Chapter 84

Troy

The day passed too fast. Even Quinn relaxed and enjoyed herself. The warriors stayed closed to the she-wolves in case they needed us, but we kept our distance when they went to the rock pools to swim and play like children. Even the strictest of my warriors smiled when he saw his mate frollicking in the water.

Not all of them were fated, but all of them loved their mates. That was the future I wanted for our kind. A normal life, with normal concerns. Not that endless war. Not mothers sending their children off to die in another wolf's war. Not mates waking up to find that their husbands and wives died during the night.

I wanted peace so bad, and it was so close I could taste it.

Quinn broke away from the pack and came to sit with me on the blanket I had spread out under a big tree that groaned like an old man in the wind. “Why don’t you join us?” she asked. “I thought you liked the water.”

“You didn’t invite us in.”

“You need an invitation?”

I nodded. “In this case yes. Whe