There had to be a way. I paced the room. It had been an hour and still hadn’t been able to figure out a way to get off the property without being caught.

Meekly accepting what Maverick had decided wasn’t me. I could not just stand by and let him play the hero and risk his life. This was my fault, my past, my demons. I was the one who had to fix it.

I hadn’t figured out the finer details of how or what I was going to do once I found my family. There was no clear plan and there was no guarantee even if I did succeed that I would be able to stop anyone from getting hurt but I had to try.

Think, I urged myself. There had to be a way. I just had to think of it.

Feeling exasperated that I still hadn’t come up with a plan I walked over to the bedroom window and surveyed the walls that surrounded the compound.

I could see the guards from where I stood. With my limited knowledge of werewolves, I wasn’t sure how to evade them without being detected. Would they be able to pick up on my scent?

My sense of smell had amplified. I could smell so many things just from where I stood. Enough to know it would not be easy to fulfill my threat to Maverick.

Maverick. My heart yearned for him even through my anger.

I had to remind myself I was not doing this to undermine him, I was doing this to protect him. Finally, I had something worth fighting for and I was not going to lose him.

It was not an option.

I was still studying the boundary walls trying to find some sort of weakness, a spot I could get through without detection when I saw Amy.

The girl who had been with Maverick. The one who had stormed into the room and made such a scene.

My thoughts raced ahead and suddenly I had a plan. And I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of it sooner. I smiled.

I heard his footsteps before I head the door open and then close behind me. I refused to turn to face Maverick.

“You still mad?” he asked softly, not coming any closer.

I shrugged. I was still too mad to play nice or pretend differently.

He closed the space between us to rest his hands on my shoulders. His touch warm and soothing but I stiffened.

“Alexandria.”

It still sounded so strange when he used my real name. The name brought back the memories and the current dilemma we found ourselves in at the moment. Nothing good came from that name.

He turned me slowly and I kept crossed my arms making it clear I still wasn’t ready to talk to him. I glared at him.

He smiled and I frowned when I didn’t get the reaction I expected. He extended his hand to touch my face gently. The skin to skin contact comforted but I was far too angry to be appeased by the affectionate gesture. I fought to hold onto my anger, allowing it to simmer and grow. Without it I would be putty in his hands, and I could not afford to allow that to happen.

“I’m making the best decision for us and the pack.”

My frown deepened, keeping my silence.

“Alexandria?” he prompted.

I refused to speak.

“Yell scream, do something?” he said, studying me.

“None of that is going to change a thing, is it?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“My decision is made Alexandria. I won’t change it.” His voice steely.

“Don’t try that Alpha crap on me.” He could not force me to accept his choice.

“Why can’t you trust me?” he asked.

“I trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone.” The emotion that I felt saying that too him made my chest heavy. “My whole life, I’ve had no one. Do you know what it’s like growing up like?”

He shook his head slowly.

“You were the one that made me see the good in people again. Do you know how profound that has been? In the short time I’ve known you, you have become my world.”

I took a deep breath to pause. His eyes held mine. Connecting us in a way that physical touch could not.

“I love you and how can you expect me do nothing while you risk your life.”

“I’ve weighed up the risks. This is my world, one you do not have a lot of experience in. If there was another way I would take it but this is the only choice I have Alexandria. Don’t think that I’ve made this decision lightly. It’s the hardest one I have ever had to make.” His voice had a touch of sadness.

“Let me help you Maverick. Together we can come up with another way, I know we can.”

He shook his head. “Stop.” His voice hard. “There is no other way. If you knew more about werewolves you would understand why this is the only choice there is.”

It was like I was arguing with a brick wall. He would not change his mind, and neither would I. We were at a stalemate.

“I don’t want to fight with you Alexandria.”

I swallowed, knowing that despite my anger I didn’t want to spend the potentially last moments I had with him like this.

“Then why are you here Maverick?”

“I want to love you.”

My heart flipped inside my chest. It was astonishing that he could make me feel so much. Anger and love. Intermingled. More powerful than I had the ability to fight.

I dropped my arms to my sides. “Then…love me.”

He reached out to pull me to him with a hand to the back of my neck to him. His mouth against mine. I sighed.

I closed off my mind and all the reasons to stop him. I wanted him more than I wanted to be right.

Later, I would still go through with my plans but for this brief moment I wanted him, more than I wanted anyone.

It wasn’t just the physical heat between us, there was another level of emotion that brought us together.

He was lifting me and placing me on the bed. Clothes discarded in a disarrayed mess around us as his mouth found mine again. I clung to him wrapping my legs around his waist, needing him so badly.

He filed me with one hard thrust. I gasped, closing my eyes and riding the exhilaration of being joined with him.

“You are mine,” he murmured against my ear making me shiver.

He owned my heart. It was more powerful than anything else I had ever experienced.

I whimpered as he began to move, my arms around him, keeping him close. His scent and strength surrounded me.

I gasped with every thrust, feeling the pressure build and need a release only he could give me. He kissed me, tongue tangling as he continued to join our bodies urgently.

It had never been this fierce between us. It was beautiful.

Wild animalistic lust. No games, no lies. Just sex.

His powerful muscles straining against me as he buried himself so deep inside me I couldn’t tell where he stopped and I began.

I panted as he angled my hips so he could deepen his possession. I held onto him, unable to think straight when I felt the peak and it rushed through me. All I could do was hold onto him.

His body still hard, pounded into me as I held him. He stiffened and gasped. I kissed him, needing him to know I was there with him.

After, we lay intertwined and trying to catch our breaths. It had been the most intense experience of my life.

“You’re mine Alexandria,” he said to me, possessively. My heart fluttered. His hand reached for mine.

I looked to him, meeting his beautiful green eyes. “Always,” I whispered, overwhelmed by the emotion that gripped me. I interlinked my hand with his.

No matter what happened from that point. He was the one I loved and it only reinforced my decision to protect him. He had shown me what it was to be loved and he gave me a place in the world were I wasn’t alone when I had needed it most.

He was willing to sacrifice his life to protect me. But what he didn’t realize, I was prepared to do the same for him.