Justin’s POVRusso stared patiently at me. “You can fix things between you and Helen just like repairing the damage she did to you, not the physical but the emotional. By stabbing you in the back, whether it was her fault or not, the damage was done. So just like this, the damage is done whether you meant to or not. And it’s going to be slow fixing it. You are going to have to gain her trust.”I snorted. “Well, that’s ironic.”He chuckled. “Yeah, it is kind of. But you’re going to have to regain Helen’s trust and show her that you will treat her the way a luna ought to be treated. You will have to show her that you’re willing to let her be an active part of her life, your life together, and the life of the pack. Just like she’s going to have to continue to prove to you that she’s not going to hurt you. You’re going to shy away from her. She’s going to shy away from you, and it will be a hot mess for a while. But in the end, if you guys both put in the work, I think you can fix what’s

Justin’s POVSomething about just having a plan to reconcile with my mate had settled both me and my lycan considerably. He was curled inside me, sulking a little bit for not having gotten a chance to take his temper out. And every so often, he would shoot off snide comments about Helen at me, focused entirely on her betrayal.But Russo seemed to have a point. When I fully disagreed with my lycan and refused to give any ground, he seemed to settle down and make do with just letting horrible thoughts rip through my head from time to time. But I can handle those.I walked in companionable silence with Russo, and the sudden feeling that I should do something for him for all his help washed over me. I turned to look at him.“Russo?” I asked. “Why exactly did you decide to stay with our pack? I mean, after you stabbed us in the back, and it bit you in the butt. Of all of the packs on the continent, why pick ours?”“Ho

Justin’s POVI was going to find Russo, a mate who would allow him to continue his species as well. It didn't seem fair as the last lycan should have the opportunity to give my wife lycan pups and continue our legacy as a species, and this poor man was doomed to watch his species die out when he went. He was young, my age. He had plenty of time. All we had to do was find him someone who was compatible, who could bear fae children for him. In fact . . .“What?” Russo asked, staring at my face.He could see that I had an idea.“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I just figured out what Helen's next project is going to be. I know what I can put her to work on that will be helpful. It will make the lives of people that we care about better, and it will definitely keep her out of harm's way.”He gave me a light pat on the shoulder. “There, see, things are already looking better. Now, if you keep on this p

Helen’s POVI stayed frozen but hopeful. I hadn’t been ordered back to our other house, and Justin hadn’t yelled at me for my outburst in public. After a moment, he turned around and rubbed both hands across his face, his head hanging. When he turned back, he stared straight at me and said, “I have a job for you, I guess.”“You what?” I asked.“I have a job for you,” he said more confidently.All of a sudden, fear clawed its way into my throat. By job, did he mean that I was going to be banished back to a cell with the job of staying obedient? Was I going to be chained up again?I ducked my head submissively. “Whatever you wish, Alpha,” I murmured through numb lips, trying to hold back whimpers at the idea of yet more punishment coming my way.Justin growled, and tears filled my eyes. What about this response was wrong? What was I doing to upset him? I was trying to be as obed

Justin’s POVWhen I left Helen’s house that night, it was hard to convince myself to leave the front porch. Russo went down the steps ahead of me and waited in the light of the street. I glanced behind me, looking at the window over my shoulder.Inside, Randy was helping Helen clean up after our dinner. It had been odd, having a meal with my mate with essentially two chaperones. Both Randy and Russo stayed for the meal, and the four of us sat around the table talking about stupid stuff like the weather and where it might be nice to take a vacation once things had settled down. It was like pretending all of the other problems didn’t exist.In some ways, it angered me not to be able to be close to my mate. Now that I was calmer about everything, my lycan had decided that perhaps the best course of action would now be to fuck her into submission. He wanted to take our wayward mate and spread our scent all over her body and inside, leaving behind h