into her hard. She moaned, closing her eyes, and he stopped. When she finally opened her eyes and looked at him, he started to move again. “Do not close those eyes, Mildred.” He growled at her.

“Yes, sir,” she whimpered.

He grunted his approval, and kissed her, his lips pressing hard into her. “I’m going to come,” he grunted, pushing up on to his hands as he continued to thrust. “Watch me fill you up,” he grunted again, her heels digging into his ass as he moved.

“Oh shite, here it comes, baby,” he grunted out. He pressed deep and held himself there for the first hot shot, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head, his mouth dropping open. He pulled back and then pushed deeper again as he continued to blast her pussy with his seed. His cock twitched hard inside her with every spurt.

When he finally opened his eyes again, he felt it starting. He pushed and held himself deep as he knotted inside her. He let his weight fall against her his breathing ragged, his face buried in her hair. “Oh baby,” he groaned against her.

He lifted his head and reached up with his left hand and unhooked the belt, releasing it first from the bed, then from her hands. She whimpered, and wrapped her arms around him as soon as she could.

He dropped his head back to her neck, pressing a soft kiss as he tried to breathe normally again. “You are so fecking perfect,” he whispered against her ear, and he could feel her reaction to his praise through the bond.

Happy, excited, joyful, loved.

She sighed into his shoulder. “I liked that.”

He grinned against her, not raising his head. “Me too.” He chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d like being called sir, but,” he chuckled lightly, “you have converted me sweetheart.”

She giggled against him, her hands rubbing down his back. “Well it was either sir or daddy, and I didn’t want to weird you out with daddy.”

Xander pulled back enough to look at her. Her skin was flushed, her eyes bright. “Daddy, huh?” She giggled and tired to shrug. He grinned down at her. “Try it next time. It could be fun, actually.” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“You want me to call you daddy?”

He chuckled. “Just while we feck.” He advised. “Don’t call me that in like, daily life. Then it would be weird.” She laughed openly then.

“Yes, sir.” He pushed a strand of hair from her face.

“I love you.” He whispered on a laugh. “My sweet little weirdo.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

When she stretched awake late the next morning, Xander wasn’t in bed. She reached instinctively to his side of the bed, reaching for him, but it was cold. He hadn’t been there in a while.

“Xander?” She called out, voice still heavy with sleep.

Silence. She slipped her legs off the side of the bed, and winced. After they’d gotten home from the dance club last night, Xander had been… dominating. It was something right out of one of her dark romance novels and she’d loved every minute of it.

The best part, had been when his knot had loosened and he slipped beside her in the bed. He’d pulled her close and ran his fingers through her hair until she fell asleep. It had been so relaxing, so gentle, compared to what he’d done to her just an hour before. It had been perfect.

She sat up slowly, blinking into the bedroom, sunlight peaking around the curtains. She glanced at her clock and sighed. It was just after nine, so where was he? And why had he been gone long enough that his side of the bed was cold to the touch?

She pushed herself up, wincing, her ass stinging from the way Xander had slapped her ass last night.

Where was he?

It wasn’t like him to just get up and leave without saying something or leaving a note or… something. She closed her eyes and thought about the bond between them. She could feel him somewhat near, and his energy humming softly through the bond. There was an anxiety there, but also excitement, contentment.

She stood up, slipped on one of her nightshirts, and padded out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, looking for her phone. She saw it sitting on the edge of the counter, and was just reaching for it when the front door opened and Xander stepped through, dressed in the clothes from last night, although more rumpled, as was his dark black hair.

He caught her gaze as he shut the door behind himself. “Good morning, beautiful.” He said, a bright if a bit crooked. “I was hoping to be back before you woke up,” he said, holding up a drink carrier with two coffees and a brown paper bag.

She raised her eyebrows. “You went to get coffee?”

He grinned. “Coffee and breakfast, love.” He moved to her coffee table and set the paper mugs down before he started to root around in the bag and pull things out.

“Plates?” She asked from the kitchen.

“Yeah, silverware too.” He said without looking up.

She brought the desired items and set them down on the table. He started flipping containers open and she nearly sighed. Pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit. He glanced up at her. “I hope this is okay. I remember you said the diner blueberry pancakes were your favorite.”

She sighed and smiled at him, sitting on the couch. “They are.”

He picked up one of the plates, dropping a large pancake on it, then forked some of the fruit from the bowl, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Finally he dropped a couple pieces of bacon on the plate and picked up one of the syrups to go.

She sat back on the couch, tucking her feet under herself. “I can’t believe you did this.”

He didn’t look at her as he moved just shrugged and handed her a coffee. “Black, two creamers, one Splenda.” She took the cup and a sip.

“Jesus, Xander.” She said. It was her literal favorite. Coffee exactly the way she liked it. Fruit and pancakes and bacon… “Are you going to break up with me or something?”

Xander froze, then turned to look at her. “Absolutely the fuck not.” He straightened up and looked down at her. “Why would you even ask me that?”

She looked down and shrugged. “All of my favorite things. Seems like you’re trying to butter me up for some bad news.”

He took a deep breath and sat down next to her. “I do have something that I wanted to talk to you about.” He took the plate and coffee out of her hands and set them on the table in front of them. “I was going to wait until after you ate, but I guess we’ll do this now.”

She watched him carefully, he rubbed his neck, a nervous gesture she’d noticed. Whenever he was about to do something even slightly vulnerable, he’d rub the back of his neck with his hand.

He sighed. “I guess I’ll just spit it out, I guess?” He took a deep breath and looked up at her. “I think we should move in together.” Millie felt her jaw drop, but Xander kept talking. “We haven’t spent a single night apart in the six weeks we’ve been together. Mostly you staying at my place, and I don’t know why we’re still pretending we’re not already living together.” He blinked at her. “I know it’s a big step, but I think it’s the right step.”

She continued to watch him carefully. “You want me to move into your apartment?”

Xander shook his head. “Well, either you move in with me, or I move in here or we could find something new, and move into that.” He rubbed his neck again. “We’re pretending that’s not what we’re already doing, and I’m kind of done with that.”

She watched him, her eyes flicking between his, that deep emerald green seemingly so alive and nervous at the same time. She’d been thinking about it too, but wasn’t sure it was time to bring up that topic. It had only been six weeks.

“You’re serious?” She asked quietly.

He swallowed and she could see the nerves in him. “Yeah,” he said, his voice low.

She felt the smile forming and couldn’t stop it. “Okay.”

He blinked at her. “Yeah?”

She openly grinned now. “Yeah. I’ll move in to your place and then if we want to get something else later, we’ll move tougher.” He watched her, his eyes widening.

“Okay,” he slid closer to her and pulled her into his chest. “You’re going to live with me.” He said out loud, almost like he couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

She laughed. “Yep. You’re going to be stuck with me.”

Xander

The cold air outside the club hit him like a reset button. One second everything was heat and noise and bodies pressed too closely together. The next, it was open space, sharp night air and the distinct hum of traffic bleeding through the city streets. It should have helped, should have settled him.

It didn’t.

The adrenaline still thrummed under his skin in a low steady current that had yet to fully burn off. Fionn lingered close to the surface, not agitated, but alert, awake in a way that made Xander feel like this hones were too tight for his body. The encounter inside hadn’t just been a bar scuffle, it had been a dominance display. Something older than reason asserting itself without permission.

Which made it much harder to ignore.

He knew what it as, he knew the feeling all too well. The power flowing through him, from him, was just who he was. The McCollough Alpha. A king among wolves.

A title he hated almost as much as the role he had been forced to play his entire life.

Millie was safe, just a few steps ahead of him, her arm wrapped around Sara, whispering to her. Xander took a deep breath, forcing the energy back down. He blinked up at night sky, breathing in the cool air deeply, and slowly releasing it.

“Hey,” Xander looked over at Tony, he stood next to him, watching him with a guarded expression. “I want to talk to you.” He said, and gestured behind him.

Xander turned to Millie, who was still comforting Sara. He caught her eye and gestured to Tony. She nodded and turned her attention back to Sara. Xander turned and walked a few paces away to where Tony stood and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tony stared at him for a long minute, before he sighed and shook his head, crossing his own arms over his chest. “You want to tell me what the fuck that was?”

Straight to it. Xander was a little impressed.

“Not especially.”

Tony raised a dark eyebrow. “Tough shit. Talk.”

Xander sighed, glancing back at Millie. He wondered if he could just lie his way through this. Say that it was instinct or adrenaline or just a bad situation that had been handled quickly. Glancing at Tony he had a feeling none of those ideas were going to fly.

“I’m an Alpha,” he said slowly.

Tony snorted, but his expression didn’t change. “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

Xander huffed out a laugh. He was really beginning to like Tony.

“I’ve worked with Alphas before, in the UAE, in Syria. I’ve even broken up a couple of bar fights that had Alphas involved.” He raised an eyebrow and nodded back toward the club entrance. “What happened in there, that wasn’t some basic Alpha throw down shit.”

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t.”

He’s human, Fionn protested. He won’t understand.

Tony watched him. “So spill it.”

Xander shook his head and looked skyward again. “I’m the McCollough Alpha.” There was silence. He dropped his eyes back to Tony, who just kept watching him.

“And that means…?” Tony prompted.

Xander laughed a humorless laugh. “If you’re going to be involved with wolves, you might want to start paying attention.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “The McCollough pack is the second longest lineage wolf line in the world, but it’s the purest blood line.”

“How far back?”

Xander smiled, a little proud, a little smug. “The first record we have is 1800 BCE.” Tony blinked at him.

“Four thousand fucking years?”

Fionn bristled. Insolence.

Xander nodded. “Almost, yeah.”

Tony blinked at him, waiting for him to continue. “In the world of wolves, there are pack Alphas, those are the ones you’ve met, worked with. There are territory Alphas, those are fewer and far between. The pack alphas will answer to their territory’s leader. Then, there are the McCollough wolves.”

Xander looked back up at the clear night sky. He’d not thought about his line, his family, his blood for years. It was too painful. “When packs can’t settle their own disputes, and the territory alphas can’t get it settled, or when the territory alphas can’t settle land disputes, it comes to us.”

Tony’s eyebrows raised. “Your arbitrators?”

Fionn snorted, absolutely not.

Xander shook his head. “No.” His voice dropped slightly. “Judges.” He sighed. “And when our judgements aren’t followed, we’re the executioners.” Tony’s posture changed, just slightly, his muscles tightening.

“Your serious.” He breathed.

Xander met his eyes. “Dead serious.” He shifted his weight. “I was bred to be Alpha. It’s literally woven into my DNA. The blood in my veins is one of the oldest bloodlines in the world, human, or wolf. I was born to sit above all other wolves.”

Tony blinked at him. “So… like a king?”

Xander nodded. “Yes.”

Silence stretched between them. “So, wait,” he blinked at Xander. “So, you were raised to be the alpha of a pack of judges?”

Xander snorted. “Raised isn’t the right word.” He said with a shake of his head. “Conditioned is closer.” Tony didn’t say anything, just waited for him to continue. “I started training when I as three,” he said, his tone matter of fact. “Combat, strategy, control, warfare. By the time I was seven, I could break a grown man’s arm without thinking about it.”

He paused briefly, the memory not distant enough to feel detached. “By fifteen I as leading drills, commanding my own army.” He caught Tony’s eye. “A general by human standards.”

Tony’s expression hardened. “Fucking Christ.”

Xander nodded. “Yeah. That is a good way to put it.” He dragged a hand along the back of his neck, tension settling there now, instead of in his chest. “I was raised as a soldier, born and bred to be a king. It was a hard life, bloody and cold.”

He swallowed, his throat dry. “I left for Uni as soon as I could. I gave the excuse that I could learn, expand my knowledge base of the world outside our territory, make the pack stronger.” He huffed a laugh. “It was the first time I’d ever been somewhere… normal. No hierarchy, no expectations beyond grades and deadlines.”

His mouth pulled sightly at one corner. “It didn’t stick.”

Tony’s eyes flicked across his face. “You went back.”

He nodded. “I had to, my father, the Alpha, died.” He said slowly. “It isn’t a position you can just ignore.” He took a breath and looked back up to the sky. “I took the role, I led the pack for three years.”

Tony watched him silently. “Why did you leave?”

It was a simple question, but a very complicated answer. Xander’s jaw tightened slightly, his gaze drifting again, this time landing fully on Millie. She pulled Sara out of her funk, and now the girls were laughing together.

“That’s where it gets messy,” he said quietly. “The tradition is simple. If someone challenges you for power, you kill them.” Tony’s brows drew together.

“And let me guess, you didn’t.”

Xander shook his head. “No.” He sighed. “I beat them, every single one of them, every time, but I refused to kill them.”

“Why?”

Xander looked him in the eye. “Because I don’t think power should require a body count.” Tony watched him, not speaking for a moment.

“They saw that as a weakness,” he guessed.

“Yes.”

The silence stretched between them as Xander took a deep breath. “They kept coming, stronger challengers. Smarter ones. Some of them didn’t even want the position, they just wanted to see if they could take it from me.” His mouth tightened slightly. “It stopped being about leadership and became… sport.”

Tony’s jaw flexed. “So you walked.”

Xander nodded. “I abandoned the pack, left the country.”

“So you’re not the king anymore?”

Xander looked down at his feet and sighed. “Unlike humans, my kingdom doesn’t require a throne.” He snorted. “I have one, but it sits empty in Belfast, because until I go back or die, the next King can’t step into the role.”

Xander looked up at Tony. “I may not have a throne, but all the packs, they know who I am. They steer clear of me.” He snorted. “Except the local drunk idiots.” Xander shrugged. “So I consider myself a rogue now. I tried to bond into packs when I came to the states. In Chicago, then Boston, but,” he shrugged, “even a king can be shunned. And I didn’t want a pack hard enough to kill for it, so I just gave up. Came to Oregon, and was living a quiet, reclusive life until I met her.”

Tony shook his head, still trying to wrap his brain around what he was hearing. “Wait, wait, go back. They just… let you go?” Tony asked, skepticism threading through the question.

“Not exactly,” Xander admitted. “But they couldn’t force me to stay without tearing the entire structure apart.” He was quiet for a long moment. “And I think most of them think I’ll come back.”

Tony watched him, eyes narrowed. “Will you go back?”

Xander didn’t answer immediately, his gaze drifting to Millie. To the life he was building standing just a few yards away from him. She and Sara were standing under the glow of a flickering street light, her face animated as she talked with Sara, her hands moving as she spoke. There was a lightness to her, something unguarded and real, like she existed entirely out of the weight he’d just been describing. No expectation, no bloodline, no throne.

Just Millie, and the moment that settled in his chest he knew.

Fionn huffed an agreement in his chest.

“No,” he said quietly. “I’ll never go back.” He glanced back at Tony. “I will never drag her into that world.” The words came easier the second time. He gave a helpless shrug. “I thought maybe, someday, I’d go back, that maybe it wasn’t fully done with me.” His jaw tightened, and he glanced back at Millie. “But now that I have her?” He shook his head. “Never.”

Tony studied him for a long moment then gave a slow understanding nod. “That makes sense.” A beat passed before Tony sighed. “Have you told her?”

Xander looked back to Tony. “Told her what?”

Tony gave him a look. “That you’re some kind of wolf royalty?”

Xander’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “No.”

Tony exhaled long and slow like he’d expected that answer, and still didn’t like it. “I don’t know Millie that well,” he said slowly, “I’ve only met her a few times through Sara, but I know her well enough.” Xander’s attention sharpened. “She’s observant,” Tony continued. “And she’s smart. She’s already clocking that somethings different about you, maybe not all of it, but enough.”

Xander didn’t interrupt. “Which means, she’s going to ask.” He paused. “And if she has to ask,” he said bluntly, “you’re already too late.”

Xander’s jaw tightened.

“She’ll feel like you were hiding it,” Tony went on. “Like you didn’t trust her with it or something, and that,” he shook his head slightly to emphasize his point, “…that is where things start to crack in the relationship.”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “You sound very confident about that.”

Tony snorted softly. “I have six sisters. Three older, three younger. I’m the only boy.” He sighed, like that gave him some kind of credence. “I speak female fluently.” He added dryly.

Xander chuckled and shook his head, the tension easing slightly. “Right, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Tony clapped him once on the shoulder, the conversation settling into something less intense, though not entirely light. “Just don’t wait too long,” he said.

“Hey,” Millie said as she and Sara approached. “You guys look like you’re having a tough talk over here.” Tony chuckled and shook his head.

“Nah, just learning more about Xander.”

Sara smiled at Tony. “We used to call him Hoodie Guy,”

Tony looked surprised and glanced at Xander. “I was shy.” Xander said on a shrug.

Tony threw his head back and laughed long and hard. Xander grinned and shook his head.

Fionn gave an amused huff. Yeah, the Wolf-King was shy around a pretty girl.

Fuck off, Fionn, Xander muttered at him.

You first, Fionn sniped back.

“I’m more comfortable with computers than pretty girls,” he tried to defend, as Millie slipped next to him, wrapping an arm around him. He grinned down at her. “This one just had me coming back night after night.”

Sara smiled at them, then glanced at Tony. “We should let them go home, and live out their Nicholas Sparks love story,” she said to Tony. “Come on, you need to take me home, anyway.”

He nodded at her then held his hand out to Xander. “Good to meet you, man.” Xander shook it and nodded.

“Yeah, you too.”

“Hey,” Xander said, “Remember what I said in there. Just… pay attention,” Tony swallowed and nodded, releasing Xander’s hand.

Millie smiled up at him. “Look at you making friends.” She laughed.

Xander sighed. “Don’t get used to it,” he muttered.

Tony smirked, then let Sara drag him off down the sidewalk, their voices fading into the hum of the city. Millie and Xander stood there, watching them go, her arms wrapped around his middle, his arm around her shoulders.

“You ready to go, sweetheart?” She nodded against him, pulling away slightly, then stopping, her eyes flicking between his.

“You’re doing that thing again,” she said quietly.

“What thing?” He asked, brows furrowing.

She gave him an impatient look, knowing that he knew exactly what she was talking about. “The one where you think too hard, and try to carry everything by yourself.” She said, voice gentle. “It pulls on the bond.”

He huffed softly. “Of course it does.”

Because you make it heavier than it needs to be, Fionn cut in, dry and unimpressed.

Xander rolled his eyes slightly. You’re not helping.

I am always helping, Fionn said, utterly unconcerned. You are simply too stubborn and stupid to appreciate it.

A flicker of that irritation, sharp, familiar, bled through the bond.

Millie huffed a quiet laugh. “Wow,” she murmured. “He really thinks you’re being dramatic right now.”

Xander looked at her, betrayed. “You’re taking his side?”

“I’m not taking sides,” she said slowly, “but of the two of you, he’s the one who isn’t spiraling,” she said lightly.

See? Fionn sounded insufferably pleased. She has sense.

Xander dragged a hand down his face. “This is unbelievable.”

The tension had already eased a notch anyway. That was the problem with the two of them, they didn’t let him sit in his own head long enough to drown in it. Can’t a man just spiral every once in a while?

A flicker of that irritation slipped through the bond.

Millie smiled faintly. “He’s agreeing with me, isn’t he?”

“Of course he is,” Xander muttered. “He lives to undermine me.”

I live to correct you, Fionn said. There is a difference.

Millie’s smile widened just a little, but she didn’t press. Instead, she shifted in front of him, her

hand sliding down his arm until their fingers laced together.

The thread between them steadied. Warmed.

Millie shifted slightly beside him, her grip tightening just a fraction as she felt the weight of him through the bond, but she didn’t speak this time. She just stayed there.

Xander glanced down at her, catching that quiet patience, the way she wasn’t pulling at him or filling the silence, just…there. It made the bond pull tighter.

Say it, Fionn said, unimpressed. Or continue brooding like an idiot. Your choice.

Xander exhaled through his nose. “Hey,” he said, his voice quieter now, but deliberate. Millie looked up at him immediately, attentive but calm. He hesitated for half a second, just long enough to feel the weight of it, then pushed through. “I should’ve told you sooner,” he said.

Her expression didn’t change much, but he felt the shift through the bond, her focus narrowing, attention sharpening.

“About what?” she asked gently.

Xander held her gaze for a moment longer, then nodded once.

“About me,” he said. “My bloodline. What I actually am.”

Fionn went still in the back of his mind, not gone, just…watching.

Xander took a slow breath, then tugged at her hand. “Let’s walk while I tell you this. I don’t know if I can just stand in one place. It’s… a lot.” She nodded, slipping her hand into his and letting him lead her slowly down the block.

He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “My bloodline,” he began, more measured this time, “it’s not just old, it’s the purest wolf line in existence. Over three thousand years can be traced.” She blinked at him, her face registering the shock he felt through the tether. “The McCollough pack, it’s…part of how wolf society functions.” His gaze drifted briefly before returning to her. “The McCollough line doesn’t just lead packs. It enforces laws between them.”

Millie’s fingers shifted slightly in his, a subtle squeeze.

“How?” she asked.

“When packs can’t resolve disputes,” he said, “or when territory alphas lose control of something bigger, land, power, conflict, we step in.” His jaw tightened faintly.

“As like, mediators or something?” she asked.

Xander nodded. “No.” He sighed, staring down at the sidewalk as they moved. “The McColloughs are the judge, jury and executioner.”

She nodded slowly. “So if a judgement call is made, but they don’t listen, what happens?” she asked, quieter now.

His grip on her hand tightened just slightly. “Then we make them listen.”

She glanced up at him. “And you… when your dad died, you took over?”

Xander nodded. “From the time I was three years old I was being trained.”

She gasped. “Three?” she asked incredulous. “Xander, you were a toddler.”

He nodded. “I had a rough childhood.” He sighed. “I was trained to be a soldier, to fight, until I was twelve. Then I was taught to be king.” He squeezed her hand slightly. “I’ve taken lives, Millie, I don’t want you to think I don’t have blood on my hands. I do.” He sighed. “A lot of blood.”

They kept walking, quietly now until he continued. “When I was 15 I commanded my father’s army. I was the heir apparent, a prince, and I was trained to lead soldiers, to fight wars, to be ruthless, to make the tough calls.”

“I learned how to be diplomatic,” he snorted and shook his head, “although that didn’t stick very well.”

Fionn grunted his agreement.

“My father died when I was twenty-five. I was just two terms from finishing my masters.” He sighed. “I was so angry when he died. I didn’t want to go back. Uni was the only place I’d ever been that wasn’t about hierarchy, or blood or power. I could figure out who I was that had nothing to do with being the heir to the Alpha, without blood and orders and blind compliance.”

“So I led, and honestly,” he shook his head, “I liked it. I like being the Alpha, making the decisions, even the hard ones. I like to think I was fair, that I took my own pack and my self-worth out of whatever equation that I was solving for another pack or alpha. That wasn’t always appreciated within my pack. I didn’t extend our territory, didn’t extort other packs for money or favors. I simply defended what we already had. That was seen as weakness.”

He kicked at a rock on the sidewalk as they moved slowly. “I had 48 challenges in three years, which is almost unheard of.” He squeezed her hand. “Tradition is, if an Alpha is challenged and wins, the win is only really a win if he kills the challenger.” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t kill them.” He shrugged. “I made them suffer, certainly, but I refused to end their lives over something so trivial.”

She nodded, listening. “Because even if I had lost, the power would die with me. I had no heir, no male child to pass the title to, and because this is a genetic title, the power of the alpha would die with me.” He glanced over at her. “That power is what made every wolf in that club kneel without verbal command. That is what being the McCollough means.”

She blinked, looking at him. “But you abdicated.”

He sighed again. “That is the difference between humans and wolves.” He took a breath before he continued. “Yes, I abdicated, but that doesn’t mean they get a new king.” He huffed a soft laugh. “I don’t need a throne to be a king, I just… am. Until I die or go back, there will be no other king. No other McCollough.”

She stopped and looked at him. “So what does that mean for us?” She watched him carefully. “Will you take me with you when you go back?”

He shook his head. “I will never go back.” Her eyes widened. “I refuse to take you, or any child we have, back to that place.” He pulled her into him, needing to feel her as memories of cold and fear and hunger and blood flooded his mind. “My children will not be raised in that hell hole.”

Her brows furrowed. “That’s not all, is it? There is another reason you won’t go back.”

He nodded slowly. “They would use you as a pawn,” I said quietly. “They would see you as a human, who might sully our bloodline.” She stiffened in his arms. “That’s not how I see you, love. You know that.” She relaxed a fraction. “But they would, and they’re ruthless enough that I am terrified they’d hurt you, or any children we’d have, just to get to me.”

She pulled back and looked at him. “You think they’d kill me to get to you.”

He nodded. “I know they would.” He sighed. “That’s why I left. I refuse to spill blood just for their satisfaction. None of them are stupid enough to come here and try to kill me. They’re not strong enough, not trained enough, they weren’t bred to fight and lead. Not like I was.”

Xander’s voice trailed off on the last word, the weight of it settling between them with a finality he couldn’t soften. Not like I was. It lingered in the air, heavy and immovable, threading itself into the quiet hum of the city around them.

Millie didn’t respond immediately.

She simply watched him.

Not a passing glance, not the easy, familiar way she usually met his eyes, but something deeper, more deliberate. She was studying him, reading him in the way she had learned to through the bond, through tone and tension and the subtle shifts he couldn’t quite hide. Xander felt it as clearly as if she’d reached into his chest and pressed her hand against his ribs. There was no fear in her, none of the recoil he had spent years expecting from anyone who learned what he was. Instead, there was thoughtfulness. Care. A careful sorting of everything he had just given her.

Her fingers tightened slightly in his.

“You’re sure about that?” she asked quietly.

The question pulled him back, grounding him just enough to focus. “About what?” he asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.

“That they wouldn’t come here,” she said quietly.

There was a thread of fear there, he could feel it in her tone and in the bond between them. He exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting past her shoulder for a brief moment before returning to her face. “They won’t,” he said, his voice quieter now but no less certain. “Not unless they’re willing to die for it.”

And they are not, Fionn added, his presence steady and assured beneath Xander’s thoughts. They may think you weak, but they remember what we are. They remember our blood and our power.

Xander’s jaw tightened faintly at that, but he didn’t disagree. “They’ve seen what happens when they push too far. I may not have killed challengers, but like I said… my hands aren’t bloodless. I’ve killed more than my share, and if anyone, human or wolf, tried to hurt you,” rage rippled through the bond, “They wouldn’t survive to try again.”

She watched him, eyes wide. “It all boils down to one simple truth, sweetheart.” He took a breath and looked into her eyes. “I am the McCollough. There is no challenger that can hurt me, especially now that I have you. Even the ones who hated me… they’re not that stupid.”

Millie nodded faintly, absorbing that without interrupting, her attention steady and grounded. After a moment, she asked, “But they still want you back?”

Xander let out a quiet breath, something between resignation and reluctant acknowledgment. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Some of them do.”

“Why?” she asked.

The simplicity of the question caught him off guard more than anything else had. For a moment, he didn’t answer. His gaze drifted, his thoughts pulling in two directions, one toward the pride ingrained in him since birth, the other toward the resentment he’d never quite shaken.

“Because the system doesn’t work without me,” he said finally. “Or at least, not the way it’s supposed to.” He dragged a hand through his hair, tension settling back into his shoulders. “The line matters. The blood matters. It’s not just politics, it’s instinct. Authority. It’s bred into my very DNA. Non optional. It’s… built into what we are.”

Millie’s brow furrowed slightly, her expression thoughtful rather than alarmed. “So without you… what? Things fall apart?”

“Not right away,” Xander said. “But over time?” He gave a small, humorless shrug. “Yeah, probably.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was full, of everything they hadn’t said yet, of everything that still needed to be understood. Millie stepped a little closer, closing the small distance that had opened between them, her presence steady and deliberate.

“You said they’d use me,” she said carefully. “As a pawn.”

Xander’s entire posture tightened instinctively, his grip on her hand firming without thought. “Yeah,” he said, his voice dropping.

She watched him closely, reading the shift in him before asking the next question. “How?”

That one hit harder.

Not because he didn’t have an answer, but because he had too many.

Tell her the truth, Fionn said quietly. She deserves to know.

Xander exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay present, to answer her instead of retreating into the instinct to protect her from the truth. “They’d test you,” he said. “Push boundaries. See how much I’d tolerate.” His jaw flexed. “If I didn’t react the way they wanted… they would escalate.”

Millie didn’t interrupt, but he felt the shift in her attention sharpen.

“Isolation,” he continued. “Undermining you. Turning others against you. Making you feel like you don’t belong.” His voice roughened slightly as old memories surfaced, uninvited but insistent. “And if that didn’t work…”

He stopped. For a second, he considered leaving it there. Letting the implication do the work, but Millie didn’t let him.

“If that didn’t work?” she prompted gently.

Xander swallowed once, his grip tightening around her hand.

“They’d hurt you,” he said.

The bond between them pulled tight at that, the weight of it stretching between them without breaking. Xander braced for fear, for hesitation, for anything that might signal she hadn’t fully understood what he’d just said.

But Millie held his gaze.

“You’re not guessing,” she said quietly.

“No,” he replied. “I’m not.”

They would break what is yours in order to break you, Fionn added.

Xander’s chest tightened, but before he could say anything else, Millie exhaled slowly. Her free hand came up, resting lightly against his chest, right over where the bond seemed to anchor into him. The contact grounded him more effectively than anything else could have.

“I’m not afraid of them,” she said.

Xander’s head snapped slightly. “You should be.”

“I’m not,” she repeated, softer now but no less steady. He searched her face, expecting to find bravado or denial. There was none. What he found instead was something far more unsettling, certainty. “That doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously,” she added. “It just means I trust you to protect us.”

The words landed harder than anything else she had said.

Xander felt it in his chest, in the bond, in the part of him that had been shaped from childhood to carry responsibility alone. Trust wasn’t something he’d been given freely. It wasn’t something he’d ever expected to receive without conditions.

“That’s exactly why I won’t go back,” he said, the response immediate and unfiltered. “Because I don’t want a life where protecting you means constantly fighting. Constantly worried about your safety.” He shook his head. “And I mean it. No child of mine will ever go there.”

Millie studied him for a long moment, then nodded once.

“Okay,” she said simply.

No argument. No attempt to change his mind. Just acceptance.

It disarmed him more than resistance would have.

Her hand slid down from his chest, finding his again, their fingers lacing together naturally, like they belonged there.

“So,” she said after a moment, glancing up at him, “what happens now?”

Xander blinked slightly. “Now?”

“Yeah,” she said. “You’ve walked away. You’re here. With me.” Her thumb brushed lightly over his knuckles. “What does that look like?”

The question shifted something in him. It wasn’t about the past, and not about bloodlines or power or everything he’d left behind.

It was about what came next.

About their shared future.

Xander looked at her, really looked at her. At the steadiness in her expression, the quiet strength she carried without needing to prove it. At the bond between them, not as a weight, but as something shared. Something chosen.

“Our life,” he said slowly. “Here. Away from all of that.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “No throne. No politics. No bloodline deciding what comes next.” He lifted her hand pressing a kiss to her wrist. “We build a life that belongs to us, and no one else.”

Millie’s lips curved faintly. “That sounds…nice.”

Xander huffed a quiet laugh. “Yeah. It does.

It sounds quiet and more than a little boring, Fionn muttered, not entirely convinced.

Xander rolled his eyes slightly. You’ll survive.

Debatable, Fionn grumbled.

Millie’s smile widened just a fraction. “He’s not convinced, is he?”

“Not even a little,” Xander said.

She laughed softly, and the sound eased something deep in his chest, something that had been tight for far too long.

“You should remind him that if he wants kids that bad, he’s going to have to stay here and make them,” she said on a laugh.

We will never go back, Fionn instantly agreed, nodding. We will stay here with her.

Xander laughed and shook his head. “You seemed to have convinced him.”

She grinned. “I thought that might do it. He’s fixated on breeding.” For a moment, they simply stood there, the city moving around them, the night settling in. Then Millie tilted her head slightly, her expression shifting again, more thoughtful now. “One more question,” she said softly.

Xander sighed quietly. “Of course there is.” He nodded. “Go on.”

She held his gaze. “That power you talked about, the one that made everyone in the club drop to their knees…” Her fingers tightened slightly in his. “Does it affect me?”

Xander stilled.

That was not a small question. He was quiet for a moment longer than he should have been, and he felt her notice it immediately through the bond.

“Xander?” she prompted.

He exhaled slowly. “No,” he said at first, then corrected himself. “Not like it does them.”

Her head tilted slightly. “Not like them how?”

“Because you’re mine,” he said, the words leaving him before he could soften them.

He didn’t take them back.

“The bond changes things,” he added more quietly. “You don’t respond to me the way other wolves do. You’re not under that kind of pressure.”

Millie studied him carefully. “Do I respond at all?”

Another fair question.

Xander hesitated, weighing how much to say, then gave a small nod. “Yeah,” he admitted, “but it’s different. It’s… connection. It amplifies what’s already there.” He paused briefly, his gaze dropping to where their hands were laced together before lifting back to hers. “And more than that, because you’re marked as my mate, my Luna… you amplify me.”

Millie’s brows drew together slightly, her attention sharpening.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Xander exhaled slowly, feeling the truth of it settle more firmly in his chest as he put it into words. “The bond doesn’t just let us feel each other,” he said. “It strengthens me. Your energy feeds into mine. It makes me stronger, physically, instinctively… everything.” His jaw tightened slightly as he tried to explain something that had always just been. “Harder to break. Harder to hurt. Harder to kill.”

Fionn stirred at that, a low, approving presence.

As it should be, he said. A true fated mate pairing strengthens the Alpha.

Xander didn’t argue. Millie was quiet, absorbing that, her gaze steady on his. She didn’t pull away, didn’t react with fear, just… processed.

“But on the other side of that coin, it also makes you stronger. Harder to hurt, you heal faster.” He brushed a strand of her hair away from her neck and shoulder. “That’s why the bite mark was gone by morning. You heal much faster now.”

They stood there on the sidewalk, staring at each other for a long moment before she broke the silence. “What does ‘Luna’ mean?”

Xander stilled slightly. He watched her for a long second, something quieter and more serious settling into his expression.

“Queen,” he said.

Millie blinked.

Then she just stared at him.

“Wait,” she said slowly, her grip tightening in his. “Does that mean I’m…queen in your pack’s eyes?”

Xander nodded once. “The moment I marked you,” he said, voice steady, “you became queen.” The words didn’t feel exaggerated. They didn’t feel like a title, because while it was a title, it was also fact. Branded into blood and bone.

Millie’s expression shifted again, surprise, disbelief, something deeper underneath it.

Xander held her gaze, not softening it, not taking it back.

“You hold power over them,” he continued. “A lot of it. Even as a human.” His thumb brushed lightly over her knuckles, grounding both of them. “You could bend their will if you needed to. Especially through the bond.”

She didn’t interrupt.

Didn’t look away.

“If you learned how to use it,” he went on, “you could channel my power through that connection. Push it outward. Force compliance.”

The words were blunt, honest. Dangerous, in the wrong hands. But he didn’t hesitate to give them to her.

Millie’s breath caught slightly, the weight of that settling in.

Xander gave a small, almost helpless shrug. “It would take time. Practice. Control.” His mouth pulled faintly at one corner. “But if any human could do it…” He met her eyes fully. “It would be you.”

Silence settled between them again, but this time it wasn’t heavy. It was charged, alive. The bond between them pulsed, steady and strong, something deeper threading through it now, something neither of them had fully understood before this moment.

Fionn shifted, quieter now but certain.

She is not just yours, he said. She stands beside us.

Xander’s grip on her hand tightened slightly.

Yeah. She did.

Xander

The club was exactly as bad as he’d expected.

Loud, packed, bodies everywhere. Scents overlapping and overwhelming: sweat, perfume, cologne, alcohol.

The bass thudded through the floor and into his bones, the air thick with sweat, perfume and alcohol. He could hear so many conversations they were all overlapping, a steady cacophony of noise.

Too many people.

Too many men, too many wandering eyes and hands.

His jaw flexed as they checked their jackets and got their hands stamped. His instincts were already on edge, hyper-aware of every person within ten feet of her.

Mine, Fionn growled inside him.

They made their way into the club from the long hallway and stopped when they entered the large open space. It was a wall to wall bodies. Colored lights flashing blues and greens and reds through the club. He glanced around, and spotted the bar to their right.

He leaned down and nearly had to shout into her ear to be heard. “Do you want a drink?” she shook her head, already starting to move to the rhythm of the music, her body beginning to sway like the music had claimed her before they’d even stepped inside.

She turned and grinned at him, pulling him. “Oh no, no, no,” he said shaking his head. “Absolutely not.”

She didn’t even slow down, just gave him a sharp tug, and he followed.

Because of course he did.

The dance floor was even worse. Bodies pressed together, moving, swaying, touching. Too close, too much. He stood there stiff and out of place, pushing his glasses up his nose as he watched people move around him like it was second nature.

He had no idea what he was doing here.

You’ve never tried, Fionn pointed out.

“I don’t need to try,” Xander muttered. “I know this isn’t my thing.”

Millie turned to face him, laughing.

Fucking Christ she looked good.

She stepped closer, reaching for his hands and placing them on her hips, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Just relax,” she said, leaning in and pressing her lips to his ear. “Just move with me. That’s all dancing is.”

She turned then, pressing her back into his chest, and everything went very still. Instinct took over before thought could catch up. His hands settled on her hips, firm, grounding himself in her body.

He started to move, slowly at first, his movements awkward, uncertain. Slowly, with her guidance, the rhythm caught. Her body guided him, the steady beat of the music threading through him, loosening something tight in his chest.

There didn’t seem to be a right or wrong way.

There as just… Millie.

He exhaled, tension bleeding out of him as he leaned down, his lips brushing her shoulder, then her neck. She shivered. His hands slid over her hips, her waist, pulling her closer. One song bled into the next, and the next.

Time began to blur.

Sometimes she turned to face him, arms looping around his neck, moving against him in a way that made it very hard to remember they were in public. Other times she’d press her back into him, trusting him completely as he moved with her, his mouth finding her skin whenever he could.

Possessive.

Unapologetic.

Let them look.

His hands touched her everywhere she’d allow, which only made his blood hotter. He was seriously considering finding a dark hallway they could sneak off to so he could fuck her, when someone grabbed her arm.

Xander’s head snapped up instantly.

Sara.

Millie laughed spinning into her friends arms as they hugged, both of them bouncing with excitement. Sara pointed to a tall dark haired guy standing a few feet away. “Tony,” she shouted over the music.

Xander bit back a smile. The guy looked about as comfortable as Xander felt.

Millie didn’t even bother glancing back at him, as she and Sara walked toward the back of the club, leaving them behind.

Like she hadn’t just been dry humping him in public.

Just like that, the two men were completely abandoned.

He sighed and pushed his glasses back up his face. He turned to look at the other guy. They stared at each other for a hot second. Then, in perfect mutual understanding, they each held their hands out. “Xander,” he shouted.

“Tony,” the man shouted back. Xander nodded toward the girls and Tony nodded. They followed behind them, stepping off the dance floor and moving toward a table with a “Reserved” sign sitting on it.

Another couple was already there. Xander blinked. He couldn’t really see the girl, but the guy, he belonged here. Hair slicked back, shirt half unbuttoned, his hand half way up her dress.

He glanced at Tony, who slowly looked at him with wide eyes. “Well that’s… something.” Tony muttered.

“Yeah,” Xander replied dryly. “That’s one way to spend an evening.”

The guy didn’t last long.

The moment Sara and Millie slid into he both beside Olivia, the slicked haired idiot seemed to understand he’d misread the situation entirely. His hand dropped from where it had been creeping too high, his confidence dissolving in real time, as three very aware women and two very unimpressed me now occupied the table.

“Right,” he muttered, already stepping away. “Good meeting you.”

“Mmhmm,” Olivia said already dismissing him.

Smart man, Fionn muttered dryly as Xander and Tony took a seats across from the girls.

“Bare minimum survival instinct,” Xander replied under his breath.

The three women settled into the booth on the one side, immediately falling into conversation, fast and overlapping, hands flying as they talked and laughed like they hadn’t just been interrupted. Millie leaned in toward them, animated and glowing, her entire presence pulling the eye whether she meant to or not.

Xander sat across from her, one arm draped along he back of the seat watching her. Beside him Tony looked like he’d been dropped into enemy territory. Rigid posture, shoulders tight, eyes scanning the room like was waiting for something to go wrong. Xander knew the look all too well.

“Where did you serve?”

Tony looked up, his eye brows lifted. “Afghanistan. Two tours.” Xander nodded.

“Still in?”

Tony shook his head, eyes back to the room, scanning. “No, I’m a cop now.” He looked back to Xander. “You?”

Xander grinned and shook his head. “Never served, no real army in Northern Ireland. Well, not anymore.” Tony nodded. “Now I’m a hacker for hire.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “Companies hire me to find holes in their cyber security.”

Tony watched him carefully. “Right,” he said slowly. “So nothing illegal.”

“Right,” Xander agreed.

Liar, Fionn snorted.

Tony seemed satisfied enough, nodding once as he leaned back slightly, thought he tension didn’t fully leave him.

The girls drifted back toward the dance floor, stopping near the edge this time. Xander stood automatically. Millie turned back to him, stepping into his space before he could say anything. “We’ll be just right there,” she said leaning into his ear. “Try to relax.”

He didn’t like it but he nodded. She smiled and moved to turn back to the girls. He caught her before she could pull away, his hand sliding along her waist and he kissed her, a warning shot to any man who might see.

This one, she’s taken.

“I’ll be right here, pretty girl.” He said against her lips.

She smiled. “I know.” She kissed him once more, rising up on her toes, her arms around his neck. She let go suddenly, giving him a wink and moved back to her friends.

He didn’t like it. Didn’t like being separated from her, even by a few feet in a place like this. They were only about fifty feet apart, but it was still too far. Sure, he was close enough to step in if he needed to, but it was still too far.

He sat back down, eyes never leaving her as she moved with Sara and Olivia, their bodies falling into rhythm together like they done this a hundred times before. Beside him, Tony leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him, his attention fixed on Sara in a way that looked familiar.

The guy was about as gone for Sara as he was for Millie.

“How long have you guys been together?” He asked.

Tony blinked at him. “What?”

“You and Sara,” Xander said nodding toward the blonde.

Tony shook his head. “We’re not. She’s my best friend. I’m just here as a favor.”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

Tony glanced at him then back at Sara, something conflicted flashing across his face. “She’s not interested.” He said finally, exhaling.

Xander followed his gaze. Sara was watching Tony, and it wasn’t subtly.

“Have you asked her?” Xander pressed.

He shook his head. “No.”

Xander laughed and shook his head. “Man, she’s watching you like she wants to eat you alive.” Tony blinked at him clearly not computing.

“What?”

Xander jerked his chin toward Sara again. Right on cue, she glanced over, caught Tony looking, and bit her lip before turning away. Xander grinned. “Yeah,” he said slapping him on the back. “She wants to tap that.”

Tony just stared, stunned into silence.

Xander shook his head amused, then let his attention drift back to Millie.

He’d heard the phrase dance like no one is watching before, but it never made any sense to him. He understood it now.

She moved like the world didn’t exist beyond the music Like nothing could touch her unless she allowed it. Her body rolled with effortless precision, hips and spine flowing in time with the beat, her arms lifting and falling as she laughed with her friends.

The lights strobed blues, reds, golds and green. All catching the fine sheen of sweat along her shoulders, the curve of her collarbone, the long line of her throat, and her exposed cleavage.

She looked unreal, like the goddess Freyja come to life.

It felt like he was watching something he wasn’t supposed to see.

Like something too intimate for a room full of strangers.

His jaw tightened. He’d been rock hard since she walked out of the bedroom, it had gotten worse, how, he wasn’t entirely sure, while they danced, and now… now it was becoming a problem.

He shifted in the chair, attempting to make himself more comfortable. It didn’t help at all.

Take her home, Fionn suggested, not even pretending to be subtle.

Xander groaned. “I’m working on it.”

He glanced around the club, thinking if he could just pull her into some place private for ten minutes, he could fuck her, reminder her, thoroughly, who she belonged to, then let her go back to her friends and keep dancing.

The thought wasn’t gentle.

It wasn’t patient, it was instinct, clear and basic.

Mine.

His fingers flexed against his thigh, tension coiling tight beneath his skin as he tracked her every movement on the dance floor, already halfway lost to the pull of her, the other half searching the shadows for place where they could fuck and not be observed.

There was a sudden shift in the bond, subtle at first, then a clear signal: panic.

Xander’s attention snapped back to Millie.

Two men had stepped up to the girls, one of them reaching for Millie who was already shaking her head and backing up. The other reaching for Sara, who was making similar movements to Millie.

Xander’s gaze sharpened as the man didn’t hesitate, didn’t pause to read the situation. His hands were already reaching, already assuming access that didn’t belong to him.

Xander was on his feet before the decision was fully made.

Across the floor, Millie reacted exactly how he’d hoped she would. She stepped back immediately, her head shaking in clear refusal, her body angling away from the reaching hand.

That should have been enough.

The second man made the same move on Sara, who had the exact same response as Millie, shaking her head and moving backward away from the hand reaching for her. Tony was already moving.

Meanwhile, the first guy hadn’t taken the hint. He kept advancing, his persistence turning from annoying to dangerous in the span of a single heartbeat. His hand shot forward, catching Millie’s hip, fingers tightening as he tried to drag her back toward him.

Something inside Xander snapped and he went icy cold.

He didn’t remember crossing the distance. One moment he was standing at the table, the next he was between them, a solid immovable barrier. Millie gasped behind him, her hand automatically, reaching out to touch him, a small comfort to her terrified nervous system.

“No.” Xander’s voice came out low and final carrying more weight than volume.

The man sneered, his blonde hair and blue eyes making the expression seem distorted. Fionn surged forward.

Wolf.

Xander felt it instantly, the shift in the air, the recognition humming under the surface. This wasn’t just some drunk idiot, this was something else entirely.

His posture changed without conscious thought. He straightened to his full height, shoulders squaring, presence expanding outward, waves of power rolling off of him, whether anyone understood it or not.

Power pressed outward, rippling through the crowd of people, some of them stopping. Others, wolves in the crowd, dropped to a knee, heads bowed.

This was not just power.

He was no average pack alpha.

He was the McCollough Alpha. He’d been raised as a soldier, born to be a king, and even an abdicated one, those traits were bound to him as much as his bones were.

The other wolf stumbled back, shaking his head, as if trying to resist the pressure from Xander, defiance flashing sharp and immediate.

End him, Fionn growled.

The wolf tried to reach around Xander, reaching for Millie, but he was poorly trained, if he had been trained at all. Xander grabbed his hand easily, bending the hand back at and odd angle, driving the wolf back, a yowl of pain escaping his lips.

Xander walked him several steps back, moving his through the crowd. “Ek em alfr hon er mín forlögna,” he growled, the old language of his ancestors rolling off his tongue with unsettling ease. I am Alpha, and she is my fated.

The wolf bared his teeth.

It was the wrong move.

Xander’s grip tightened, and allowed Fionn to stretch inside him, his green eyes flashing to honey amber, glowing in the darkness of the club, the ripple of Fionn pushed through Xander’s hand and up the other man’s arm.

The world around them shifted. Noise dulled, people backed away without understanding why, instinct driving them to create space. Predator, power, danger.

“Gef mér eina helvítis ástǫk,” Fionn said coldly, his voice dropping into something darker, something far less forgiving. Give me a fucking reason.

The wolf froze, all defiance vanishing in an instant.

“Krjúpa.” Kneel

Slowly, he nodded, dropping to his knees as Xander released his hand, head bowed.

Submission.

Immediate and absolute.

Xander leaned forward, Fionn’s eyes still shining brightly into the darkened club. “Bú skalt minnast staðar þíns þú munt lúta konungi.” Remember your place, you will bow before a king. He straightened back to his full height, pulling his power back, feeling it slip back under his skin.

“Farask.” Leave.

The wolf scrambled backward, head lowered now as he retreated into the crowd, disappearing as quickly as he could. Behind him the second wolf had already released Sara, his posture dipped and his gaze lowered into clear submission as well.

Xander stood there for a moment longer, the last of the echoes of that instinctive, predatory edge still humming under his skin. The crowd around them had shifted, a wide unconscious berth carved in the aftermath of what had just happened. The music still pulsed, many around them still moving, still dancing, completely unaware as to what had just happened.

He turned slowly. Millie stood a few feet away, exactly where he’d left her, her eyes wide and fixed on him.

For a split second, Fionn was still too close to the surface. The wolf blinked through him, gold amber eyes flashing where there should have been deep emerald green, awareness sharp and unfiltered as it settled on her.

She is safe.

Xander felt it, felt himself, and forced a breath into his lungs, then another. He closed his eyes for just a moment. Settle, he whispered to Fionn. The wolf nodded, sliding back, letting Xander regain control.

A long steady exhale followed, dragging himself back from the edge, forcing the shift inward, locking it down where it belonged. He left the noise of the club filter back in, let the human world reassert itself around him, let himself settle back into his own skin.

When he opened his eyes again, they were his. Deep green, clear and human.

His chest tightened. She was still staring at him: shock, confusion, and something else flickering under it all. He didn’t know what it was, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

He swallowed, his jaw tightening slightly as a dozen thoughts tried to collide inside him all at once.

He’d shown her too much, too fast. This, this exact fucking moment, was what he’d been trying to avoid. The line between his world and hers, blurred to easily, too suddenly with no explanations, no warning. No clean lines.

“I…” he started voice rougher than he meant it to be, and stopped.

What was he supposed to say?

Hey, sweetheart, sorry I almost tore a man apart in the middle of the dance floor?

Fionn snorted. She is not afraid of us.

Xander… he wasn’t so sure.

She hadn’t moved yet. Her eyes searching his face like she was trying to piece something together, something just out of reach, something she didn’t quite understand but could see plainly.

Don’t you feel it? Fionn asked him impatiently.

Xander swallowed and reached out to the bond, touching it tentatively.

Alive, bright, carrying everything she wasn’t saying out loud.

There was a fair amount of confusion there, yes. A flicker of anger, but not at him - at the situation that she thought she’d put him through. He felt a moment of irritation that she would take that insolent wolf’s actions on as her responsibility. But under all of that…

Xander’s head snapped up, his eyes blinking, not understanding.

White hot, unmistakable desire.

It hit him like an impact, slamming into his chest. What the fuck…

He’d expected a lot of things. Fear, confusion, anger…

But he hadn’t expected that, not after what he’d just done.

He dragged a hand through is hair, the tension in his sounders shifting, uncertain for the first time since he’d stepped in front of her. He took a deep breath and tried again. “Millie,” he started again, quieter now.

That was when she moved.

Before he could brace for it, before he could step back or say anything else that could make their entire situation worse, she crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat and collided with him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she surged up onto her toes and pulled him down to kiss her, hard.

For a fraction of a second, Xander froze. Shock rippling through him in a way the confrontation hadn’t. Then the bond between them snapped tight, emotions flooded through it all at once, unfiltered and overwhelming.

Relief. Gratitude. Desire.

Love.

His hands came up instinctively, catching her, holding her like she might disappear if he didn’t. One hand pressed into her back, the other sliding up to cradle the side of her face as he kissed her back just as fiercely, just as breathless.

She was here, she wasn’t pulling away. She wasn’t afraid of him, not in the way he’d feared she would be. The kiss wasn’t hesitant. It felt like it was answering something. Meeting him exactly where he was, matching his energy.

Her fingers curled into the skin on his neck, gripping tightly, as if she needed to have the contact just as much as he did. The bone pulsed with every heartbeat, every breath, every shift of their bodies pressed together.

Ours, Fionn rumbled deeply satisfied.

Xander didn’t fight it, didn’t question it.

Not when she was kissing him like this. Not when everything in him was finally, finally, settling into place.

Their lips parted, both of them breathing raggedly. He pressed his forehead against hers, her breath uneven, her hands still clutching at him like she had no intention of ever letting go.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he said softly, kissing her cheek.

“I love you, back,” she said pressing a kiss to his chin.

Millie

The night had begun to thin by the time Millie stirred. It wasn’t gone yet, the moon still hung overhead, pale and fading, but the sharp edge of its light had softened. Dawn lingered just beyond the horizon, something to be felt more than seen, a quiet shift in the air that promised the morning.

Millie felt it before she was fully awake.

Her body registered it first in the subtle change in the temperature, the way the forest seemed to hold its breath in that in between moment. The awareness followed, slow but steady pulling her up from sleep without resistance.

She blinked, her eyes opening against the dim light and for a moment, she didn’t move. She was surrounded by warmth, the scent of warm fur, cedar and earth filled her senses. Solid, steady and alive.

Memory returned in fractions. Moonlight and fur beneath her hands, the deep rumble in Fionn’s chest, the weight of everything she’d spoken aloud. She shifted carefully, pushing herself upright, and immediately felt the consequences of her choices.

Every muscle protested.

“Oof,” she said pushing herself up to her feet, and stretching her back. Her back ached, her neck was stiff and her legs felt like she had run a marathon instead of falling asleep curled against a giant wolf dog man thing in the middle of the woods.

She rolled her neck, then bent slowly over, grabbing her ankles and stretching out her hips. She opened her eyes before she stood and saw Fionn watching her, a curious look on his face. She smiled at him before she stood back up slowly. “Sorry,” she said out loud to the wolf. “I’m super stiff.”

She turned back around and watched Fionn slowly rise to his feet, stretching his front and back legs before shaking himself out. He turned, moving next to her and butted her arm with his head. She laughed and slipped her hand behind his ear and scratched. He made some sort of happy grumbling noise and the feeling of satisfaction, rolled through her mind.

She gave him a steady pat, and looked around the clearing. “Should we head back? I don’t want Xander to have to get redressed in daylight. What if someone sees him?” She shook her head. “No, thank you. Naked Xander is reserved only for me.” She laughed.

Fionn looked at her like she was crazy. “Okay, I know he parked in the middle of nowhere but what if there is some mountain woman or something watching him walk around naked? I would so not be okay with that, and since I don’ have a weapon, and she probably does, I can’t exactly chase her off.”

Fionn shook his head, You’re stranger than he is. The thought rolled through her and she sighed, shrugging. “That’s why we match so well. We embrace the crazy.”

Fionn snorted and lay back on the grass.

“Ready?” She asked, the big wolf gave a stiff nod.

She slipped onto his back more easily this time, having a better idea of how to sit and where to hold on. She leaned forward on his back, fisting her hands in his thick fur at his neck. “Okay, whenever you’re ready, Fionn.”

The wolf huffed and turned, moving toward the tree line. Like before, he slowly increased his speed until they were flying through the underbrush. It was the terrifying and exciting and joyful. She wasn’t sure which of those emotions were hers, and which of those were Fionn’s, but she didn’t really care.

She was enjoying it far too much.

They broke through the tree line in front of the truck faster than she anticipated, and felt a ping of regret when she slid off Fionn’s back. “That was really fun,” she said on a breathless laugh. “Thank you, Fionn.”

The wolf dropped his head, then curled his right leg in and dipped. She smiled.

“Did you just give me the wolf equivalent of a bow?”

Fionn snorted, making her laugh.

Fionn rose beside her, towering and solid, his presence filling the quiet space between them. For a long moment, neither of them moved. The air felt different here, lighter somehow, but still full in the way it had been in the forest.

Millie looked up at him, really looked at him this time, taking in the way the fading light caught in his dark fur, the steady gold of his amber eyes fixed on her. Something in her chest tightened, and her breath hitched.

He shifted starting to move away from her. “Hey,” the word left her before she could stop it. Fionn stilled, turning back to her, waiting.

She took a step, closing the small distance between them without hesitation, knowing the wolf would never do anything to hurt her, not after tonight. She stroked the side of his snout, his fur silky and softly familiar now. The bond between them deepened at the intimate contact: warm, steady and vibrant.

She smiled faintly, her thumb brushing the bridge of his nose. For a second she just stood there, taking him in. Taking both of them in, knowing the wolf was just as much Xander as Xander was the wolf.

She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to the space between his eyes. “Thank you, Fionn.” She stood back from him, smiling. “I love you,” she added quietly.

Everything stopped.

The noises in the forest quieted.

The air seemed to go still around them.

Even the bond seemed to hold its breath for a fraction of a second.

Then it surged.

Not the overwhelming chaos from before, but something deep, rooted and strong. It rushed through her chest, warm and powerful, stealing her breath in its passing. Fionn moved instantly, closing the very small distance between them, his head pressing firmly into her again. This time, the emotion behind it wasn’t gentle curiosity or quiet contentment.

It was overwhelming: recognition, clarity, claim.

Millie let out a soft breath, her hands coming up automatically, fingers burying into his fur as she held on to him. Fionn pulled back just out of reach suddenly. She barely had time to register the movement before the shift happened.

Faster this time, smoother.

The massive shape in front of her folded inward, reshaping in a fluid motion that felt almost natural now. Where Fionn stood just a millisecond before, Xander stood.

He was breathing hard, as if the shift still echoed through him. His green eyes locked onto her, the early light caught along his skin, its last traces of moonlight and the first hints of dawn painting him in soft silver and pale gold.

His eyes were intense enough that it made something in her chest pull tight. The bond flared hot between them, no longer overwhelming, but undeniably alive. Electric in a way that felt grounded now, not wild.

“You don’t just get to say that,” he said his voice rough, threaded through with something unguarded. “and expect me to stay calm.”

Millie let out a small breathless laugh, still caught somewhere between awe and everything else she was feeling. “…I wasn’t really thinking about your reaction.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, “I noticed.” He closed the distance between them without hesitation, his hands coming to frame her face, familiar now, grounding in a way that settled the pressure deep in her chest.

“Say it again,” he whispered.

Her breath caught, but she didn’t hesitate. “I love you.”

She felt the bond surge again, something warm spilling through to her .

Xander exhaled sharply, the sound unsteady, almost disbelieving, as his forehead dropped to hers for the briefest moment, like he needed the contact to steady himself, to anchor everything she’d just said into something real. Her hands lifted, gently wrapping around his where they still framed her cheeks, holding them there instead of letting them fall away. For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.

He opened his eyes and found hers, like he needed to see her there, to take in every trace of what she’d just given him. There was something searching in his gaze, something soft and a little unguarded, like he was still catching up to the moment even as he stood inside it. Whatever he was feeling flickered across his face before easing into something steadier, quieter. He didn’t hurry, didn’t break the closeness they’d settled into. He simply leaned in, closing the small space between them, and kissed her softly, his touch full of everything he couldn’t quite put into words.

It was warm, deliberate and firm, as if he were sealing the words between them into something real and physical. Something he could touch. Something that couldn’t be taken back or questioned later. A promise, spoken without needing more.

Millie’s breath hitched softly as she leaned into him.

The bond responded instantly, not a surge this time, not an explosion.

A settling.

Deep, solid; locked into place like something aligning exactly as it was always meant to.

When he finally lifted his head from her, it wasn’t far. Just enough to look at her, his hands still cradling her face, his thumb brushing lightly along her cheek as if reassuring himself that she was real.

“I love you, Millie,” he said, quieter now. “Gods, I love you.” He pressed his lips to her again, his hands moving from her face to wrap around, her pulling her as close to him as he could get. She slid her arms around his body, pressing her cold palms against the hot skin of his back.

He lifted his lips, dragging them along her cheeks, her chin her nose, her eye lids, her forehead, whispering how much he loved her with each touch. Her heart felt full, for the first time since before her dad died, she felt… whole. Complete in a way that she never thought would happen again.

He pulled her closer, resting his cheek on the top of her head, holding her against his skin. The forest continued to wake slowly around them, birds beginning to stir, the light shifting slowly, inch by inch. They stood there, wrapped around each other in the center of everything that had happened that night, the bond between them no longer something new or unfamiliar.

It was something real. Chosen. Unshakeable.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

They stayed like that for a while beside the truck, wrapped around each other as the quiet of the forest slowly settled back in. Xander didn’t rush to move. She was pressed tightly against him, her cheek pressed against his bare chest, her body warm and comforting and real against him.

Xander exhaled slowly above her, his cheek resting lightly against the top of her head. His hands moved along her back in slow, absent motions, not restless or searching, just… there. A part of him needed reassuring that she hadn’t actually disappeared, that that night before had been real.

That she loved him.

Beneath it all, Fionn had gone quiet. No longer pressing forward, no longer restless. Just present, solid in the background; a steady constant awareness threaded through the bond.

After a moment, Millie shifted slightly, her hands sliding down Xander’s chest as she leaned back just enough to look up at him.

Her hair was a mess from sleep and riding through the woodland on Fionn’s back. Her eyes were still heavy, her expression softened by the exhaustion of the last few weeks, but there was something lighter there too. Something clearer.

She studied his face for a second before speaking. “You okay?”

Xander let out a quiet breath a faint smile pulling at his mouth as he looked down at her. “Yeah,” he said quietly. Then after a small pause, he chuckled, the smile widening on his face, his dimples deepening. “I am way better than okay, love.”

The bond warmed in his chest.

He held her gaze for a moment longer. “Good,” she said simply, and moved back against his chest. The silence that followed wasn’t heavy or uncertain. It didn’t demand to be filled with noise, it simply existed, comfortable, real and shared.

After a beat he felt her yawn against his chest and he gave her a soft squeeze. “We should start heading back, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of her head as he slowly released her.

She smiled faintly, nodding.

He released her fully, and turned toward the hood of the truck, tugging on the sweats first, then pulling the hoodie over his head as he shoved his feet back into his slip on shoes, finally pushing his glasses back onto his nose. He quickly circled around her to the passenger side door and opened it for her, his hand settling briefly at the small of her back as she climbed in.

Xander closed the door, and rounded the hood of the truck as she buckled herself in. He opened the door and slipped into the driver seat, turning the truck engine over quickly, turning on the heat and adjusting the vents to point hat her hands and feet.

“Your fingers are like ice cubes, sweetheart,” he explained as he adjusted the vents.

She gave a soft chuckle. “I might actually pass out if I get warm enough,” she admitted, her voice sounding more tired than int had just moments ago.

“Then sleep, love. I’ve got you.” He said, pulling his own seatbelt on over his shoulder. He heard her sigh as he pressed down on the clutch and grabbed the gear shift, slipping into reverse. He avoided all the potholes he could as he drove along the gravel road, easing back onto the highway.

Millie’s breathing slowed beside him, evening out into the same steady rhythm as before. Familiar now, comforting. He glanced over at her as they started driving on the smooth pavement and smiled. She was already out cold.

A small knowing smile tugged at his mouth. “Yeah, I knew she wasn’t going to last very long.”

The bond didn’t go quiet when she slept, not for him. It softened, smoothing into something even steadier, like a constant presence resting against him. He drove carefully, one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely near her on the center console, not touching, but close enough that he could feel if she moved.

Fionn remained quiet within him for the first bit of the drive.

The forest gave way to city gradually, trees thinning into scattered lines before disappearing entirely, replaced by streetlights lower speed limits. The transition was subtle but constant, the wild quiet of the forest fading into something more structured, familiar.

Millie didn’t stir through any of it.

Xander drove in silence, but his mind was waking up, getting louder with each passing mile.

You’re thinking about it, Fionn said, tone indicating his surprise.

“You never stop, do you?” Xander muttered.

Not about her.

Xander’s grip shifted slightly on the wheel, his eyes flicking toward millie before returning to the road. “I told you, I’m not against it.”

You believe she’ll run.

“I think she might panic,” Xander corrected. “There is a difference.” He sighed as he shifted gears. “You head her, her entire life has been people taking things from her, leaving her, forcing things on her, not giving her a choice in her own life.” He sighed softly. “The last thing I am going to do is to make her feel cornered into something that big with me.”

Fionn didn’t immedicably respond, but the bond shifted slightly, thoughtful, weighing the words Xander said.

She chose us.

“I know she did.”

She said she loves us, Xander.

Xander’s jaw tightened faintly at that, not in resistance but because of the weight of it.

“Yeah, she does.” He said quietly. He glanced at her, her head turned toward him in her sleep, resting against the back of the seat, her mouth hanging open. In any other moment, he might have teased her about this later.

Now… now he was terrified that he was going to push too quickly, too forcefully and he was going to lose her completely.

“She means it,” he said quietly, turning back to the road.

Xander let out a slow breath, his chest easing and tightening all at once. “That is part of the problem, Fionn.” He sighed again. “Because I mean it too.” More than he ever expected, more than even thought possible.

More than he was entirely prepared to handle with any kind of caution.

You delay because you fear losing her.

“Spot on, Fionn.”

It is true, Fionn acknowledged.

Xander didn’t argue it, instead he pulled into the lot of his building, sliding into his assigned parking spot and turning the truck off. The quiet settling in around them again. Inside the cab, Millie slept on, completely unaware of the storm of thoughts still moving through him.

Xander glanced over at her, his expression softening immediately. She looked… peaceful, maybe more than he’d seen up until now. There was no tension pulling at her brow, no guarded edge to her posture. Just rest.

The bond pulsed gently, warm and steady, careful now.

Xander exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly. “I’m being careful.” He muttered under his breath.

Too careful.

That earned a faint humorless huff. “Gods, you are insufferable.”

Fionn didn’t deny it. If you wait too long, you risk the same thing.

Xander frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

You give fear time to grow.

Xander leaned back in his seat, his gaze still fixed on Millie. “She’s not like that.”

No, but fear is.

Xander swallowed. He knew Fionn was right, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “I am not going to propose tomorrow.” He said softly, scrubbing his hands over his face.

But you will soon.

It wasn’t a question.

Xanders eyes flicked to her again, softer this time.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “soon.” He took a deep breath, watching her carefully. “I’ll start looking for a ring.” The wolf blinked at him.

Fionn nodded his heavy head.

Xander unbuckled and slipped out of the truck as quietly as he could, rounding the hood and opening the passenger seat. “Millie,” he said softly, leaning in slightly.

Nothing.

A faint smile pulled at his mouth. “Yeah, didn’t think so.”

He reached in, unbuckling her seat belt and slid it off her body gently. He slipped one arm behind her back, the other under her knees, lifting her carefully from the seat and into his chest and arms. She shifted slightly, curling into him, a soft breath leaving her as she snuggled into him, her face tucking into his chest like she’d done this a hundred times before.

Like she knew she belonged there.

The bond shimmered in response, soft and golden.

Xander adjusted his hold, closing the truck door with his hip before turning toward his building, each step he took careful not to jar her. He slid into the building, moving toward the stairs quietly, and beginning the climb up to the fifth floor.

Five flights of stairs didn’t mean much to him, not even with Millie in his arms. She was almost weightless to him, the effort nearly nonexistent. He only noticed her warmth, the softness of her. The quiet trust in the way she didn’t wake, didn’t question, didn’t pull away from him.

He couldn’t stop the thoughts racing through his brain, the fear the second guessing. “I’ll start looking for the ring, the right one. Not just something easy. I’ll know it when I see it. Something that is…” he glanced down at her sleeping form, “…her.”

He took a deep breath, the finality of it finally lifting the weight off his chest. “And when I find it,” he exhaled slowly. “I’m not going to second guess it.”

Fionn nodded. Good.

He pushed open the door to his floor and made his way down the brightly lit hallway. He was two steps in when Elena’s door opened. The blonde stepped out and gasped when she nearly ran into him.

“Xander, hi,” she said beaming at him.

“Shh,” he said softly and nodded down to Millie. “My girlfriend’s asleep.”

She blinked, glancing down at the sleeping woman in his arms. “Oh,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

Xander nodded, moving toward his door. “Is it serious?” He rolled his eyes, as he maneuvered to unlock his door, his back to her.

“Yeah, I’m on the hunt for an engagement ring,” he said quietly over his shoulder.

He didn’t wait for a response before he pushed the door open and walked through it. Christ almighty, the woman was relentless.

The apartment was still and quiet the same way they’d left it, but already different.

Because she was part of it now.

Because she was in love with him.

He carried her inside, kicking the door shut as quietly as he could behind him, and heading straight to the bedroom. He knew she would be working that night, and was going to need every minute of sleep she could get before she went in.

He pulled the blankets back one-handed, lowering her gently onto the mattress. She shifted again, turning slightly onto her side, her hand catching briefly in his hoodie like she didn’t want him to go far.

He stilled, then softened. “I’m right here, love.” He murmured carefully, easing his hoodie from her grasp. She didn’t wake, but settled against the pillow.

He moved to her feet, untying and pulling off her shoes and socks one by one and then pulled the blankets up and over her, his hand lingering briefly at her shoulder, brushing lightly over her arm.

The bond pulsed once more, steady, unwavering.

He straightened slowly, his gaze lingering on her for a long moment before he finally stepped back.

Tomorrow, he’d start looking. Maybe while she was at work tonight.

He pulled his hoodie off as he moved around the end of the bed, tossing It into his hamper by the door. He pulled his sweats off, his shoes already discarded. He turned to the dresser, pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and slid them up and over his hips, before moving to the bed.

He pulled the blankets back and slipped into the bed next to her.

He turned to pull her toward him, and she sighed, turning over, giving him her back. Before he could do anything, she sighed and pressed back with her legs until she found his legs, and hooked him under his calves. He bit back a laugh, and slipped his left arm under her neck, and slipped his right arm around her hips, pulling her tightly against him.

She sighed against him settling back and pressed her lips to his arm.

“Xander?” Her voice was barely there, thick with sleep.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

“When did we get home?”

He grinned at the pleasure that blossomed in his chest. She called his apartment home. “Just a few minutes ago.” She nodded against his arm, pulling it closer to her and sighing. “Get some rest, Millie,” he said, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck.

“Okay,” she said, voice fading. “Xander?”

“Hmm?”

“Love you.”

The warmth spread from the center of his chest through every centimeter of his body. Warm and tingling, like taking a bath with warm champagne. He tightened his hold on her with both arms and his legs. “I love you too, Millie.”

She sighed, her breathing evening back out.

The last thing he thought before falling as sleep was that he’d do just about anything for her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had taken entirely too little convincing, as far as he was concerned. When he’d picked Millie up from her shift last night, she and Sara had been whispering furiously to one another as he walked in. They’d waved at him and then disappeared into the back while he leaned against the counter.

He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, and hadn’t given it much thought until they were walking out the door, and Sara called out, “See you tomorrow, Xander!” He’d turned back, shooting her a confused look. Millie had tomorrow off... didn’t she?

Before he could question her, Millie was pulling him down the five steps of the diner and back toward his apartment. “Are you picking up a shift tomorrow night?” He asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

She laughed and shook her head. “No, Sara and Olivia and I are going to go dancing tomorrow.” He stopped dead in his tracks, making her jerk to a halt.

“What do you mean?”

“Sara invited us to go dancing.” She shrugged. “We go every once in a while. It’s fun.”

“Just the girls.”

Millie laughed. “Well she invited you too, so I assumed you’d come with me.”

Xander raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t dance.”

She stepped back to him and kissed his cheek. “Then you can stay home. Its fine, sweetie.” She winked at him and started walking again, leaving him behind her, staring.

He hadn’t made her give him reasons he should go, he didn’t think she needed to make many arguments at all, because he had a trump card in his brain already. The idea of his girlfriend in a crowded dance club, surrounded by drunk men with wandering hands and poor judgement?

Absolutely the fuck not.

She turned around, almost fifty yards away now. “Come with me, or stay home, Xander, but I am going.”

There really hadn’t been a choice at that point.

Now he stood in her living room, alternating pacing and sitting on her shockingly comfortable, if not entirely ugly, couch, while she got ready for the night. He pulled his phone up and leaned against the wall by the front door, scrolling through work emails he would need to get too sooner than later, his arms crossed.

He’d been trying and failing quite spectacularly to not think about about what they were going to be walking into. Loud music, a crush of bodies, the smell of too many people and sweat and perfume and cologne and booze all rolled into one amalgam.

His literal worst nightmare.

Well, other than his girlfriend walking into that without him.

That was his literal worst nightmare.

He heard her bedroom door open and slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket. He’d refused to wear anything special. Just a dark gray t-shirt, jeans and his converse. He shoved his glasses back up his nose absently as he waited for her to come out of her bedroom.

When she’d disappeared an hour ago, he’d assumed it would take a while. Wasn’t that the cliché thing? Girls taking forever to do their hair and makeup and all that ridiculousness? Millie wasn’t typically that girl, but she was going out with her friends tonight. He figured she would be tonight.

He wasn’t wrong.

But he hadn’t accounted for… this.

She stepped out of the bedroom, her black low heels clicking on the hardwood of her apartment as she walked into the living room. The dress was simple, black, shorter than it had any right to be, halter style, simple in its cut, hugging her curves like it had been made specifically to test his self-control.

She swept up her hair into a tight twist at the back of her head, a few curls already escaping, framing her face, like they were just begging him to touch her. Her makeup was minimal, but her eyes…

Fucking Christ Jesus.

Her eyes were lethal.

He didn’t know what she’d done exactly, but the gold was highlighted in her dark eyes, popping in a way that had him straightening from wall reflexively. She smiled at him slowly, and he suddenly felt 15 again, in the presence of the first pretty girl to ever notice him.

He swallowed hard, his eyes taking in her outfit, her body, her fucking eyes…

“No.”

She paused mid-step, blinking up at him. “…No?” she asked.

He shook his head slowly, arms tightening across his chest. “Absolutely not.”

Her brows lifted slightly, amused more than anything. “Not… what, Xander?”

“That,” he said gesturing vaguely at her entire existence. “I’m not taking you out dressed like that.” She blinked at him, her head snapping back.

“You don’t like it?” She asked looking confused and then down at her dress.

“Oh,” he said, “sweetheart, I love it.” He stepped closer to her, a finger running down her neck to her exposed cleavage. “You are a test to my self-control.”

She looked back up at him then. “Okay, so I’m confused. Why do I need to change?”

“Because,” he said flatly, stepping away and crossing his arms again, “I don’t want a single man in that place looking at you and thinking you look like their wet dream.”

Her lips twitched. “Xander, no matter what I wear, they’re going to look.”

Xander’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, well, I don’t like it.”

She stepped closer, completely unbothered and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and patted his chest. “That’s fine, honey.” She turned and picked up her light jacket and clutch. She turned to him with a half shrug. “You can stay home.”

She moved around him, opening the door and stepping through it, like it was the most sensible thing she’d ever said.

Not like he’d just try to lay down a boundary.

Not like he was an alpha used to being listened to.

Like she had absolutely no intention of letting him tell her what to do, or what she could wear while she did it.

Xander stared at her for a second, blinking. He dragged a hand down his face.

“Fecking hell,” he muttered, following her out the door. “Millie, wait up.”

Fionn stirred deeply amused. You have no control here.

“Yeah, no shite Sherlock,” Xander said locking her apartment door with the key she’d given him earlier that day. He turned and she was already out of eye shot. “Babe, wait up,” he called jogging after her.

Note from Tath: I want to let you all know of some trigger warnings for this chapter specifically, all topics are mentioned vaguely, no specific details given, but if any of these topics are sensitive to you, please be aware before reading.

There is mention of parental abuse and death (just vague details/memories), childhood trauma and sexual assault (again, vague, mentioned in a generalized sense), talk of emotional trauma and childhood PTSD, grief and depression.

With that, please enjoy this next installment of Xander and Millie’s story

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: Due to length restrictions, this part has been broken into two parts: Wrong Number, Right Mate Part 12 and Part 12.5

Less than five minutes later, he pulled off the highway, taking an exit she’d never used before. He pulled his hand from hers, but placed her hand on his thigh, patting it, before reaching for the gear shift. The forest closed in on both sides of the black truck as they continued on. A mile later he turned down a graveled road, he shifted down, and then gripped the wheel with both hands.

“It might get a bit bumpy,” he said a moment before he hit a deep pot hole.

“Fuck me, ya think?” she asked bouncing around in her seat. She gripped his thigh with one hand, the ‘oh shit’ handle over the door with her other and braced for the next pot hole.

He laughed a full deep laugh. “Sweetheart, your mouth rivals mine.”

She shot him a look. “I’m not sure if I should be offended at that or happy that you noticed.” He laughed again and shook his head.

“I’m going to go with happy.” He advised.

A few minutes later, he slipped the truck into a pull out on the side of the gravel road and slid the truck into the trees. He shoved the vehicle into park, and turned the engine off. He didn’t move for a moment, and then finally turned to look at her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

She patted his thigh that she’d still had a grip on lightly. “No, but I think it’s kind of necessary, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, but remember, if you want to leave,” he started.

“I’ll tell you, and we’ll go.” She finished.

He nodded. “It’s going to look painful and… I don’t even know. But don’t worry, okay? I’ve been doing this since I was sixteen and my wolf came. It doesn’t hurt, and above all else, he won’t hurt you.”

She nodded. “I know.”

He patted her hand on his thigh and opened his door. “Okay, here we go.”

They stepped out into the cool spring air. The sun was set, and the moon was just starting to rise over the horizon. She could feel the energy radiating off of him. She didn’t even need to bond for it. It was a physical thing, waves of warm, tense energy slipping through the air in all directions.

He stood in front of the truck, staring into the wilderness silently.

She stepped beside him and lightly touched his arm.

“Everything alright?”

He glanced down at her and took his glasses off folding them and holding them out to her. “Yeah, the energy is just,” he looked away, looking for the right word, “…louder tonight, I guess.”

She nodded. “Because I’m here?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he took a breath. “You have a way of intensifying… everything.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Okay, just stay here, okay?”

She nodded. He reached between his shoulders and pulled his t-shirt off, tossing it onto the hood of his truck, toed off his slip on shoes and then pulled the sweats off, tossing them onto the truck next to the shirt.

She bit her lip, when he ran a hand through his hair and moved to turn away from the truck. He caught her staring. “What?”

She blushed and averted her eyes. “Naked Xander in the woods is kinda… hot.”

He laughed and shook his head as he moved away from her. “Note to self, feck the girlfriend in the woodland. Got it.”

She giggled and leaned back against the truck.

He moved about a hundred yards away, to where the moonlight began to slip through the trees. When he stepped into the light, she could feel a pulse radiate through the bond: warm and slippery.

“Stay there,” he called back to her. It wasn’t a command, or a warning. Something in between meant to keep her safe, but to also keep her from interfering.

She didn’t say anything, just didn’t move.

Nothing happened at first, but the feelings coming down through the bond… they were overwhelming. There was so much energy, she was grateful she was propped up against the hood of the truck. Her knees went weak and her heart began to race, not from fear or even anticipation, but because that was what Xander as feeling, and it raced down that invisible thread right into her chest.

She could feel every breath he took, slowly getting deeper, more full.

Then another even deeper breath.

His posture changes slowly, spine straightening, shoulders pulling back, muscles tightening beneath his skin like something was pressing outward.

Fionn.

Millie’s breath caught, not in fear, but in awe.

The bond surged, suddenly alive and electric. She could feel both of them as clearly as she could feel herself. Their energy, their force of life layered on top of her own, the three of them swirling together, making her head spin.

A low deep rumble vibrated out of Xander’s chest, not fully human, but not fully wolf, some kind of mix of the two, and she felt it in her bones.

His body folded forward slightly, a sharp exhale leaving him as muscle and bone began to move, not violently or grotesquely, but powerfully, naturally. Like his entire body was double jointed and this was just something he could do that others couldn’t.

She couldn’t look away, completely enrapt in the change she was watching.

He fell forward suddenly giving a hard shake. She blinked and somehow, during that fraction of a millisecond of her blink Xander disappeared and Fionn stood.

He was massive. Even from this distance, she knew he was bigger than any natural predator in this part of the world. She’d never seen a grizzly in real life, but she imagined he was right on par with something that size. Fionn stretched his front legs, then his back legs, rolled his heavy neck, then shook himself hard.

He turned then, his honey amber eyes landing on her.

She gulped involuntarily, as his eyes fixated on her.

She knew he wasn’t going to hurt her, she knew Fionn actually kind of liked her, but that didn’t stop the shiver of hesitation that slipped down her spine. The wolf turned toward her, dark fir somehow shiny in the moonlight and started toward her. He was completely black, only one white stripe over his left eye, reminding her of the branded tattoo on Xander’s chest, and two splashes of white across his right paws.

He moved slowly, and she swallowed. The bond that she’d shared with Xander flared again, and she could feel Fionn stronger than she could Xander now. The wolf was curious about her, but had no ill intent, she could feel it. But fuck, he was massive.

He stopped about twenty yards from her, eyes watching her carefully. “Hi,” she said slowly, watching as his ears flicked forward, taking in her voice. A wave of warmth radiated through her.

He blinked at her, as if waiting for something. “Are you waiting for me to come to you?” She asked cautiously. Fionn have a heavy nod, and the feeling of at your pace came through loud and clear.

She placed his glasses on his shirt, and slowly pushed away from the truck, moving toward the wolf. She stopped a few feet away, feeling the warm breath from his nose on her skin. She lifted her hand tentatively and asked before she could second guess herself.

“Can I…?” Fionn stilled watching, then slowly he lowered his head. Permission.

Her breath caught, but she took the last step forward. Her hand reached his fur on the top of his head, warm and thick and much to her surprise, silky. She’d imagined it would be course or rough, but it was the exact opposite.

The moment she touched him the bond exploded into something deeper, almost overwhelming her. Fionn let out a low rumbling sound, not a growl, something softer than that. It reverberated through her hand, through her chest and the bond connecting them all.

“Hi, Fionn,” she whispered, stroking his head lightly. His eyes looked up into hers, and she felt it then. Xander. Watching her through Fionn’s eyes. Still there, still guarding her, keeping her safe, even from himself.

For his part, Fionn didn’t pull away, he leaned into her touch, reveling in it as if he’d never been touched before. The weight of his head dipped closer to her hand, his breath warm against her wrist, steady and deep. Her fingers tightened instinctively in his fur.

“Okay,” she said more to herself than him. “I guess this means you like me?”

He raised his heavy head up, and pushed against her chest lightly, nearly knocking her sideways. She couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled out. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes.” She felt a wave of happiness flow down the bond straight into her chest. Then the clearest thought she’d gotten since the shift.

Mine.

The word brushed against her mind, clearer and deeper. It felt like something possessive, an ancient claim, the most intense thing he could ever or would ever do.

Claiming her.

Millie swallowed, her other hand slowly lifting and resting against the side of his large neck. The fur was thicker there, still silky soft, heat radiating through him in waves. “You are a lot bigger than I imagined,” she murmured. A low amused sound rumbled from the wolf’s chest.

The wolf moved then, circling her once, slowly, deliberately. Millie turned slightly to keep him in her line of sight, her heart picking up, but the bond stayed steady, calm and reassuring. He wasn’t hunting. He wasn’t assessing her as prey.

He was observing her with his own eyes, not with Xanders.

Learning her, claiming her in his own way.

When he came back around in front of her, he stepped closer than before, close enough that his chest brushed lightly against her arm. She stilled, breath catching. The bond surged hot and intense. Fionn lowered his head again, this time not waiting. He pressed his forehead gently against her shoulder. The impact wasn’t hard, but it was solid and grounding.

She let out a startled breath , her hands instinctively coming up to steady herself against him. “Okay…” she said softly a nervous laugh slipping out, but she didn’t move away. Her hands slid more firmly into his fur, holding on.

The bond lit up warm, steady and deep again.

Fionn exhaled, long and slow, his breath fanning against her collarbone. The rumble in his chest softened into something quieter: contentment. And beneath all of it, she could feel Xander, still there, still watching.

“You’re both in there, aren’t you?” She asked softly.

Fionn gave a warm huff. Yes.

Her chest tightened, and she leaned against the wolf, not with her full weight, just testing. Fionn didn’t move away. He adjusted slightly, moving to more easily support her. Millie let out a breath, tension easing from her shoulders. “This… is not what I expected,” she admitted on a chuckle.

Another low rumble, amused this time.

She smiled faintly against his fur.

“I thought this would be scary, but it’s not.” She admitted. The bond pulsed, letting her know he was pleased with her words. Safe, the word slipped through her mind velvety and warm like melted chocolate.

Fionn lifted his head slightly, nudging her shoulder, not pushing her away, but attempting to shift her attention. Millie blinked. Following the motion as he stepped back a pace then looked at her expectantly. “What?” she asked softly.

He turned his head toward the tree line, then back to her.

Invitation.

“You want me to come with you?” Fionn’s tail flicked once behind him.

Yes. The bond warmed again, encouraging.

Millie looked toward the trees, then back to him. The darkness there wasn’t empty, it was alive, full of sound and movement and things she couldn’t fully see. But the bond kept her anchored. Slowly, she nodded.

“Okay.”

Fionn didn’t rush. He turned moving toward the tree line, slower than normal, his movements measured, matching her pace without needing to look back. She followed. Barely a step behind at first, then closer.

Without thinking, her hand found him again, fingers brushing along his side. Trailing through his fur as they walked. The contact sent a steady pulse through the bond.

The trees closed in around them, moonlight filtering through branches in broken patterns. The ground softened beneath her feet, leaves and dirt replacing gravel and rocks of the road they’d come in on.

Fionn moved easily through the thickening brush, Millie… less so. She tripped and nearly bit the dust over a root, Fionn’s heavy body moving in front of her before she could hit the ground. “Sorry, I’m not super graceful in the dark with almost no visibility.” She muttered, stretching her abused ankle.

Fionn moved beside her again, but dropped to his belly and looked at her. “What?” she said, not understanding what was happening. He huffed and shook head, rolling his body toward her slightly. She blinked.

“You want me to get on your back?”

His heavy head nodded once.

“Won’t that hurt you?”

He snorted.

“Jeeze, alright,” she said rolling her eyes. She stepped closer and looked at him cautiously. “So, um, awkward question, do I just like throw myself on or…?”

Fionn huffed and she could almost hear Xander laughing. “This isn’t funny, either of you,” she muttered. She could almost hear Xander snort. She rolled her eyes again, and did her best to climb onto Fionn’s back without just flopping on. She straddled his wide body, his width almost uncomfortable under her thighs. She leaned forward, wrapped her arms on either side of his massive neck and sighed. “Okay, I’m ready, I think.” Fionn stood slowly, and she pressed into his ribs with her legs.

He stepped forward slowly, allowing her to adjust until she felt more secure. “Okay, I think I got this. You can speed up if you want, but like, don’t buck me off or something.”

He looked back and she could only catch part of his eye, but the thought of, seriously? rippled through the bond between them. “Yes, seriously, I don’t feel like dying tonight, please and thank you.”

Fionn snorted and started moving more quickly. Slowly he increased his pace until he was running. He flew through the underbrush at an alarming pace, his body smoothly moving, as though he were on a track, and not uneven forest floor.

The trees blurred around her as he ran, his body warm and sure as he moved.

Eventually, the trees opened into another small clearing deeper in the woods. The moonlight here was brighter, uninterrupted, casting everything in silver. He slowed then, moving to the center of the clearing and lowering his belly to the ground. She slipped off his back and stood next to him, taking in the beauty of the forest in the darkness. The moon, high in the sky now, full and bright made it look almost magical.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, turning to take in the entire clearing. Fionn huffed once in agreement, then nudged her shoulder with his big nose. She turned, smiling at him. “Do you come here every time?” Fionn nodded his head, then made a circle around her, before dropping to his belly, stretching out next to her.

He turned his gaze to her, waiting. “…you want me to sit?”

Yes.

It rolled through her mind like warm velvet. She nodded, and sat next to him the damp grass. Fionn grumbled and moved closer, so that she was pressed up against his rib cage. She laughed lightly, then yawned. Glancing at her watch, her eyes widened. When had it gotten past midnight?

She looked up, staring up at the night sky. The moon was bright, shining with silvery light, the stars pale by comparison. She leaned back against Fionn as she watched the sky. “You know,” she said quietly, “when I was a little girl, I was obsessed with the night sky.” She yawned again, but kept her eyes skyward. “I would sneak out of my room when things got ugly, and lie on the roof outside my bedroom window, and just lie there in the dark and watch the sky. Wish on stars.”

Fionn turned his head, watching her as she spoke. She smiled, adjusting herself against the warm fur. “I know you want to know what happened to me,” she said slowly, quietly. “It’s not something I like to talk about. But,” she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I think this is going to be a forever kind of deal, so I don’t want to start that with silence.”

She blinked up at the sky, resting her head against Fionn, breathing in his fur. He smelled so much like Xander but so different at the same time. More wild, more… earthy.

“My dad died in a bombing in Iraq when I was 7.” She sucked in a breath. “He was the best kind of dad. I remember him teaching me how to ride a bike, and dressing up to play princess with me.”

She could still see him prancing around the living room, tiara in one hand, a pink and silver star wand in the other, his smile wide, his laugh loud.

She sucked in a hard breath. “He was a Marine, and after September 11^th, he had more than a few deployments. That was his fourth stint in Iraq. My dad was third generation Iraqi American, and spoke both Arabic and Kurdish, so he was an asset over there. We don’t know what happened, just that it was a car bomb.”

Fionn huffed a soft breath, comfort streaming through the bond. “My parents had a rough marriage. I know that now, as a grown up, but they did their best.” She sighed. “Mom, she wasn’t happy. She wanted my dad to leave the Marines, but he was a lifer. He wanted to retire from them, just one more deployment.” She wiped at the tear that ran down her cheek. “It was just the last of everything normal when he died.”

She took another breath and forced herself to keep talking. She needed to get it out. Maybe if she could get the poison out of her, it would hurt less. She doubted it, but maybe.

“My mom didn’t wait long after my dad died to start dating. She met this guy at her job at the car dealership and just a few months later, married him and moved him into our house. A year later, she had my little brother, Braden.” She shook her head slowly. “I know I wasn’t the easiest kid. I was just barely eight, and my mom was replacing my dad. I acted out, I got in trouble at school.” She wiped at another tear. “I didn’t get in fights or anything like that, I just…” she sighed. “Looking back at it, I needed therapy. Grief therapy, and a lot of it.”

She adjusted herself against Fionn. “But Larry didn’t see it that way.” She swallowed as she stared at the stars. “Larry thought you could beat the behavior out of a kid, and if you couldn’t do that, then you weren’t hitting them hard enough.” Her voice broke on a sob, catching her off guard. She hadn’t realized she was crying. “Sorry,” she said pulling her knees up to her chest, and wiping at her face.

“When I was fourteen, the touching started.”

She felt Fionn go stiff under her. “I told my mom, I wasn’t stupid, but she thought I just hated Larry. I mean, I did. I hated him, still hate him, with a rage that can’t be duplicated. The things that man stole from me.” She felt it, that dark pool of rage she almost always refused to touch. If she touched it, the ripples would destroy her, she was sure. That pool was endlessly deep and all consuming. She couldn’t allow herself to ever touch it.

“Finally, I went to the police when I was sixteen. They took a report, but said I was technically legal age, and he wasn’t my actual blood parent, so they didn’t do shit.” She wiped her face again. “So, I ran away.”

“I had no other family, so I just… ran. I ended up at a friend’s house, whose parents were willing to take me in as long as I kept going to school, and got a part time job. That was the glorious beginning to my server career,” she laughed lightly. “When I was 19, Larry and my mom and brother were on I-5, and got into a collision in the fog. Mom and Larry were killed. Braden was dinged up, and went to live with his dad’s sister in West Virginia. I have no idea where he is now. He’d be 19 now.” She sighed, resigned.

“I managed to get into the local college, had to take a shit ton of loans, but I was doing it. My junior year, I had this friend. Kevin. I felt like we were good friends, I trusted him. So when he kissed me, I just assumed things would be fine. We’d been friends for a few years, and things happened. He didn’t stick around. Left me high and dry, and never looked back.”

She sighed, resignation in her voice. “A few weeks later, my period was late.” Fionn stiffened under her again and she chuckled. “Don’t worry, it was a false alarm.” Fionn relaxed under her, grumbling. “But I went to see Kevin, just to talk to him, I mean we were friends.” She shook her head, looking down from the stars to see Fionn watching her with rapt eyes. “His friends at the frat house shoved me down the steps and called me a whale.”

She shrugged. “That was it, my one and only consensual sexual experience until Xander.” Fionn’s ears flicked, his eyes widening. “What? Book boys were safer. They didn’t block you on your socials after they fucked you. It was emotional safety. If it got too complicated with a book boy, I just closed the book, and went to bed. End of story.”

Fionn rolled his amber eyes.

She yawned and laughed. “Don’t judge me, you’re literally a giant dog.”

A feeling of indignation rolled through her, making her laugh again. “But you’re my giant dog, if that helps.” He grumbled, making her laugh again. She turned, rolling her body toward him, and yawned again. “I didn’t tell you all this to get sympathy.” She said quietly. “I just don’t want secrets. This is too important to me. You and Xander. I wanted to be honest, and I probably will never want to speak about this again, okay?”

Fionn grunted his approval.

She curled further into the warm fur and breathed deeply.

That was the last thing she remembered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Fionn

She slept. Not the light restless kind of sleep that he’d come to associate with her, the kind where her body stayed half-tensed, as if ready to wake at the slightest noise, but something deeper. He could hear it in the slow even rhythm of her breathing. Feel it in the way her weight had fully settled against him, no hesitation left in the press of her body against him.

Fionn turned his head slightly, careful not to disturb her. Her hand was still curled into his fur near his right foreleg, fingers tangled there like she required the contact even in her sleep.

The bond between them responded to her state, softening instinctively. What had been bright and electric before dimmed into something gentler, warm, steady and protective. It wrapped around her like an unseen force, muting the sharper edges of him, of Xander, and of the world around them.

She trusts us.

The thought settled deep, instinctual and sure. For a moment there was only quiet from within. Then Xander’s voice, softer than usual, responded. Yeah.

Fionn drew in a slow breath, her scent flooding his senses. It was different out here in nature: cleaner, layered with the earth and night air, dew drops and moonlight, but still unmistakably her.

Mate. We will keep her safe.

The words weren’t just an abstract thought anymore, now with her weight pressed against him, Fionn knew with a certainty that Xander seemed to struggle with, that this was his one and only chance at forever. There was no hesitation in the wolf, no doubt about who she was, or what she would mean to man and beast alike.

Yeah, we will, Xander answered quietly, his tone soft, reverent as he watched her through Fionn’s amber eyes.

Fionn’s ears flicked once, his gaze never leaving Millie’s face.

You need to make a claim on her.

There was a shift inside him, Xander straightening, bristling slightly.

I did, you were there.

Fionn huffed softly, a quiet exhale through his nose, careful not to disturb her. Images flickered through his mind: instinct, memories, images older than language and touch, and words.

Bonded, marked permanent by blood and teeth.

In the way of humans, Fionn clarified. Do not let her leave us.

Xander exhaled sharply, the sound echoing through their shared space.

It’s a little too early to be talking about that, Fionn.

No. Fionn’s head lifted a fraction, ears angling toward the forest as his senses stretched outward, half of his focus on the world, the other half on the woman resting against his ribs. You’re scared.

Xander blinked at the wolf, silent for a beat.

Yeah, I am.

There it was, Fionn thought, raw and honest, but fear all the same.

If I propose marriage after a week of a relationship, she’s going to run half way across the country to get away from us.

Fionn stilled at that thought, considering. The logic meant little to him. Time didn’t work the same way for instincts like his, recognition had been immediate, the choice was final. Why wait for permanence when it already existed?

No, Fionn countered again, unwavering, she told us her story. She calls herself wolf-wife. She will stay.

Images surfaced unbidden through the bond: her pain, fear, loneliness, all the things she had laid bare beneath the moonlight to him. She would not share those things if she did not mean to stay. She said forever, Xander.

Xander huffed a quiet, humorless laugh.

Yeah, because I haven’t scared her off yet by moving to quickly.

That earned a low rumbling sound from Fionn’s chest, not a growl but something close. Protective and sure of his own opinions.

You won’t. You revealed yourself and mated with her the same night, marked her as our fated mate. How is this different?

Xander blinked at him. Fionn knew he’d hit a flaw in his argument, but neither of them backed down.

Fionn lifted his head higher, ears twitching sharply as something distant shifted in the trees. His body going still, muscles coiling, not in alarm but readiness. The forest stretched endlessly around them, alive in ways humans would rarely notice, but that were inescapable to Fionn. Small creatures moved through the underbrush, wings cut the air quietly. Somewhere far off in the distance, something larger passed between the trees. Fionn sniffed. Cougar. It was at least a mile out, no danger.

Nothing would cross the invisible line that now existed around her.

Nothing would ever touch her again.

Fionn scanned the clearing once more, slow and deliberate, confirming what his instincts already knew: no threats. He glanced back down at Millie, still sleeping peacefully against him. He curled his body tighter around her, encircling her completely his head blocking her body, his tail closing her off from a rear attack.

She shifted slightly at his movement, her fingers tightening slightly in his fur. Fionn froze, waited to see if she woke. A moment later, she murmured Xander’s name and sighed then continued on sleeping.

The bond warmed in response, deeper now, steady. It was no longer the wild surge from before, but something quieter… something lasting.

Mine.

The word echoed again, softer this time, not a demand, a promise. Inside, Xander felt it too, and didn’t argue, didn’t push back. He accepted it for what it was.

Fionn let his eyes half close, though his awareness never dulled. One ear continuing to track toward the forest, listening and ready. But his body… relaxed, a living barrier against the night.

She is safe.

Yeah, Xander agreed, his voice quieter than before. She is.

Fionn remained still, his body curved protectively around Millie as she slept but his mind would not calm. He listened to her breathing, slow and even, felt the steady rhythm of her heart through the bond, and noted the subtle differences already taking hold. The way the tension that usually lived beneath her skin had eased. It wasn’t gone, but it was quiet now, like a storm that had finally spent some of its rage and was beginning to fade.

She needed to tell us, she is more peaceful now, Fionn stated plainly.

Xander nodded. Yeah, I just… I didn’t realize how much she was carrying.

Fionn’s ears flicked back slightly, not in irritation, but in correction. He shifted enough to let her settle more comfortably against him before responding. It had been worse than Xander had understood. The words she had spoken were only part of it; the bond had carried the rest. The fear. The anger. The deep, festering hurt and rage that she kept buried so carefully… it had all bled through the bond straight into them. She had been surviving for her entire life, not living.

Never happy.

Never whole.

Never anything more than alone.

Xander exhaled slowly, the weight of that truth settling in. She should never have had to go through any of that.

Fionn considered that, tilting his head slightly as he watched her sleep. It was a very human thought, Fionn realized. Pointless, but sincere. No, she should not have, but she had, that was the plain truth and reality of it. What mattered now was not what should have been, but what would now be.

She chose to tell us, Xander added after a moment, voice quiet as if the realization had only just landed with him.

Fionn’s tail flicked once in agreement. That mattered more than anything else. She had not been forced, had not been badgered into it, not been cornered. She had chosen to sit beneath the full moon, in this clearing and hand them the worst parts of herself, trusting they would not break her further. That was not weakness, that was something far more rare and precious.

Total and complete trust.

Dangerous, fragile and absolute.

Xander shifted uneasily at the weight of it. I don’t even know what I’m supposed do to with all of it, Fionn.

Fionn’s answer came without hesitation, simple and grounded in instinct. You do not need to fix it in the way you mean. You just have to be there. Present. Stay.

Xander huffed a breath. That’s all the advice you have?

Fionn did not dignify that with an immediate response. Instead, he adjusted again, lowering his head closer to Millie as she shifted in her sleep, her fingers tightening instinctively in his fur. When she settled again, and her fingers eased, only then did her respond.

Yes, just stay. Stay when it is easy, when it is not. Stay when she pushes and when she goes quiet and when she does not know how to ask for what she needs. Just stay with her. Prove to her and yourself that you can be what she needs you to be.

I can do that, Xander agreed.

Fionn did not miss the thread of uncertainty beneath it, his ears angling back slightly.

You will want to leave, Fionn pointed out. When it becomes difficult, when you do not understand her, when it hurts. You cannot. You will stay.

You really don’t think highly of me, do you?

Fionn watched him with careful eyes. Do not hurt her, Xander.

Xander fell quiet for a long moment before he answered. I never want to hurt her.

Fionn accepted that, and did not comment further. Promises meant little without time behind them. Still, he felt the shift in Xander, the resolve settling into place, and that was enough to satisfy the wolf for now.

Silence stretched between them again, filled only but the forest and steady warmth of the bond. Eventually Xander spoke, more hesitant this time. What about… everything else?

Fionn knew what he meant. The bond between them, the word neither of them had said out loud to her. The future that now loomed, inevitable as the rising sun.

She is ours, Fionn answered. To him, it was just that simple.

Xander immediately pushed back, thought there was less force behind it. You keep saying that like she doesn’t get a choice in it.

She does, Fionn replied calmly, and she has shown you that she chooses to stay.

That quieted him for a moment.

She chose to be here tonight, Xander corrected. That’s not the same things as… a whole future together.

Fionn let out a soft huff, something almost amused threading through it. Humans had a remarkable talent for complicating what was, at its very core, simple and clear. It was an odd quirk he’d never understood.

She is not running, he pointed out, not from us or the future.

Xander hesitated before muttering, That’s because I haven’t terrified her yet.

That earned a thump of Fionn’s tail.

You give yourself too much credit, the wolf snorted.

Xander snorted right back. Oh I do? Because last I checked, most human women don’t react well to: ‘Surprise! I’m a werewolf and also your forever person! You don’t get a choice in the matter because my inner wolf said so.’ Xander rolled his eyes. Be realistic, Fionn. She is going to need time.

Fionn considered that then responded with seriousness. Then perhaps do not phrase it like that.

Xander rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up. Solid advice, really groundbreaking.

Fionn ignored his tone entirely.

Claim her properly, Xander.

Xander groaned. We are not having this talk again, Fionn.

You are delaying the inevitable.

I’m… pacing, Xander corrected. There is a difference.

You are afraid, Fionn accused.

Xander drew back. I’m not afraid of marrying her. Feck, Fionn, if I didn’t think I would scare her off, I’d have married her yesterday. I’m not completely stupid, I know she’s it for me, for us. I know she’s the one. He shook his head. But I am afraid that if I come to her after only a week of being together with a ring and a proposal, it’ll be too much too fast and she’ll bolt. Would you rather scare her off completely, or give it time?

That gave Fionn pause, not because of the sentiment but because of the clarity behind it. Ther was no hesitation in the truth that Xander spoke. No doubt that Xander believed it fully.

I don’t want to scare her away, Fionn. I want to keep her.

Fionn’s gaze dropped briefly to Millie, her face relaxed in sleep, her body unconsciously leaning into this warmth.

She will not run from truth, he said after a moment.

Xander let out a quiet breath. There is no way to know that.

Fionn did not waver. She ran from pain, not from belonging. She aches to belong.

Xander sat back. That… that’s fair.

Fionn allowed a flicker of satisfaction at that.

You are afraid of losing her, Fionn started.

Yeah, that’s the problem, Xander interrupted.

Then do not behave as though you already have.

There was a long pause after that, but it was different now, less tense.

Xander exhaled slowly. Just give me time, please. I’m going to make her my wife, just not tomorrow. Okay?

Fionn did not argue this time. Time, he could allow, avoidance he could not. This was consideration, care.

Acceptable, Fionn grunted.

Another stretch of quiet passed before Xander spoke again, tone lighter.

She called you her giant dog.

Fionn’s tale thumped.

She’s not wrong, Xander continued, a hit of amusement slipping back in. A terrifying, slightly judgmental, emotionally stunted dog, but still.

Fionn let out a low rumble, unimpressed.

Mine, he repeated anyway.

Xander laughed now. Yeah, I think we all got the message. You’re subtle as ever.

Fionn ignored him entirely, settling more fully around her, listening to her breathe.

Note from Tath: I want to let you all know of some trigger warnings for this chapter specifically, all topics are mentioned vaguely, no specific details given, but if any of these topics are sensitive to you, please be aware before reading.

There is mention of parental abuse and death (just vague details/memories), childhood trauma and sexual assault, talk of emotional trauma and childhood PTSD, grief and depression.

With that, please enjoy this next installment of Xander and Millie’s story

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: Due to length restrictions, this part has been broken into two parts: Wrong Number, Right Mate Part 12 and Part 12.5

Xander

The afternoon light stretched long across the room, warm and lazy, settling over them like it had nowhere else to be. Millie was sprawled across Xander’s couch, her legs draped over his lap like they’d always belonged there. One of his hands rested around her ankles, thumb brushing absent circles against the skin there, more instinct than thought.

The tether between them hummed, not loud or overwhelming. Present, strong and golden in the shared energy. A steady, living thread from her heart to his. Warm where Xander sat, a deeper and richer feeling where Fionn lingered beneath the surface. He could feel her at the other end of the thread, bright curious and a little restless.

He was painfully aware of their tether.

Her laughter bounced off his walls, ringing like bells. “You’re lying!” she accused pointing at him lazily. “That absolutely did not happen.”

He nodded. “Oh I’m not lying, it absolutely happened.” He shot back. “That dog absolutely stole my sandwich.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And it wasn’t your dog.”

He shook his head. “Where would I have kept a dog at Uni?” He sighed. “I’m serious, Millie. I’d just gotten that fecking sandwich, and took up a spot on the library steps, minding my own fecking business, and the fecking thing appeared out of nowhere like it had been summoned there.”

She continued to look at him skeptically. “And you just let him take your food?”

“I didn’t let it,” he said, offended. “I was distracted.”

She laughed again. “By what?”

He huffed a quiet laugh and shrugged. “Finals. Lack of sleep. Questioning my every life decision that led me to Uni to begin with.”

She grinned. “So a stray dog outsmarted you during an existential crisis.”

“It was a coordinated attack,” he insisted. “I’m fairly certain there was a second one acting as a lookout.” She laughed again, the sound bright and easy, settling somewhere inside him, making him feel lighter than most of the things he carried form that time.

“Or,” she said, still laughing as he nudged him lightly, “you just didn’t care enough to stop it.” He paused for a second, something quieter slipping into his expression.

“Maybe,” he said. “He looked hungry.”

Her smile softened, as she leaned her head against the back of the couch, watching him with warm eyes. “You are far more soft than you try to portray yourself, Patrick.” He growled and gripped her ankle tightly. “Okay, okay,” she laughed. “Xander, Xander!”

He loosened his hold and moved quickly, leaning over her, her legs trapped under him as he leaned over her. “Keep teasing me, and see what happens.” He pressed his nose against hers. “Mildred.”

She leaned back, a look of mock offense.

“Fine, you win. Xander.” She rolled her eyes, but there was warmth there, easy and unguarded. “You are ridiculous.”

“And yet,” he said, glancing at her, something softer threading through his tone, “your still here.”

She laughed. “Tragic, really.”

“Mmhmm,” he murmured, running his nose lightly over hers before pressing a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Devastating for you.”

His growl softened as he moved and pressed a kiss to her lips. She giggled as he moved back to his original position, and this time started to rub his thumbs into the arch of her left foot. “Oh god, that’s amazing,” she groaned letting her head fall back. “If you keep doing that I’ll do whatever you want.” She groaned. “Sex, marriage, your laundry, just… don’t stop.”

He chuckled. “Well if I had known it was that easy…”

She didn’t lift her head when she slapped at his shoulder playfully.

The movement sent a ripple through the tether: soft, and warm. Familiar already in a way that should’ve been impossible after a day. There was nothing normal about this, about their relationship.

Fionn stretched contentedly. Our mate, he grumbled.

Xander’s mouth twitched.

She titled her head, studying him. “What?”

He raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“That thinking thing,” she said, sliding her fingertip along his arm. “Where you go all quiet and the tether gets…heavier.”

He blinked. “…heavier?”

She nodded, frowning slightly like she was trying to find the right word. “Not bad heavy.” She paused. “It becomes more… you… and Fionn.” Her gaze came into focus. “You’re both paying attention to me.”

Fionn huffed, pleased. She feels us.

“Yeah,” Xander murmured.

Millies eyes narrowed. “What are you plotting over there?”

He huffed a laugh, slipping his hands to her right foot. “Nothing.”

She leaned her head against the back of the couch. “Liar.”

He dropped his mouth in mock indignation. “Rude.”

She snorted. “Accurate.”

Fionn nodded his big head inside him. She speaks the truth, he agreed.

He shook his head, but his hand stilled on her foot. “Hey,” he said softly. The tether tightened, not painfully, just more focused.

“Hey,” she responded.

“Can I ask you something serious?”

She sat up. “Of course,” she said. Her lips tilted up slightly. “I am your wolf-wife after all.”

He snorted, a charming grin curving his lips. “You are really committed to that title.”

She chuckled. “You bit the shit out of my shoulder and gave me wolf-wife powers.” She said as if that explained everything. Fionn snorted. “I can feel you, both of you, in my bloodstream. At this point, I feel like I’ve earned it.”

Fionn rumbled his approval. She has.

He snorted. “You’re unbelievable.”

She chuckled. “And you love me.”

He rolled his eyes, his smile only widening. “Unfortunately.”

She gasped. “Now who is being rude!”

He squeezed her foot and winked at her. Her smile lingered, but she learned in just slightly more attentive now. “What’s the question?”

He exhaled slowly, thumb brushing once more along her foot before he stilled completely. “Next Wednesday is the full moon.”

Her expression shifted with recognition, because she could feel it too, the faint pull from Fionn. “Oh,” she said softly. “Is that what that is?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

Her gaze flickered over his face. “Okay, tell me what that means.”

He tilted his head slightly, studying her. “I usually go out. Take Fionn to run.” His eyes watched her carefully, watching for her changes in expression. “We drive out to the forest and then I shift. When he’s done, I shift back, and come home.” She nodded, listening intently.

“That’s a very casual way to talk about it.”

He snorted. “I’m trying to ease you into it, sweetheart.”

She smiled softly. “Thank you.” Her gaze flicked, not away from him, but inward, like she was checking something. He felt her touch the tether between them, caressing it in her mind. “I can… feel him. Like he’s moving closer.”

Fionn lifted his head at that, attention sharpening on her. She notices.

“Of course she does,” Xander muttered.

“Are you talking to him?”

“Yes.”

“Should I be offended?”

Xander snorted then laughed. “Gods, no.” He shook his head. “He likes you far more than he likes me.”

She smiled brightly. “Good. He’s got good taste.”

He laughed again, and shook his head. His body stilled slowly. “I was wondering,” he said carefully now, “if you wanted to come with me.” He swallowed his throat suddenly dry. “Out to the forest, see the shift and meet Fionn.”

Something flickered in her expression, something deeper than curiosity. Not fear, but something adjacent to it. Silence stretched between them, not empty but full of thoughts. She looked down at her hands, twisting the fingers together.

“That’s… a lot.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

She sighed. “Up until now, it’s all been kind of…theoretical.” She said. “Like, yes, my boyfriend is a werewolf. Sure, why not? We love that for me-”

He choked on a laugh. “Boyfriend, huh?”

She shot him a look. “Do you want to downgrade already? Because I can make that happen.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Nope. Love that title. Please continue, girlfriend.”

She rolled her eyes. “Good,” she muttered. In a softer tone she continued, “But seeing it happen, that’s… going to be really different.”

He nodded, resting his hands on her calves.

Her fingers absently twisted in her lap. “What is it like?”

He looked away, staring into the space of the room. “Honestly?”

“Please.”

He sighed. “It’s intense.” He said. “Not painful, at least not for me. It can be for some of the Omegas.” He sighed. “But can look fairly violent, again, less so for me. It looks worse than it is.”

Her nose wrinkled. “That isn’t comforting.”

“I’m not trying to sell it like a spa day, love.”

She sighed.

“But more than anything,” he continued on, “its freeing.” Her eyes flicked back to his. “Fionn’s different.” He said slowly. “He feels everything bigger, more viscerally. In a way, simpler. There’s no overthinking, no second guessing, just instinct.”

She watched him. “That sounds like the opposite of Xander.”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

She was silent for a long moment. “You trust me to see that?” She asked quietly.

He nodded immediately. “Yeah. I trust you with my life.”

Something in her expression softened. “Will he be…”

Xander gripped her calf. “He’ll be protective of you, if anything. He thinks of you as his.” He leaned his arm across the back of the couch, and slipped his fingers into her loosened braid. “He would lie his life down for you. He’ll never hurt you.”

She smiled. “Well I think if he wanted to, I think I’d feel it coming through the whole magical soulmate wi-fi thing we have going on.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “That is a hell of a way to describe it.”

She smirked at him. “Am I wrong?”

“…No…” He said still laughing.

The tether warmed between them, golden and warm and sure.

She exhaled slowly, looking back at him, looking settled. “Okay,” she said slowly.

Xander’s brows lifted. “Okay?”

She nodded. Fionn surged with approval. Good.

“But,” she added quickly, pointing at him, “if I panic-”

“You can.”

“If I scream-”

“That would be fair.”

“If I run-”

“I’ll catch you.” She lifted her brows.

“…that wasn’t comforting,” she said completely deadpan.

He grinned. “I’ll catch you gently.” He amended.

She gave a stiff nod. “Better.” She stared down at her fingers. “If I decide halfway through that this is too much and I want to go home-”

“Then I shift back, and we go home.”

She nodded and looked back up at him. “Okay.”

He squeezed her calves. “Okay.”

She leaned her head against the back of the couch again. “I cannot believe this is my life,” she said smiling at him.

He smiled back. “You can downgrade me from ‘boyfriend’ if it’s too much.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Excuse you?”

He grinned. “There she is.” He said pleased.

She leaned forward, and poked him in the shoulder. “I just upgraded you. Don’t make me regret it, Patrick.”

“Oh so its official now, is it?” he asked refusing to acknowledge her use of his first name.

She gasped and leaned back. “You’re unbelievable.”

He grinned. “And yet…”

She threw her hands in the air. “I’m you’re wolf-wife, sir. You are stuck with me.”

Fionn preened. Forever.

Xander’s smile softened. “Yeah, you are.”

The tether thrummed between them.

“We’re insane.” She sighed.

He leaned back, his thumb caressing the curve of her cheek. “Yeah,” he said quietly. They watched each other silently for a few moments. “But you’re still coming with me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

She pushed herself forward, slipping into his lap, and sliding her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. He kissed her back, tongue pressing against hers, her nails biting into the skin at his neck.

He groaned, sliding his hands around her thighs, and grabbing her ass, pulling her up tighter against him. She groaned, rolling her hips over him. “Jesus, is it always going to be like this?” she asked, kissing his cheeks as she ground against him.

His head rolled back to the back of the couch when she bit his earlobe gently. “Shite, Millie,” he groaned. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “It’s never been like this.”

She moaned against his ear when he slapped her ass cheek. “Good answer,” she said.

He chuckled. “I’m serious,” he started, but her lips were there again, her arms pulling at his shirt. They were a mess of arms and legs, clothes flying in every direction before he pulled her back onto his lap, helping her settle over him and pressing inside her. Her head fell back, as he pulled her tighter against him.

Neither spoke as they moved, the only noises their moans, grunts and the erotic slipping noise he made as he moved inside her. Their touches and movements were frantic, both of them chasing their own release.

Their skin was a mess of scratch marks, kisses and a fine sheen of sweat. She leaned back, pressing her hands on his knees, rolling her hips harder against him. He was pretty sure his eyes had gone cross eyed when she’d done that. He’d leaned forward catching one of her nipples in his mouth.

She pushed him back against the couch, kissing him again.

His orgasm caught him completely off guard. He thought he was doing pretty well holding off, until she bit his shoulder. It wasn’t a hard bite, more like her teeth scraping his skin, but it had shot him over the edge.

“I’m coming,” he grunted.

That seemed to be all the fuel she needed, her legs clamping around him, her back bowing her pussy rippling around him, pulling him rhythmically, pulling a sharp choking sound form his throat.

She was still spasming around him when she felt him beginning to swell, and bit her lip in pleasure, a sense of pride sliding over her damp skin. She was the only one who could make him knot. She giggled, leaning forward and dropping her head on his shoulder. She scraped her teeth along his shoulder again, and he jerked inside her.

“Shite, babe, don’t do that now,” he laughed. “Its so fecking sensitive.”

She laughed. “Sorry, not sorry.”

He groaned. “I kinda figured.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next week slipped by quietly, easy in a way neither of them were used to. By the time the sun started to slip into the horizon Wednesday night, the shift started. Not in a sharp, jarring way that she expected it would, but subtly.

Xander felt it first: the low restless stir beneath his ribs, the ache for the outside, for nature.

Fionn.

He wasn’t agitated, not yet, but awake. Alert, watching and waiting for the moment he got to fully stretch his legs and bay at the moon. Xander watched the sun dipping below the horizon and considered not telling Millie about the anticipation Fionn was ringing through him.

She needs to know.

Xander sighed, and hated that he agreed with his wolf.

“I know, doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He muttered. “Don’t scare her tonight, okay? I can tell she’s a bit skittish.”

Fionn looked offended. “You know what I mean. Take it at her pace, not yours. You get impatient, Fionn.”

The wolf titled his big head, before finally agreeing. I will go at her pace, Xander.

He could hear her in the kitchen, washing the few dishes they’d created through the day, humming off key as she went. He turned away from the window, moving in to the bedroom. He removed his jeans and boxer briefs, and slipped on his oldest pair of sweat pants. He shoved his feet into this slip on shoes, sockless.

He wasn’t ruining yet another pair of socks to a shift.

He slipped on his gray hoodie, and walked back out into the living room, just as Millie emerged from the kitchen. She blinked at him, then nodded, wordlessly understanding it was time.

She slipped her jacket over her shoulders, pulling her loosened hair out, and letting it spill down her back. She grabbed her purse, and pulled her ID out of her wallet, shoving it in her back pocket. She dug in her purse and pulled out a hair tie, shoving it in her front pocket of her jeans.

“I assume we won’t be stopping anywhere?”

He smiled at her, hands in his pockets. “No, just the woodlands.”

She nodded. “Well, I’m ready when you are, wolf-boy.”

He gave her a crooked smile, shoving his glasses back up his nose. “Wolf-boy?”

She shrugged. “Wolf-man seemed very 1930’s horror film-esque.”

He chuckled and reached for her hand. “I’ll still be there, so even if you get scared of Fionn, know that I can pull him back at any time, I can and will come back if you need me to.” Fionn grunted in irritation.

She knows, you’ve said that a dozen times already. Let’s just go.

Xander ignored the wolf, and keep his eyes on Millie.

She smiled at him as she took his hand and nodded. “I know.” She huffed a laugh. “I think Fionn is more than a little agitated that you keep giving me an out.”

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Fionn is perpetually agitated with me.”

Fionn grunted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

She stepped out of the apartment, waiting as he locked the door behind them and then took his hand as they moved toward the stairs. She’d discovered the other night how much he loathed the elevator when it jerked to a stop on the third floor.

They had gone to dinner and a movie. He’d explained that he wanted to take her on a ‘real date.’ It had been amazing, she had to admit. He’d dipped out of the apartment while she showered and had picked her up a small bouquet of flowers, and gave her the full ‘real date’ treatment.

The man was charming beyond words. Opening doors for her, pulling her chair out at the restaurant, refusing to let her pay for anything. She’d found that part mildly irritating, but kind of old school endearing at the same time. He’d taken her to see the latest Sandra Bullock rom-com, and much to her utter satisfaction, had slipped the arm rest up, and hauled her up against him for the entire movie.

If she hadn’t already been in love with him, at the end of the night, as they walked back to his apartment, she would have been. He’d been perfect, in so many simple and ridiculous ways, and she loved every single minute of it.

Until they’d gotten in the elevator.

He looked like he was about ready to throw up.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, brows knitted, concern on her face.

He nodded jerkily, but she could feel the tension and fear radiating through the bond. “Be honest, Xander. Are you okay?”

He glanced at her, swallowing and shook his head. “I hate lifts.”

She tilted her head. “Can I ask why?”

He blinked at her. “They’re metal coffins on a string.” He said as if she should already know that. Before the elevator doors could close again, she pushed them back open with her arm and tugged him out of the elevator.

“Let’s take the stairs then,” she said.

“Are you sure?” He asked quietly.

“I’m sure. If I’m too tired to take the stairs, I’ll take the elevator, and you just meet me at the door, okay?”

He watched her for a long minute then pulled her into his arms. “Thank you.”

Ever since then, they took the stairs.

“So, where are we going exactly?” she asked as he opened the door to the service stairs.

“There’s a place in the woodlands, about twenty minutes out. It’s quiet, no people really. A good place on a full moon for a run.”

The thread between them hummed with Fionn’s anticipation now, not anxious, or strained. Excited, alive, eager. Fionn was like a puppy who knew he was about to go to the park, she thought with a smile as she descended the steps.

Fionn snorted, indignant.

Xander choked a laugh.

“What?” She asked.

He shook his head. “A puppy going to a park?” He laughed. “Fionn doesn’t appreciate it, but I fecking do.” He laughed again, squeezing the hand he held.

The drive was fairly quiet, the low hum of the radio and the noise from the engine of Xander’s truck the only real noise in the cab. He drove with his left hand on the wheel, his right hand still wrapped hers across the seat unless he needed it to shift gears. She watched him openly as he drove down the highway, seemingly completely at ease.

She didn’t know what she really expected in a relationship, but she knew for certain it wasn’t this. This… ease. She’d thought, much like her books, and movies, that they would be jumping from one cliffhanger to another. One problem to the next.

But this?

She felt her lips curl up as she watched him. Wrist resting at the top of the wheel, his eyes focused on the road in front of him, even as his glasses slipped further down his nose. He was humming absently along with the radio. He glanced over his left shoulder, flipping his turn signal on and merging into the left lane to go around a slower car. When he checked over his right shoulder to merge back, he caught her watching him.

He smiled, catching her eye, then continuing on to check his blind spot. “What?” He asked as he merged back into the lane he wanted.

She shook her head. “It’s just…”

He glanced back at her. “Just what?”

She sighed. “It feels too easy.”

He blinked at the highway in front of him. “Too… easy.” He repeated, pushing his glasses back up. “And that is… bad?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s just unexpected.”

He glanced at her, brow raised. “I’m going to need a little more than that, sweetheart.”

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know how to explain it. I just figured that the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing would be harder than this. Like,” she paused, looking for the right word. “I don’t know. Like it would be harder. More…” she sighed heavily, “not like fights or anything but just, harder. To get to this kind of… easiness.”

She looked back at him, watching his expression.

“I want to make sure I’m understanding what you mean,” he said slowly. “You expected more strife at the beginning, but because it’s not… hard… you’re weirded out?”

She sighed. “Kind of? I just didn’t know it would be so easy to not perform. You know? Like on a first date, you have to put your best foot forward, be yourself, but not too much yourself. Then you spend the next several months or years trying to ease them into who you really are without the buffers.” She bit her lip. “Does that make any sense whatsoever or have I completely lost it?”

He nodded. “No, I get it.” He squeezed her hand gently, not taking his eyes from the highway. “It is easy, and it is really new.” He gave a half shrug. “I can’t tell you why that is, other than something that would sound dramatic. It just… is.”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “Oh now I need to know the dramatic part.”

He gave a half smile, glancing at her. “Oh, you do, now?”

She chuckled. “Lay it on me, wolf-boy.”

He laughed and squeezed her hand again. “Well, do you remember that bed time story I told you last week?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He shrugged. “Did you really think I made that up as I went?”

She stared at him, not fully comprehending. “Uh… I don’t know what you mean.”

“The knight,” he said slowly, “for him it was love at first sight. He knew he loved her the instant he saw her. The whole world fell away. Nothing else mattered.” He glanced over at her. “Just her.”

Her cheeks started to warm, and she knew she was blushing.

“He thought his love for her was written in the stars eons before either of them were born.” He gave her hand another small squeeze. “But what if, what the knight didn’t know, was that her love for him was written there too?”

She sucked in her bottom lip in an attempt to keep from smiling like an idiot, but it didn’t work so well. She looked away, suddenly feeling more like a sixteen year old girl whose crush just confessed he had a crush on her. She let out a sappy little giggle, and wanted to immediately throw herself from the moving truck.

He looked back over at her, a crooked smile on his lips. “I like that I can make you giggle.” He said, lifting their joined hands and kissing the back of hers. He dropped their hands to his thigh as he continued to drive.

She woke slowly, like surfacing from a warm cocoon. For a few quiet moments, she didn’t move, didn’t think, just reveled in the sensations around her.

Heat surrounded her fully, solid, heavy and inescapable heat. An arm heavily draped over her waist, another tucked under her head, her cheek pressed against the hard, yet surprisingly soft bicep. A body, hard and firm, pressed against the length of her body, legs tangled with hers under the cool sheets.

She shifted slightly, and sighed.

She felt… safe.

Her breath hitched softly as her awareness settled on the puzzle as a whole. The weight, the warmth, the faint and rhythmic sound of breathing in her ear.

A soft snore.

Her lips twitched.

Xander was snoring.

The memories came back in waves then. Watching his dark head between her legs, his eyes closed as he kissed and licked her. The way he’d watched her with hungry eyes when he undressed.

The thickness of him pressing into her for the first time.

The way he’d kissed her as he pumped into her, like she was a dream he couldn’t believe was real. The feel of his skin against hers, under her fingertips, pressed between her thighs.

The feeling of him spilling inside her, the pressure of his knot.

The marking.

When he’d finally lifted his head, the smear of her blood against his lips. It should have terrified her, but it hadn’t. To his credit, he licked his lips, the blood vanishing nearly as soon as she saw it. It was something that should have frightened her, how easily he licked her blood off his lips, but… it wasn’t.

She smiled to herself, Xander wanted her to belong to him.

His wolf-wife.

She smiled, biting her lip, trying to keep herself from laughing out loud. The title completely absurd, but something she wasn’t willing to let go of either. He bit the shit out of her shoulder, she deserved the damn title.

There was something else there… Not just the warmth of his body, but something else inside his body. Literally inside her. A quiet humming thread, like a second heartbeat that wasn’t so much as a second beat, but almost layered on top of her own. Familiar in a way that didn’t make sense to her.

Her fingers curled slightly against his arm as the realization slid over her.

There you are.

The voice wasn’t really a voice, more like velvet and heat, pressing into her mind, low and pleased. She exhaled slowly, and blinked into the bedroom. “Fionn?”

Behind her, Xander shifted, his chest pressing closer to her back as his arm instinctively tightened around her middle. His face buried deeper into her hair, breath warm against her neck. He murmured something against her she couldn’t understand and then snored again.

She tried to bite back a smile and failed.

You feel us, the quiet warmth whispered through her, unmistakably pleased. Her heart kicked up a notch, recognition flaring. It was like standing on the edge of something vast and realizing she wasn’t alone.

“Yeah,” she breathed, almost laughing under her breath. “This is new.”

It will not fade, the grumble said.

There was an unmistakable tone of pride in that declaration.

She swallowed, her gaze dropping to Xander’s arm where it still lay draped across her middle. Her fingers lightly brushing over his skin, tracing the shape of him.

Ours, the voice grumbled.

The word slipped through her thoughts. His word, not hers.

She blinked. Okay… that was a lot.

Behind her, Xander made a soft, sleepy sound, his nose nudging against the back of her neck. “Stop thinking so loud,” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

She froze. “I’m not-”

“You are,” he muttered, tightening his hold on her as if to prove a point. “Feels like buzzing under my skin.”

“You can tell I’m thinking?”

“Mmhmm,” he shifted again, pressing a sleepy kiss just below her ear. “Too early for existential crises.”

She snorted. “Good morning to you, too.”

“Not morning,” he grumbled, trying to pull her tighter. “Illegal hour.”

“Not a morning person, huh?”

The only response she got was a sleepy grunt. She leaned back into him, his satisfied sigh brushing across her shoulder blade and neck. She tried to stop thinking about the big things: the mark, Fionn, this whole new ‘feeling’ thing happening between them.

Instead, she tried to just be… present. There, enjoying his arms around her, his body against her, his breath on her neck and shoulder. The steady rise and fall of his chest against her back, the warmth of his breath, the weight of his arm. Under it all, that thread that pulled them together.

A constant hum.

Her hand drifted up, fingers brushing lightly along her shoulder where his mark rested. It was tender, but not exactly painful; more like a memory pressed into her skin.

Mine, Fionn murmured, softer now.

Millie’s lips curved faintly.

“Yeah,” she breathed.

Behind her Xander finally stirred more fully, his arm pulling her tighter for a moment before loosening slightly. He shifted, blinking awake just enough to press his forehead against the back of her shoulder.

“You still here?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah,” she whispered back. “I’m still here,” she whispered.

His hand moved along her side, sliding along her ribs as if he need to check. “Good,” he murmured sleepily. She shifted again, adjusting her shoulder so she could press more fully against him. She fit perfectly, like she’d been made to fit in his arms specifically.

He mumbled and slid his hand up to her breast, stroking softly. She sighed, as he stroked her breast, her nipples hardening under his touch. He shifted slightly, and pressed long lingering kissed along her shoulder blade.

She let out a soft moan, turning her head into his arm under her, and kissing the bicep softly. His body shuddered lightly behind her, so she pressed another kiss along his arm, then another. The dark black and grey sleeve tattoo under her head just begged to be traced by her tongue. She flicked her tongue out grazing his skin lightly, and felt his entire body jerk at the touch.

“Mm,” he mumbled behind her, sliding his hand from her breast down her ribs and hips, slowly curving between her thighs. When his palm slid over her, she moaned low in her throat, sparks flying through her nervous system.

He slipped a finger between her soft lips and pressed into her slit. Her hips rocked forward, pressing into his hand.

His fingers slid over her, moving slowly. “Millie,” he moaned against the back of her ear. “You’re already so wet for me,” he said, kissing her shoulder. He pressed a finger inside her, making her moan.

“I need to be inside you.” She wasn’t sure if he was asking permission or stating a fact, either way, she was on board for it.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

He moved quickly, scooting himself down a few inches then lifting her thigh. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing until she felt him pressing against her, then into her. She tilted her hips back and groaned as he pushed fully inside her.

“Feck me,” he grunted.

She tried to laugh but couldn’t.

“I’m doing my best,” she breathed, her lips moving against his bicep.

He grunted behind her. “Yer doing great,” he grunted, as he began thrusting inside her slowly, holding her leg up, sliding almost all the way out, then pushing back in slowly. She moaned low in her throat, kissing and biting at his bicep under her cheek. “Feck,” he groaned. “Do tat ‘gin,” he slipped his hand holding up her thigh down until his fingers brushed her clit.

She moaned, pressing back against him and biting his arm harder. He trembled behind and inside her when her teeth scraped his skin.

“Shite, Millie,” he grunted. He moved faster with each thrust, his breath coming faster against her shoulder. His noises drove her insane, the small grunts he made with each thrust was intoxicating, making her throb for him. “How are you still so fecking tight,” he bit out into her ear.

She didn’t have an answer, instead just bit his bicep again. She felt him jerk behind her, his entire body going rigid with the bite. “You drive me crazy,” he almost whimpered, his movements becoming more erratic.

“I’m close, love,” he warned.

“Me too,” she breathed, her hips rocking back against him while he thrust inside her and slid his finger along her clit. “Please don’t stop,” she begged, her hand reaching back and sliding along his hip, nails digging in.

His arm under her head slid up, grasping one of her breasts, his large palm squeezing. “Feck, Millie,” he groaned, “come for me, sweetheart.”

“Oh, shit,” she groaned, her walls tightening around him.

“Come on me,” he growled in her ear. “Now.”

Her entire body bowed at his command, her muscles tightening painfully, while he continued to move. “Good girl,” he grunted as she dissolved into full body trembles. He grunted again in her ear. “Millie,” he breathed, and then pushed forward hard. She felt him twitching deep, a warmth spreading into her deeply.

He grunted with every twitch inside her, his palm on her breast tightening hard enough she was sure she was going to have a bruise, but she loved it. The pain to pleasure was forcing her orgasm longer.

Just as she was coming down, she felt the swell start.

His knot.

He grunted again, pushing deeper and then seemed to get himself firmly hooked inside and sighed. His grip on her breast loosened as he kissed her shoulder and neck. “I’m knotted again,” he said, as if she needed confirmation.

She smiled, breathless.

“I thought you said that didn’t happen all the time?”

He chuckled, his breath uneven against her neck. “It doesn’t. That is on the second time in my entire life that I’ve done it.”

She blinked into the room. “Last night was the first time?”

“Mmhmm,” he said, kissing her neck again. “I was waiting for you, I think.”

She grinned against his arm, feeling immeasurably pleased with that confession. “Really?”

He chuckled and pulled her tighter against his chest. “Sweetheart until last night, I’d never even gone without a condom before.” He brushed her hair away from her neck and placed a kiss under her ear. “Apparently you are my first and last for a lot of things.”

She blushed. “Oh...”

He laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed. I already know you’re it for me, and because of the bond… I know I’m it for you, too.”

She smiled against his arm. “So confident this morning.”

He laughed again. “Sweetheart, what can I say? You’re pumped full of my liquid confidence as we speak.”

She giggled and shook her head. “You are absolutely shameless.”

He kissed the back of her shoulder. “And you love it.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “We’re insane.”

Xander nodded with mock graveness. “Completely certifiable.”

They lay there for a long while, his hands running along her hip and shoulder as if simultaneously mindless, and trying to commit every inch of her to his memory.

She sighed, feeling that tether between them tight and warm. She could feel the deep satisfaction in him, knowing he’d knotted her twice in 12 hours.

She’ll have our pup inside her by summer, Fionn preened.

She raised an eyebrow. “You want me pregnant by summer, huh?”

He kissed her shoulder and chuckled. “That’s more Fionn, but, I mean, eventually. I’d like to have a family with you.”

She kissed his bicep again. “Can’t we just enjoy us for a little bit before we bring diapers and bottles into this situation?”

Xander laughed. “Like I said, that’s more Fionn than me.”

They lay there for a while, his heavy lids sliding closed again, his breath evening back out. She curled against him, his arms pulling her closer. This is what she’d always hoped it could be. Someone who chose her someone who wanted her.

She pressed a kiss to his bicep, as she felt his knot start to loosen, and he began to slip from her body. She sighed, and made a move to get out of the bed, but his hold on her tightened.

“M’not asleep,” he muttered, his voice rough and low, accent thicker now than when he spoke normally.

She huffed a laugh. “You’re snoring, Xander.”

“Resting my eyes, love.”

She rolled her eyes, though he couldn’t see it and tried to move, just a little.

“No,” he mumbled.

Millie let out a soft laugh. “No?”

“No getting up,” he said more firmly, but it came out more like a petulant toddler with his sleep heavy voice. “Stay.”

She smiled. There was something almost… boyish about it. Possessive, absolutely, but softened as it was from sleep and something deeper that she could feel humming under his words.

That thread again.

Steady, warm, a quiet pull low in her chest that answered him before she even thought about it.

Stay, Fionn whispered across her.

“Honey, I have to use the bathroom,” she said on a quiet laugh.

“Oh,” he lifted his arm. “Then by all means,” he said lifting the blanket from her. She dashed down the tiny hall into the bathroom and relieved her overly full bladder. She washed her hands quickly, glancing up at herself in the mirror, and caught sight of her body.

She paused, turning the water off, and drying her hands absently on the towel on the counter. She lifted her hair, and looked at her shoulder. There was no mark. Nothing to show that Xander had drawn her blood last night.

But even more than that, the bruises she was expecting from yesterday weren’t there. The one that had already been forming from where the asshole grabbed her arm, the one she knew she’d have on her hip, none of them. She was completely free from any markings.

“The fuck,” she breathed as she shook her head. She returned to the bedroom to find Xander leaning against the headboard, sliding his glasses up his nose.

“Good morning beautiful.”

She grinned and slid on of his lap, straddling him, and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Morning, handsome.” He laughed, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter against him. “I have a weird question for you.” She said. Leaning away from him.

“Okay?”

“I don’t have a bite mark on my shoulder. I should though, shouldn’t I? And the bruises from that guy at the diner, they’re gone.”

Xander nodded. “One upside of a marked mate, since you’re a human, you’ll get the same healing abilities as a wolf. So, that mark probably lasted twenty minutes. The bruises were probably gone in minutes.”

“Wait, are you like wolverine? Like a super mutant or something?”

He laughed. “Not even close to that cool, sweetheart. Just a wolf thing.”

“Well that sucks. No metal claws for you then, sir.”

He chuckled, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Lifting his lips, he ran a hand through her long hair. “The gods broke the mold when they made you, love.”

She blushed and dropped her head to his shoulder. “Xander,” she said embarrassed.

He laughed. “Sweetheart, get used to it. I plan on keeping you naked as often as I can.” He ran his hands down her back to her ass, slapping her lightly. “There are all kinds of things that I want to do to this delectable little body of yours.”

She giggled, then sighed. “I love this.” She said running her hands along his arms and shoulders. “I think I could stay like this for forever.”

He tightened his hold on her. “I would really like that, love. Just you, me and my dick head wolf.”

Fuck you, Xander, came the very clear response from the wolf, making her laugh.

She lifted her head. “Can I ask a serious question?”

He smiled. “Of course.”

She sighed, sliding her eyes away. “Do you think we’re being brash? I mean, this is all happening really fast, isn’t it?”

Xander ran his hands along her spine absently, as he thought about it. “I guess it depends on how you think about it,” he said slowly. “I am certain about you, so is Fionn, so I know we’re all in.” He glanced down at her. “I can feel how you feel about me, so, I know you are too, but I can also feel the hesitation.”

She bowed her head down. “I don’t trust people easily, Xander. Especially men.” She didn’t want to tell him about Kevin or her step-father and the truly horrifying things he’d done to her.

She shuddered even thinking that she might have to broach either of those topics with him ever.

“Who hurt you?”

His voice was soft, light. So similar to the voice he used last night in the college idiots at the diner. She looked up, and stared at him. It was the second time he’d asked, and she wanted to tell him even less so now than she had last night. His face looked the same, relaxed, completely at ease, but his eyes… they looked like they might burst into green flames.

“Xander,” she said slowly, “it was a lifetime ago. I’ve moved on.”

His lips thinned into an angry line. “I don’t fecking care. They hurt you, I demand retribution. They’ll bleed for touching my Luna.”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Your what?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Luna,” he said exasperated, “and don’t change the subject.” He brushed a strand of her hair off her forehead. “I want names, Millie. They’re going to pay with their life for this insult.” She could feel the ripple of anger rolling through him, the nearly unrestrained rage. “For making my mate think she should mistrust me.”

This wasn’t what she wanted. Not for today, not for this morning, waking up in his arms, warm and safe and loved. She slid her fingertips up to his mouth and over his lips. “Xander, he’s already dead.” She said softly. “He can’t hurt me anymore.” His eyes flicked between hers, and she knew he was trying to get more, to understand, but she couldn’t bring herself to say what that monster had done to her.

She felt the tether between them sharpen, pulling against her, his energy rolling through her like a warm wave. This was Xander, not Fionn, she could feel the difference. She could feel Xander as a warmth, a steadiness. Fionn was rich and velvety and primal in his energy.

His energy flowed through her every nerve ending, she could almost smell him rolling through her body, seeking answers she didn’t want to give. She closed her eyes, just feeling it roll through her.

Suddenly, his body went rigid under hers, and her eyes flew open. “No,” he said against her fingertips, begging him without words to stop talking. She knew he’d found it, no matter how deep she tried to bury it, she couldn’t hide it deep enough. “Oh gods… Millie,” she lifted her fingertips, and pressed her palm against his lips.

Fionn growled, the white hot rage sliding through her body as the wolf readied himself for revenge.

He’d found her deepest, darkest secret.

She wasn’t sure how much he knew of it, if he’d seen it all, or just the highlight reel, but truthfully, she didn’t want to know. “Don’t ruin this moment.” She begged on a whisper. “This is our moment. Please don’t bring him into this.”

He watched her for a long moment, his green eyes blazing, and nodded stiffly. When she loosened her grip on his mouth, he pressed a kiss to it.

His hands trembled when he pressed her hand to his lips. “I…” he closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them on a deep breath. “Love, I will never, ever, raise a hand to you, or our children. Not for any reason. And I will never, ever allow anyone, myself included, to touch you in anyway without your permission.”

She looked down, not willing to let him see the wounds that would never heal, that would never scar over. “I know you don’t know that about me yet, but you will.” He promised on a whisper.

She looked back up at him, his eyes almost glowing.

“I will end this world if it kept you safe,” he said, his voice low and rough. “I love you, Millie.” He dragged a hand through her curls. “And if that means we hit the brakes, and we slow down to whatever you’re comfortable with, then we do.” He pressed both hands to her face. “However long it takes for me to prove to you that I love you, that I would never hurt you, and that I will protect you with my life, then consider it done.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Fionn grunted his approval.

“That is a lot to ask of you, Xander,” she whispered.

“It is nothing to ask of me.” He looked over her face, a soft smile on his lips. “You are the other half of me. It’s purely selfish if it means I get to keep you.”

She barked out a laugh and shook her head. “Xander, what am I going to do with you?”

He grinned at her. “Marry me, eventually, have my children. Buy a house in some ridiculous HOA, you know, the fun stuff.”

She laughed again dropping her ear to his chest. “You know how ridiculous you sound, right?” He just grinned at her. “Ug, it’s a good thing you’re so cute.”

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. “I will keep that in mind, love.”

She kissed him lightly before grinning at him.

That was the time her body chose to betray her in the most brutal way.

Her stomach growled like a bear waking up from hibernation.

She froze, Xander blinked.

Then he started laughing.

Millie groaned, burying her face her hands. “Oh my fucking god.”

He was still laughing when she slid away from him. “That was aggressive, sweetheart.” He said still laughing as he rolled over to hug her.

“I hate you,” she grumbled into her hands.

He laughed again. “Yeah, you seem real torn up about me, love.”

She peeked at him through her fingers, trying, and failing, not to smile. “I didn’t eat after my shift.” She dropped her hands and sighed. “We came back here, and things kind of happened, and you got naked…”

He laughed again. “Let’s get up, we need to get you some clothes and things to keep here anyway, we’ll add breakfast to the list.” She nodded.

“Do you mind if we go to my place first? I want to shower.” He pushed her arms up over her head, and held them above her head with one hand.

“That depends.”

She raised an eyebrow, watching him. “On what?”

He grinned at her and pressed a kiss to the space between her breasts. “On if I get to shower with you.” She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“Maybe, if you’re nice to me.”

He grinned up at her, as he moved over one of her breasts, rolling his tongue over the nipple. “Oh baby,” he said when she let out a low sigh. “Haven’t you noticed?”

“What?” she sighed again.

“I’m always nice.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Her apartment was exactly what he had expected, and nothing like what he’d expected, all rolled into one. It was… full. She had unlocked the door to her third floor apartment, and pushed it open. Xander blinked before he even walked in the door. Her apartment was the exact opposite of his.

Where his apartment was spartan, no pictures, no real color anywhere, just functional, her apartment was bright and cluttered. Shoes were in a pile near the front door, flats and cross trainers and even a set of low heeled heels. Her living room was open to the kitchen, and there were signs of her life everywhere.

A forgotten coffee cup on her coffee table, a sweater discarded on the arm of her overstuffed couch. Her couch itself was a bright floral pattern that, while it looked incredibly comfortable, made his head ache with the brightness of the pattern. Her kitchen was cluttered with appliances on the counters. An air fryer, a toaster, something that looked like a blender, but not a blender.

He shook his head.

The apartment looked… lived in.

Yes, it was cluttered more so than he was used to, but it wasn’t dirty or even messy. It was just lived in, well worn. Like a pair of jeans you wore, and never threw away regardless of how many times you had to patch them up, because they were the most comfortable thing you owned.

It was chaos. It was real.

And he loved it.

Mate, Fionn nearly purred.

Her scent was powerful here, drenched in every item she owned. He took a deep shuddering breath, pulling in her scent like it was the only thing that mattered. She moved through the space, dropping her jacket and purse by the door on a chair, dropping her keys in a bowl next to the door and walking through to the bedroom.

“I’m going to take a shower, make yourself at home.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and let his eyes slide over the living space, unable to stop the half smile that pulled at his left cheek. She was absolute chaos. He almost chuckled thinking about her living in his apartment, how different it would be for him.

He moved to the windows behind her couch, and glanced down at the street under her apartment. It was very much alive in this neighborhood. Where his apartment, only six blocks away, was quiet, rarely having anything happen, here there were kids running and screaming bloody murder outside, a lady across the street walking a dog. Just normal life.

Life with Millie would never be boring, he thought and the half smile turned into a full grin.

Good, Fionn nodded inside him. You’re boring, Xander.

Xander rolled his eyes and stood back up, “And you’re a fecking muppet.” Xander mumbled as he followed the sounds from the bedroom.

Millie was singing to herself as she moved about, and when he rounded the corner, he leaned against the door frame. She was digging through her closet, singing something that sounded suspiciously like a horrifyingly off key Backstreet Boys, as she slid hanger after hanger across the wooden bar in the closet.

He glanced around the room, and felt his smile deepen. Ah, the offending sheets, he thought with a smirk. Her bed was unmade, the sheets and quilt a tangled mess on the right side of the bed.

She sleeps on the right side, noted, he thought. Her bedroom was more chaotic than the rest of the apartment. A small mound of clothes sat next to an open gym bag, and he wasn’t entirely sure if she’d just pulled those out, or if that was where the garments lived. There were random articles of clothing scattered on the floor of her bedroom, as if she’d been to busy to throw them in the hamper when she disrobed and had just kicked the offending items away from herself.

Her dresser was a mass of jewelry, perfume bottles, makeup and mail. He itched to step over to it, organize it, but instead curled his hands into fists in his pockets, and turned his attention back to the woman he was completely enamored with.

She pulled out a summery dress, holding it up, making him chuckle. “Sweetheart, it’s still pretty early for sun dresses, don’t you think?” She glanced up, smiling at him.

“Oh, I know. I was just… admiring it.”

She slipped it back into the closet, turned to the pile of garments on the bed and shoved them unceremoniously into the gym bag. “Okay, clothes are packed, I just need to pack my toiletries when I’m done showering.”

“We,” he corrected, grinning at her.

She looked up, eyebrow raised.

“We?” She asked. He pushed off the door frame, and toed off his converse as he slipped his jacket off, tossing it on the side of her bed. Not taking his eyes from hers, he reached behind his shoulders and pulled his shirt over his head. “Our shower,” he reminded her. She bit her lip, fully entertained with watching him undress.

He unhooked his belt slowly, but stopped when he would have unbuttoned his jeans. “Are we still going to shower, or should I put my clothes back on?”

She blinked up at him, as if she was just coming to from a dream.

She shook her head, picking up what looked like a pair of jeans, bra, panties and a t-shirt. “You are a bad influence, Xander…” her voice trailed off, then she looked up at him sharply. “I don’t know you’re last name.” She shook her head. “I’m a shit wolf-wife if I don’t even know your full name.”

He nodded, he supposed she didn’t. “I suppose I haven’t properly introduced myself,” he chuckled. “We didn’t have our cupper, so I guess I can do it here.” He glanced away nervously. “Feels weird doing it without a shirt, but ‘iright.”

He straightened his spine, clearing his throat into his fist. “Hi, Millie. I’m Patrick Alexander McCollough.” He gave a playful wave, making her laugh. “I’m thirty two, from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and have one sister, Lia who is younger than me by five minutes.”

Millie blinked at him, not fully understanding. “Okay, I have so many questions.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded. “I assumed you would.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, watching him. “You’re a Patrick?”

He sighed. “No, I’m a Xander.”

She laughed. “Why?”

He shrugged. “My father was Patrick, and his father was Paddy, and his father was… gods only know what version of Patrick he was.” He sighed. “Every first born male of the McCollough line is a Patrick, but it never stuck with me. Only my mother calls me Patrick, and only when she’s about to tear into my arse.” He shrugged again.

She watched him carefully. “I agree. You are a mysterious hacker guy. It has to be Xander.” She narrowed her eyes. “But now that I know you’re full name, you better watch out, mister.” He laughed and shook his head. “And also… you’re a twin?”

He nodded. “Lia and I were close as kids, but once I went to Uni, she stayed behind. Got married, started having pups right away.” He sighed, and leaned against her dresser, crossing his ankles as he stared down at the floor. “That was never going to be the life for me, and we kind of drifted apart.” He shifted against the dresser, continuing to stare down at the floor.

“She was my best friend, but once I left the pack, I lost… everything. My connection to her, our Mum, Rosemary, my young cousins Owen and Riffe.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to think about them.”

“What about your dad?”

Xander sighed. “He died. Stomach cancer.” He stared at the floor for a long moment. “I came back from Uni when he was sick, and when he died, I became Alpha.” He shook his head. “Never wanted it, I wanted to go back to Uni. Finish my masters.”

He watched her stand up slowly from the bed from the corner of his eye, and move to stand in front of him. When he finally flicked his eyes from the floor up to her, she moved forward, pushing his arms off of his chest, and placing her body there instead. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry you lost that connection to your family. That you had to give up your dreams.”

He slid his arms around her waist. “It’s gotten better with time.” He kissed the top of her head. “And… with you.” He forced a chuckle. “You’re my favorite distraction.”

She lifted her head and smiled up at him. “I am happy to be your distraction, handsome man.”

He smiled down at her. “Good, because you’re the best one yet.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Now,” he said, straightening back up and holding her against him tightly. “Are we going to shower, or was this just a ploy to get me undressed?” He tilted his head. “I think I might be fine with either option.”

She laughed, dropping her head to his chest. “Shower, definitely.” She gave him a squeeze, and pulled back, giving him a playful wink. “Come on, Patrick, darling.”

He growled at her as she laughed, dancing away from him. “Millie,” he said, his voice low and gravely. “What did I say about using my full name?” She giggled as she almost ran from the bedroom across the tiny hall and into the bathroom.

“What are you going to do about it, Patrick?”

He pushed off the dresser with another growl, tossing his glasses on her dresser as he moved toward the bathroom. “Oh you are about to find out, love.”

She laughed running into the bathroom, Xander closer on her heels than she thought. She turned to grab the door and he was already there. She gave a startled giggle as he backed her into the sink.

“Mildred, Mildred, Mildred,” he said, a half smirk on his mouth as he closed the door behind himself. “What am I going to do with you and that mouth of yours?”

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth to avoid laughing, biting down. He raised a dark eyebrow. “I’m waiting for an answer, Mildred.” She gave a shrug, unable to stop smiling. “Oh sweetheart, that isn’t an answer.” He leaned back on the door crossing his arms over his chest.

He watched the pink rise up to her cheeks, the way her eyes flicked over his tattoos, down his body. “It feels like you’re ogling me, Mildred.” She shook her head slowly, her eyes flicking back up to his.

He gave her a crooked smile. “Cat got your tongue all of a sudden there, sweetheart?” She kept her eyes on his when she shrugged again. He clucked his tongue. “What did I just tell you about shrugging?”

She looked away fully then, but he could see she was trying hard not to laugh.

“Take your clothes off.”

Her eyes shot back to his. He watched her with a neutral expression. When she didn’t immediately move, he raised his eyebrow again. “Did you not hear me?” She just blinked at him as if he were speaking a completely different language.

He lifted his left arm pointing at her and made a flicking motion with his hand. “Take. Off. Your. Fecking. Clothes. Now.” She didn’t move, watching him with a mixture of curiosity and desire. He sighed. “Mildred, it will not go well for you if you make me do it for you.”

She blinked again. He could feel through the thread between them, desire, coursing through her, thick and hot. This was turning her on. He had to forced down a satisfied chuckle. Well, she liked dominant men in her books, time she found out she picked one for herself too.

He pushed off the door and took the two steps toward her, his body nearly flush against her, pressing her against the sink and counter. He reached down and yanked her shirt over her head. She gave a sharp yip, her eyes going wide.

“I warned you, sweetheart,” he said slowly, unbuckling her jeans, pulling the zipper down then yanking them down her legs hard, the sheer force of the yank pulling her panties down with them. “Step out of them,” he said, voice hard.

She stepped out of them, her legs beginning to tremble. He stood back up in one fluid motion. “Raise your arms.” She did slowly. He grabbed her bra by the underwire and pulled it enough to let her tits fall free, then yanked it over her head.

“Jesus, Xander,” she started.

“Shut your mouth,” he whispered into her ear, as he leaned forward. “You were warned.”

He stepped back, leaning back against the door again, crossing his arms over his chest, looking far more relaxed than he actually was. Her body was trembling just feet from him, her eyes unable to meet his.

“Can you speak now, or are you still wordless?” She met his eyes, but didn’t say anything. He nodded. “What is your word?” She blinked, clearly not understanding. “What is your safe word, Millie? I’m not going to hurt you, not on purpose.”

She looked away and swallowed. “Poughkeepsie.”

He blinked at her. “What?”

“Poughkeepsie.”

“What the feck is that?”

She gave him a half smile, partially embarrassed, partially amused. “You ever watch that show Supernatural?”

He blinked at her, realization hitting him hard, making him laugh. “Jesus, okay. Poughkeepsie it is.” He shook his head. “Hard limits?”

She shrugged. “Pain just for the sake of pain, like hurting me just to hurt me…. And butts and mouths. Never go ass to mouth, and never put your mouth on an ass. Gross.”

He gave a startled laugh, not expecting that at all. “So I can feck your ass, I just can’t feck your ass and then shove my cock in your mouth.”

“Basically,” she agreed.

“You are so weird sometimes, love.” She shrugged.

“Same could be said for you, Patrick.”

He growled again. “Remember your word.” She nodded.

He reached forward, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulled her to him. “Get on your knees.” She dropped quickly, kneeling in front of him. “Open my jeans.” He watched her trembling fingers as she pulled the button on his jeans, then slid his zipper down. “Pull them down far enough to pull my cock out.”

She reached forward again, pulling the fabric down his hips until his cock popped free. She looked up at him, his hand still in her hair. Her brown eyes were shiny and bright, he could feel through the thread between them how much she was enjoying this.

“Suck my cock, Mildred.”

She looked down at him and swallowed. It occurred to him then, she may never have done that before. “Open your mouth.” She complied, if a bit slowly. He used is free hand to lead his cock to her mouth. “Stick your tongue out.” She did. He tapped the crown on her tongue, resisting the urge to groan. “Now, I’m going to push into your mouth. Use your lips and tongue to keep your teeth from scraping.”

She swallowed again, eyes flicking up to his, there was fear there, but curiosity, and still desire. She gave a small nod, opening her mouth wider. He pulled her head toward him, slipping the first two inches into her mouth and felt her lips closed around him.

It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to close his eyes in rapture. He swallowed, and let out a shaky breath. “Now use your tongue to taste and lick it, swirl it around my cock, play with it, suck on it.”

Her tongue was so tentative at first, it nearly undid him. She swirled her tongue around him, working the crown, flicking off the moisture he was leaking into her mouth. Almost as if intuition was taking over, she began to bob lightly on him, moving her head softly. “Good girl,” he moaned, his hand in her hair loosening, holding her palm open, guiding her movements.

He sucked in a breath, when she leaned forward, pressing her palms on his jean clad thighs and gripping him tightly so she could get a better angle. She bobbed further down on him and he let go of the shaft, sliding both hands into her hair. “Shite, yes, good girl, keep going.” He watched her take more than half of him into her mouth, tongue flicking and swallowing on him.

“You’re a natural,” he breathed, watching inch after inch disappear into her mouth. “Feck, Millie.” He started to hit the back of her throat, and he lost the battle. He dropped his head back against the door, and stopped her movements. “Just, give me a second,” he breathed.

Her mouth still held him at the crown, her tongue still suckling and licking him. It jerked involuntarily in her mouth. “Feck me.” He grunted, and looked back down to her. “I’m going to hold your head still, and I’m going to feck your mouth. Understand?” She looked up at him and nodded. “If you can’t breathe or don’t like it, just tap my thigh, okay?” She nodded.

“Good girl,” he breathed and flexed his hips forward, pushing even deeper into her mouth. “Try to relax your throat, it’ll help,” he groaned out. She flicked her eyes up to him in understanding. He flexed forward again, pushing the last two inches into her mouth, sliding down her throat.

To his delight, horror and surprise, she didn’t gag. Her throat opened and relaxed. He looked down at her and almost came in her throat immediately. “Feck, yes,” he said, holding himself in her throat then slowly backing out, before pushing back in. She still didn’t gag.

He gathered her hair in his hands holding it tightly, and thrust forward hard, his sack hitting her chin and neck. Holding her tightly in place, he stated to fuck her mouth, cock sliding into her throat on each thrust.

Her eyes watered, saliva slipping down her chin with ever outward pull. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen in his entire life. He kept up the fast hard thrusts until he knew if he didn’t stop he’d come in her throat, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do right now. Eventually yes, he’d make her take a full load down that throat, but he wanted to make her watch while he fucked her.

He pulled out of her mouth, and pulled her up quickly, one hand in her hair, the other under her arm pit. He didn’t give her a chance to react, just turned her around kicked her legs apart pulled her hips up to him, and leaned over her. In the mirror he caught her eye, whispering into her ear. “This isn’t for you. Don’t you dare come.” He licked and bit her ear lobe. “Watch me fuck you, Mildred.”

He stood back up, and dragged his cock up her slit, finding her entrance. Gods above, she was soaked. He grinned at her in the mirror. “I see I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed fucking your mouth.” She blushed, biting her lip in the mirror as she watched him.

He pushed forward hard, shoving as deep as he could. She cried out, gripping the counter top. He met her eyes in the mirror, and when she didn’t stop him, he slammed into her again. Then again.

He pushed her down on the counter, wrapping his left hand in her hair, pulling it back sharply as he thrust into her again, his right hand on her hip. Every time he slammed into her, it was better than he imagined, not only was his nudging her cervix, he was battering it like a ram, pushing it open.

“Does that hurt,” he grunted as he slammed into her again.

He looked up, and realized her eyes were closed, a look of sheer ecstasy on her face. “No,” she whimpered. “It feels so good.” He grunted, slamming into her hard.

He pulled back on her hair, forcing her eyes open. “What is my name?”

“Uh,” she moaned, seemingly unable to form words.

He yanked harder on her hair, shoved deeper, harder inside her. “What.” He grunted as he slammed into her again. “Is.” He pounded in again. “My.” He pumped into her hard again. “Name.”

“Xander,” she whimpered.

He started to move faster now. “Again.”

She cried out at the beating her body was taking. “Xander.” She whimpered again.

“Louder.”

“Xander,” she said louder, then moaned low in her throat.

“Louder, Mildred. I want your neighbors to know who is going to fill your pussy.”

“Shit,” she moaned. He could feel her fluttering on his cock, her walls tightening rhythmically.

“Mildred. Scream my name.” He commanded, with a hard yank on her hair, and a deep push inside her.

“Xander,” she screamed.

“That’s my good little girl,” he grunted, releasing her hair and reaching forward with both hands, grabbing her tits and squeezing hard. “I’m going to feck you until you have my pup inside you.”

She was bucking back against him on each thrust now, impaling herself even further on him. “You want that,” he grunted shoving into her again. “Tell me.”

“Yes,” she moaned.

“Tell me, Mildred,” he commanded again, voice hard.

She moaned. “Put your baby inside me, Xander.”

“Oh feck,” he moaned his thrusts becoming jerkier. “I’m going to come,” he grunted. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her body stiffening under him, then trembling uncontrollably. “Oh feck, I’m coming,” he grunted again, and shoved as deep as he could get, feeling his crown push into her cervix as he started to shoot inside her, while her walls contracted around him tightly, her body shaking and trembling in her own orgasm.

Her cervix clamped down on his head, the sensation painful and making his toes nearly curl with pleasure. The bathroom became a cacophony of grunts, moans and high pitched cries.

When it was over this time, he didn’t knot, and he was fine with that. He wasn’t sure he could keep her in this position that long. He leaned forward, on her body, heaving and panting, flat against the counter, and pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades.

“Was that okay?” He asked, kissing down her spine, making her shiver.

She nodded. “Yeah,” she said after a long minute, breath still coming in pants.

He dropped his forehead to her back, dragging back in a breath. “Okay,” he said slowly. He wrapped his arms around her middle, shuddering. He felt her move under him, and lifted his head, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

She was watching him with a smile. “Hey baby,” he said smiling back at her.

Her smile widened. “Okay, I think we really need a shower now.” He chuckled and kissed her spine again.

“Agreed, love.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They dressed quickly between playful kisses and swats. She pulled her mostly wet hair into a braid over her shoulder, while Xander sat on her bed, slipping his converse back on.

How was she so effortlessly beautiful? She stood at the mirror in the bathroom, clad in her fitted jeans and a white cotton bra while she braided her hair.

He watched as she moved back into the bedroom, sliding a hand along his shoulders as she passed him, as if she couldn’t not touch him. She grabbed her t-shirt, and pulled it over her head, flipping the damp braid out and down her back.

“So, breakfast then shopping?” He asked pulling his jeans into place as he stood up.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m starving.” She shoved her feet back into the slip on tennis shoes she wore at work.

He chuckled, as he slipped his belt back on. “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry, too.”

Fionn grunted.

She picked up her gym back and moved to walk out of the door. When she passed him, he slipped the strap of the bag off her shoulder.

She turned, a confused look on her face. “My wolf-wife carries no luggage.”

She laughed. “If you insist, I won’t argue.”

He grinned at her, slipping his palm against hers, fingers lacing. “Oh I am going to insists on a few things today, sweetheart.” Her laugh surrounded him again, and he let himself feel the strum of her happiness through the bond between them.

It was going to be a good day.

A good life.

The next hour and a half blurred together in a mix of adrenaline, mental spiral and utter embarrassment. She replayed it all in her head over and over again. Being yanked down into that twerps lap, Xander moving into rescue her without a second thought, dragging him through the diner and throwing herself at him in the alley.

“He probably thinks I’m just going to give it up and then he never has to call me again,” she muttered. “That would at least be par for the course.”

But then again… he knew exactly what she’d been thinking about when she was trying to explain how almost perfect it was.

“Like it was written in the stars.”

She’d never heard something more accurate in her life.

She felt like she’d known him her entire life, and that she’d just been waiting. Waiting for him to realize she was here waiting for her. Realize that she was exactly what he’d been looking for his entire life.

But what if he hadn’t been looking?

What if it was all one sided?

She shook her head. No, that wasn’t possible.

There had been something in his eyes when he’d looked at her, when he’d touched her cheek and neck and hair.

Like she was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen.

She was just finishing the salt shaker refills when Sara walked in. “Hey, how was your night?” She asked, as she moved around the counter to hang up her jacket and her purse.

Millie glanced at her arm, and the bruises blossoming there from the asshole who grabbed her. “It was rough.” She admitted. “I got manhandled by a drunk asshole, broke a carafe. Hoodie Guy. You know. Normal Tuesday night.”

Sara came around and looked at her arm. “Oh my god, girl.”

Millie shook her head. “Its fine, I’m just ready to go.”

The door to the diner opened, and she knew it was Xander without looking up. When she did, she gulped audibly. He came sauntering in, no hoodie, instead he wore a black Carhart jacket, dark grey t-shirt and looked literally good enough to eat.

Sara’s jaw dropped.

Millie grinned, feeling a blush creep up from her neck when he walked in. “Not even going to pretend anymore?” She asked.

He grinned at her, and leaned against the counter, hooking her apron with his finger, the same way he had earlier and pulling her forward, kissing her gently. “Not even a little bit, pretty girl.”

“Uh, what is happening here?” Sara looked from Xander to Millie and back again. “Did I enter the twilight zone somewhere along my way from home?” Millie laughed, and pulled out of Xander’s grasp.

“Sara, this is Xander.”

“Hoodie Guy?”

He chuckled, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Just Xander is fine,” he said.

Sara turned to her slowly, “Millie, is he Irish?” Her voice a mock whisper.

Millie tried not to laugh and failed.

“Yes, he is,” Xander answered on a chuckle.

Sara blinked at her. “What the fuck happened tonight?”

Millie shook her head. “I’m leaving.” She moved quickly around the corner to the employee area just feet away from the counter, Sara on her heels. Millie slipped her sweater over her arms and grabbed her purse. “We’ll talk later,” she promised.

“Are you going home with him?” Sara asked on a whisper. Millie, still hidden behind the corner, bit her lip and shrugged. Sara squealed. “Take tomorrow off. I’ll work your double.” Sara glanced around the corner at Xander. “You are going to be exhausted tomorrow. He doesn’t look like he’s going to let you sleep much.” Both girls giggled behind the corner.

“You know, I can still hear you,” Xander called out, making them both blush and laugh even harder.

“Go!” Sara said. “And I mean it, you’re off tomorrow. It’ll be fine. I’ll tell Danesh when he comes in.”

“Thank you, Sara.” She gave her friend a quick squeeze and moved out from behind the corner. She stepped out from the counter and looked at Xander. “Ready?”

He nodded and moved toward the door opening it for her, before following her out into the spring air. When she stepped on to the sidewalk, she waited for him to step up to her. She looked up and swallowed.

“I didn’t realize how tall you were.” She said quietly, tipping her head back to look up at him. “You seemed a lot shorter when you were Hoodie Guy.”

He huffed a laugh, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah, 193 centimeters.” She raised an eyebrow. “Ah, American,” he chuckled. “Six foot four.”

Her eyes widened. “Holy shit. Isn’t that pretty tall in Ireland?”

He nodded. “For a human, yes. For an Alpha?” he shrugged. “About average. Maybe a hair over average.”

She shook her head. “Okay then.”

They stood there, looking at each other for a long moment.

“Have you made your decision?”

She sighed. “You are really impossible, you know that?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been called much, much worse.” He chuckled and shook his head. “By you as recently as yesterday.”

She shook her head. “You aren’t making this easy.”

He shifted his weight on his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It isn’t supposed to be easy,” he said slowly. “If it were, it wouldn’t be worth it.” She nodded, the truth in his logic was a little disappointing. She was hoping for some grand “just fuck it, let’s do it,” energy.

Finally she looked back up at him. “What you said in the alley, were you serious?”

He tilted his head, watching her. “I’m generally serious, and I don’t remember lying to you at any point while we were back there.”

Her eyes flicked between his, looking for something, anything to give her a sense of direction. “When you said you think I’m the end of your bachelor days.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I meant that.”

She sucked in a deep breath of the cool air. “You want to marry me?”

He shook his head slowly. “Not tomorrow, but I think in the long run,” he paused taking his own deep breath. “I mean, yeah. I don’t know that I’d ever propose marriage to anyone but you.”

She blinked at him. “This is insane.”

He nodded. “Agreed.”

“And you want me,” she said trying to understand.

He grinned down at her then. “I think if I proved nothing in the alley, it’s that I want you pretty badly.” She flushed, looking away. Yeah, it had been pretty obvious, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to hear it from him. He lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to his. “Yes, Millie. I want you. Not just for one night.” He stared at her. “For all of them.”

She crossed her arms, although it didn’t have the same sharpness as it did previously. “You are really going to put this all on me?”

He nodded. “I said I would. It has to be your decision.”

She tilted her head. “Why does it have to be my decision?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Because if it were my decision, you’d be over my shoulder and in my bed in less than ten minutes.”

She watched him carefully, and sighed. “You don’t make this easy, do you?”

He shrugged. “I’m not trying to make it easy, just… clear.”

Millie looked away, exhaling slowly.

“Okay, so be honest,” she sighed unable to look him in the face, “is this something physical? You keep saying these big wonderful things, but in my limited experience, guys only say them to get in your pants and then they’re gone.”

There it was, the ugly truth of her past. The way she’d believed Kevin, the way she’d trusted him and as soon as he was done, he was gone. Ghosting her. Blocked her number, her socials, blocked her in every way.

She hadn’t thought about Kevin in years, or at least, not in enough time that she would care to admit it. He had been her first, her only, and after that experience at 20, she’d sworn men off. Book boyfriends were safer. They would burn the world down for their women, would chase the bad guys to the ends of the world for them, protect them at all costs, and prove over and over again their love was as true as gold.

And if they overwhelmed her, she could close the book and walk away.

Kevin, on the other hand, had given her a pregnancy scare and a loss of trust in all men forever.

She felt the tears behind her eyes, and swore at herself silently.

Fuck that guy. She hadn’t expected a ring or even a bigger commitment than friends with benefits, but she’d trusted him, and he’d left her hanging. When she’d had the pregnancy scare, she’d even stopped by his fraternity house to talk to him. A few of the fellow frat douche bags had all but thrown her down the stairs, without even finding out why she was there.

She could still hear their mocking calls to her as she walked away. “Kevin would never sleep with a whale like that,” they’d laughed.

She refused to walk into the same situation with Xander, just because he was the most beautiful thing on two legs, with an voice that would melt an iceberg. She refused to be a pawn in any man’s bid to get his rocks off.

For a long second he didn’t answer her.

Her heart squeezed in her chest, it was all talk wasn’t it, she thought sadly.

Then his voice, clear, steady. “No. I told you, I want all your nights.”

She looked up at him then, unable to stop the pooling tears in her eyes.

His eyes shifted, his expression changing to one of concern. “Who hurt you?”

She shook her head. “It was a long time ago.”

“I won’t hurt you like that. I won’t touch you and walk away.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I could if I wanted to.” He sighed. “It’s physical, I won’t lie. I want to do things with you I’ve never done with anyone, but that is because it’s… you. But that’s not all it is.”

She glanced up at him, and saw him looking across the street, as if he couldn’t meet her eyes either. “I want to wake up to you in my bed.” He shook his head. “I’ve never done that anyone. Not sleep. Sex, sure, but never sleep.” He finally looked up at her. “I want to sleep beside you.”

Something cracked in her chest, something she couldn’t quite put a name to, but she knew, with a certainty she couldn’t describe, he wasn’t lying.

“Promise?” She all but whispered, watched him, her eyes flicking between his. “Promise me this isn’t just a physical thing, and I swear I will believe you.”

He took a step forward, his knuckles grazing her cheek. Instinctively, she leaned into the touch, her eyes closing. “I promise this is more than physical.” His other hand came up, sliding to the back of her neck. “I want you with every part of me, but if you aren’t ready for that, we’ll go at your pace.” He watched her for a long second. “I meant what I said in the alley. You are the end of my bachelor life. And,” he continued slowly, “if that means that we wait on the physical, that is perfectly fine by me.”

He grinned at her. “But I am going to kiss you. Well and often.”

It was too big, too much, her brain screamed at her, waving every red flag in the arsenal. You need to go home, sleep on it, think on it. Don’t jump into anything! Her brain screamed at her. Be logical about this, Mildred! Please!

But her heart… it had never been more sure of anything in the world than it was of Xander. Her heart smiled. He found us, and he knows us and he still wants to be with us, it whispered to her. He loves us.

She blinked. Let’s not go that far, her brain screamed.

It’s true, just ask him, her heart insisted.

She leaned into his touch, struggling to keep her eyes open and on him.

“Do you love me, Xander?”

The words were out before she could stop them. He blinked down at her, eyes widening, hands stilling on her skin. She saw him thinking about the question, saw something flickering behind his eyes. “The truth.” She stated.

He gave a long slow breath, staring at her with those emerald green eyes.

“The truth?” he whispered. She nodded slowly. He kept his eyes on hers, watching her with careful eyes. “It’s terrifying, and it feels beyond insane,” he whispered, “but… yeah, I do.”

A flood of warmth rolled through her, like she’d stepped into a hot tub, and let all the bubbles envelop her. His eyes shown with the truth of his confession, the fear, the uncertainty of the words, but the absolute finality of their truth.

“Good,” she said, and leaned up on her toes, pressing her lips to his. He groaned, not needing the invitation, and leaned into her, one hand cupping the back of her neck, the other sliding around her, pressing against her.

Her fingers curled into the short hair at the nape of her neck as he kissed her, his lips and tongue moving against her, teasing. He pulled back slowly, his forehead pressed against hers. “Come home with me.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to each of her still closed eye lids.

When he finally lifted his lips from her skin, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” He asked, watching her carefully.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

A slow deep smile lifted his lips as he looked at her. He slipped his hands away from her face and took a step back.

“Let’s go, beautiful,” he said as he held out his hand.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Xander tugged her forward, his fingers lacing with hers easily, like muscle memory. They fell into step together like they’d walked a million miles together, comfortable, real… normal.

They walked quietly at first, he could feel the exhaustion rolling through her.

“You worked 16 hours today, right?”

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah. And I’m supposed to do it again tomorrow, but I’m sure you heard Sara…” she chuckled. “I’m exhausted, but at least with tomorrow off, I’ll have three days to recuperate.” He nodded as they walked. She huffed a laugh. “I think I’m running on caffeine fumes and bad decisions.”

His hand tightened lightly in hers. “Then I’ll try to make at least one of those decisions a good one.” She glanced at him sideways and he flashed her a smile.

“You are that confident, aren’t you?”

He laughed then and shook his head. “No, but I’m going to make sure when you fall asleep, it’s with a smile on your face.” She laughed, bumping her shoulder into his arm, making him grin.

He didn’t let go of her hand, a completely irrational part of him convinced that if he lessened his grip on her hand she’d somehow disappear into the darkness like smoke and he’d never find her again. He didn’t let go when he’d opened the door to his building for her, or when they waited for the elevator and he took the liberty of kissing her, his free hand pulling her against him, tangling in her hair as he tasted her lips.

He didn’t let go, when he pushed her against the wall of the elevator, pressing his body against her, his lips trailing kisses down her jaw. He didn’t let her hand go when he led her down the brightly lit hallway to his end unit apartment. It was private, tucked away from everyone else. Safe.

He pulled his keys form his pocket but didn’t unlock the door right away. He looked up at her, pushing his glasses back up his nose absently. “You sure?” he asked quietly. She watched him, her eyes soft at the edges.

She reached up and lightly touched his jaw. “I’m sure.” She whispered back.

He caught her hand with his free one, and turned it, pressing a kiss into her palm, holding it against his lips for a long moment.

Remember this, Fionn told him. Everything changes after tonight.

I know, Xander told him silently.

He opened his eyes, and pressed a kiss to her fingertips, before releasing her hand. He slipped the key in his deadbolt and pushed the door open. He moved in first, flicking on the table lamp next to the door, and then extending his free arm into the apartment.

“Welcome to my bat cave.”

She grinned at him as she walked into the apartment, not letting go of his hand. “That’s Batman,” she said teasingly. “Clark Kent had the Fortress of Solitude.”

Xander laughed and shook his head. “I am impressed you know the difference.”

She snorted and shot him a look. “Um, of course I do. Ben Afleck vs Henry Cavil? Come now.”

He shook his head as he closed the door behind her. “My apologies, my lady.” He laughed. Finally, the door closed, he loosened his grip on her hand, allowing her to pull away.

He watched her take in his apartment. It was small, but it suited him fine. The front area was split into the right and left by the hallway that led down to the two bedrooms and bathroom. The living room directly to the left of the front door, his work set up in front of the windows, three monitors, countless cords, and a mess of sticky notes and miscellaneous mail. The worn in, but comfortable couch was against the wall next to the front door, a small coffee table in front of it, and directly across from it, his TV, mounted to the wall.

To the right of the door was his small kitchen table he rarely used and the galley kitchen that parallelled the hallway. His furniture was fairly spartan, the only exceptions being the computer set up that he’d spent thousands of dollars on, but justified as it was his literal income stream, and the seventy inch TV that dominated the far wall.

If he was going to watch Leeds United take on Manchester, he wanted it to be immersive enough that he could scream at the Sasanach like he was in the stadium.

She set her purse down on the couch as she looked around. “I assume this is where the magic hacking happens?” She said gesturing to the computer set up and sit/stand desk. She looked back at him, seemingly impressed.

“Yeah, that’s where I work until I go to the diner down the street.” He shrugs. “Then I come home, eat and go back to it. Unless this gorgeous waitress from the diner starts texting me.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “She kind of has my full attention lately.”

She blushed and waved him off. “It looks really impressive, Xander.” She laughed. “I will be sure not to use it. Technology and Millie do not get along.” He chuckled and shook his head.

“Then it’s a good thing you’ve got me, sweetheart.”

She turned back to him and winked. “Pretty much,” she said and kept exploring. “You seem like you don’t do much here except work. It’s very… empty.” She said moving into the kitchen. His counters were completely empty except for a bottle of olive oil and a salt and pepper shaker set. “It almost looks unlived in.”

He shrugged. “I don’t cook much.”

She took that opportunity to look into his fridge.

“Xander,” she said with mock disappointment. “You have two sips of milk, some butter and a jar of jam.” She looked up at him. “Honey, we need to go grocery shopping if I’m going to be here any length of time.” He nodded.

“Okay, we can go tomorrow if you want.” He shrugged. “I figured we’d need to go by your place and pick up some of your things to keep here.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Moving me in already, Clark?”

He chuckled and shrugged. “I mean, I figured if you were here often enough, you might want some clothes and a toothbrush bare minimum.”

She nodded, putting her hands on her hips, and looking around his kitchen. “When you put it like that, it makes sense.” She shrugged. “I like to cook, will that be a problem? I know you’re diet consists of, apparently peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and diner burgers,” she chuckled and leaned against the counter, watching him, “but if I’m off work, I do like to cook.”

He moved into the kitchen, standing in front of her, pushing her back against the counter. “Sweetheart, you could paint the place pepto pink, if it made you happy. I just want you here.” He planted his hands on the counter on either side of her.

“Hmm,” she said, her eyes closing.

“Millie,” he said, his voice going soft, his nose sliding along hers.

“Yeah,” she breathed softly.

“Come to bed with me.”

She opened her eyes and sighed contentedly. “Okay.”

He kissed her softly, lips pressing lightly. She lifted a hand fingertips tracing the line of his jaw with a feather light touch.

“You drive me insane, Millie.” He whispered against her lips. He moved quickly, pulling her into his arms, lifting her easily.

“Oh my god, Xander,” she yelped. “Please don’t hurt yourself,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck.

He laughed and shook his head. “Sweetheart, your knowledge of wolves appears to be very limited.” He teased. “I could lift an SUV and not break a sweat. You weigh nothing.”

She blushed, tucking her head into is neck.

He walked down the hallway without ceremony. “My bedroom is on the left,” he said as he walked, “the bathroom is the first door on the right, the second bedroom is last door on the right, directly across from the bedroom.”

“What is in the second bedroom?”

He stepped into the bedroom and moved to set her gently next to the bed. “Home gym. Not much, but enough to keep Fionn in check.”

“Fionn?” She asked confused.

He smiled down at her. “My wolf.” She made an O with her lips.

“It’s not just Xander, too?”

Fionn scoffed in his chest. “No,” Xander chuckled. “And Fionn seems personally offended that you thought he was just me.”

She blinked up at him, confusion clearly written across her delicate features. “The wolf is me, but it’s not me. He is the primal part of me. He has his own personality, his own thoughts, feelings.” He shrugged. “He’s kind of a dick.”

Fionn huffed, am not.

“Oh, okay…”

Xander smiled at her. “You don’t have to understand it tonight, but you will. With time,” he promised. He ran a hand down her cheek. “But I was kind of hoping we could stop talking now.”

She leaned into his hand and nodded.

He pulled her against him, her arms slipping up to his neck, that same electricity pulsing through his entire body now. “I can’t promise I’m going to last a long time, but I promise you will come, at least once.” He said pressing a kiss to her cheek. “But I also plan on keeping you up all night.”

“I want you to enjoy yourself, too,” she whispered, her eyes drifting closed as he pushed her jacket off her shoulders and to the floor.

“Oh baby,” he grinned against her ear. “I am going to. I just can’t promise I won’t last more than two seconds once I’m inside you.” He nipped at her throat with his teeth. “I’ve been dreaming about this for far too long.” He pressed kisses along her chin. “I’ve been thinking about sliding between your thighs since the moment I first saw you,” he whispered. “What you might feel like, how your body would feel under mine.” His words made her body tremble. “How beautiful you’ll be as you ride me,” he whispered. “How deep I’ll be from behind you, with your hair in my fist.”

Her entire body shivered at his words.

He kissed down her neck to her collarbone. “How tightly you’ll squeeze me while you come, screaming my name,” he pulled at the t-shirt pulling it over her head in one swift pull, leaving her bra clad torso in front of him. He dragged a finger from her neck down her chest flicking the cotton cup of her bra.

“How you’ll beg me to come inside you,” he whispered, his finger sliding across the top of her breasts, making her breath hitch. He slowly reached behind her and flicking the bra latch open and letting the garment slid down her arms.

“How deep I’ll be inside you when I come,” he said sliding a hand down her chest to her breasts. “How perfect your tits would be.” His gaze slipped down between them. “And my fantasies did not do you justice.” He lifted the large globes with his palms, feeling her nipples pebble against his palms.

She groaned, her head rolling back.

He dropped to his knee in front of her kissing the space between her breasts softly. “Gods, you are truly perfection,” he groaned, kissing the side of her right breast before moving to take the nipple into his mouth. She moaned, her body arching into his, her hands sliding into his hair and holding him against her.

“So beautiful,” he murmured, and kissed his way to her other breast, taking that nipple into his mouth, tongue sliding around the pebbled nub. She groaned, her fingers flexing in his hair.

He suckled her breast while he popped the button on her jeans, and unzipped them. He slid his hand along the waist band of her jeans, his fingers sliding just under the band of her cotton panties. He pulled his lips off her nipple and looked up at her while he started to tug her jeans and panties down her legs.

She watched him, her eyes burning with desire. He got them down to her ankles before he realized his mistake. He chuckled, “I got ahead of myself and forgot your shoes.” He lifted one leg, pulling her shoe off, then pulling her leg out of the jeans, panties and finally a sock, before doing the same with the other leg.

When he looked back up at her she was completely naked in front of him.

“You are breathtaking,” he whispered. Her body soft and smooth and warm. Everything he’d hoped for and so much more. His hands slid along her skin as she stood before him, and it took all of his will power not to throw her on the bed and slide into her. He pressed his forehead to her abdomen and breathed her in. Vanilla and warm cinnamon and nutmeg, but now something stronger, something almost sweet under her normal scent.

“Can I taste you?” He looked back up at her, his hands sliding along her hips, across her lower abdomen, up her thighs. Touching everywhere he could, everywhere she would allow.

“You don’t have to,” she started.

“I want to.” He interrupted her. He looked up at her. “Can I?”

She bit her lip, and gave a slow jerky nod. He pressed gently at her thighs backing her up to the bed. “Sit down and lie back, sweetheart.” Her whole body started to tremble as she sat down. “Have you ever done this before? Had someone taste you?” She shook her head.

He leaned forward pressing a kiss to her knee. “Do you trust me?” She nodded slowly. “Okay, lie back and let me love you.” She watched him for a long moment before letting a breath out and lying back against the bed, her feet still planted on the floor.

“You don’t have to do anything but enjoy this, okay?” he lifted one leg hooking it over his shoulder. “And if I do something you don’t like, just tell me and I’ll stop.” He lifted the other leg, slipping it on his other shoulder. She nodded again, her hands clenched tightly under her breasts. He reached up then, placing one if his hands on hers and pulling lightly.

She unclenched her hands and let him take her hand. He grinned as he placed her hand on the top of his head. She looked down at him, and saw his smile. “You might need something to hold on to,” he explained. “Preferably my head.”

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss lightly to her left knee, then her right knee. He kissed her thighs lightly and slowly, letting her get used to the sensation of being touched. He felt her start to relax when he was halfway up her thighs.

He pressed his lips lightly to her inner left thigh where her leg began to melt into her body. He felt her shift, her hips moving subtlety, her hand in his hair tightening just slightly.

He lifted his head slightly and blew on her lips, watching her body twitch under the sensation. She was waxed smooth, and he could see already without even trying how wet she was. He flicked his eyes up, and saw her relaxed, and moved forward.

He pressed his lips lightly against her, kissing softly, letting her feel him against her. She trembled, but didn’t pull away.

He pressed another soft kiss to her glistening lips, but pushed his tongue lightly against her slowly ticking up her slit. Her breath hitched and her fingers tightened in his hair.

Gods she tasted good, sweet and salty and something completely unique to her. He licked slowly from her entrance upwards, pushing between her lips, finding her clit. Her back bowed on the bed, and her other hand found his head, fingers threading through his hair. He smiled against her, and continued. His tongue slid lightly against her clit, circling it lightly, then sliding over it.

He licked lightly, teasing and playing with the little nub, listening to her pant his name from the bed. He lifted his left hand slowly, touching her lips, pulling her apart further. He licked back down to her entrance, and pushed his stiffened tongue inside her.

“Oh fuck,” she moaned above him.

“That good?” He asked, lifting his head slightly and running his fingers through her wetness.

“Please don’t stop,” she moaned.

“Oh I’m not, sweetheart.” He said. “Just exploring,” he whispered against her as his middle finger slowly pushed inside her. Fucking Christ, she was tight, squeezing his finger like a vice. Her hips rose slightly, trying to take more of his finger inside her.

He leaned back in, pressing his finger all the way inside her and licked back up to her clit. Her hips jerked against him, nearly knocking him away from her. He moved his right hand around her hips and on top of her low abdomen, holding her in place and set to pleasuring her.

He rolled his tongue over her clit, and she nearly screamed, so he did it again, while he pumped his finger slowly in and out of her. Her knees fell wide open on his shoulders, giving him even better access to her. He slid his finger out, pressed his forefinger to his middle and pushed both fingers inside her, turning them palm up.

Her hips jerked against his face, his tongue still rolling against her clit.

“Xander,” she breathed out as he began to pump the two fingers inside her. She was getting close, he could feel it in the way her hips were trying to pump up to match his fingers movement, the trembling of her inner walls as her pussy sucked on his fingers. He pushed the fingers deep and pulled her clit between his lips, and felt her entire body tense. Curling his fingers inside her, he lapped at her clit and felt the tremors start.

Her heels dug into his spine, her fingers held onto his head by his hair, and her back bowed. She went completely stiff, then the violent shudders began. A gush of her wetness pulsed out around his fingers as she came. “Xander, oh fuck,” she cried out. “Xander!”

He kept licking, kept moving his fingers inside her until her body went limp. Slowly he pulled his sticky fingers out of her, and pressed a gentle soft kiss to each of her thighs as he lifted each leg off his shoulder and set them on the floor again.

He stood slowly, and took in the sight of her. At some point, she’d lost her hair tie, and her hair was a riot of dark brown curls on the bed, her breasts were heaving, her skin flush and bright in the low light of the bedroom. She had a smile of satisfaction on her face, one arm thrown over her eyes, the other lying limply next to her.

He reached up, pulling his glasses, now half crooked on his face, off and tossed them carelessly onto the nightstand. He reached behind his shoulders and pulled his t-shirt off as he kicked out of his shoes. He couldn’t wait any more. He needed to be inside her, now.

Fionn nodded his urgent approval.

He tossed the t-shirt aside as he finally spoke. “Move up on the bed, beautiful.” She lifted her arm, looking at him as he started on his belt, unbuckling and sliding it out from his jeans. She nodded and pushed herself up and scooted up onto the bed, turning her body so that she was lying on his pillows now.

He unsnapped and zipped his jeans and shoved them down with his boxer briefs without ceremony. He stood, kicking them off with his socks and caught her eyes staring at his body. He placed his hands on his hips and glanced down at himself before he looked back up to her. “You approve?”

Her eyes flicked up to his. “It’s definitely time to whore it up.”

He laughed, and shook his head. “Whatever my lady wishes.” He climbed onto the king size bed, and moved over her, kissing up her body from her abdomen to her lips. “You taste like sunshine,” he said softly as he pressed a kiss to chin. “I think I may become addicted.”

She giggled against him and turned into his kiss, tasting herself on his lips. He pushed her legs apart with a knee and nestled himself between her thighs. Lifting his head, he looked down at her, her eyes bright with desire.

He pushed a piece of hair off her face and just looked at her. The beauty of her. “Do you know what it means to be marked by a wolf?” He hadn’t even realized he’d been thinking about marking her until the words came out.

“No,” she said watching him carefully.

“Marking is a bond between wolves and their mate.” He said quietly, “It is unbreakable, forever kind of link. It binds them in a sense. I’ll be able to feel you in my mind and body, and you’ll feel me. I don’t know what it will be like for a human,” he paused, kissing the tip of her nose, “but for a wolf, it’s like winding your soul with mine. It will links us in the most intimate ways. But it also tells any other wolf you have been claimed. You belong to me as I would belong to you.”

She watched him, her eyes flicking between his, the gold flecks dancing in the low lights of the room. “I want to mark you.” He said quietly. “I want that unbreakable connection with you. I want every other wolf to know you belong to me.” He kissed her nose lightly. “That you are my mate.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “It’s a commitment, a big one, but I want that with you.”

Her eyes went glassy, a small smile on her lips as he looked at her. “Can I claim you, Millie? Give you my mark so no other wolf, no other man will touch you?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes, I…” her soft voice trailed off and she blinked. “I would really like that.” She swallowed. “I want to belong to you.”

He smiled slowly, his grin not just of pleasure but of satisfaction. “And I will belong to you, don’t forget that, love. It’s an even exchange.” She smiled softly, and nodded.

“It is a bite, on your shoulder. It might sting a little, but I will do my best to keep it from really hurting.” She nodded. “Do you trust me, Millie?” She swallowed as she watched his face.

“So much that it terrifies me.”

He nodded. “Same, sweetheart.”

He dipped his head back to hers, kissing her again. Her arms came up and around his neck holding him to her as he arms slid under her shoulders, hands wrapping around each shoulder holding her in place.

He rotated his hips against her, pressing his hard cock against the warm wetness he’d just created at her pussy. She groaned into his mouth, her legs falling wider open. He shifted his hips, and pressed the tip of his cock along her wet slit, and slid it against her until he notched at her opening.

He didn’t lift his head from his kiss, didn’t say a word, just slowly pushed inside her tightness. His head popped in with little ceremony, making him hiss against her lips. She was impossibly tight, making him glad he’d made her as wet as she was before he tried to enter her.

She groaned, her hips lifting, taking him in deeper. He broke the kiss, needing to breathe as he pressed inside her. “Baby you are so tight it almost hurts,” he groaned against her.

“I’m sorry,” she panted, her eyes closed, hips raised to him.

He grunted, as his hips flexed forward and he finally pressed into her fully, his hip bones against hers, his sack resting against her lips. “Don’t be, sweetheart. It’s perfect.” He kissed her again, as he pulled back a few inches then back in again. He could feel her cervix against his cock head when he pushed in, nudging it.

From this angle he would only just touch it, but when he fucked her from behind, he could probably push it open a bit. The thought of pushing her cervix open when he came inside her made his hips jerk against her, his cock throbbing.

He lifted his head, kissing down her jaw to her neck as he stared to thrust into her. Her legs lifted wrapping around his hips, her arms finding his back and holding him tightly. “Oh god,” she moaned under him, her eyes squeezed tightly.

He grunted. “No,” he said thrusting forward hard and holding deeply inside her. “Xander,” he grunted out the correction.

“Xander,” she breathed out. He kissed her, sliding almost all the way out, then thrusting forward hard again.

Mine, he thought with every pump, every breath. Mine.

He was getting too close to coming, and he knew it. He slowed, rolling his hips on his downward thrust, rolling against her clit. Her body arched under him at the contact, and her pussy shuddered around him.

He groaned against her lips, he had to make it a little longer, he thought, make her come. He wanted her to come as he claimed her, as he marked her and spilled his seed into her.

“Xander… just like that,” she moaned, her hips moving against his. He kept the movements exactly as she’d asked, rolling his hips against her on each downward thrust, rubbing her clit against his cock.

He felt her pussy twitch. “Come for me, Millie,” he coaxed, his voice coming in heavy breaths. “I want to come inside you while you come on me.”

Her hands twitched on his back, nails digging into his skin, when her body arched under him, her whole body stiffened, and then began to tremble, her pussy rippling against his cock, tight velvety wet waves against him. “Xander!” she screamed, and he let go. He pumped into her as she came, and leaned down to her left shoulder and bit down hard.

He felt her flesh give and then tasted the warm tang of her blood as he started to come inside her, his hips jerking deep, and then holding, his cock pulsating waves of pleasure and thick seed inside her. His teeth held onto her shoulder as his cock jerked inside her.

And then he felt it.

It was like a rope tied to his chest suddenly yanked and pulled tight, and he felt her. Millie. He could feel every part of her body, feel her deep within his own body as if she’d taken up residence with Fionn.

Fionn howled long and hard.

Marked. Mated. Ours.

The knot started at the base of his cock, growing almost painfully until he was lodged deep inside her, locked in, unable to leave her body, even if he wanted to. When he finally stopped spurting, his teeth released her shoulder.

He was breathing as if he’d just finished a marathon, and much to his delight, so was she. He leaned up slightly and looked down at her. “I’m knotted.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him with a smile. “Is that why it feels so big?”

He nodded, licking his lips. He could taste her blood on his lips, and it made his cock pulsate inside her. “I can move about an inch back and forth, but I’m stuck inside you like this for at least a while.”

She nodded, then her pussy twitched around him, making him groan.

“What is the point of it? Or is there not one?”

He grinned down at her, kissing her lightly. “It’s to help with conception.”

She blinked up at him. “Conception?” She asked dumbly. “Like, getting pregnant?”

He chuckled. “Yes.”

Her hands raised to her lips and she stared at him in horror. “Oh my god, Xander, we didn’t use a condom.”

He kissed her nose. “Nope.” He grinned down at her. If he had his way, her pussy would never feel him with latex between them.

She watched him, her eyes narrowing as her hands fell to her side.

“You seem strangely okay with that.” She shook her head. “I’m not on birth control, Xander. This is a panic moment.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”

She blinked at him, and he could see the wheels turning as she thought. “You want me to get pregnant?”

He shrugged. “I mean, I don’t hate the idea.”

She watched him, thinking hard. “You…” she sighed. “You don’t hate the idea.”

He laughed and kissed her softly. “Thinking about you pregnant with my child is quite an aphrodisiac, sweetheart.” She gave a shy smile and a roll of her eyes.

“You don’t think it’s a little soon for that?”

He shrugged. “I think it’s inevitable.”

“You’re certifiable you know that?”

He quirked a brow at her. “Would you not want a baby?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say that.” She ran her hand through his short hair. “It’s just a very big step. I’ve only known you, as you, a few hours.”

“That make sense.” He admitted.

She pulled her had down to touch the stubble on his cheek. “I wouldn’t be upset about it, I would be excited. I just think it’s very soon.”

He nodded. “That makes sense, love.” He pressed a kiss to her palm, and shifted slightly, making her moan softly. “Does it feel good?” he asked, shifting his weight.

She nodded. “It really does.”

He grinned down at her. “I bet I can make it feel even better.”

She raised an eye brow at him, and watched carefully as he pushed himself up onto his knees, his cock shifting ever so slightly inside her. He watched her as he licked his thumb, and then slid it down and over her clit, brushing softly, then, when her eyes closed and her hips shuddered, he pressed harder and started to rub in slow circles.

“Holy shit, Xander,” she breathed, running her hands down his chest.

“Yeah?” he asked, a smirk on his lips.

“Yeah,” she breathed.

Her pussy fluttered on his cock, making him groan. He pushed that extra inch inside her, rubbing back and forth, watching her moan and writhe under him. It wasn’t long before her back arched and she came again, his thumb on her clit, his knot stuck inside her. He moaned as her pussy tightened around him, milking him.

“Feck you feel good,” he moaned as she shuddered. As her orgasm slowed, he leaned forward again, stretching out on top of her, and pressed his lips to hers.

He slid one hand into her hair at her neck, the other holding him up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

He wanted to tell her he loved her. Wanted to say a million things to her that he knew were too soon. He knew it logically, but now, with the mark, with the bond, he could feel it. She may not know it, she may not be ready to say it, but she loved him. He could feel the golden warmth of it soaking the bond between them.

Fate may have brought her to him, told him to mate with her, but it hadn’t dictated this amazing, warmth of love that had blossomed between them. It didn’t require love at all; it often sprang forward with a fated mate, but not always.

This, this connection, this truth… this was all Millie.

It was a long while before his knot loosened enough that he was able to slip away from her. He slid next to her, slipping her into the crook of his arm. He lay still, staring up at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling in a slow steady rhythm, somehow steadier than how he felt inside.

Millie tucked into his side, her head resting on his arm, her body warm and soft against his. Her leg still tangled with his loosely, her breath still uneven as it worked its way back to normal. He grinned up at the ceiling.

He’d done that to her, he thought with a heavy dose of pride. He’d brought her over the edge three times, and damn him if he didn’t want to do it again. She’d seemed so surprised, so shocked every single time it happened, it just made him want to do it again. The way her face moved, the sound of his name pouring out of her mouth while her body trembled and writhed under him.

He hadn’t intended to mark her, not when they’d started. Not after he’d tasted her. He’d asked her, explained enough to get her to understand, and she’d been eager.

He could still taste her blood in his mouth, on his lips. It was both satisfying and terrifying. Fionn lay stretched out beneath his skin, not pacing, not pushing. Satisfied in a way Xander had never felt before. Fionn rumbled under his skin, Mate.

Xander exhaled slowly, his gaze still fixed on the ceiling, trying to put words to something that didn’t fit with the human language. Yeah, he agreed silently.

“Is it always like that?” Millie asked, her tone still breathless.

His grin deepened, feeling a little more disbelieving himself than he cared to admit. “No,” he said quietly. “No it’s not.” She turned her head slightly.

“No?”

He smiled down at her. “That was…” he tried to find the right word and laughed on a sighed. “That was perfect.”

Her lips twitched. “Perfect, huh?”

He tightened his hold on her shoulders. “Yeah,” he murmured, as his gaze dropped to her shoulder, where he’d marked her. “It was only because it was you.” He brushed his lips over her hair. “Because you are my chosen mate, and because of the mark.”

It wasn’t bleeding anymore, but his teeth marks were clear as day, deep red from where they’d punctured the skin. Something primal and deep settled in his chest at the sight of it, not triumph… devotion.

He could feel it, the tether that linked him to her.

“Did it hurt?”

She looked up at him. “What?”

“The marking.”

She shook her head. “It kind of pinched at first,” she admitted, “but then it was like someone replaced my blood with liquid super-heated honey. I could feel warmth, then it was like I could feel you and Fionn, so… similar, but different.” Fionn grunted his approval. “It was like I could feel what you were feeling.”

She turned in his arms then, her arm sliding across his chest. He turned to face her, closing the small gap between them, holding her as close as he could manage.

“You will always feel me now. Fionn too.” Fionn lifted his head, amber eyes bright with approval. “And we can feel you.” Her gaze flickered slightly at that. His thumb traced lightly along her cheek.

“You belong to us now,” he said, then shook his head. “Not in a possessive, human way.” He said huffing out a breath. He slid his hand along her jaw, grounding himself in her presence. “The marking,” he continued, his voice low. “It binds wolves together.” She watched him, her eyes curious.

“Marking is older than anything humans have created. Older than religion, older than time itself.” He brushed a piece of hair back from her face. “Its older than rules, older than reason.” He looked back into her eyes. “To be marked is to possess and be possessed. Fionn and I belong to you, as much as you belong to us.”

Her lips curved, amusement threading through the curiosity in her eyes. “Are you telling me,” she said, voice still soft, “that you just wolf married me during sex? And I let you?”

Xander laughed then, quiet but real.

Fionn gave a satisfied nod. Accurate.

“I mean,” Xander said, a grin tugging at his mouth, “in the most general, basic sense of the phrase,” he paused and shook his head. “…yeah.”

She huffed a soft laugh, then yawned, tucking her head under his chin and scooting closer, her arm tightening around his middle. “M’kay,” she said quietly as sleep began to pull her under.

Something in his chest tightened at the trust in that movement. The ease, the rightness of it. “You okay with being my wolf wife?” he asked, only half teasing.

She hummed against him, her voice soft and fading. “Yeah.”

Fionn practically preened, a deep pleased rumble reechoing through him.

“Good,” he murmured, his hand settling at her back, holding her against him. “Because you’re stuck with us, love.” She mumbled something he couldn’t make out, her breath evening out as sleep pulled her under.

“Xander?” she whispered, feather light against his chest.

He tightened his hold around her, and kissed her forehead. “I’m here, sweetheart.”

She sighed against him. “I’m glad it was you.”

His heart stuttered. It felt like it actually stopped for a beat before slamming back into motion, heavier than before. The weight of her words landing solidly in his chest. Fionn went completely still. Mate, he whimpered, nuzzling against her, through Xander’s skin.

Xander swallowed, his throat tight. “Yeah,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Our mate.” He said softly. He watched her for a long moment. “Our love,” he breathed, pulling her a fraction closer, like he could anchor her there forever.

Her breathing deepened. She was out for the rest of the night. Sleep claimed her exhausted body, her body slack and warm against his.

Xander lay there for a long moment, staring into the dim light of the room, feeling the steady thread of her, woven into every cell of his being. There would never be a day without her again. She was his purpose in life. His reason for living, for breathing.

She was his, in a way no other would ever be.

Ours, Fionn corrected.

Ours, Xander agreed.

He pressed another soft kiss to her hair. “Goodnight, love.”

She whimpered something unintelligible.

He closed his eyes, and let the feeling of warmth and contentment carry him off to sleep.

He froze inside. He was pretty sure he didn’t show any change on the outside, arms still crossed, leaning a hip against the counter, his posture loose, but inside… he went stock still. Everything stopped.

Do you prefer Clark or X?

Fionn surged forward, clawing at him from the inside. She knows, he roared.

He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe for a half a second as he tried to find a way out of this a way to redirect without outright lying to her, and came up with nothing.

It was her. He couldn’t lie to her.

She stared at him, waiting.

There was no point in pretending anymore, not after what he’d just done, what she’d just seen.

Fionn agreed, huffing in his chest, enough.

Xander agreed. Yeah, it was enough.

He pushed off the counter slowly, uncrossing his arms as he turned to face her fully, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. No hood to hide behind, no hunched shoulders. Her eyes were watching him wide, but carefully, as if searching for the truth she was already aware of.

He swallowed, feeling a burst of anxiety. “That depends.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “On what?”

He huffed a laugh at the ludicrous situation. “On if you’re asking me as my waitress,” he said slowly, his eyes not leaving hers, “or the girl I’ve been talking to every night.”

There it was, out in the open. No take backs.

The words fell between them, and he heard her breath hitch, slight, but strong enough that he felt it in his chest. Her eyes grew bigger, as the truth of everything flowed across her features.

“X,” she breathed.

Fionn preened. Mate, he crooned.

Xander smiled then. “I actually prefer Xander.”

She blinked at him. “Xander.” Her tone was completely deadpan.

He nodded.

A slow smile spread until even her eyes were twinkling. “You are literally X.”

He let out an anxious laugh. “Yeah, I am.” He wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d been prepared for her to pull away, to shut down, to tell him to get lost, that he was a weirdo stalker, but that wasn’t the energy he was getting from the way she was looking at him.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she said on a laugh. She shook her head and laughed fully then, turning away sightly before turning back to him. “This isn’t a joke?” She asked again.

He shook his head, and huffed a laugh, shrugging his shoulders. “I kind of wish it was.” He admitted. Her eyes flicked over him, taking him in fully then. Broad shoulders, not stooped, not folded in on himself. The way he met her eyes now instead of staring at the counter. The way he carried himself.

The way he really was.

“You’re the guy who asked me out for a cupper?”

A flush he couldn’t control crept across his cheeks. He gave her a crooked smile and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” he asked on a chuckle. “But yeah, that was me.”

Her eyes went round. “Fuck.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What?” he asked slowly.

She shook her head, going beet-red.

“Millie…”

“I gushed about Hoodie Guy to you.” She dropped her face to her hands. “Oh kill me now.”

Xander shouldn’t have enjoyed that as much as he did. He knew that. Logically, rationally, sanely, he knew that watching Millie spiral into embarrassment, face buried in her hands, was not something he should find endearing.

It didn’t matter though. Something warm and dangerously close to giddy, unfurled in his chest. He dragged a hand over his mouth, trying, and failing, to hid the smile that threatened to break free.

“Oh my god,” Millie groaned, her voice muffled in her hands. “Oh my god.”

He lost the battle, and laughed.

That made it worse.

Her head snapped up, eye wide with betrayal, cheeks flushed a deep furious red. “You are not allowed to laugh right now.” She choked out.

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, still smiling. “I really am. It’s just-”

“It’s just what?” She demanded.

He hesitated. The truth was dangerous. The truth was that every single one of those late night conversations, every laugh, every sarcastic comment, every sleepy confession, had meant something to him. When he was just another guy at her diner counter, those conversations had been his only connection to her.

The truth was that hearing her talk about “Hoodie Guy,” about him, while not realizing… Gods.

He exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “It’s just a bit surreal, alright?”

“A little…” she made a disbelieving sound. “I told you I thought he was cute.”

Fionn preened.

Xander’s stomach flipped.

He schooled his expression into something neutral adjacent, even though he could feel heat creeping up the back of his neck. “I believe the phrase you used was drop dead gorgeous.”

Her eyes narrowed instantly. “Oh my god,” she said slower this time. “You knew.”

He winced. “I had a suspicion…”

“A suspicion.” She echoed flatly. “A suspicion that the girl you were talking to every night was the same girl who was standing in front of you, talking about how much she liked you, and you just what? Let it happen?”

He winced again, rubbing the back of his neck. “When you say it like that…”

“Oh please,” she said throwing her hands in the air. “How else would you say it, Xander?”

Fionn preened at the use of Xander’s name.

Not the time, he shot at his wolf internally.

Fionn huffed a snarl. You make this too difficult.

He took a breath. He couldn’t be honest about that part, he’d lose her for sure. Couldn’t stand there, and say ‘oh, I hacked your personal data, and found your phone number and fake wrong number texted you.’

Yeah, he’d get arrested, for sure.

“I wasn’t sure at first,” he said, running a hand through his hair. Her expression was clear that she didn’t believe him for a hot second. “Okay,” he amended. “I was pretty sure.”

“Un-fucking-believable.” She said throwing her hands in the air again.

“I didn’t know how to…” he broke of frustration flickering across his face. “You weren’t exactly making it easy, Millie.”

Her jaw dropped. “I wasn’t making it easy?” She echoed, incredulous.

“You hated me.”

She blinked at him slowly. “I never hated you.”

He snorted. “You called me socially suspicious when you texted me last night.”

Her eyes flared. “I told X that, not,” she waved in his general direction, “…you.” She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing on him. “And now I can say with complete confidence to your face, you are, in fact, socially suspicious.”

He stared at her, and she stared right back, unimpressed.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh, averting his eyes. “That tracks.”

Her lips twitched a second before she groaned again. “This is humiliating.”

Xander’s expression softened immediately. The amusement didn’t disappear, but it gentled, edged with something quieter. He took a small step closer, cautious, like approaching something skittish. “Hey,” he said, voice lower now.

She didn’t look at him.

“I heard it.” He said.

“Great.” she said without looking up.

“What you said about him.” Her entire body went still, and slowly she looked up at him. There was a shift, a moment where the humor slipped, just enough to show what was sitting under it.

Vulnerability, uncertainty.

“Xander,” she said softly.

He shook his head. “No, you don’t get to take it back now. You don’t get to pretend you didn’t mean it, just because it’s me.” She swallowed, watching him cautiously from the other side of the counter. “I was listening,” he went on, tone softer. “Every time you talked about him, the way you described him like he was…” He blinked, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it still. “Like he was someone worth noticing.”

Her eyes flicked between his. “You have no idea what that was like.” He admitted.

Her shoulder sagged. “I didn’t know it was you.”

“I know.”

“I wouldn’t have said half of that if I had.”

He smiled at her. “That’s kind of the point.”

She exhaled, shaky, somewhere between a laugh and something else entirely. “This is totally and completely and utterly insane.”

He grinned at her. “Yeah. But,” He said leaning on the counter toward her. “You did tell me my only real competition was Hoodie Guy, so…” he shrugged at her. “…Maybe it’s the best of both worlds?”

Another beat of silence stretched between them, but it felt different now.

Charged with a tension, crackling like electricity between them.

She smiled at him then, bright and warm. She looked away, then back at Xander. “You know what? I’m done waiting.”

He was about to ask he what she was talking about then she reached out and grabbed his hoodie covered wrist, pulling him around the counter. She dragged him behind her back through the kitchen toward a door in the back.

“Mark, I’m taking 20. Watch the front. “ She didn’t wait around for him to respond, just opened the back door and dragged Xander behind her.

They stepped into a small alley area behind the diner, dark and cluttered with wooden pallets and crates. The air outside was cool, air damp with the rains that had just passed, as he stumbled to a stop behind her.

She turned to him then, dropping his wrist and stared at him. In the darkness of the alley, her eyes sparkled, and the scent of her hit him square in the chest. The scent stronger now, sweeter almost. Like she had added something under her base scent of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Fionn rumbled in his chest. She wants to mate with us, he almost purred.

Xander agreed. Her eyes, slightly dilated, lips parted.

“You talked a pretty big game as X,” she said softly, taking a step closer. “Was that all just text or was there truth behind what you said?”

“Which part?” he asked, his voice going deeper without meaning to.

“The part,” she said taking another step closer, “when you did I was the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen, and that you were going to…” She looked like she was starting to blush. “…touch yourself-”

He didn’t let her finish.

He closed the space between them in a heartbeat, pulling her against him and pressing his lips to hers.

The electricity shot between them, as their lips pressed together. She gasped against the sensation and he took full advantage, slanting his face slightly and pressing his tongue into her mouth.

He groaned, low in his throat, pulling her more tightly against him. Her arms wound their way around his neck as she kissed him back, her body pressing into his as tightly as she could.

His hand slipped from her hips, down around her thighs and he pulled her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his hips. She let out a surprised yip, but didn’t stop kissing him. He moved then, a few steps forward until he had her pressed against the cool bricks of the building opposite the diner.

She groaned into his mouth, her pelvis pressed tight against his. He rocked his hips against hers, his rock hard cock straining against his jeans, pressed against her.

His hands, no longer needed to hold her up, began to move. One slipped into her hair, the other palmed one of her large breasts over her shirt and bra. He could feel her nipple harden under his touch and he moaned into her mouth.

He pulled his mouth from hers, breathing becoming more necessary, but kept touching her. Kissing and nipping down her jaw to her ear. “Gods I’ve wanted to do this for so long,“ he whispered into her ear before gently biting and tugging it between his teeth.

Her whole body shuddered, her hips rocking against his. “Me, too,” she confessed.

He pulled back, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. “I didn’t want to do this halfway with you,” he said, voice rough. “I want you to belong to me.”

Part of him was absolutely mortified by the words tumbling out of his mouth. His logic brain was screaming and waiving red flags like it was an Olympic sport. Fionn was just grunting his approval.

Mate.

Mark her.

Fuck her.

Put our pup in her belly.

Xander swallowed. Watching her eyes. She didn’t respond, just watching him carefully. “Did I just feck this all up?” he whispered, a thread of dread slicing through him.

Finally she shook her head slowly.

“No,” she whispered and kissed his cheek. “I like it.” He groaned low in his throat, turning his face, and pressed his lips back to hers tongue pressing between her lips, dipping, caressing tasting. He ground his hips against hers, moaning into her mouth when she tilted her hips, pressing into him, rubbing against him.

“Gods,” he said breaking the kiss, and moving to her shoulder and collarbone, licking and kissing her skin. “I want to be inside you,” he ground out and she rubbed against him again. “I want to feel you around me, squeezing me,” he whispered. “I want to feel you come on me.” She whimpered, leaning her head back giving him better access to her skin. “I want to come inside you.” He whispered, kissing up to her ear. “I want you dripping my come for days after.”

Her whole body shook against him, her chest arching, hips grinding. “Tell me you want me to come inside you.”

She moaned, he hand on her breast lightly punching the nipple. “Oh god, yes. I want to feel it inside me.” Her hips bucked.

“Have you ever fucked a wolf?” he asked, licking and biting lightly at her neck.

“No,” she admitted.

He grunted his approval. “Good.” He said kissing her delicate skin. “I’m going to give you your first knot.” She groaned again, her body rolling against his, aching for him to keep touching her.

“What’s that?” She gasped.

“When I come inside you,” he said kissing along the base of her throat, “my cock will get wider and act like a plug, it locks me inside your body. I won’t be able to pull out of you until it deflates.” He kissed up her chin. “It might be uncomfortable at first but I’ll make sure you enjoy every moment of it.” He pressed a kiss to her cheeks then her eyelids. “I want you to come on my knot, I want to feel you milk my cock of every drop I have.”

She shuddered against him.

“I never thought you’d have such a dirty mouth,” she whispered on a grin as he kissed her again.

“Baby, you have no idea.”

He pulled away from the brick, letting her side back to her feet. “Come home with me, after your shift. Stay the night with me.”

She watched him carefully, and Xander felt a wave of nervousness.

This is too much too soon, he thought panicked. She’s going to pull back, I’ve just fucked this ten ways.

Stop, Fionn grunted, give her time to think for herself.

“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” Her voice was soft, but under it, he could hear it: fear. Was she afraid of him?

“Do you want to slow down?”

She looked up at him, and gods, he wanted to kiss her again. Instead he slipped his hand across her cheek into the hair at the base of her head. “Yes,” she said, her eyes closing, leaning into his touch, “but also no.” She sighed. “I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Why?” He asked as he pressed his lips to her forehead, breathing her scent in.

She sighed again. “Because I feel like I’ve known you forever, that this was…” she shook her head. “It sounds stupid.”

He stilled and waited for her to look up at him. “Like this was fated in the stars?”

Her eyes widened, flicking between both of his. “Yeah,” she breathed.

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her again. “Then I’m not the only one.”

She sighed against his lips. “What does this mean?” She whispered. “Because I feel insane.”

He chuckled, brushing back a curl from her face. “It means that I’m reasonably sure my bachelor days are done for.”

She blinked up at him. “What?”

He grinned. “I think I’m going to keep you, Millie.” She looked away, a fresh blush on her cheeks. He tilted her face back to his with a finger. “You’re the end and the beginning.”

He brushed his lips against hers, dragging his nose softly against her cheek. “Come stay with me tonight, Millie.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “I don’t know that I can leave you alone, now that I’ve had a taste of you.”

She groaned, sliding her hands around his neck, and pulled his lips back to hers. He slipped his arms back around her, holding her to him. He groaned and took a step back toward the brick wall behind her.

“Hey Millie, there’s a lady…” Mark’s voice tore them apart in the alley like two kids caught making out under the bleachers. “Eh, sorry,” he said and turned around heading back into the kitchen.

“Fuck,” she breathed. She reached up to her hair, now half out of the knot she’d made on her head. “I need to go back inside.” She pulled the hair tie out, and for the first time, he saw how long her hair was. The dark curls spilling half way down her back.

He had a visceral image of her on her knees on his bed, her hands bound to the bedframe, her hair wrapped in his fist as he slammed into her. He blinked and took a step back, swallowing hard.

She pulled her hair back up in a quick motion, messy bun back in place. She turned to him, cheeks flushed. “Can I think about it?” She shook her head. “I promise, as much as this seems like I’m easy, I’m not.” She added quickly as she shook her head. “You just…”

He smirked. “…make you want to whore it up?” he teased using her own phrase.

She groaned, rolling her eyes at him. “You’re horrible.”

He winked, grinning at her. “You don’t really think that.”

She shook her head. “No, but I should.”

He laughed then, and shook his head. “Come on, beautiful, you have work to do.” He opened the back door open for her. “You’re off at two?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He nodded following behind her. “Okay, I’ll be here at two. And either, I’ll walk you home, or you can come home with me. Either way, I’ll be here, and bare minimum, I’m going to kiss you again.” They rounded the corner into the front of the diner. He slipped to the other side of the counter, and saw a lady sitting at the end of the counter, watching him with wide eyes.

Turning back to Millie, he saw her blush under the bright fluorescent lights of the diner. “I’ll be here, sweetheart.” She nodded, eyes watching him carefully. He leaned forward, hooking a finger in her apron, dragging her closer and kissed her softly over the counter. “Two o’clock.” He said against her lips.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

He pulled back, gave her a wink and shoved his hands in his pockets and went straight for the door. He didn’t turn back to her before he left. He knew if he did, he might throw her over the counter and fuck her, audience or not.

He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling hard as the cool air hit his face. “Well, that went…”

Suspiciously well, Fionn cut in.

Xander huffed a quiet laugh, still in disbelief. “Yeah.”

He stepped off the curb without really thinking, converse hitting pavement as his mind replayed the last ten minutes on a loop.

The way her hands felt around his neck.

The way she’d leaned into him.

The way she’d stood her ground with him, not backing down.

The way she’d said yes… and no.

He sighed. “That was encouraging,” he muttered deadpan.

Fionn rolled his eyes. She didn’t run.

Xander’s mouth twitched. “Your standards are concerning, Fionn.”

My standards are accurate, the wolf shot back. She asked for time, not distance.

That was true, Xander admitted to himself. He slowed his pace, shoulders finally dropping, as if some of the adrenaline finally bled out of him. “She’s overwhelmed,” he said more to himself than Fionn.

So are you, Fionn replied, unimpressed.

Xander let out a long breath through his nose. “I’m handling it better.”

You almost bent her over a counter in a public diner, Fionn scoffed.

“I said I was handling it better, not perfectly,” Xander shot back. “Besides, I think you were all on board for the bending over escapades.”

Fionn snorted without comment.

Xander’s grin crept back. Gods, she was perfection. The image of her hair loose down her back hit him again, uninvited and sharp. Longer than he had ever imagined. Those dark curls spilling down her back like something out of one of his fucking shower time fantasies.

He shook his head. “Yeah, that is going to be a problem,” he muttered.

That is going to be a solution, Fionn corrected smugly.

“Not helping.”

You want her.

Xander stilled. That wasn’t new information. He’d wanted her for a while now, before he even knew who she was, as soon as he’d caught her scent. But this was different. It wasn’t just a fantasy, this was… “Dangerous,” he said under his breath.

Fionn didn’t disagree, giving him pause.

He hadn’t realized he’d stopped moving. He pushed himself forward again, slower now, thought sharpening instead of spinning. “She said she feels like she’s known me forever,” he said.

She’s not wrong, Fionn shrugged.

His jaw tightened. “Don’t start with that shite again.”

You know I’m right. The second we smelled her, you knew she was our mate. Fionn pressed. Why do you fight it? Accept it.

Xander exhaled slowly. He could still remember the exact moment: catching her scent, nearly falling to his knees, the way the rest of the world had fallen away, how there was only… her.

“That doesn’t mean I should rush through this.”

Fionn made a low annoyed sound. It means we stop pretending this is casual.

“I’m not fecking away with the fairies.” He grumbled. “That’s exactly why we don’t want to screw it up.”

That gave the wolf pause. Good.

Xander glanced back down the street in the general direction of the diner. “She’s going to over think herself into a spiral.”

Fionn huffed, she already is.

A faint chuckle made Xander shake his head. “Yeah,” he agreed.

He could practically hear it, her voice, her sarcasm turning inward, picking apart every moment, every word.

I’m easy.

His expression darkened immediately. “No,” he said firmly. Fionn nodded his big head in agreement. “She doesn’t get to think like that, not about this. Not about us.”

Silence settled between them then, rare but not uncomfortable.

You told her you’d be there.

Xander’s lips curved slowly. “Yeah, at two.” He checked the time out of habit, already calculating the next hour and a half between then and now. Too long, way too long in his opinion.

Fionn huffed again. We could go back.

Xander snorted. “Absolutely not.”

Coward.

“Strategist,” Xander corrected. “There is a difference.”

You’re afraid you won’t stop.

“That…” he didn’t know how to answer that, but then again he didn’t need to, not really, they both already knew the truth of that statement.

“We’re waiting for two.”

Because life couldn’t stop fucking her, she was now stuck in a nearly empty diner except for a table of mostly drunk frat boys at the back.

It was only Tuesday.

She sighed and glanced at the clock. Just under two hours to go, and she could get the hell out of here. She hoped the frat idiots were gone before Sara came in. She was terrible with confrontation, and Mark, the night cook, hated working here when it was just the two of them at night. He’d had to step in more than he ever wanted in order to to protect her.

And still, she got scheduled for the night shifts.

She lifted her phone and sighed. No new messages from X.

She was on her third straight double, and his constant messages were the only things holding her together most of the late shifts. They’d made tentative plans when he’d called her last night for their cupper date to be Thursday, since it was her first real day off, at the coffee shop just down from the diner.

She grinned as she thought about the last few days.

They’d been on the phone calling or texting nearly all day, every day for the last few days, and she’d begun to notice a difference. He was becoming looser with her, less private. Making more jokes, laughing more easily, answering the questions she had and not dancing around them like he used to.

The only thing he still refused to tell her was his actual name.

When she’d gotten home last night, she’d been wrecked. Two sixteen hour days in a row were murder, and while she had fully intended to crawl in to bed and go comatose for the next six to eight hours, when her phone rang right as she walked into her apartment, her heart had done that hard studder flipping thing, and she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.

“Hey,” she said, unable to stop the yawn that followed.

“You sound exhausted.”

She huffed a laugh. “I am.”

She kicked her shoes off, dropped her bag and jacket on the couch as she walked by, not bothering to stop, and then walked into her bedroom.

“Do you want me to hang up? Let’cha get some sleep?”

“No,” she said, yawning again. “I really want to hear your voice.” She grimaced as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Jesus, could she sound more pathetic and desperate?

He chuckled on the other end of the line. “As my lady wishes. What shall I talk about then?”

She laughed then, lying back on her pillows. “Tell me a bedtime story,” she said. “Something that will make my heart happy as I go to sleep.”

He chuckled on the other end of the phone.

“You want me, a guy, an alpha male werewolf to boot, to tell you a love story?” She narrowed her eyes. He had deliberately thickened his accent, she was sure of it.

“I absolutely do.” She nodded without hesitation. “And don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what, lass?”

She groaned. “That. Using your Irish-ness on me. I’m tired, and I’m weak.” He laughed a full throated laugh, which made her feel like the queen of the world. “Don’t tease me, X. I’m running on caffeine and spite.” He snorted. “Tell me a story.”

He laughed again, and seemed to give up. “Okay, well, let me think.” She heard him sigh. “The fecking things I will do for you,” he mumbled.

She’d tried to stay awake, she really had tried.

At first she lay there on her side, phone tucked between her cheek and the pillow, listening to X’s voice soft with that familiar mix of amusement and defiance.

“Okay, if I’m going to tell you a story, you can’t be interrupting me every five seconds.” He said.

“Rude,” she snorted.

“Okay, so once upon a time,” he said slowly.

“Original start.”

He huffed a breath. “Do you want the story or not?”

She chuckled. “Sorry, by all means.”

“Once upon a time, there was a kingdom,” he said, “the kind people write songs about. Big stone towers, too many rules, and a princess everyone thought they understood.”

Millie’s eyes stayed closed, her interest piqued.

“She was admired by the people around her,” he said. “People called her kind, generous, sweet, and graceful, all the things you’re supposed to say about a kind princess like her. She believed some of it, enough to play the part.” He paused briefly. “But not the important part.”

Millie shifted slightly, moving her phone to the other ear, letting gravity hold it against her face, as she tucked her hands under the pillow. “In her head,” he continued, “love was something that happened to other people. People who were better than her, more beautiful. Because for all the praise she’d gotten as a princess, no one had called her beautiful in a way that made her believe that they really thought she was beautiful.”

Her brow knit faintly.

“She figured if anyone ever did fall in love with her, it would be with the idea of her. They’d fall in love with the princess, the person the world thought she was, but not the real thing.”

“That is so sad,” Millie murmured.

“It is,” he agreed.

“I bet she was really pretty,” she yawned.

“She was. She was the most beautiful woman in the realm, even if she never saw it for herself.” He let out a breath before continuing. “But there was also a knight.”

“There is always a knight.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “He wasn’t a particularly famous one, in fact, he preferred to stay in the background, unnoticed. It was safer for him, safer for those he cared about, if he remained nearly anonymous. Until the day he saw her.” He paused. “She was doing what all princesses did, moving from one task to another, and she never noticed him. But his heart stopped when he saw her.”

There was something in the way he said it, quiet, steady, making her chest feel tight.

“It was immediate. Not the kind of thing he could explain. One moment she was just a woman in the room, and the next she was the only thing that felt real in his entire world.”

Millie sighed. Isn’t that the kind of love very woman wanted?

“She stole his breath. The entire world fell away the first time he saw her, and he knew without even knowing she was the princess, he would burn the world down for her. But she didn’t see him.”

She sighed, and snuggled closer to her pillow.

“He wasn’t supposed to matter,” Xander said. “Most days, he didn’t. He stood in rooms she walked through and she never once noticed him. Not really, he was just part of the background.” She heard him swallow. “But he noticed her. He always noticed her.”

“He didn’t try to change anything,” he continued. “Didn’t step forward, didn’t interrupt her life. He just… stayed where he was. Close enough to see her, but far enough not to be in her way.”

Millie’s breathing slowed, though she was still listening, still following every word.

“He watched the way she smiled at other people. The polite smiles, the genuine ones. Then there were the rare ones,” he said softly, “the smiles that slipped out when she forgot she was being watched. He treasured those most, because he knew most people missed them entirely.”

A faint sleepy sound left her, almost like she was trying to say something, but didn’t.

“For his part, the knight collected them, those moments, those smiles. They mattered to him more than anything else.” He paused for a moment. “He made sure she was safe, not in some dramatic heroic way, but quietly. Fixing problems before they reached her, watching out for her. Standing a little closer when something felt off, and leaving before she ever had the chance to notice him.”

“That’s so sad, X.” She mumbled.

“Maybe,” he conceded, “or maybe he thought it was enough. Just to be near her.” He paused. “He didn’t think she’d ever look at him the way she looked at everyone else.” X said slowly. “Didn’t think he deserved it, even if she may have.”

Millie frowned slightly, her eyes staying closed. “That’s dumb.”

“Yeah,” he said. “He’s not very smart when it comes to her.” Her breathing hitched with the smallest hint of a laugh. “But he still hoped,” he added. “Not for anything big, just that one day she might actually see him. Not as background, not as someone just passing through.” He paused. “Just… see him.”

Millie let out a sleepy sigh.

“And if she did,” he said. “he knew exactly what he’d say to her.”

There was a long pause. Millie stirred faintly. “What?” she asked.

X didn’t speak for a moment. “That she was wrong, about all of it.” There was a shifting sound on his end of the phone. “That she wasn’t something people just admired from far away. That she was… so much more than that. That she was the kind of woman you didn’t walk away from. She was the forever kind.”

Millie’s breath went soft and even.

“That she was worth loving,” he finished quietly, “even if she didn’t believe it yet.”

Silence stretched, warm and fragile.

He thought she might have fallen asleep, until her voice came back, barely more than a whisper, her words slurring together at the edges. “…does she ever see him?”

“Maybe,” he said softly. “Stories like that usually take a while.”

She hummed faintly.

Another few seconds passed.

“…does he love her? Or just her face?”

There was a brief hesitation. “He thinks his love for her was written in the stars a millennium before either of them were born. It was fate that he loved her so wholly, so completely.” He paused. “She was the other half he had never even realized was missing, and when he found her, he was terrified she was going to throw him aside, and he’d live forever loving her without being able to love her properly.”

There was a long silence again. “Why doesn’t he just tell her? Or try to talk to her?”

X chuckled. “Because it was better to love her from afar, where he could be near her, than to risk never seeing her again.”

There was an unmistakable sleepy snort. “He sounds stupid.”

X chuckled. “When it comes to her, yeah, he’s pretty fecking stupid.”

There was a long pause, her breaths coming softer, more even.

“X?” she whispered.

“Yes, love?”

“Don’t hang up.”

He paused. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

That was the last thing she remembered. When she’d woken up that morning, still in her uniform from the day before, the first thing she saw was her phone lying on the pillow next to her, a strange rhythmic noise coming out of it.

She picked it up slowly, the screen flashing on, showing an active call with X, with a count of seven hours and forty one minutes.

He never hung up.

She pressed the phone to her ear, and smiled. His phone wasn’t right next to his face, it sounded further away, maybe on a pillow next to him, but it was clear what she was hearing. “You snore,” she said softly.

She leaned back against the pillows, smiling like a lunatic, and just listening to his breathing. She glanced at the clock and sighed. She had to get up and ready for work, she only had an hour.

“X,” She said quietly. No response. “X,” she said a little louder. She heard his breathing shift. “X,” she said even louder.

There was what sounded like fumbling with the phone, before his sleep heavy voice came through. “Millie, I’m still ‘ere.”

Her heart flipped in her chest. “I know.” She swallowed. “I have to get ready for work, handsome.” He yawned in her ear.

“M’kay,” he said, his voice groggy.

“Go back to sleep, and text me when you wake up.”

“M’kay.” He said, and she wasn’t even sure if he was going to remember this conversation when he woke back up. “Be safe.”

She smiled. “I promise.”

“Good gel.” She grinned.

“Get some sleep.” She said softly.

“M’kay.” She heard the phone rustle, and disconnected the call before she could convince herself to keep listening to him.

He was much more Irish when he was barely awake, accent thicker. Like all the flattening of his accent he did over the day was just gone when he was barely awake.

He’d been working overtime the last two days, trying to get her approval, and while he’d never outright said it, but it was pretty clear to her that he was desperate to make a good impression on her during their coffee date.

She bit her lip and tried to contain her sigh. She’d never had such a connection with anyone before, let alone some stranger who texted the wrong number. Yet here she was, wondering what it would be like for the man whose words made her heart skip a beat, to actually kiss her. To be wrapped in his arms and made to feel like the most beautiful girl in the world.

She sighed. It might be a pipedream, but she’d needed something to hold on to with all the double shifts she’d been working, and would be working. She had one more tomorrow, and then two days of rest. Thank fucking god. She wasn’t sure she could pull off tomorrow, but until they’d hired someone else for the dinner shift, she was up a shit creek with no paddle.

She was refilling one of the ketchup bottles when the bell above the door chimed. She knew it was Hoodie Guy before she even looked up. The energy in the air always shifted when he walked in. It became charged, almost electric, like his very presence altered the ions around him.

Raising her eyes, she watched Hoodie Guy step in, shoulders hunched, eyes down cast, hands in his hoodie pocket, and slip into his normal seat at the counter.

“Well, fancy meeting you here,” she said with a smile. His eyes flicked up quickly then back down, but she saw the faint outline of a smile. “Same old, same old?” She asked, leaning on the counter in front of him. He nodded, and she smiled, turning to the coffee an pulling a mug down first.

“Okay, give me just a few minutes, and we’ll get that out to you.”

He nodded and slid the normal twenty dollar bill across the counter toward her. She picked it up and rang in his order, following their now well established pattern.

Glancing over her shoulder, she bit her lip, watching him sip at the coffee in front of him. God, it was truly unfair.

Devastatingly handsome, even being half hidden under a hoodie. He had a strong jaw, lightly stubbled, just enough to make her want to run her fingers over it, and those black glasses that somehow made him hotter, rather than less.

She turned back to the register, and made the decision before she could think better of it. It’s not like she was dating X. He’d asked her out for a coffee date, but it didn’t mean they were exclusive… right?

She raised her eyes to the ceiling, sighed silently.

If god wanted to bless her at all in this life, X would have a face like Hoodie Guy.

She almost snorted. Yeah, in your wildest dreams, girl, her brain supplied.

She moved back to the counter, and leaned down, propping her face up on her elbow, and looking at him. He pulled his head down even further, like he was afraid to look at her. “You know,” she started, tone light and teasing, “I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re Superman if you talk to me.”

Finally. There it was, a tiny crack in his façade.

His lips twitched, and then, just for a second, a half-smile pulled at the left side of his mouth, a deep dimple flashing.

Her stomach flipped, and her mouth went dry.

How is he even hotter when he smiled?

“I’m Millie,” she went on, riding the momentum. “And don’t worry, Clark, I don’t need a name.” He flicked his eyes up, and she smiled playfully. “Yet.”

He dropped his eyes again.

Well it was progress, she thought. At least he’d smiled.

She stood back up, hands pressed to the counter in front of him.

“Well, Clark, if you ever feel like getting chatty, you know where to find me.” He looked up, and she smiled giving him a long wink and that seemed to do something very unhelpful to him.

He fumbled his coffee cup, sloshing it over the rim and over the counter. She grabbed a towel, “Hey, none of that now.” She said with a laugh, cleaning up with coffee nearly instantaneously.

Tossing the counter rag into the dirty bin, she fished out a clean one and grabbed the coffee carafe. She turned refilling his cup. “Okay, one more chance before I cut you off,” she teased.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

Her smile softened, and she slipped the carafe back onto the warmer. “Your welcome.” She said quietly.

“Hey, sweetheart, we need some attention over here,” one of the more drunk-than-not, idiots called out from the back corner.

She sighed, picking the coffee pot back up. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, Clark, and you can keep chatting me up. I want to hear all about your x-ray vision and super strength.” She flashed a smile, before rounding the corner and praying the smile held.

She pulled their check out of her apron, and set it down as she approached the table. “Another round of coffees?” She asked holding up the carafe.

“Sit with us,” the one on her left said, as if it was the most charming thing she’d ever heard in her life. She glanced at him with his blonde hair and pale blue eyes, glassed over with an over consumption of alcohol or maybe something worse.

“Hard pass. If you guys don’t need anything else, there is the check, just come up to the front to check out.”

An arm shot out from the right, grabbing her upper arm hard as she moved to leave the table. “C’mon baby, don’t be like that.” She looked down at the arm, then at the twerp holding it. Another blonde haired, blue glassy eyed drunk. He was bigger than the other one, his muscles more defined, his hands larger. He squeezed her arm as if asking for a reaction.

Millie’s gaze napped to his, sharp and cold. “Drop my arm, now.”

He snickered and tightened his grip. “C’mon, baby. Just five minutes.”

“No.”

His eyes changed, the drunk humor gone, and a vile sneer replaced his grin. Before she could react, his hand on her arm tightened, then yanked down hard.

The scream escaped her on reflex, before she even registered she was moving. The carafe slipped from her fingers, hitting the tile floor and exploding into shards of glass and hot coffee , splashing her jeans, as he pulled her across his lap. Her right hip hit the edge of the table hard enough that she knew she’d have one hell of a bruise there tomorrow.

The howls of laughter from the rest of the frat boys around her told her none of them would be of any help. She struggled against the asshole holding her arm, who was now trying to slide his other hand up her thighs toward her ass.

Suddenly, it all stopped.

The laughter and hoots died, and the grabby asshat stopped moving his hand up her legs. She took the opportunity and threw her elbow back, hitting him square in the nose with a satisfying crunch, then punched down with the same hand, effectively sucker punching his balls. She scrambled up, fighting the urge to punch him in the face just because.

Just as she stood upright, strong hands picked her up by her shoulders and moved her 180 degrees, so she was facing the rest of the diner. She blinked not fully understanding what happened.

“Leave.” A soft, dangerously low voice said.

Her eyes widened.

That voice…

She glanced over to the counter, and realized Clark was gone. She turned and found herself standing behind his broad hoodie wearing back. His hood was down revealing the short black hair, tousled by the hood and probably his own hands. His shoulders were back, his stance was ramrod straight.

She swallowed, he was twice the size of what she’d figured him to be.

“Or what, asshole,” one of the frat boys said standing. There was a ripple of energy and the instantaneous drop in the air pressure. She could barely see around his broad back, but she saw the frat boys react, sitting down, pulling away from him, like prey from a predator.

“Or you won’t like what happens next.”

That voice.

That accent.

It was flatter than she was used to hearing. The tone final, a flat warning of violence and pain to come if his warning wasn’t listened to.

“Dude, relax, it’s not that serious” One of them said.

“It is to me.”

No.

No.

No fucking way.

A flash of X’s voice shot through her.

“Are they bleeding or dead?” He’d said. “Then I’ll finish it.”

She took a step back.

No fucking way.

She took another step back and then turned moving slowly back toward the counter, feeling like her legs were caught in cold molasses. When she’d rounded the counter, Clark was leaning against it arms crossed over his chest, his eyes still on the group of boys collecting their things and filing past him one at a time.

The one who’d grabbed her arm, was holding his bleeding nose, eyes on ceiling as he walked past. Clark held out his foot and tripped him. He stumbled forward, landing on his face, a low painful groan escaped his lips. No one moved to help him. He scrambled up and ran out of the diner like he had a ghost chasing him.

Or an Alpha werewolf.

Once the door closed, he stood there for a long minute watching the door, before finally turned around halfway, hip propped against the countertop, arms still crossed and caught her eye. He looked at her for the first time, his emerald eyes on hers.

“Are you okay?” If she hadn’t known it was him already she would have at that moment.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m...” She shook her head, still swimming in adrenaline. “I’m fine.” He nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. “I… um,” she said not able to find words. She finally huffed a small laugh. “Thanks, Clark.”

He nodded slowly.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said slowly.

He shook his head. “Yeah, I did.”

She nodded, eyes watching him carefully. She could see the anxiety slipping back into his eyes, and refused to let it happen.

“So,” she said slowly, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyebrows raised. “Do you prefer Clark or X?”

He didn’t move the phone from his ear right away. The line had already disconnected, the disconnection dinged in his ear louder than he anticipated, but he stayed there like that anyway. Frozen, listening to nothing, as if he held still long enough he might catch the ghost of her voice again whispering through the line to him.

Fionn grunted in his chest as his arm finally let the phone slip down. That went well, the wolf admitted.

Xander let out a slow breath, dragging his free hand down his face. “I think I might have lost five years of my life.” He said quietly.

Fionn snorted. You did not.

“I might have,” Xander insisted. “Did you hear what I said?” He groaned. “Yet.” He shook his head. “I said ‘yet’ when she said I wasn’t her boyfriend.” He dropped his chin to his chest, sighing deeply. “Just dig a hole and throw me in.” He lifted his head and looked up to the ceiling. “Gods above, who says that?”

You, Fionn snickered.

“Feck right off, Fionn.” He replayed the phone call in his mind and winced. “Fecking brilliant, you idiot. Absolutely fecking brilliant. Might as well have proposed while you were at it.”

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feet resting on the plush carpet.

But she hadn’t hung up.

She hadn’t hung up. She could have. She could have ended the call right then and there, blocked his number, and moved on with her life, but she didn’t. She’d teased him and keep talking. And at the end… she’d thanked him for calling her.

Thanked him.

The absurdity of it almost made him crawl back into bed and hide under the blankets. She’d thanked the man stalking her, who she didn’t even realize was stalking her, for calling her. There was something really fucking wrong with him.

He needed therapy.

Maybe pharmaceuticals.

He needed help.

A lot, and in a clinical setting. Perhaps a vacation to a padded room.

You need to relax, Fionn countered. She likes us.

“I asked her out for a cupper.” He groaned. “A cupper, Fionn.”

Fionn laughed inside him, mirth springing forward from the dark furred wolf in a way rarely seen by Xander. You did, Fionn agreed.

“Christ, she’s probably thinks I’m an idiot.”

She knows you’re an idiot, Fionn corrected, but she still said yes.

Xander looked up at that, all thoughts stopping cold.

She did. She’d said yes.

She hadn’t said maybe, or hypothetically; she’d said yes to coffee with him.

He looked back down at the phone in his hand, a new thought pushing through him.

“She’s going to figure it out.” He said, slowly. Fionn nodded. “If she realizes that I’m the hoodie guy, that she sees me every night at the diner,” he started and Fionn stomped, heavy and thudding.

Then she knows, and we stop lying, he said confidently.

He didn’t know what that would mean for them.

Would she feel like he’d been lying to her? Would she feel betrayed or tricked? Would she look at him differently, knowing he’d watched her before she ever knew his name, or… well whatever she’d named him.

X.

Would she stop talking to him?

The thought cause a wave of foreboding through him. He couldn’t risk that, he couldn’t let her go. The bond tying them together was solid, pulling at him, nearly propelling him out the door, and to her side at all hours of the day and night. To protect her, to hold her, to mate with her.

His whole body shuddered at the thought of losing himself inside her, pushing his knot into her and holding her there until it loosened. “Fecking Christ, I am going to need another fucking shower.” He muttered.

Eh, Fionn shrugged, then go to her and skip the shower.

Xander rubbed his eyes and sighed. “That isn’t how it works in the real world now, Fionn. Maybe a few hundred years ago, but not anymore. “

That is stupid, Fionn muttered.

Xander dropped his hand and stared into the empty space of his bedroom, elbows on his knees, hands hanging loosely between them. “She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.” He admitted quietly.

Mate, Fionn said with a single nod, as if that was the only reasonable response. Silence stretched between the two. Fionn watching him carefully, Xander’s attention fully on Millie.

“She works too much,” Xander said quietly.

Fionn gave a single nod. Yes.

“She already sounded exhausted.” He frowned. “And that thing about the men touching her,” he felt the ripple of rage slide through him and Fionn grunted approval.

Yes, the wolf said, no one touches what belongs to us.

Xander nodded. “Agreed.”

He let out a long breath, forcing himself to calm down. He rolled his shoulders, then his neck, before opening his eyes again.

“She fell.” He said, a small creeping across his face slowly. Fionn snorted a laugh. “Her sheet attacked her.” He added, his tone dry. Fionn rolled his amber eyes, and Xander couldn’t stop the laugh that breathed out of him “Gods, she is a fecking menace.”

Fionn nodded, eyes bright. She is our menace.

The words felt different this time. Not heavy, not suffocating in their possession. They just felt, real, truthful. She completed him in ways he didn’t know needed to be complete. She was his sunshine in a world dominated by the moon. She was the light to his dark, the bright light to his shadow.

She was his other half.

The half he didn’t even realize existed.

He looked down at his phone again, thumb brushing absently over the dark screen. “Yeah,” he agreed, under his breath. “Yeah, she really is.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He lasted twelve minutes.

Twelve.

How did he know?

Because he checked. Twice.

The first time at the ten minute mark when he told himself to get a grip and not be that guy: the one who hovered over his phone like a teenage boy waiting for his crush to text him back.

The second time two minutes later when he realized it was too late for him and he was, in fact, that guy.

“Pathetic.” He muttered to himself, pacing the length of the small apartment, his phone in hand.

Yes, you are, Fionn agreed. Text her.

Xander shot an annoyed look at his phone. “I just got off the phone with her,” he said. Fionn watched him like he was waiting for a reason. “Normal people don’t immediately text after a call. It looks-”

Like you want to talk to her, Fionn interrupted.

Xander sighed. “Desperate. It looks like I’m desperate.”

Fionn snorted. You are.

“The feck I am.”

He opened the phone, looking at their text thread. What was he even supposed to say? Have a good day? Lame, he thought shaking his head. Text me when you’re free. Gods, could he sound more clingy?

Fionn snorted. Probably not.

“Feck you, Fionn.”

Fuck her, Fionn corrected.

Xander clicked the screen off and rolled his eyes.

He pushed his glasses further up his nose and sighed. He needed a distraction. Something he could just lose himself in. Physical exertion had a way of clearing his mind in ways nothing much else did. “Run,” he decided. Fionn perked up excitedly, approving of the idea quickly.

He slipped on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, his old Ulster Uni hat, grabbing his headphones. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 11:15 so the woman down the hall would be long gone.

Thank Christ. He wasn’t sure he had the patience today to deal with her constant attempts to get into his pants.

He stepped out of his apartment and into the hall, locking the door and slipping the headphones onto his ears as he descended the service steps. A minute later, he was pushing the door to the lobby open, his “Rager” playlist pumping in his ears. He didn’t think, just crossed the street, running in the direction of the diner. He approached it quickly, his gaze centered on the windows as he ran by.

There she was.

Dark thick curly hair piled high on her head in a messy bun, tendrils slipping down her neck, smile bright as she dropped plates off at a booth in the back. She laughed, and something in his chest loosened.

Gods above, she was beautiful without even trying.

He swung his eyes back forward and pushed himself to move faster as he ran through the heart of the university in route to the forest beyond.

He didn’t like being this noticeable, and kept his speed to plausible human speeds where he could be seen, although… it wasn’t the same world that his parents had grown up in. The world knew wolves and vampires and all the things that humans used to believe didn’t exist, actually existed.

Now his kind were not only tolerated, but in the states they were a protected class of citizens. Not to be discriminated against, but if they killed a human, it was an instant death sentence. It made sense to him. Wolves were far stronger, nearly invincible to humans in wolf form. You had to kill the human to kill the wolf.

He ran harder, pushing himself to the edge of his endurance.

But he couldn’t get his mind off of her.

Her voice. Gods, her voice.

Soft, sweet, a little breathless at times, like she didn’t realize she was doing it. Her laugh, unrestrained, real, honest. It was like music to his ears. And fuck him sideways, even the way she said his name.

Well, his placeholder name.

His jaw ticked when he thought of that. She’s going to ask again, he thought. Fionn nodded.

Of course, his wolf responded. Xander sighed.

I need a plan.

Fionn tilted his head. The truth?

Xander sighed. “Yeah, because ‘Hi, I’m the guy whose been texting you, and also the one whose been silently watching you for the last two weeks’ is going to go over so well.”

Xander shook his head and pushed harder when he reached the tree line, disappearing into the trees, his mind finally went quiet. This is what he needed. The burn of his muscles, the pull of exertion, the way the forest smelled: clean and untouched. It gave him something to think about other than her.

Millie.

Her name flooded his mind anyway, infiltrating in a way he’d never experienced.

His mind, the traitorous bastard that it was, just kept slipping back to her.

To the way she’d thanked him for calling.

The way her voice softened when she said his temporary name.

The way she laughed at him, teased him.

That she wanted to hear him again.

He slowed, coming to a stop, at the top of an overlook. He braced his hands on his hips, as he caught his breath, staring down at the wide expanse of untouched forest, expanding as far as the horizon, the blue sky bleeding into the trees.

He hadn’t planned on Oregon when he’d left Ireland, but he couldn’t argue with the rightness of it. The sheer amount of open woodland, of untouched natural earth, it made his soul sing with joy.

And of course, his fated had been here all along.

“Feck,” he breathed.

That bad, Fionn asked.

Xander shook his head slowly, staring out at nothing and everything. “No.” He said slowly, his breath already relaxing. He paused, feeling warmth slide over him. “That good,” he admitted.

He stood up fully, and pulled the phone out of his sweats before he could over think it. He opened their text thread, and typed out the first message that came to mind.

X: don’t let the coffee mugs finish what the sheet started this morning.

He hit send before he could stop himself.

He sighed. “I sound like an idiot,” he said quietly.

Good, she’ll know it’s you, Fionn snorted.

Xander rolled his eyes. He looked back out over the expansive forest and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Up here, he could smell the world the way the gods had intended. Fresh dirt and rain, small critters and birds. There were no large predators nearby, but even if there were, they would have run from him.

Fionn was nearly the size of a grizzly, and twice as terrifying. He was the top of the food chain, and all the predators in the natural world knew it. He wondered if she would be scared of Fionn. He knew the wolf would never hurt her, she belonged to him as much as she did to Xander. Fionn would protect her with his life.

But the wolf was large. Fur jet black, one white stripe of fur over his left eye and over his right paws, his eyes a dark honey amber. He was terrifying, as Alphas were bred to be. Fionn was larger than any of the Betas, Deltas or Omegas. His size was the first indication of his status, of his pedigree.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he grinned even before he took it out.

Millie: Oh, the mugs are on a short leash

Millie: The silverware though… those little fuckers…

Millie: what are you up to today? Just hacking computers?

Xander grinned. He lifted the phone, flipping it sideways and then took a picture of the forest below him. He added it quickly to the text thread and sent it off.

X: went for a run.

X: Views are worth every drop of sweat

Millie: Jesus, X. That’s breathtaking.

Millie: don’t stand too close to the edge please.

Millie: I can’t mourn you without knowing your name first.

Xander laughed and slipped his phone in his pocket, turning away from the view and running back the way he’d come.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

By the sixth hour of her shift, she was running on a combination of caffeine, spite and muscle memory.

The bell at the door jingled for the ten billionth time that hour and she didn’t even look up as she grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee on autopilot. “Table three needs a refill on their soda, five is asking if the avocado toast is locally sourced,” Jenna, the day waitress, said as she slid behind her, “and a fucking partridge in a pear tree.” She finished on a sigh.

Millie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, its sourced locally out of the back of the fridge, out of the same tub we use for the guacamole in the taco salad,” she muttered slipping a fresh diet coke onto the tray with her mugs of coffee.

Jenna laughed, her blue eyes crinkling. “I love when we get to work together.”

Millie shot her a look. “I’m choosing to take that as a compliment, because the only time we work together is when my exhausted ass is working a double.” Jenna nodded.

“Understood. I love you, anyway.” She teased, flipping her blonde ponytail.

Millie grinned over her shoulder as she walked away.

“I love you too, boo-boo,” Millie teased back.

The diner was in that post lunch rush packed chaotic mess that somehow happened every single day. The diner was a crush of noise, plates clattering, silverware clinking, people talking over each other, someone laughing too loudly, and the smell of old French fries that seemed to permeate everything, even her.

She moved on autopilot, dropping off two coffees, pulling away empty plates and bowls, smiling and making small talk that came almost unconsciously to her now. Her mind was on other, more handsome things.

The picture of X in bed flashed through her mind.

How could a man possibly be that good looking in reality?

Granted she didn’t know what his face looked like, but hell, with a body like that, she could put a bag over his head and never look back. She smiled at a customer as she collected their credit card to cash them out.

The whole afternoon went quickly, a blessing. The more people in the diner, the less the hours crawled by. She was standing at the pickup window waiting for an the last bit of her table to come up and her mind drifted away.

“Hi, pretty girl,” his voice thick and rich. She almost sighed out loud as her stomach flipped sideways again.

“You okay?” Jenna asked moving to stand next to her.

Millie blinked. “Yeah, fine.”

Jenna looked up from the counter top where she was writing an order out. “Uh oh,” she said, standing up and watching Millie with careful eyes. “Okay, girl.” She said, putting her hand on her hip. “Spill. What’s his name?”

Millie laughed. “Stop.” She shook her head. “There is no name.”

As if to prove her a liar, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “You are a terrible liar.” She laughed before walking away. “I’m going to expect details before long.”

Millie rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out.

X: Hey beautiful. Just thinking about you. Thought you should know.

X: ok, that sounded way smoother in my brain

X: disregard previous text messages

X: I swear I’m not a complete dweeb.

Millie laughed, unable to help herself.

Dweeb?

Who even used that word anymore?

Millie: I don’t think you’re a dweeb.

Millie: A dork, maybe. ;)

Millie: definitely a bit of a geek…

Millie: but not a dweeb.

X: phew. Thank Christ.

She laughed again, slipping the phone back in her pocket as Luke, one of the day shift cooks slipped the steak up on to the pass. “Have I finally lost my chance with you, Millie? The way your laughing makes me think you’ve gone and broken my heart.” She laughed at the happily married, nearly 60 year old man and shook her head.

“Never, Luke. You are my first and last love, obviously.”

He laughed, and waved her off.

If only the rest of the day had gone that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By hour nine she was ready to revolt.

It was only 8 pm, she had six hours to go, but fuck, the day had begun to drag. The dinner shift had been suspiciously quiet, and that did not bode well for the rest of the evening. Now, she had three tables and one guy at the counter. Two tables with families, the big table in the corner had a group of college guys, her money was on one of the frats houses, and the guy at the counter, looked like he was about to fall asleep.

She brought some more crayons to one of the kids at the table with the single mom, and winked at mom, who gave her an exhausted grateful smile. She checked on sleepy Mcgee at the counter, who was ready to leave and paid her in cash. Minimal tip, but whatever. Par for the course today.

She looked up just in time to see someone from the frat table waiving at her. He looked like a Chet or an Alexander, not Alex… Alexander. Mommy and Daddy had money and he oozed that old money confidence and bravado.

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the coffee carafe and headed over, slapping on her customer service smile. “Hi guys,” she said sliding the check onto the edge of the table. “Whenever you’re ready, just head to the front.”

“Have a seat with us,” Chet or Alexander crooned to her.

“Oh, I’ll pass, thanks, that’s not in the job description.”

She turned to move back to the counter and his arm shot out, grabbing her wrist. “C’mon sweetheart, just sit with us for a minute,” he said and patted his lap, making the other troglodytes at the table laugh hysterically.

“Let go of me,” she said quietly, her smile gone, her eyes going cold.

“Don’t be like that, sweetheart,” he said and tried to pull her by the wrist. She twisted her arm and yanked hard backward, nearly dragging him out of the seat. “The answer is no, loser.” She turned around and stomped back to the counter, slamming the coffee carafe onto the heater and stomping past Jenna. “I’m taking my break.” Jenna looked up.

“Okay…”

Millie pushed out of the backdoor and just barely resisted the urge to scream. Why did men feel like it was okay to be so handsy? What were women supposed to just be like, “Oh thank you for you so much for touching me without my express permission. I’ve been waiting for you my entire life!”

She sat down on one of the overturned crates in the alley behind the diner and sighed, leaning against the brick wall.

She knew not all guys were like that. Just the entitled, red-pill assholes were.

X wasn’t like that.

Just thinking his name made her smile.

She slipped her phone out of her back pocket and dialed his number before she could stop herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

He threw his glasses on the desk and groaned, rubbing his eyes. This god damned fucking potential client didn’t seem to understand he didn’t run a psychic service, he couldn’t tell them when or even if someone would try hacking their system, just that they could. He’d been as polite in his email response has he’d been able to be without being a complete dick, but now it was time to be a dick.

Which meant he’d lose the prospective client.

He picked up his glasses slipped them back on his nose and ran his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath. Honestly, if they were this belligerent before he took them as a client, be probably didn’t want them anyway.

He was just rolling his neck, poising his hands over the keyboard to respond in a much less friendly way, when his phone started ringing.

Millie.

He glanced at the clock on his desktop. She had hours to go before her shift was up. The fact that she was calling him made him uneasy, and Fionn nodded.

Get your shoes, the wolf commanded from deep inside his chest

He accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear.

“Millie? Hey, are you okay?”

There was a huff on the other end of the line.

“Yeah,” she said after a long moment. “Just… shitty night.”

He settled back in his seat. “But you’re okay?”

She paused. “What would happen if I said I wasn’t?”

He didn’t even pause to think. “I’ll be there in five,” he said already moving.

“No, no no!” she said tone teasing on the line. He paused half way out of his chair.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” He took a breath. “No teasing, seriously. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she said quickly. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I just…” she sighed. “I wanted to hear your voice.” There was a pause. “That’s the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever said out loud.”

Xander eased back into his chair. “Hey, what happened?”

She sighed louder this time. “Just some presumptuous assholes thought if they grabbed me hard enough I’d just like do whatever they wanted, I guess? But, I took care of it.”

“Someone touched you?” He hadn’t intended his voice to go soft and quiet, but he didn’t care.

Rage seethed through him, and Fionn slowly stood, hackles raised, ready to fight.

“Yeah, but like I said, I took care of it.”

“Are they bleeding or dead?”

There was a pause. “No…?”

“Then I’ll finish it,” he growled.

“X, seriously, its fine. I’m fine. He grabbed my wrist, but they’re leaving now, so its fine. It’s over, and I’m fine.” She rushed out. “Don’t go all alpha on me now.”

“Great choice of phrase.” He said, tone dry and sarcastic, rolling his eyes as he threw his glasses forcefully back onto the desk. He rubbed his free hand aggressively over his face.

“What?”

He dropped his hand off his face. “I’m an Alpha, Millie.”

There was silence for a long minute.

“I thought you were a rogue?”

He shrugged, even though she couldn’t see it. “Doesn’t change being Alpha. It’s in my blood.”

“Oh,” she said.

He sighed after a long moment of silence. “Promise me you’re okay.”

“I promise,” she said softly.

“Thank you,” he said. Glancing at the clock, he’d be there himself in a few hours as Hoodie Guy, so he could see for himself if she was actually okay.

“I have to go back in,” she said quietly.

“Hey, Millie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, for calling me.” He swallowed past the dryness of his throat. “For trusting me enough to call me when you needed someone, I mean.”

“Thank you for answering.” She sighed. “I gotta go. We’ll chat tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed, “bye.”

“Bye.”

He sat back in the chair slowly, taking a deep breath. Thinking about her being touched by anyone without her consent was abhorrent to him. Fionn growled low and angry. “She took care of it,” Xander said softly.

We will kill them, Fionn growled.

Xander sighed. “No, we won’t. Unless you are trying to get us the death penalty.”

Fionn growled, clearly annoyed.

Xander looked back up at the computer and sighed. He couldn’t sit here anymore. Fionn was raging under his skin, and with the kind of rage he was feeling, he’d need to work it off somehow, or he was going to shift unintentionally, and that was not going to work.

He pulled off his jeans and slipped on a pair of shorts, then moved into the guest room directly across from his bedroom and flicked the light on. His home gym was fairly minimal. Quality treadmill, decent weight sets, generic bench for weights and strength training overall.

He’d already run, but with the amount of frustration in Fionn, he was going to need to run more. Weights and strength training was not going to do it. He had rage to work out. He stepped onto the treadmill and got it started.

He was going to be running for a long time.

His phone buzzed again in his hand as he stood across the street, eyes locked on the glowing windows of the diner. He’d been standing out there for more than 20 minutes, trying to hype himself up to go in and be close to her without giving too much away. He looked down at the glowing screen in his hand and smiled

Millie: you really think you’re going to stay up all night with me, huh?

X: I told you I was

Millie: yeah, you did, just have to prove it I guess

His lips twitched.

X: are you challenging me?

Millie: lol, no

Millie: just noting, is all

He couldn’t see her inside the diner, not from the angle he was at, but he could picture it easily. Hair in a messy bun on her head, diner t-shirt pulled tight across her chest, those sexy as fuck jeans practically hugging every single curve. Her hip would be propped against the counter where he usually sat, her fingers flying over her phone, a small smile on her lips.

Xander pushed his glasses up again, feeling a grin creep up. She smiles like that because of you, Fionn rumbled in his chest. “No, not me,” Xander said quietly. Both of us, Fionn confirmed. There was no Xander without Fionn, no Fionn without Xander.

His jaw flexed.

Millie: it’s kind of nice

The words on the screen hit him square in the chest. He stared at them longer than he needed, trying to soak it all in. She was noticing him, not just because he was a name on her screen, but she was taking him in: his quirks, his personality, his humor.

X: yeah

Millie: don’t get used to me being nice to you

X: too late, sweetheart

Millie: you are impossible, x

X: you keep saying that

Millie: because its true

X: and yet…

Millie: I know, I’m still talking to you.

Sliding the phone into his hoodie pocket, he flipped the gray hood over his head and started toward the front of the diner. He climbed the steps two at a time and pushed the door open quickly.

The bell chimed softly as the door opened and he stepped inside.

Instantly, every sense sharpened.

Her scent, strong and overwhelming, intoxicating hit him first. Then he saw her, almost exactly as he’d imagined. Thick hair pulled into a messy but on top of her head, curls spilling out, hip propped on the counter, fingers flying over her phone. She had her bottom lip caught between her teeth, a small smile playing across her face.

She looked up as the door closed, and her smile widened, her eyes brightening.

“Well hello there, stranger. Fancy meeting you here.”

Xander dropped his head, rolling his shoulders forward into the introvert who she was getting used to at this point. He moved forward, taking a seat at the same spot at the counter he always did.

Don’t stare.

Don’t react.

For fucks sake, do not give it away.

She’s not ready yet.

“Are we going with the mushroom burger or are we feeling adventurous tonight?” Her tone was light, easy, teasing almost. The way she always sounded with him. He swallowed, feeling his self-control starting to shred into pieces. He wanted to touch her, feel her skin.

“The same, please,” he said quietly, not lifting his gaze from the counter top.

“You got it, handsome.” The word hit him hard in the chest. Fionn huffed a breath, approving of the moniker.

She thinks you are handsome, he grunted. Xander didn’t respond, he didn’t trust himself to.

“Thirteen even,” she said turning around from the register. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a twenty. For a split second, he almost did what he always did. Set it on the counter top and slid it toward her. Keep the distance, keep the control.

But tonight, he needed to feel that connection that was driving him insane.

He held it up and out to her.

She moved forward slowly, as if she understood that he wanted to feel her touch. She reached lower than she needed to, her fingers nearly wrapping around his as she reached for the bill.

It hit, harder than last time. Not a spark, not a jolt, but a full body surge. Electricity ripped through his nervous system like something snapping into place, his breath catching audibly before he could stop it.

His eyes flicked to hers, and he saw it.

She was felt it too.

Her lips parted, her eyes widened, and her breath hitched. He could see her pulse thundering in her throat. She didn’t move, her fingers still almost wrapped around his, as they stared at each other. She didn’t try to pull away. Didn’t try to move at all.

The world narrowed and suddenly nothing else existed but her, the electrical circuit between his hadn’t and hers nearly complete. He had the urge to touch her with his other hand in order to complete the circuit. Part of him wondered that if he touched her with both hands, if it would make the feeling better or worse. If the buzz under his skin, this static electricity that was now constant, would relax or intensify.

He was afraid to find out.

The bell over the door chimed, reality breaking back into their connection. Xander tore his gaze away from her, even though it physically hurt, releasing the bill as if he’d been burned. He needed distance, now.

Before he did something he couldn’t take back.

She didn’t move right away, and he could feel her stare on him, his gaze fixed back to the countertop in front of him. She turned toward the register and he chanced a look up at her. He could see her hands trembling softly. It was just a light tremor, but it was there, present and evidence of the connection she felt.

She felt it, Fionn said with dark satisfaction.

“Yes,” Xander murmured under his breath.

The two men that entered the diner stood awkwardly at the door waiting for her. She grabbed two menu’s and rounded the corner of the countertop. “This way,” she said with a big polite smile. The two men were large, and took a table toward the back of the diner.

She handed them the menus and promised to be back shortly.

She came back toward the counter top, and brushed his shoulders with hers as she walked by, causing the sparks to radiate through his chest. She glanced at him as she headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll have that right out hon.”

Seconds later his phone buzzed.

He pulled it out of his hoodie and kept it under the countertop as he opened her latest message.

Millie: ok, I have to tell someone this

A slow dangerous smile spread across his face as he read her message.

X: what?

Millie: Hoodie Guy is here

X: Hoodie guy?

Millie: yeah, comes in every night

Millie: gets a mushroom swiss burger with bacon and fries

X: that sounds delicious

Millie: it is, but that isn’t the point

X: then what is the point?

He lifted his eyes, tracking her in the small open kitchen.

Millie: there is something about him.

X: should I be jealous?

Millie: ha, you’re a stranger in my phone, who won’t tell me his real name

Millie: you have no reason to be jealous

X: I don’t know about that

Millie: but this guy…

X: I really don’t like where this is going, sweetheart

Millie: I think he would give you a run for your money, if you were real

X: I am real

Millie: you know what I mean

X: why would he be any competition for me?

Xander knew the answer of course, but he needed to hear her say it.

Millie: he’s drop dead gorgeous

Desire, deep and dark coiled tightly inside him, alongside pride.

X: what does that mean?

Millie: jet black hair, piercing green eyes, black glasses, perfect nose

X: a perfect nose?

Millie: you asked

X: anything else?

Millie: I’m pretty sure he has an accent

X: from where?

Millie: I don’t know. He talks so softly, it is hard to tell.

Millie: I’d guess maybe Ireland? Scotland? Something like that.

X: is that a good thing?

Millie: oh yes

Millie: Irish accents are the sexiest on planet earth. Then Scottish.

His lips curved as he adjusted himself on the stool.

X: you think so?

Millie: i KNOW so, x

X: interesting

Millie: what

X: nothing

Millie: oh, come on. spill

X: it’s a secret

Millie: I can keep a secret

X: are you sure?

Millie: absolutely. Lay it on me.

Really, baby, that’s the phrase you’re going with after this morning? Xander groaned, and Fionn grumbled I approval.

X: I’m from Ireland. I just moved to the states three years ago

Millie: shut the fuck up, you’re lying

X: Not even a little bit

Millie: omfg

X: lol

He looked up and saw her staring off into space in the kitchen her phone in her hands, but she was no longer looking at it. Finally, she looked down and bit her lip.

Millie: so, okay let me get this straight

X: ha, ok…

Millie: you’re from Ireland

X: yes

Millie: you have an absolutely killer body

X: I’ll take your word for it

Millie: you have the sexiest ink I’ve ever seen

X: thank you…?

Millie: you like girls with curves and… plushy-ness

X: lol, you do have a way with words

Millie: how old are you?

Millie: Oh god, you are of age right?!

He almost burst out laughing at the counter. He had to force it down, putting a hand over his face to hide his ridiculous smile.

X: I’m 32, so well above the legal age in this country

Millie: Oh I get it

X: what is that, pretty girl?

Millie: your married

X: never have been married

Millie: ok, a relationship

X: not since my brief stint at uni

Millie: its worse than I thought

X: what?

Millie: I’m hallucinating

He sputtered, barely choking back a laugh.

X: pardon?

Millie: you are too good to be true, therefore you are not real.

X: I’m very real, sweetheart.

Millie: I’ll believe it when I see it.

X: do you need me to send more pictures?

Millie: will any include your face?

X: no

Millie: why not?

X: because I don’t want to scare you off

Millie: why would your face scare me off?

X: it’s possible

Millie: are you horribly disfigured?

X: no

Millie: then I’m not sure why you’d think you’d scare me off?

X: because I’m pretty sure you’ve met me before

Millie: wait, come again?

He glanced up and saw her standing in the middle of the kitchen staring at her phone, her jaw slack.

X: I think I was in that diner before, and saw you.

X: You didn’t give me a second glance.

Millie: when was this?

X: pretty recently

Millie: it couldn’t have been me.

X: should I describe the girl who I think was you?

Millie: please

Xander looked up, she was still standing still, but now she was biting her lip as she watched her screen waiting for him to describe what she looked like.

X: medium height, maybe somewhere between 5’6 and 5’8

X: thick curly dark hair, piled up on her head in a messy bun

X: very busty, enough that it stretched the diner logo on her t-shirt

X: skinny jeans that looked like they hugged every curve I wanted to touch

X: beautiful brown eyes with gold flecks

X: but the dead giveaway?

Millie: yeah….?

X: her name tag said “Millie”

Millie: oh

He glanced up and saw her blushing furiously, staring at her phone. Slowly a smile took over her features, and her face lit up. He could see her thoughts plain as day. He thinks I’m pretty.

X: I know exactly what you’re thinking right now

Millie: ?

X: “he thinks I’m pretty”

Millie: how…

X: but I don’t

Millie: …you don’t?

X: nope

X: I think you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on

Millie: …eeap

X: that was my reaction when I saw you.

Millie: um….

X: lol, I love when I can make you speechless

He glanced up just as he saw her turn and move out of the kitchen. He slipped his phone back in his hoodie pocket and focused his gaze back on the counter top.

“One Swiss mushroom burger add bacon with fries, extra fry sauce, and a little treat that I made earlier in the day.” She set the bag on the counter top. “You’ll have tell me if you like this one. Did you like the brownie?”

Xander nodded. “Loved it,” he muttered. He glanced up just enough to catch her wink at him in confirmation. Fionn all but purred in his chest.

She’s playing with us, Xander.

Millie beamed in front of him. “Good. Let me know what you think of this one, okay?”

Xander nodded and stood, reaching for the bag.

Much to his dismay. she didn’t touch him this time. He picked up the sack and headed toward the door. “See you tomorrow, burger boy.” He half turned and gave an awkward wave.

Burger boy?

He much preferred ‘Hoodie Guy.’

He was halfway down the block when his phone buzzed in his pocket

Millie: And just like that, Hoodie Guy has vanished into the ether.

X: Wow, that was quick. Did you tell him about me and scare him off?

Millie: ha, no. He gets his order to go.

X: I see

Millie: Were you serious?

X: About?

Millie: seeing me before

X: I was very serious

Millie: I don’t know how I could have missed you

X: I must not give off sexy Ireland vibes like hoodie guy

Millie: ha, maybe not

X: well… I mean, you don’t remember me do you?

Millie: no, sadly

X: *insert shrug here*

Millie: I want a do over

X: a do over?

Millie: yeah, come back into the diner on my shift and let me do it over

X: I don’t know…

Millie: lol, oh come on.

X: Lets talk about that when you’re off work.

Millie: you’re exhausting.

X: …and yet…

Millie: OMG, I know!!!

X: lol, and you love it.

Millie: I plead the fifth.

X: admit it, I’m more fun than hoodie boy

Millie: maybe

X: so he’s not really any competition

Millie: I mean, that man is smoking hot

X: but you don’t have a comparison

Millie: exactly, we’re talking in circles, x

X: Finish your shift, pretty girl

Millie: you just like making me blush

X: its absolutely a positive, for sure.

Xander stepped into his apartment and locked the door. He flopped down onto the couch, and grinned up at the ceiling. This was going so much better than he had ever imagined it could.

Hours later he was typing up a report on yet another easy hack job when his phone buzzed on the desk in front of him.

Millie: X

X: hey pretty girl

Millie: can I ask you something?

X: depends

Millie: that’s not fair

X: what’s not fair?

Millie: you know everything about me

Millie: I know next to nothing about you.

X: that’s subjective

Millie: no

Millie: I’ve been answering your weird questions for two days now

Millie: you literally know my laundry techniques now

Millie: and I know your preferred method of… enjoyment

Millie: but you still haven’t told me your name

X: X is enough

Millie: no it isn’t

Millie: its like, a fake identity

Millie: I want to know the real you

X: why

Millie: because it’s not fair

Millie: I answer your questions, you should answer mine.

X: hmm

Millie: hmm?

X: ok, ok. Ask away.

X: I won’t tell you my name yet.

Millie: why are you so difficult?

X: just lucky i guess?

Millie: what do you do all day

X: I work

Millie: that’s not an answer

X: with computers

Millie: like coding or hacking?

X: yes

Millie: yes what?

X: both, depends on the day. I told you that already

Millie: you’re being very mysterious about it

X: you like mystery

Millie: I like some mystery

Millie: not this much

X: I give what’s needed

Millie: apparently what’s needed is nothing

Millie: your life is a black hole

X: you’ll learn eventually

Millie: HOW???

X: patience

Millie: you have a lot of patience for me…

X: I have a lot of patience in general

Millie: what else do you do besides stare at my texts and work

X: I work, sleep and eat. Work out or run most days. That’s about it.

Millie: wow, thrilling

X: don’t act like you’re not interested

Millie: fine

Millie: so where do you sleep?

X: my place

Millie: what’s it like

Xander glanced around the room and sighed. It was very much a bachelor’s apartment. Spartan, a little messy where he worked and slept.

X: its comfortable. A little messy

Millie: messy how

X: papers, cords, monitors

Millie: monitors? Plural?

X: yes for work

Millie: you never leave?

X: rarely.

X: occasionally i venture out to see a beautiful brunette at a diner.

Millie: interesting

X: it works for me

Millie: doesn’t it get lonely?

X: sometimes

Millie: what about friends

X: not really since I came to the states. I’m not a social guy.

Millie: oh

Millie: you’re very private, aren’t you

X: yes, very.

Millie: huh, interesting.

X: I’m X

Millie: you’re literally impossible

Xander snorted.

X: do I need to even say it…?

Millie: yes, I’m still texting you… sigh

X: see

Millie: ok, what about food

Millie: do you cook? Or survive on instant noodles?

He glanced up at his barely used kitchen and sighed. Was cooking really that big of a deal? He was no gourmet chef, by any stretch, but he could make something if it came with directions… most of the time.

X: some light cooking, mostly quick stuff

Millie: quick stuff, like…?

X: eggs, sandwiches, pasta

Millie: basic survival foods

X: I prefer the term “efficient.”

Millie: wow, so nothing fancy

X: why would I?

Millie: …because on occasion, normal people do

X: normal people are boring

Millie: rude

X: I’m not wrong

X: and you’re not normal, so that wasn’t pointed at you.

Millie: your very sure of yourself

X: you could say that.

Millie: you really don’t like talking about yourself do you?

X: not with strangers, no

Millie: am I a stranger?

X: technically you are

Millie: ouch.

X: you won’t be forever

Millie: what is your favorite music

X: depends on my mood

Millie: that’s it?

X: mostly instrumental, dark stuff

Millie: dark like… what rock music? Or dark classical?

X: a bit of a mix

Millie: very vague

X: intentionally

X: what about you? What kind of music do you listen to?

Millie: depends on my mood

X: lol, well said

X: do you have a favorite singer or band?

Millie: Oh, that’s a loaded question

Millie: when I clean, its usually a mix of pop and rock

Millie: think TSwift and early 2000s boy bands

Millie: if I’m in a bad mood, I literally have a play mix called “fuck off”

X: Oh, that sounds fun. What is on it?

Millie: only the good stuff

Millie: Linkin park, the real LP, not the new sold out version

Millie: fame on fire, skillet

Millie: lo spirit, Eminem

Millie: you know… good stuff

X: good choices, we have similar tastes in rage music lol

Millie: that’s a good sign, I guess

X: See, open book over here

Millie: yeah, written in Sanskrit.

Millie: ok so tell me something I don’t know

X: like what

Millie: dealers choice

X: my choice is to not say anything

Millie: you understand how frustrating that is?

X: you said it was my choice

There was a long pause, and he found himself staring at the screen waiting to see her typing dots. Eventually he set his phone down and turned his attention back to the client request at hand.

It was a few hours later when his phone finally buzzed again. He glanced at the time. Shit, it was after two thirty, she must be home already.

Millie: X

X: hey

Millie: I’m serious now.

X: about?

Millie: I’m going to stop texting you if you don’t start giving me real answers

He stared down at the screen, and leaned back in his chair. Shit, okay, maybe the whole mysterious man thing was wearing thin on her? He sighed and shoved his glasses back up his nose.

X: dramatic

Millie: I’m really serious right now.

X: I believe you. Fire away.

Millie: I have to ask because, well, because you are so weird sometimes...

Millie: Are you human?

Well, fuck. This wasn’t how he wanted to tell her.

X: …not always

Millie: wait… what?

X: not entirely

Millie: Jesus… are you a vampire?

X: no, gross

Millie: wolf?

X: yes

Millie: oh, wow. Ok… did not see that coming

X: no?

Millie: no. I don’t know that I’ve ever met a wolf before.

X: you have. There are actually quite a few in this area.

Millie: do you have a pack?

X: not anymore

Millie: what does that mean

X: I left. I went rogue. That’s why I came to the states.

Millie: why?

X: I didn’t fit in

X: too controlling

X: too rigid and violent

Millie: so you’re just… alone?

X: mostly

Millie: that sounds terrifying

X: depends on perspective

Millie: I mean, it must get lonely at times

X: sometimes

Millie: Do you have to hunt often? That’s a wolf thing, right?

X: not really, once every few months is enough

Millie: you… are far more normal than I would have thought as a werewolf

X: depends on your definition of normal

Millie: I don’t know

Millie: someone who texts me constantly is probably not normal

X: …guilty

Millie: of course.

Millie: this is a… lot

X: agreed

Millie: so you don’t have a pack. do you ever miss it?

X: sometimes, but not enough to go back

Millie: hmmm, you must be very independent

X: yes, always have been

X: I was raised to fend for myself

Millie: I think that’s pretty impressive, leaving everything behind like that

X: lol, or stupid

Millie: no, its impressive

Millie: I won’t let you down play it.

X: thanks.

Millie: ok, one more wolf question: do you shift often or just with the moon?

X: full moons mostly, but only when I choose to

Millie: that sounds intense

X: it can be

Millie: how do you control it?

X: a lot of physical training and self-discipline

Millie: impressive.

Millie: do you ever get violent?

X: when needed, and only by choice

Millie: hmm, and that’s why you live alone?

X: not really. I just like being alone, mostly

Millie: that is a lot to take in

X: I understand

Millie: what about your pack. Were they good to you?

X: most were, others were not.

Millie: why did you leave exactly?

X: too many rules

X: too many expectations

X: I wasn’t allowed to be myself

X: and at the end it was constant violence. I didn’t want to be part of that

Millie: hmm, ok.

Millie: are you afraid of anything

X: …yeah, isn’t everyone afraid of something?

Millie: what are you afraid of?

X: losing control and hurting someone

Millie: that… that’s heavy.

Millie: I’m sorry X

X: welcome to my life, pretty lady

Millie: you really carry a lot

X: you could say that

X: what are you scared of?

Millie: if I tell you, you can’t laugh or ask me follow ups, ok?

X: that’s… a weird ask, but ok. no follow ups, no laughter.

Millie: spiders and any bug really, heights, clowns

Millie: opening up to the wrong person and being hurt

Xander stared down at the phone and felt a wave of guilt. Was he going to be that person? He was lying to her, if omission counted as a lie.

X: that was really honest. thanks for telling me

Millie: ok… moving on

Millie: so… rogue. Does that mean you have enemies?

X: some, not many, none in this country

Millie: anything I should know about?

X: no

Millie: good. ok

Millie: I am going to need some time to process all this new information

X: I’ll be here when your ready

Millie: …you’re really going to stay in my head now, aren’t you?

X: that’s the plan

Millie: gee, thanks a lot :)

X: you’re welcome, beautiful

Millie: wow

X: you can ask more when you’re ready. I won’t lie to you

Millie: I probably will

X: I’ll be waiting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

Sleep was rough the night before. The text thread with X last night was dancing around in her brain like a bad song on repeat. Okay, so he was a werewolf. Okay, so he was literally alone in the world. He was violent only when he chose to be. Would he be violent with her?

She immediately discarded that idea. There was no way that he’d be violent with her. With the way he spoke to her? She sighed. Isn’t that how all battered women started their relationships, though? Thinking that this guy would never, and then they do. She blinked up at the sun drenched ceiling of her bedroom and sighed.

That wasn’t the vibe she got off of X. Arrogance, sure. Dry sarcasm, absolutely. But the thought that he might be violent with her… she just didn’t get that vibe from him. If anything, he seemed to crave her approval.

Maybe crave was a strong word, but he definitely wanted it. He wasn’t being overt about it, never said he wanted her approval, but it was pretty clear if she read between the lines.

She sighed and rolled onto her side, staring at her phone, still with the charger plugged in, on her nightstand. Why did he want to impress her of all people? She wasn’t exactly a runway model. She worked in a diner, her hair constantly smelled like French fries and coffee, and her idea of a good time was a good playlist and a dark romance, the smuttier the better.

What could could she possibly have to offer some ridiculously handsome werewolf with a bit of an attitude problem and a penchant for driving her completely crazy. She reached for her phone, pulling the charging cord out and rolling back onto her back.

She turned the screen on and bit her lip. It was just before ten, he was probably awake if his patterns continued the way they had been. She unlocked her phone and his text thread immediately populated the screen. She scrolled up, and blew out a long breath. She knew they’d been talking a lot, but jeeze they’d been talking incessantly… fuck.

He must think she has zero life outside of work and him.

But the urge to message him was still ever present.

Millie: Hey, X. You awake?

X: hey beautiful. I am.

Millie: I have more questions

X: hit me

Millie: but… I was thinking

X: dangerous pastime

Millie: can I call you?

X: are you serious?

Millie: yeah, like have you seen the amount of messages we’ve sent?

Millie: its freaking ridiculous

Millie: do you want to talk to me?

X: it would be a lie if I said no

Millie: …so…?

She watched as the three typing dots populated, then faded, then populated again. When they disappeared again, she sighed, disappointment flaring through her. She shouldn’t be surprised. It was easy to text someone, and a lot harder to talk to them. Made it more real.

She tossed the phone onto the bed next to her and put her hands over her face. God, why did she feel so stupid? It didn’t feel like such a big ask, but it was, apparently. She signed and stared up at the celling again.

She shouldn’t be surprised, the thought idly. He was a loner, he hadn’t been shy about telling her that. He preferred his own company to that of anyone else.

Then why is he texting me as much as he is?

She sighed. Did it matter? In the end, it was never going to go further than texts.

She couldn’t be sitting around waiting for some guy who texted her by mistake. Girl, he’s a stranger, why are we being so fucking weird about him? Fuck him, her brain told her. She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for a message that will probably never come about why he couldn’t possibly talk to her over the phone.

She made the decision to get up, determined to not let this ruin her day. She had to get up and do shit. She turned over to reach for the phone when it started to buzz.

X.

He was calling her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Xander

Oh this was a bad idea.

Oh my gods was this a bad fucking idea.

He stared down at his phone, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. She wants to talk to me? Like, voice to voice?

Fionn rolled his eyes. Stop being an idiot, he chided. She is our mate, call her.

Xander groaned. “There is a lot more to it than that, Fionn.” Fionn snorted.

He reread the messages again, trying to find any hidden subtext.

Millie: can I call you?

X: are you serious?

Millie: yeah, like have you seen the amount of messages we’ve sent?

Millie: its freaking ridiculous

Millie: do you want to talk to me?

X: it would be a lie if I said no

Millie: …so…?

This was a bad idea. What if she recognized his voice? What if she started to piece it together that he and hoodie guy were the same person? Would she call him out on it?

Would she care? He rolled his eyes.

“Of course she would care. Don’t be stupid,” he muttered to himself.

Too late, Fionn grumbled.

“You’re not helping.”

Fionn raised a brow as if saying ‘And?’

He took a deep breath and pushed himself up against his headboard, he adjusted the pillow behind his back and crossed his ankles in front of him. “Just fecking do it, idiot.” Fionn nodded his agreement.

His thumb trembled when he clicked on her contact and then hit the call button.

He let out a shuddering breath when he put the phone to his ear, and listened to the first ring. Then a second ring, his stomach tightened with anticipation and fear. A third ring. He pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure he’d dialed the right contact. Hadn’t she wanted to talk?

His shoulders dropped, she’d probably walked away from her phone when he’d not made any sort of response. When her voicemail came on, should he leave a voicemail? Or just hang up? No, he’d leave a message, but what should he say? “Oh hey, I’m that asshole that took too long to call you.” He winced. Fucking Christ.

“Hello?”

His head jerked up at the sound of her soft voice, his throat suddenly closing on him.

“Hello? X?”

He cleared his throat and took a breath.

“Hi, Millie.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Millie

“Hi, Millie.” The thickly accent Irish voice said on the other end of her phone.

“Hi,” she said, feeling breathless all of a sudden.

There was a long beat of silence and then a chuckle. “We’re both really bad at this,” he said. The truth and absurdity of the comment hit her and she let out a laugh.

“Yeah. Awkward.” She shook her head. “It just… I don’t know. Felt like time to move past text messages, I guess?” She winced at the sound of her own words. What was she like fourteen?

“No, I think you’re right. It should have happened sooner, I think.” He agreed, his voice deep and smooth. It reminded her of melted peanut butter. Thick and warm and rich.

“So… hi,” she said on a laugh.

He chuckled again. “Hi, pretty girl.”

Somehow hearing him say it out loud, pretty girl, made her heart thud in her chest.

“What are you doing?” She asked, pushing herself up to sit against her head board.

He let out a breath. “Sitting in bed, talking to you. What are you doing?”

She laughed again. “The exact same thing.” She shook her head. “Okay, can I be real with you for a hot second?”

“Of course.”

She bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to be as honest as she wanted to be. “I can’t honestly believe this is real.”

He paused. “What do you mean?”

She blew out a breath. “Like, that you’re real.” She shook her head again. “Hearing a voice makes you real, if that makes sense.”

“That makes sense,” he said slowly. “I guess it’s different for me, because I do remember meeting you. I know very much that you’re real.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I still want a do over on that.”

He laughed, and her heart dropped into her stomach. His laugh was so ridiculously sexy. Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me? A laugh is sexy now? Girl, you need to get laid, her brain chastised. She almost snorted. With any luck… she thought with a blush.

“Yeah, I think we can arrange that at some point, but I was thinking,” he paused briefly. “I don’t know that I’d want a do over with you waiting on me.” She raised an eyebrow. “I think that would feel weird, coming in to ask you on a date while you’re waiting on my table.”

“Eeap,” she squeaked out.

“What was that?” he asked chuckling over the line.

“Uh, sorry,” she said, blushing furiously. “I… uh…”

“So you feel weird about it too then,” he laughed.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’ve had guys ask me out at work before, and yeah… uber creepy.”

“Seriously? That’s happened?” He asked, voice incredulous.

She laughed again. “Oh, yes.” She smiled into the room. “I’ve been asked out on dates, had my ass slapped, kissed without being asked, and generally man handled.” She shrugged to herself. “It just part of the job, I guess.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Hello?” she asked, thinking maybe the line disconnected.

“Men touch you?” he asked, his voice low.

“Not every night,” she assured him. “Just like, when there was a game and more of the frat guys come in completely shit faced and are trying to sober up.” She waited. “Don’t be weird about this. I can handle myself.”

There was more silence. “X?”

He sighed through the line. “I don’t like the idea of men grabbing you without permission.” His voice was still now, quiet. “That is not something that should ever happen at any time, drunkard or not.”

“Drunkard?”

He sighed. “Of course that’s what you’d focus on.” She could almost see him shaking his head. “I know, it’s not an American word. Just like… a drunk guy.”

She nodded. “Okay, got it.” She cleared her throat. “So, when a drunkard,” she said stressing the word, “comes in, and decides to get handsy, they get one warning. If they choose not to listen to that warning? Then they get to visit the ER with a broken nose.”

There was a surprised huff on the other end of the line.

“Good girl,” he grunted.

She smiled again. “You keep calling me that,” she teased.

He chuckled. “Well, as long as it’s accurate, I guess I will keep doing it.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not my boyfriend, X.”

He snorted. “Yet.”

She froze, her entire body seizing. “I’m sorry?”

“Uh…” she heard the panic in his voice, and just blinked.

“I’m… yeah,” she said, continuing to blink. “That’s… yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” he finally rushed out. “I wasn’t trying to… I mean, I just…” he sighed on the other side of the line. “I need to stop talking now.”

She snorted. “Agreed.”

He let out a breath, and she closed her eyes, imagining how it would feel to have his breath actually sliding across her ear.

“So we can just move on then, right?” He said slowly. “I’m really trying not to mess this up. I…” he cleared his throat. “I want you to like me, and not think that I’m just some arsehole who can take liberties.” He was silent for beat. “Millie?”

“I’m here.”

“Okay, you were abnormally quiet.”

She sighed. “You are a lot to take in.”

“I know.”

She smiled again, folding her legs under her, and picking at her blanket with her nails. “I mean, you’re really assuming some things, especially since you won’t even tell me your name.”

He snorted. “You’ll get it soon enough.”

“When?”

He laughed. “Now whose like a dog with a bone?”

Wouldn’t you like to know, her brain filled in suggestively, forcing her lips to clamp shut. “I was thinking I might let you have it if you agreed to go on a date with me. It could be the ice breaker when we meet.”

She couldn’t help the blush that spread across. “Are you asking me on a date?”

There was silence on the other side of the line, but she could hear what sounded like him shifting. “Um, would you say yes if I did?”

She grinned, closing her eyes. Thank god he couldn’t see her face. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It’s hard to say since it’s a hypothetical question.”

He chuckled. “You are a smooth one, aren’t ch’ya,” he said his voice soft.

“I have no idea what you mean,” she replied, teasing.

“Okay, have it your way, lass.” He cleared his throat again. “Would you like to meet for a cupper?”

She blinked. “A what?”

“Feck me, a cup of coffee.” He said on a laugh.

She burst into laughter. “You need to improve your American word usage, X.”

He chuckled. “So is that a yes, then?”

She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her. “Yeah, I could do a cupper.”

He let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like relief. “Aye, then a proper cupper. When are you available?”

“Let me go check my calendar, hold on, it’s on the fridge.” She pushed the blankets down and moved to slip off the bed, promptly tangled her ankle in the sheet and face planted. “Mother fucker,” she yelled, as her phone skittered across the hardwood floor.

“Millie? Are you okay? Millie?” She could hear his voice coming from the face down phone. She untangled her foot, kicking the offending sheet away, and scrambled over to the phone.

“Hi, yes, I’m here.”

He let out a breath. “What happened? Are you alright?”

She huffed a breath as she stood, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “Yeah, my sheet attacked me. I’m fine. Just got reacquainted with the hardwood floor.”

“Your sheet…?” There was a peel of laughter erupted from the other end of the line and she found herself blushing again.

“Keep laughing, buddy.” She said half joking, half seriously. “I may take back my a cupper agreement.”

He snorted. “No, you won’t.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So confident.”

“About you?” He said. “I am very confident.”

She shook her head as she moved into her kitchen.

Her schedule was about to detonate. “Fuck,” she muttered.

“What now?”

She sucked in a breath. “Sorry, just looking at my schedule for the next week.” She sighed. “Today is the 18^th right?”

“The 19^th.”

Her eyes bugged out of her head. “Shit, I have to go. I need to be at work in 15 minutes.”

“I thought you were on the late shifts?”

She sighed as she walked back to her bedroom. “I am, but I’m doing doubles for the next few days.”

“Ouch,” he said. “Do you have to?”

She sighed. “Until the owner hires someone to replace Tessa, I’m up a creek.”

“Feck, I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He sounded genuinely bad. “Can I still text you? Or I can call you when your free?” She smiled.

She couldn’t stop the smile or the warmth that spread in her chest at his ask. “I would really, really like that.” She said softly.

“Okay,” he said, then more confidently, “Okay.”

She huffed a laugh as she grabbed her clean work shirt out of the drier.

“I have to go, I need to shower and get to work, but I’ll text you when I can.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.”

She stopped moving. “Hey, X?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for calling me,” she said.

“Thank you for answering, beautiful.”

“Bye for now, X.”

“Bye for now, Millie.”

Sleep had been hard for the last week, since he’d inadvertently found his mate in the diner down the block. It seemed cruel, the more he thought about it. If he’d never left Dungannon, or Chicago, or Boston, and finally given up and moved to Oregon, he’d never have found her.

He’d have been without a mate for his entire life.

Granted, until he’d met her, he was perfectly content to live a solitary life. He could find a wolf to fuck when the need arose, and then he could go back to peace and quiet and relative routine. He and Fionn would have been just fine the rest of their lives like that.

Fionn snorted. No.

Xander sighed.

He rolled over in bed, checking the clock. It was 10:36. She’d probably be up now… right? He grabbed his phone off the charging cable, and pulled up their text thread. Before he could think better of it he messaged her.

Unknown Number: you’re awake

Millie: ???

Millie: good morning to you too, I guess

Unknown Number: its 10:38

Millie: yeah, and…?

Unknown Number: I figured you were already up.

Millie: ok, and…?

Unknown Number: I was right.

Millie: ok, there you go being creepy again

Millie: are you just keeping track of everything?

Unknown Number: only the things that matter

Millie: and I matter?

Unknown Number: yes

Millie: …you don’t even know me

Unknown Number: I’m learning

Millie: that sounds worse, somehow.

Unknown Number: you’re still replying.

Millie: I just woke up, give me a second

Unknown Number: what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Millie: check my phone apparently

Unknown Number: and I’m there

Millie: don’t get used to that.

Unknown Number: too late

Millie: you say that a lot, don’t you?

Unknown Number: only when it true

Millie: you are very confident for someone who won’t tell me his name.

Unknown Number: you’re still thinking about that?

Millie: obviously

Unknown Number: why

Millie: because I’m not going to all you “unknown number” forever

Unknown Number: you already called me worse

Millie: wow, ok, rude

Unknown Number: what do you want to call me

Millie: I don’t know

Millie: something a tad bit less serial killer-y

Unknown Number: I’m not a serial killer

Millie: that exactly what one would say

Unknown Number: fair point well made

Millie: see

Unknown Number: so pick a name then

Millie: you’re letting me name you?

Unknown Number: for now.

Millie: this feels like a really bad idea

Unknown Number: do it anyway

Millie: ok… let me think…

Unknown Number: the suspense is killing me

Millie: you give off “X” vibes

Xander blinked at the phone. What the actual fuck?

Unknown Number: X?

Millie: yea, you give like mysterious hacker dude energy

He glanced around he room. How the fuck did she know that?

Unknown Number: that’s…. incredibly specific

Millie: you literally said you do ‘computer stuff’

Unknown Number: so… x

Millie: unless you hate it.

Unknown Number: I don’t hate it

Millie: ok then… cool

Millie: hi x

X: hi Millie

Millie: wow that felt weirdly official

X: ha, you named me

Millie: don’t make it sound like that

X: like what?

Millie: like I just adopted you or something

X: maybe you did

Millie: lol omg, stop

X: what are you doing?

Millie: just lying here, trying to decide if I want to get up or not

X: you don’t

Millie: I really don’t

X: so stay there and talk to me

Millie: don’t you need to get up for the day

X: no, and even if I did, I’d rather talk to you

Millie: ….oh, thanks, I think.

X: it was a compliment.

X: you’re very welcome

Millie: I want to stay in bed but I have adult things to do

X: Oh my

X: …adult things… :O

Millie: lol, omg, stop no

He grinned at his screen, rolling on to his side in the bed.

X: like what?

Millie: Laundry

Millie: grocery shop

Millie: be a functional adult in society

X: highly overrated

Millie: agreed, but unfortunately necessary

X: what are you wearing

There was a long pause and he furrowed his brows at the screen. Shit, shit, shit, he thought immediately wishing he could pull the text back, but he saw she’s already read it.

Millie: I’m sorry, what did you just ask me?

X: what?

He rolled back onto his back on the bed and wiped a hand down his face. You fucking moron – are you serious right now? Just going to lean into it like some sort of cyborg?

Millie: you cannot just as a woman that out of nowhere

X: why not?

Millie: because it makes you sound like a perv?

X: it was just a question

Millie: it’s a very specific question

X: answer it

Millie: no

X: why

Millie: because… I don’t know you like that

X: you talked to me for hours last night

Millie: that’s different

X: how?

Millie: that a like… romantic partner kind of question, boyfriend, husband

Millie: not the wrong number guy

X: do you want me to guess?

Millie: ha, by all means, Houdini.

X: ok, so… you’re still in bed

X: probably still half under the blankets

X: so… calculated guess

X: oversized t-shirt of some sort

X: sleep shorts or just undies

Millie: what the literal fuck

X: what

Millie: how did you just….

X: calculated guess

Millie: that was a very specific guess

X: was I wrong?

Millie: that isn’t the point

X: so which is it?

Millie: which is what?

X: Undies or sleep shorts?

X: trying to get the full picture

Millie: You sound so pervy right now

X: do you wan to know what I’m wearing?

Millie: …no?

X: lol

Millie: Ok, x, hit me with it.

X: pajama pants

Millie: …and?

X: and what?

Millie: that’s it?

X: yeah, I’m still in bed too.

Millie: liar

Xander laughed, resting a hand under his head as he typed with his thumb.

X: Do you require proof?

Millie: what kind of proof do you have, x?

Don’t think about it, just do it, he told himself, flipping to his camera on his phone. He nudged the camera down enough that it only caught him from the neck down, and then paused. He adjusted his cock, hard as fucking concrete, so it wasn’t quite so obvious, kicked the white duvet off and crossed his feet at the ankles. There, that made it less obvious he was hard as a rock.

He took a few pictures, trying for one that looked casual, but also proved his point. The second to last one was the best. Got most of his chest and arm tattoos, his chest muscles, and only if she blew the photo up, would she be able to see his cock.

He sent it in the text thread.

X: proof for the lady.

He caught the read receipt and waited.

And then he waited some more.

X: Millie?

The typing bubbles appeared then disappeared. He waited and after a minute, they appeared again.

Millie: please tell me you just found that on google.

X: nope, that is me, as we speak.

Millie: fucking Christ on a cracker

X: lol, I’m a little afraid of what that means

Millie: I just… shit, x

Millie: you’re fucking hot

Xander grinned, and Fionn grunted. She wants us, he rumbled. “Yeah, she fecking does,” Xander said.

X: so you approve?

Millie: not sure you need my approval

X: doesn’t mean I don’t want it

Millie: why

X: because I like you

X: and I want you to like me too

Millie: you do?

X: of course

X: so… do you?

Millie: what

Millie: like you?

X: yeah

Millie: I mean so far, when you’re not completely annoying?

Millie: yeah, I guess I do

Xander’s heart stuttered a little bit in his chest.

She is ours, Fionn grunted.

X: good

Millie: why?

X: …it kind of is the point

Millie: what is?

X: to be make you attracted to me

Millie: why is that?

X: because when I finally ask to meet you, you might say yes

Millie: you’re very confident

X: what can I say?

X: you called me fucking hot

X: I am feeling quite confident

Millie: I knew that would get to your head

X: lol, baby you have no idea

Millie: now I’m getting the baby names?

X: you never answered my question

Millie: what question

X: sleep shorts or panties

Millie: you are like a dog with a bone

Millie: sleep shorts

X: ok, now I have a mental picture

Millie: and…?

X: lol, you Millie are going to make today long an uncomfortable

Millie: what does that mean?

X: you’re a smart girl.

X: think about it

X: think about it… long… and hard

There was a long pause.

Millie: oh

Millie: my

Millie: fucking

Millie: god

X: he had no hand in this beautiful

Millie: …

X: you’re blushing aren’t you?

Millie: only about to burst into actual flames.

Millie: this is how spontaneous combustion starts isn’t it?

X: lol, doubtful

There was a long pause, enough that he started to worry. Had he pushed too far?

X: was that too much?

Millie: No, I just..

X: what?

Millie: I don’t think I’m going to live up to your fantasy girl in your brain

X: why do you think that?

Millie: because I’m not…

X: not what?

X: talk to me.

Millie: I’m not a skinny girl.

Millie: never will be, never was.

X: ok, I’m at a loss.

Millie: yeah, I figured

X: how does you not being a toothpick make you less desirable?

Millie: because guys that look like you don’t want girls that look like me

X: I call bullshit

Millie: what?

X: I don’t like stick thin girls.

X: I like curves, soft skin, large… shall we be polite or graphic?

Millie: how about just truthful?

Xander sighed. Until her, his taste had been so vastly different. Now he couldn’t imagine being with anyone but her, her soft body, her warmth.

X: Ok, well here goes nothing

X: I like curves, soft skin, and give… for lack of a better term

X: large breasts, wide hips, and thick thighs

X: fucking a woman with those attributes is, much, much more satisfying

X: it gives me something to hold on to while I’m inside her

X: girls with zero body fat are painful, all bones an pointy angles.

X: feels like if I go too hard, they’re break into pieces

X: it makes it uncomfortable and very unenjoyable.

X: hard pass.

There was silence that seemed to stretch.

X: Millie?

Millie: are you serious?

Millie: like, everything you just said

Millie: are you serious

X: I have no reason to lie about my physical and sexual preferences

Millie: wow

X: wow good or wow bad?

Millie: wow, I can’t honestly believe you’re real

X: do you believe me now, pretty girl?

Millie: so it doesn’t bother you that I’m plus size?

X: are you going to be on that 600 pound TV show anytime soon?

Millie: dear god, no

X: then yes, if your body and face are half as beautiful as your spunky mouth

X: I’d hit that

X: …on repeat

Millie: oh my god

Millie: how is it that you can make me blush over text?

X: I’m a talented man, sweetheart

Millie: that’s one way to put it.

Xander laughed, and shook his head. His cock throbbed in his sleep pants.

X: we both need to get up

Millie: ugg, why?

X: because if we don’t I’m going to start doing things I shouldn’t

Millie: what do you mean?

X: you want polite or truth?

Millie: truth, I guess?

X: I’m about two seconds away from stroking myself off while I think about you

Millie: …oh

Millie: Jesus, x

X: baby, he has nothing to do with this.

X: Believe me, this was all you.

Millie: won’t it be uncomfortable if you don’t do something about it?

X: who said I wasn’t going to?

X: I just don’t want to do it in the bed.

X: too messy when its solo

X: at least in the shower its easily cleanable

Millie: shit

Millie: ok, wow.

X: what?

Millie: that’s… hot, but also…. Like a lot

X: it’s the truth

Millie: Oh, I’m sure it is. Absolutely sure.

Millie: but that still leaves me knowing how you prefer to jack off

X: Is there anything else you’d like to know about it?

X: Length? Girth? Technique?

X: Lube of choice?

X: Favorite fantasies?

X: Fetishes?

Millie: OMFG WTF X!!!!!

X: I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours ;)

Millie: Fucking fuck

X: lol, I’m kidding

X: …mostly

X: I’ll tell you anything you want in exchange for your answers.

Millie: I am so not awake enough for this

X: so… are we getting up or are we going down the rabbit hole?

Millie: um…

X: so unless you want to help me out with that, we both need to get up

There was a very, very long pause

X: Millie?

X: did I lose you?

Millie: I’m here

Millie: just… wow, x. just wow.

X: So what’s it going to be?

X: help a lad out or get up

Millie: I don’t know

Millie: I’m split between “don’t be a whore”

Millie: and “girl, did you see those tattoos? Whore it up.”

Xander laughed, shaking his head. At least she was honest.

X: ok, I will be the tie breaker.

X: ok, get up

Millie: you are not in charge of me, x

X: you have things to do

Millie: wow, now you care about my productivity?

X: I care that when you decide to ‘whore it up’ you’re in my bed so I can assist

X: And not just coaching me over text

Millie: oh… you are confident, aren’t you?

X: when it comes to you, yes

Millie: why when it comes to me?

X: there is something about you… it’s like a connection

Millie: you think so?

X: I know so

X: now get up, pretty girl and do your laundry

Millie: you remember most everything, don’t you?

X: I told you I did

Millie: yeah, I’m starting to see that

X: does it bother you? me remembering?

Millie: honestly?

X: of course

Millie: …I’m not sure

X: think about it

Millie: I am

X: and?

Millie: Its kind of nice knowing someone is paying attention

Millie: its also kind of intense

X: which one do you like more?

Millie: I don’t know yet

X: you will

Millie: there you go again

X: I’m a fairly patient man

Millie: you don’t seem patient

X: I am with the right things

Millie: and I’m the right thing?

X: yes

Millie: you say that so casually

X: it’s not casual to me

Millie: oh

X: what

Millie: nothing

X: say it

Millie: you’re a lot for 11 am

X: you said you liked intensity

Millie: in BOOKS!!

X: you keep saying that

Millie: its true

X: we’ll see

Millie: you really think you’re going to prove me wrong

X: I don’t think it

X: I know it

Millie: wow, so confident

X: yes, now get up

Millie: you’re still on that

X: I am

Millie: fine, I’m getting up

X: good

Millie: you’re really bossy, x

X: and you listened

Millie: don’t make it a thing

X: it already is

Millie: heavy sigh

X: text me when you’re done with your functioning adult tasks

Millie: you’re really planning to be in my head and phone day all day long, huh?

X: I am

Millie: ok

X: go, pretty girl

Millie: you don’t know that I’m pretty

X: who said I meant physically?

X: But if your face is half as pretty a your mouth, I think I’m already in love

Millie: … eeap.

X: go….

Millie: ok, ok, I’m going

X: I’ll be here when you’re done

Millie: yeah, so you said

He continued to stare at his phone waiting for the typing bubbles to reappear even after he’d told her to go. He knew she was listening, doing exactly as he’d asked her to, but it made the apartment feel different now. The space around him now feeling too empty, too wrong.

Xander continued to stare at his phone a beat longer than necessary. He snorted and shook his head. Staring at his phone as if willing her to come back to their conversation only made him seem ridiculous. More than before, he wasn’t a fucking jedi for Christ sake.

He grabbed his glasses off the bedside table and shoved them on as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stood slowly, stretching out the muscles of his back and neck, raising up on his toes to stretch his legs out completely.

He rolled his neck and grabbed a t-shirt from the dresser on his way out of the bedroom. Fionn stretched inside him, grumbling. You let her go, he grumbled in his chest. Xander sighed.

“I didn’t let her go. She had shite to do.”

He sat at his computer, and powered it on, leaning back in the chair, dropping his now quiet phone on his chest, and sighed heavily.

You could have kept her, Fionn argued

“She’s not my fecking hostage, Fionn.”

No, his wolf argued, she’s worse.

Xander didn’t disagree. He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, rubbing both hands over his face. This week had been the most exhausting of his life, and yet sleep came only in bits and pieces. The pull to her was stronger at night, when he knew she was asleep. As if his body couldn’t rest until she was wrapped in his arms safely. It wasn’t an ache for sexual gratification, but a desire to protect her in sleep, at her most vulnerable.

Fionn grunted in his chest.

Mate.

The world still felt like something stolen from someone else’s life. It wasn’t something that belonged to him, shouldn’t belong to him, and through a twist of fate, it did. He felt how right it was, his body thrumming to life in ways he never even knew were possible.

There was no going back. Not anymore.

His computer blinked to life finally, and he sat forward, tossing his phone face up on the desk in front of him. He typed in his security code, he tried to force himself through the request he’d gotten a few days ago for a mid-sized retailer in the Midwest. They wanted they’re system checked for vulnerabilities. Their current cyber security firm insisted they were covered, but they wanted third party verification.

It only too him six keystrokes to get into the back end of the retailer, and four more before he was in the admin level visibility. He sighed, it was painfully easy to hack this company. He opened his reporting program and began to detail what he found and how easy it had been to get into it.

His eyes drifted back to the phone.

It lay there, screen dark, no new notifications. His cock twitched uncomfortably in his sleep pants, as if begging her to text him. He took a breath and forced his eyes back to he screen.

Normally this would take his full attention. He’d rip their current cyber security provider to shreds when he talked about how easily he’d locked into they’re system, about all the personal and private details he’d been able to access within a minute.

Today though, he couldn’t concentrate. He’d stared at the mostly blank text field where he should be detailing what he’d found and how easily he’d found it, thinking about Millie. His eyes drifted back to his phone with its dark screen.

“You’re spiraling,” he muttered to himself. “Jesus Christ, it’s been what? Two minutes? Get a fecking grip.” He shoved a hand through his hair.

Two minutes too long, Fionn grumbled.

“This isn’t normal.” Xander shot back.

Neither is finding your mate halfway across the world in a shitty diner, Fionn snapped.

Xander sighed.

He flicked his gaze back to his computer and pulled up another program. He typed in her number and screens started to pop up with frightening speed. He closed all of them except her social medias. He clicked into her photos and sat back with a contented sigh.

He thought about last night, about the full body jolt that he knew she felt too when she’d touched his hand. The way her eyes dilated when he’d stared at her, unable to look away. He knew she felt it too, the pull, the ache for more.

“I should have said something,” he muttered, eyes glued to a picture of her laughing.

You almost did, Fionn said quietly.

He’d felt something rising up his throat, words he didn’t even understand, instincts older than logic, screaming at him to take, to keep, to not let go of her.

Which had been the whole reason he’d yanked his hand back. Why he’d left as quickly as he possibly could. Like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

He picked up his phone and turned the screen on.

No new notifications.

He leaned back in his chair, dropping the phone on his chest, and taking a ragged breath, his mind still consumed with thoughts of last night. “She didn’t stop me.” He said quietly. She hadn’t tried to keep him there, hadn’t asked any questions. Just watched him leave the diner with his burger, fries and rice krispy treat.

She let you leave, Fionn agreed quietly.

That twisted something in his chest in a way that he didn’t like. She didn’t understand, didn’t trust him with the intensity of the connection. He couldn’t blame her. She was a human, she probably had very little understanding of fated mates. Hell, he was an Alpha and he had next to zero real idea of what it meant before now.

He lifted his head enough to continue to stare at her picture on the screen. Even knowing she’d let him leave, seeing her eyes twinkling in the sunlight, her hair caught in whatever breeze had been present that day… something settled inside him. Soft, and comfortable and as real as Fionn.

Mate, Fionn purred inside him. Pretty girl.

“Yeah,” Xander said quietly. “She’s beautiful.”

But words like “pretty” and “beautiful” didn’t even begin to cover it. It was the way she teased him in their text thread, the way she shamelessly flirted with him in the diner, the way didn’t push him when he was in the diner, just let him exist without forcing the connection.

She was perfection.

She was made for him, to fit him physically, emotionally… in every possible way.

His chest tightened, something almost painful settling under his ribs, as if being carved into the bones themselves. “Mine,” he whispered, his eyes caressing the face in the photo, committing every pixel to memory.

She was his, not in an aggressive or loud way. It was just something he knew with absolute certainty. It was unquestionable. Fate.

His phone buzzed against his chest suddenly, making him freeze for a moment.

He picked up the phone quickly, catching it before the second buzz even came through.

Millie: ok

Millie: I did my laundry AND started to clean

Millie: where is my praise??

A slow smile spread across his face. There she is, right where she was supposed to be. His stubborn, sassy girl.

X: that’s my good girl

The reply was almost instant.

Millie: EXCUSE ME?!

His smile widened. Yeah, he was fucked, completely done for.

X: you heard me

Millie: I did, and I’m choosing to believe I hallucinated it

X: you didn’t

Millie: wow, doubling down. Bold.

X: you wanted praise

Millie: not THAT kind of praise

X: it seemed appropriate

Millie: for what exactly?

X: you did what you said you were going to do

Millie: that does not make me a “good girl.”

X: are you sure?

There was a long pause. His thumb hover over the screen, something tight coiling in his chest again. Anticipation, sharp and restless.

Push, Fionn murmured, see where she bends.

Xander’s jaw flexed in restraint. He didn’t like how much he agreed with his wolf.

Millie: you’re a lot

X: you said that already

Millie: yeah, and somehow it got worse in the last 30 seconds.

X: I think better

Millie: debatable

X: not really

Millie: omg, you are the worst

He huffed a quiet laugh, pushing up from his chair and pacing through the apartment. The energy hadn’t gone anywhere, it never bled off when she was on the other side of that phone. If anything, it got worse.

Stronger.

Like something in him was waking up the more he engaged with her.

X: what are you doing right now

Millie: cleaning like I said

Millie: I have a life, you know.

X: I’m aware

Millie: are you though?

X: yes

X: Kitchen?

Millie: …yeah

Millie: that was weirdly specific.

X: you said you were cleaning, seemed a logical choice

Millie: mmhmm, sure. Still creepy

X: you’ll survive

Millie: questionable

He sighed, falling into the couch, holding the phone up.

Ours, Fionn said on a grumble.

Xander sighed loudly. “I’m working on it,” he muttered to his wolf

Millie: what are you doing?

X: working

Millie: on a Sunday?

X: I make my own hours. Kind of a hacker for hire.

Millie: that must be nice

X: it has its perks

Millie: like texting random girls all day and not getting behind

X: you are not random, Millie

Millie: oh?

X: no

Millie: what am I then?

He didn’t answer right away, he couldn’t. The real answers… Mate, mine, fated… she wouldn’t be ready for that. She doesn’t know it’s me yet, doesn’t know that its already beyond picking or making a decision. It was written in the stars when they were created.

X: you’re Millie

X: the best wrong number in the history of wrong numbers

Millie: wow, deep.

X: it’s accurate

Millie: yeah, I walked into that one

X: lol, you did, pretty girl

Millie: I regret everything

X: no you don’t

Millie: you’re very sure about that

X: yeah, I am

Millie: why

He sat forward on the couch, elbows leaning on his knees as he stared at the screen. He felt that same certainty settle into his bones once again, like it had always been there. He swallowed against the sudden dryness of his throat.

X: because you keep coming back

Millie: …so do you

Fionn grumbled low and satisfied deep in his chest. “Yeah,” he muttered.

There she is, Fionn purred.

X: I told you

Millie: told me what

X: I like you.

X: I’m not going anywhere

Millie: bold claim for someone who still hasn’t given me their real name

X: you named me

Millie: that doesn’t count

X: it does for now

Millie: omg, you’re impossible

X: you like it

Millie: I didn’t say that

X: you didn’t have to

Millie: omfg, x, for real

He could almost see her, phone in her hand, probably leaning against the counter, rolling her eyes at him, but smiling anyway.

X: you working tonight?

Millie: yeah, it’s a normal shift for me

X: what time?

Millie: wow, your being quite bossy

X: answer the question

Millie: so bossy

X: glad you noticed

X: you like dominant men, I thought

Millie: IN BOOKS!!!!!

X: what time do you work tonight, beautiful?

Millie: 5, same as always

X: are Sunday shifts busy?

Millie: depends, weekends can be weird

Millie: college kids, drunks, the usual

X: 24/7 diner by the college right?

There was a pause

Millie: …yeah

X: just confirming

Millie: why? You planning to show up?

A grin spread across his face, if she only knew.

X: maybe

Millie: lol sure mysterious hacker for hire man

Millie: I’ll be sure to keep an eye out

His chest went still for half a second before Fionn grunted approval, dark and pleased.

“She’s going to be waiting,” I said. Fionn grunted, nodding his heavy head. Good.

X: you should. You never know

Millie: ok wow, that sounds ominous

X: maybe it was

Millie: you’re ridiculous

X: and yet…

Millie: yeah, yeah

X: so about tonight…

Millie: what about tonight?

He paused, fingers hovering over the screen. Memory surged, her hand on his, the shock of it, the way she’d looked at him, like she’d felt it too. His jaw tightened.

X: don’t ignore your gut tonight

Millie: that’s random

X: I guess

Millie: what am I supposed to do with that?

Push her, Fionn urged. Xander shook his head. “She’s not ready yet.” She might never be ready for that, and he wasn’t going to risk it, not until she knew which version of him she wanted more, but more than that: not until she knew exactly what he was.

X: just… don’t

Millie: ok… cryptic, but ok

Millie: I’ll add that to my list of weird things you’ve said

X: its going to be a long list

Millie: it really is

X: you’re still here

Millie: apparently my decision making skills suck

X: or good intentions

Millie: debatable

X: hey, I was trying to make you feel better.

Millie: lol

Millie: ok, I need to get back to chores or I won’t do them at all

Millie: you’re a terrible distraction

X: thank you, I try.

Millie: lol

Millie: ok, x. I’ll text you later

X: I’ll be waiting

Millie: yeah, I figured

The conversation went quiet again, but this time, Xander didn’t feel the same restless edge as before. Now, there was a countdown ticking in his head. He was going to go see her tonight as had become his routine.

His gaze slid to the clock on the wall.

He just had to make it to midnight.

He pushed up from the couch, and headed toward the bathroom. His cock twitched again as he walked, and he sighed. He tossed his phone and glasses on the counter and turned the shower on. He rolled his muscles as he undressed, his body still buzzing from the run earlier.

He tossed his clothes directly into the washing machine and tested the water with his hand. He gave a satisfied grunt and stepped under the spray. The scalding water felt like heaven on his muscles. He dipped his head forward wetting his head. He stepped out of the spray reaching for the body wash pump bottle. He pushed a half pump into his hand, then leaned back against the shower wall, wrapping his hand around his shaft, and spreading the slick wash around it.

He swallowed low in his throat, then gripped himself tightly at the base and slid his hand up slowly, his eyes closing. He could see her now, lying flat on her back, hands bound to his headboard, thighs wide, large breasts heaving as he leaned over her.

He wrapped his hand tightly on the crown and held it there, working just the tip as he imagined how it would feel to press inside her. How deliciously tight she would be. He groaned, and imagined how she would arch her body up to him, begging him to fuck her.

In his mind’s eye, he took her at her invitation, and slammed into her hard, his hand sliding down to his base in one hard sharp stroke. He moaned out loud as he started to pump his hand, imagining he was inside her, bare, skin to skin, his body sliding inside and over her, his lips on her skin as he pumped himself into her. “Feck,” he groaned, pumping his fist faster.

“Come for me,” he moaned out loud, begging his fantasy to come on him. In his mind, he wrapped a hand around her throat as he moved inside her, and she arched against him, body bowing and trembling as she came around him, walls squeezing him tightly, his name a scream on her lips. “Good girl,” he grunted, as his hips pumped into his hand.

“Come inside me,” she crooned in his mind. He groaned, head falling back against the wall of the shower. “Please, Xander,” she whispered and he was done. His body jerked hard, neatly bending him in half, as he came.

“Millie, oh shite,” he grunted as thick ropes hit the shower door. He imagined how good it world feel to pump his come directly into her womb, how full she would be when he was done, how his knot would hold her in place, keeping each of his thick shots inside her.

The thought of her full of him, dripping for days afterward, gave him sharp aftershocks, his whole body tingling as he braced himself with his free hand against the edge of the shower. “Uh, feck,” he grunted as the last few shots hit the floor of the shower.

Fuck, he thought, straightening up, his breath coming in labored pants. Fuck, if he did that and then knotted… she’d not have a single fucking chance, she’d be pregnant with his pup by summer.

The thought of her carrying his pup drew him up short.

He’d always thought he’d have kids at some point, but never with a human, and absolutely not at this point in life... but thinking of her round with his offspring, her belly full, made his chest ache.

Xander leaned back against the shower wall, breathing harder than he had after a run. Fuck him sideways, if just thinking about her got him his twisted, he was afraid of what might happen when he actually got inside her. His cock twitched in his hand.

“No,” Xander said to his dick, releasing his grip, pushing of the wall, he sighed at the mess he was going to need to clean up. He’d come hard, and a lot, the white thick ropes sliding down the door of the shower, the edge of the wall and the floor, all sitting like a reminder of what he’d just done.

This woman was going to kill him and she didn’t even realize it.

She stared at her phone for a few minutes after Mr. Unknown Number stopped texting her, her mind whirling with their conversation. It was the most flirty she’d had with a potential man in years. He didn’t say he was a guy, but he gave guy vibes. Granted, she’d called him “Mr. Unknown Number” several times, and even sir once, and he hadn’t corrected her.

She shoved her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and picked up her counter cloth and started to wipe down the counter for the tenth time in as many minutes. The bell over the door jingled as Sara came in.

“Hey chickita,” Sara said, slipping her coat off as she crossed to the counter. “Pretty dead tonight?”

Millie nodded. “Yeah, I think I made twelve dollars in tips since midnight, and I only made that because Hoodie Guy came in.” Sara grinned.

“He came back?” Millie nodded. “Yeah, got the same thing as last night.” She bit her lip as she turned away.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Sara asked, following her toward the back of the kitchen.

“Nothing,” she hedged.

“Liar,” Sara laughed.

“Okay fine,” Millie said turning around, hands on her hips. “I gave him one of the loaded slut brownies I made.” Sara raised an eyebrow. Millie sighed. “And when I handed him the bag, I touched his hand to tell him there was something extra in There, he looked at me, and…” Millie sighed and dropped her face into her hands. “Sara, he has the most beautiful green eyes. Like emeralds in the sunshine.” She groaned and dropped her hands. “And then I felt like this jolt, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Sara watched her carefully. “A jolt?”

Millie nodded, biting her lip again. “It was like I touched an electric fence while standing in a puddle. Like literal electricity from his skin through my whole body.” She shook her head. “It was… intense.”

“Oh my god, Millie.” Sara breathed. “And then what?”

Millie sighed. “He dropped his eyes, and grabbed the bag and practically bolted.”

Sara nodded. “Can you blame him?”

Millie shook her head. “Fuck, I wanted to bolt.”

“Language,” Mark called from the grill. Millie rolled her eyes.

“I’m twenty seven, Mark, and you aren’t my fucking father,” she called back.

Mark just grunted.

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Sara asked hanging up her coat.

Millie sighed. “I hope so,” but then shrugged. “But it might be better if he doesn’t. I mean, if he’s that socially anxious, he’d never ask me out anyway, right?”

Sara sighed in resignation. “That is probably true.”

Millie took a deep breath and grabbed her coat. “Okay, I’m out. Later.”

“Bye!” Sara called after her as she picked up her purse and slid her jacket on.

Ten minutes later she’d just barely slipped off her shoes and was untying her apron when her phone pinged.

Unknown Number: you make it home safe?

She smiled, biting her lip.

Millie: Wow that is what you’re starting with?

Unknown Number: it’s a normal question

Millie: at 2:17 am from a stranger?

She watched the three dots on the screen bounce as he crafted a reply.

Unknown Number: You said you walk home

Millie: I do

Unknown Number: so

Millie: …yes, I made it home.

Unknown Number: good

Millie: that sounded very ‘I’m concerned’ of you Mr. Unknown Number

Unknown Number: I was

Millie: you don’t know me

Unknown Number: I know enough

Millie: oh?

Millie: do you though?

Unknown Number: you got off at 2

Unknown Number: it’s a short walk

Unknown Number: its late

Unknown Number: that’s enough

Millie: ok, when you list it like that, it sounds less weird

Unknown Number: I’m not trying to be weird

Millie: well you’re failing miserably

Unknown Number: and you’re still replying

Millie: Yeah, yeah, don’t start

Millie rolled her eyes as she stripped out of her work uniform, tossing it into the dirty clothes hamper and pulled on her sleep shorts and a loose t-shirt.

Unknown Number: Are you going to get into bed and read?

Unknown Number: hello?

Millie: sorry, I was changing out of my stinky work uniform into jammies

Millie grinned when there was a long pause

Unknown Number: well that’s distracting.

Millie: lol

Unknown Number: are you going to get into bed and read now?

Millie: probably

Unknown Number: what are you reading?

Millie: one of my dark romance novels

Unknown Number: which one?

Millie: its called “his pretty monster”

Unknown Number: fitting

Millie: for me or the book?

Unknown Number: both

Millie: wow, rude

Millie pulled the blanket on her bed back and climbed in, turning the lamp off next to her bed. She pulled the blankets over her chilled legs and settled against her pillow. Her phone buzzed again. She turned down the brightness of the screen and read the next message from Unknown Number.

Unknown Number: you like obsessive characters

Millie: in fiction

Unknown Number: still counts

Millie: Not the same thing

Unknown Number: why not

Millie: because books aren’t real

Unknown Number: real can be better

Millie: lol that’s optimistic

Unknown Number: or realistic

Millie: you really believe that?

Unknown Number: 100%

Millie: you sound like the kind of guy girls warn each other about

Unknown Number: and yet…

Millie: and yet I’m still texting you, I know, I know.

Unknown Number: exactly

Millie: don’t get too confident over there

Unknown Number: too late

Millie: sigh

Unknown Number: what part of your book are you at now?

Millie: the middle-ish part

Unknown Number: and

Millie: and what?

Unknown Number: is he obsessed yet?

Millie: he’s been obsessed since like page 10

Unknown Number: efficient

Millie: lmao

Millie: you aren’t wrong lol

She laughed. Oh, if he only knew… this man has been stalking the female main character without her knowledge for weeks now. He knew her patterns, her routines, her normal behavior. Fuck, in the last chapter he delivered a box of tampons and her favorite chocolate to her house the day before her period started. It was both sweet and creepy.

Unknown Number: do you like that

Millie: I just told you I read it didn’t I?

Unknown Number: reading and liking aren’t the same things

Millie: I like intensity

Unknown Number: define intensity

Millie: you’re doing that thing again

Unknown Number: what thing

Millie: asking me to explain things you already have opinions on

Unknown Number: I want your version

Millie: fine

Unknown Number: I’m listening

Millie: intensity is like

Millie: when someone doesn’t treat you like your optional

Millie: like you’re not just another person I their life

Millie: You’re the only person, their whole world

Millie: The whole reason they live and breathe.

Unknown Number: singular

Millie: yeah

Unknown Number: no competition

Millie: exactly

Unknown Number: no distractions

Millie: mmhmm

Unknown Number: no one else

Millie: …yes

Unknown Number: that doesn’t scare you?

Millie: in real life? Yeah probably.

Unknown Number: but you still want it?

Millie: in a controlled, fictional, ‘I can close the book an walk way’ kind of way

Unknown Number: so you like the idea of it

She thought about that for a minute and nodded. Yeah, she liked the idea of something intense, where she was both the object of their desire, and how they eased said desire. Maybe every woman was.

Millie: everyone like the idea of something intense

Millie: doesn’t mean they’d survive it.

Unknown Number: survive?

Millie: you know what I mean

Unknown Number: …I do

Millie: do you read?

Unknown Number: not like that

Millie: what do you read?

Unknown Number: things that are useful

Millie: that sounds boring

Unknown Number: it depends on what you consider useful

Millie: if it doesn’t make me feel something, I don’t want it.

Unknown Number: you like to feel you’re feeling a lot

Millie: I want to feel something that isn’t just… average.

Unknown Number: average bothers you?

Millie: it should bother everyone

Unknown Number: most people settle

Millie: I’m not most people

Unknown Number: I’ve noticed

Millie: you don’t know me

Unknown Number: I know that

Millie: …okay that was annoyingly smooth again

Unknown Number: you keep noticing

Millie: stop pointing it out

Unknown Number: why

Millie: because then I notice it more

Unknown Number: lol, isn’t that the point?

Millie: you’re a problem.

Unknown Number: you like my kind of problem, I think

Millie: I like fictional problems

Unknown Number: you’re still here

Millie: yeah, yeah

Unknown Number: what are you doing right now

Millie: lying in bed

Millie: I’m supposed to be sleeping

Unknown Number: but you’re not

Millie: obviously, Mr. Unknown Number

Unknown Number: lights off?

Millie: yes

Unknown Number: phone in your face?

Millie: …okay, not you just described everyone awake right now.

Unknown Number: are you under your blankets or on top?

Millie: Ok, that’s weird

Unknown Number: it was a question

Millie: it was a very specific question

Unknown Number: answer it