"I've gotten to know her," Sam said, having spent some time with the female. "And I think you underestimate her. She knows what has to be done and she's strong enough not to shy away from it. In the end, she just wants her father treated with respect."
Sam reached out to her mate, resting her hand lightly on his arms, she looked up at him and let him feel her faith in him through their bond. "It will be hard but she'll thank you for doing what no one else can."
Nafarius heaved a tired sigh.
"She saved Maddie's life," Sam said quietly. "And she needs us. I couldn't turn her away after that."
"Alright," Nafarius said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "But no more picking up strays."
"You did." Sam said, sending him a saucy look from under lowered lashes. "And look how well that turned out."
****
Nafarius drove them back towards Roslyn, passing the exit for the warehouse and instead heading to the downtown area.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked.
She'd been sitting quietly beside him, watching as they passed small shops and the diner.
"I rented a storage space," Nafarius told her, turning the SUV towards the edge of town. "We moved everything out of the warehouse. Roland and Natasha are there now."
Watching the rear view mirror, Nafarius was thankful for the small town. Already quiet, the streets were practically deserted on this dreary day, making a lone male such as Dimitri or Craig easy to spot.
"We'll take it all back to the hotel, head out from there after sunset." Nafarius eased the SUV into a parking spot next to the You Store It, killing the engine and pocketing the keys.
"Why don't we just leave from here?" Sam asked.
"The hotel is closer to home, leaving from there will save us half a day's walk." With so much food to carry, they would all be traveling in human form. Nafarius still needed to decide if they would take the longer, easier route around or rely on their superior strength to see them over rough terrain to get home faster.
Feeling a little disoriented, Sam let herself out of the car and followed Nafarius between two rows of closed garage doors. Reaching the end, they turned and walked around the far side of the building coming to the last of the storage units.
The door here was closed too, but Sam could hear the subtle signs of someone moving around inside. With a quick yank, Nafarius rolled the garage door up, easily holding it for his mate.
Slipping under the door, Sam gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the low light as Nafarius let the door close behind them. The storage unit was large, filled with rolled up rugs from the warehouse, boxed up belongings and even her car.
The deep freezer had been moved as well and plugged into the wall. Beside them stood several large hiking backpacks, each one packed full of meat.
"We're just about finished up here," Roland said. Grabbing a handful of meat from the freezer, he passed the white paper packages to Natasha who stuffed them into another pack.
"Good. I'll pull the Suburban around," Nafarius said.
There was a pack for each of them, including the males that had come down to help with the haul. Peering past Roland, Sam stared down into the open freezer. "We're going to need to make another trip."
Roland nodded. "We'll cure most of this when we get home and come back for the rest."
Right now, Nafarius was less worried about the food and more worried about getting them out of town. He wanted his pack back on their mountain and in their den where he could protect them.
"How's Maddie?" Natasha asked Sam from her place on the floor.
"Better," Sam said. She'd checked on Maddie before leaving for the storage unit. The female was still unconscious but Sam got the sense that she had slipped into regular sleep. Grabbing an empty pack, she knelt down to help. "Any particular secret to how you've been packing these?"
"Nope," Natasha said, glad to have Sam back. "Stuff with meat, close and repeat."
Sam worked silently for a bit, the three of them loading the packs and lining them up by the door. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help."
She got the sense that everyone else had been up and at it. Working through the night to empty out the warehouse and getting them ready to go.
"You had your hands full," Natasha said, reaching past Sam and dropping a pack by the door.
Sam jerked back in surprise at Natasha's scent. "You smell different."
Natasha blushed.
Roland smirked.
Sam flushed, feeling like she'd just commented on someone's sex life. "Sorry, I was just surprised. I didn't think..." Frowning, she leaned in and took another whiff. Natasha's scent had changed. It wasn't just that she now wore Roland's scent along with her own. The male had been on her skin for days. No, this was Natasha's scent and it was...different.
"Apparently, Roland's wolf has a bit of a possessive streak," Natasha said, unable to suppress the goofy grin she knew was pasted on her face.
Sam nodded like she knew what that meant. "I'm happy for you both," she said and she meant it. She could feel Roland through the pack bond, a buzz of happiness that did nothing to hide his desire.
Frowning, Sam backed off the bond and looked over at Natasha. "I can't feel you."
Natasha looked up from securing one of the packs. "What do you mean?"
"Along the pack bond," Sam said, concentrating. "I can feel you through Roland, kind of like a shadow but that's it."
"You have to open the bond to her," Roland supplied, handing the last of the frozen meat to his mate. Smiling, he took a second to brush his hand over her hair before turning back and closing the lid to the freezer.
"Oh," Sam said, feeling her way down the bond. "Can I do that or is that something Nafarius should do?"
"Doesn't matter," Roland said with a shrug. "Either one of you can open the bond."
"How?" Sam asked. The bond was like a spiderweb between her and the pack, linking them together. As a made werewolf, the bond had sort of snapped into place when Sam shifted for the first time.
Roland tilted his head, trying to put something into words he just instinctively knew how to do. "You have to sort of let her in while reaching for her at the same time."
He looked from his alpha to his mate, both females kneeling together on the ground. They were surrounded on all sides by backpacks full of food for his pack, the two of them working together.
"Didn't you create a bond with her to help her shift?" Roland reminded Sam.
"Yeah, but that was more like a rickety bridge between me and her," Sam said, remembering the tentative grip she'd had on the female. "Maybe we should wait for Nafarius..."
"I'd like you to do it," Natasha said quietly, reaching out and touching Sam lightly on the arm. "I'll wait for him if you'd rather but..." Natasha shrugged. It wasn't anything against Nafarius, he'd been more than generous, taking her in and sheltering her. But Sam had reached out to her, offering Natasha friendship as well as a home.
"Okay," Sam said, rising up on her knees and reaching for Natasha's hands. "I'll give it the old college try. Here's hoping I don't break anything."
"You're opening the bond, not meditating," Roland said, smiling as Sam closed her eyes to concentrate.
"Shut it," Sam snapped, opening one eye and glaring at her beta.
Roland grinned, crossing his arms and leaning back against the freezer. Natasha changed her position to match Sam, the two females kneeling face to face. He hadn't given the pack bond much thought, not with the mate bond securely in place. But standing there watching Sam struggle to make his mate pack, Roland felt an outpouring of warmth and gratitude for the alpha female, something in his chest aching with pride.
"Sam, what are you doing?" Nafarius asked, slipping in under the door, the headlights from the still running SUV momentarily illuminating his mate.
"Opening the pack bond," she said, frowning. Her heart pounded in her ears, a slight ache starting behind her eyes as she focused.
"You're going to hurt yourself," he told her. Nafarius could feel her fierce concentration along the bond.
"If you can't offer anything helpful then zip it and go sit with that one," Sam scolded, nodding at where Roland stood watching them.
Natasha smiled but wisely kept her mouth shut. Sam was sitting across from her, dark brows pulled down in concentration. If determination alone guaranteed success, then Natasha had nothing to worry about.
Nafarius walked up behind his mate, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder, he guided her down the bond, releasing it and reaching for Natasha.
"Oh," Sam breathed on a sigh, the bond slipping into place and filling with Natasha's essence. Slowly, Sam opened her eyes and found Natasha staring at her, eyes filling with tears. "Shit!" Sam jumped up. "I broke something, didn't I?"
"No!" Natasha exclaimed, her voice thick with laughter and tears. The place where her father's pack had been was still empty, but something new filled her soul, the space belonging to Sam and Roland and the rest of the pack. Her pack.
"No turning back now," Nafarius said, smiling down at Natasha and offering her a hand up.
Roland pushed off from the freezer. Embracing his mate, he smiled over her head at Sam.
Thank you
, he mouthed.
Sam smiled, reaching out and brushing her hand down Roland's arm before moving off with Nafarius.
Roland held his mate, her body trembling in his arms. He could feel her joy, and knew that the overwhelming happiness was bittersweet. Bending his head, Roland brushed his mouth against the pink shell of her ear. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
Natasha nodded. "Better than okay."
Roland rubbed his hands up and down her arms, heating her skin with his touch until the shivering finally stopped.
"If you'd told me a week ago where I'd end up..." Natasha said, shaking her head.
"And this is just the beginning," Roland said, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "I want every moment of the rest of our lives together."
"You promised me a thousand years," Natasha reminded him. "I plan on holding you to that."
"I'd give you twice that if I could," Roland said, easing her back and brushing her mouth with a kiss.
Natasha opened up on a sigh, her body rising on tiptoe as she slid her arms around her mate. Roland slipped between her lips, his touch tender and warm, seeking rather than demanding. They hadn't had a moment alone since mating, the pack showing up shortly after and commandeering the hotel room.
"We're all loaded up," Nafarius called, shutting the car door.
Roland groaned, resting his forehead against Natasha's and closing his eyes. His body hummed with the need to slip inside his mate, to spread her out and experience anew every touch, taste and sigh.
"Do you think if we wait long enough they'll leave us here?" Natasha asked, her hands sliding up to rest on Roland's chest. A crowded storage unit wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but she would take what she could get.
"Not a chance," Roland said. They stood cast in the light from the waiting SUV. Sam and Nafarius were giving them this moment, but he could already feel their impatience.
To hell with it
. Grasping Natasha's face in his hands, Roland pulled her against his chest, fusing their mouths together and sinking inside. He nipped at her lips, licking the sting away before slipping back inside. He didn't stop tasting her until they were both breathless and panting.
Setting her back down on her heels, Roland broke the kiss, smiling down into his mate's heat-filled eyes.
Natasha blinked, trying to clear the fog of desire from her suddenly addled brain. Licking her lips, she got a fresh taste of her mate, a shiver of heat rippling down the mate bond.
"What was that for?" she asked. She could feel Roland, hard and throbbing between them, his desire brushing up against her.
"That," Roland said, pressing a quick kiss against her mouth, "was a promise for later."
****
They returned to the hotel to find Bev and Miles waiting for them, the pack ready to go.
"Miles will drive our car home," Bev told Sam, the two of them standing aside watching as Nafarius handed out backpacks. Dusk came early this late in the fall, and the night was already growing dark. It wouldn't be long before they could slip away without worrying about being seen.
"I'll take Maddie in the SUV," Bev said. "Her sleep has been restless," she added, her hand on Sam's shoulder. "I think she's looking for you."
Sam nodded. "Will you let Nafarius know where I am?"
"Of course," Bev said, watching Sam dart up the stairs to the second story hotel room.
Sam slipped into the hotel room, hurrying around the bottom of the bed and kneeling next to Maddie. "Maddie?"
The small wolf slowly opened pain filled eyes, a whisper of confusion sliding down their bond until they came to rest on Sam.
"Oh, god, Maddie." Sam sobbed, burying her face in the wolf's neck and letting the tears come. "I am so sorry."
Maddie whimpered. Lifting her head, she nuzzled Sam's shoulder.
"My fault," Sam said. Fear and relief had her babbling, her tears soaking Maddie's thick fur. "I should never have brought you..."
Maddie growled her disagreement, the sound turning to a snarl when Sam insisted on blaming herself. Having heard enough, Maddie nipped at Sam's shoulder.
"Ow!" Sam jerked back, more surprised than hurt. "Did you just bite me?"
Maddie pinned Sam with a look, impatience rippling down their bond.
Sam frowned, rubbing at her shoulder. "Well, it is my fault. That shot was meant for me." Nafarius had filled her in, going over all the possibilities until they agreed on one. Dimitri.
Maddie lifted her lips in a silent snarl.
"This is ridiculous," Sam grumbled. "I'm arguing with a wolf."