I took a tentative breath as I excited the room and finally found myself squinting against the bright sun. I exhaled as I looked around the pack. A place where I had come from. There was nothing familiar, nothing that tied me to it.

It was a strange place where I did not belong, maybe that was the way it was meant to be.

“Hey.”

I turned to the familiar voice of my cousin. “Tristan.”

It was good to see him.

“You feeling better?” He studied me.

I nodded. “Much better.”

“I’m sorry I missed the showdown. Maverick wanted me as backup.”

“Backup?”

“He wanted someone who could protect you if the worst scenario played out.”

I was stunned. “Really?”

He nodded.

I swallowed, knowing how close we had come to that scenario. It touched me in a deep part of me that even with everything going on Maverick was contemplating every possible scenario, not matter how hard it was to consider.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t need it.”

Still taking it in, I nodded. “Yes.”

“My mother would be happy with how things turned out,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

I reached out to touch his arm. “While I will never be able to thank her for what she did for me, I can at I least thank you for doing what you could.”

He smiled. “That’s what family is for.”

Family. It felt foreign. My immediate family were horrible but here was a family member who had cared enough to try and find me, to keep me safe. Someone who had never met me.

“Family,” I confirmed, feeling something raw open up in my chest.

Not only was I physically recovering from my ordeal but the fact that I didn’t have anything to keep running was such a relief. I was finally be free to be whoever I wanted to be. I could be Mary, the baby that had been discovered who had been abandoned, or I could be Victoria, the life I had tried to carve out for myself. Or I could accept the real me, Alexandria. The one who I had been born to be, the one who was destined to be with Maverick.

Just the thought of him filled my chest with a warmth.

“You’re finally free,” he stated.

I nodded. It was difficult to even comprehend it. I had effectively been running my whole life.

“It feels so strange.”

“One day it might even feel normal.”

I wanted normal and all that entailed. I spotted Amy as she joined us.

“You’re alive.”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“I still hate you, you know.” But nothing in her expression backed up her words.

“Same.” I was still smiling.

Tristan looked between us, looking confused.

Amy gave me a nod before she walked away. I kept my gaze on her. She threw a wink over her shoulder before heading out of my sight.

After everything we had been through we couldn’t be enemies but I wasn’t sure we had quite made it to friends. But I knew that without her I might not survived. I owed her.

“I’ll never understand women,” Tristan said, shaking his head.

Not long after Tristan left to go and check on something I found myself standing between Kane and Maverick.

“I’m heading back,” Kane announced.

“We won’t be far behind you,” Maverick replied. “I have a couple more things to tie up.”

I never thought I would ever see them be civil to each other, it was something to see.

“Who is going to be running the show here?” Kane asked, looking around at the pack going on about their every day activities.

Maverick and I shared a look.

“We had already discussed this. Tristan will take over as Alpha, he is from a line of Alphas so there shouldn’t be any uprisings.”

I didn’t have the experience to lead a massive pack. I had too much still to learn and I didn’t need the pressure of keeping members safe while trying to figure out the logistics. Seeing Maverick in action in the situation had shown me what an Alpha needed and I wasn’t even close. Besides, I knew I could trust my Tristan to do a good job at it.

Kane studied me. “You did something amazing out there.”

I was shocked by the compliment, especially coming from him. I was a little speechless to say the least.

“Not everyone will admire it. Some will fear it and those are ones you have to watch out for.” It was quietly added in a way that made me look at him an entirely different way.

“Thanks,” I murmured, not wanting to consider that what I had been able to do would draw scrutiny from some.

Kane a slight nod of his head before he walked away. I was still staring after him, taken aback by what he said.

“He’s right.”

I looked to Maverick.

“What you did was amazing.”

“I’m more blown away that I got compliment from Kane, of all people.”

Maverick smiled. “He seems to have some good qualities if you dig deep enough, like really deep.”

I laughed. “He has a tough exterior but I bet there is a reason for it. I saw him with Lark, he has a heart.”

“I hope so, otherwise I will be the one putting him on the right track. I won’t allow him to mistreat Lark.”

“I don’t think that will be happening.” I held some confidence in those words.

“I hope not. I want her to be happy but I’ve known him too long to think he will change over night.”

I frowned watching Kane disappear from our sight.

“Maybe he has always felt something for Lark. Maybe he just hid it well.” I gave a one armed shrug.

I smiled at him, taking his hand in mine. For the first time I saw him, the man, the Alpha, the man I loved more than I thought possible.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

He frowned. “For what”

“I didn’t trust you enough.”

“What brought this on?” He took my hands in his, his eyes soft on me.

I could stare into his eyes for

“Tristan told me that he was the backup, in case you didn’t… survive.” It was hard to even express what could have easily happened but I didn’t want to think about that now.

“The odds were against us but we survived but it could have easily gone the other way. We could have all been slaughtered.”

I swallowed, hating the truth of his words. “But that didn’t happen.”

“Only because of what you did out there.”

“I still don’t know how I did it.”

He shrugged. “We will have time to figure it out.”

He pulled me forward to kiss me. His mouth briefly touched mine, but it was enough to take my breath away and leave me wanting him.

He gave me a lazy smile which turned my inside to mush. “I just want to go home.”

“Same.”

After we said our goodbyes and were bundled into a car. I slept most of the way home, waking up when Maverick carried me in to our bedroom and removed my shoes to tuck me into bed.

I drifted off to sleep again and woke later to find the space beside me cold. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and looked for Maverick. It was dark and there was no sign of him in the house.

I walked the compound but still couldn’t find him.

Putting my hands on my hips I tried to think of another way to find him.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. Maverick. I tried to contact him through our mind link.

No answer. Frustrated I stared at the dark forest and frowned.

I couldn’t tell you what made me slowly make my way into the dense trees. It was a sense I couldn’t explain that led me deeper until I could hear heavy breathing.

Just as I stepped into the open I saw my Maverick, topless. Corded and hard muscles tensed as he slammed his fist into the tree trunk.

“Maverick,” I spoke his name.

He didn’t turn, he remained with his back to me.

“Maverick?” This time I wasn’t sure how to approach him. I walked a little closer until he looked to me.

The emotions in his eyes made me reach out to touch him but he shook his head. He looked so torn I wanted to soothe his emotions.

“I need to be alone right now.” Sweat dripped down his face.

My hand dropped to my side. Was this some sort of training I hadn’t seen before?

We stared at each other for a few moments.

“Okay,” I whispered, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do but I told myself that if he needed space I would give it to him.

Still unsettled I walked away, trying to figure out what was going on.

Even back inside our room, I kept thinking about it. Going round and round in circles.

When Maverick finally returned, I sat on the bed and watched him as stood in front of me, bloodied knuckles and sweat covering most of his fit body.