“But we already have a tabby,” he pointed out, obviously meaning me.
“No, you have an Alpha bitch. And even if I become a dam someday, so what? We’re already the weird Pride. Why can’t we have two tabbies? Or three? This is a brave new territory now, Owen. Manx and her children will be safe here. We’ll all protect them. And you will love them.”
And maybe someday, if Bert Di Carlo was willing to institute a similar compromise, depending on her own romantic interests, Kaci might see fit to give his territory a second chance at life. At a new generation.
“You’re serious?” Owen’s expression hovered on the edge of a smile, as if he didn’t dare make that leap.
I grinned. “Are you questioning your Alpha?”
“Hell, no.”
“Good. Make your phone call.”
Owen was grinning from ear to ear, already dialing when I stood to make my way back to Jace, my heart thumping painfully. I dreaded the next moment with every cell in my body. But the universe had delivered my miracle—given me a second chance—and I could not mess this up again. Not and live with myself.
Jace leaned against the back porch rail, alone, and I stood close enough that my arm touched his. “Are you okay?” I asked, and he only hesitated an instant before nodding.
“Calvin’s dead. I’m better than I’ve ever been. With one exception.” He looked up, and I followed his gaze toward the woods. To where the strays and the bruins had congregated. With Marc.
I sighed, and my heart felt so bitterly, unbearably bruised. “He came.”
“Yeah. He did.” Jace stared at the ground and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Jace…”
“Don’t.” He turned to face me and ran one hand down my arm slowly, as if to make the contact last. “I know. I knew the moment you saw him. You were happier that he came back than you were that I stayed. I know when I’ve lost.”
I sniffed back tears and reached up to hug him. “I’m so sorry, Jace,” I whispered, as his arms wound around me for the last time, squeezing me hard enough to hold my fractured heart together, even if just for the moment.
“Don’t be.” His cheek scratched mine, and I breathed in his scent, trying to memorize it. “We do what we have to do.”
“This doesn’t mean I don’t—”
“Stop.” He pulled away from me, and the pain in his eyes echoed deep inside me. “Don’t say you still love me. That’ll just make this harder.”
I nodded, swallowing the words that wanted to be said. “What are you going to do?”
He sighed. “I’m going to take Cal’s body home to my mother. Then I’m going to kick Alex’s ass and take back my father’s Pride. Someone’s going to have to run things until Melody eventually has a husband qualified to take over. Who knows, maybe I can undo some of what Cal did to her. Show her that she has options.”
I smiled. “If anyone can do that, it’s you. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Jace glanced at the ground, then met my gaze again. “Yeah, if you believe in me, recognize me. As Alpha. I’ll have to be confirmed, even for temporary control, and I could use a few votes…”
“You’ll have mine.” And I was sure my own allies would help too. We could all use the extra support a Jace-controlled Appalachian Pride would represent.
Jace’s smile faded, and his gaze intensified. “Thank you, Faythe.”
“For what?”
“For giving me a chance. It was all worth it. Every single minute. Even this one.”
I couldn’t stop tears then, even when Jace kissed me, for the last time. When he pulled away, he leaned with his forehead against mine. “Damn, this is harder than I thought, and that doesn’t seem possible.”
“I know.” I was shivering, and not from the cold.
He let me go, and I stepped back. “Go on. He’s waited long enough.”
I nodded and made myself turn away from him, my shoulders shaking. I’d only gone a few feet when the back door squealed shut behind me, and Jace was gone.
I took a deep breath and headed toward the tree line.
There were six toms, other than Marc, and two bruins—Elias Keller had brought a friend.
I owed them my life. My Pride. My eternal gratitude. And I had no idea how to say that.
Marc saw me coming and met me halfway. My heart thumped as I watched him walking toward me, wearing nothing but jeans, in spite of the cold. He had a gash in his left arm and blood had soaked through the material over his right calf, but other than that, he looked good. Very, very good.
“Hey,” I said, when he stopped less than a foot in front of me.