*Val* Gabe and I were in the parlor with two guards who had rushed to the house just at dawn. The men were nervous and kept looking down at their feet as they stood before us. I couldn't blame them. Something strange was going on with Gabe. He was facing straight forward and glaring. I could see the tension in his jaw and I knew that he was angry, I just had no idea why.I wasn't in the best mood myself. I'd hardly slept the night before. "What is it?" Gabe demanded. "Just as the sun was rising, we saw a figure running across the border out of the village," the taller of the men said. He looked pale and glanced at the other guard as he spoke. "It looked like a wolf, but it just didn't make sense, Alpha. There was no scent. If I hadn't happened to look over, there would have been no sign that anyone was there. They were like a ghost." "No one can mask their scent that well," Gabe said. "You must have missed something." "Alpha," the second man said. I raised an eyebrow

*Estelle* Gabe followed me up the stairs toward our bedroom. We were both exhausted, physically and emotionally. I was angry that he would doubt me, but I understood it. If I thought that he was interested in someone else, it would hurt. Besides, Isolde was good at getting under people's skin. She seemed to be able to tell what a person was most insecure about and use it against them. She'd done it to me and I'd broken her nose. The fact that Gabe felt insecure about our relationship bothered me. Looking at him, you would never guess that he could feel insecure about anything. Gabe was stunning to look at, and his deep voice was practically hypnotic. He effortlessly commanded every room he entered. He was intelligent and charismatic. Insecure was the last word I'd use to describe him.From what I'd learned of Gabe's childhood, expressing his emotions wasn't exactly encouraged. There was no way to know how much he'd been hiding. His face wasn't guarded now. He looked miserabl

*Gabe* The adrenaline of the encounter with the rogue was wearing off by the time I reached home. I was exhausted, but there was too much to be done for me to sleep. Estelle apparently felt the same sense of immediacy, because she was waiting for me just inside the door. She looked relieved to see me. "What happened?" she asked anxiously. "It was the same rogue that attacked you," I confirmed. She looked upset, but not surprised. I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. We were alone, and I wanted the comfort of holding her just as much as she wanted to be held. She wrapped her arms around me and sighed heavily. "I'm glad he was caught, but it's terrifying to think that he's been trying to get to me this entire time." I had to wonder how much this had been weighing on her mind. So much had happened in the past few months, it was hard to even keep track. "We can't lower our guard," I said. "We don't know if he's the only one." I didn't want to add t

*Estelle* Things in the village were quiet for the past few days. It seemed that the initial unrest after Isolde's punishment was starting to die down. I was nervous about going out on my own for a few days after. The memory of the riot at the craft fair and the painful bruise on my ribs made me weary of venturing too far from Gabe or Val. But Val had invited me to visit Lucky at their house, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I was so excited about her pregnancy and I wanted to ask her a million questions. I'd tried to be polite about it, but I know she'd seen how overeager I was. She was nice about the whole thing and just laughed when Val finally asked me to stop. I was embarrassed. I hadn't meant to get personal, I was just fascinated. I wasn't ready to have a baby anytime soon, but I knew that I wanted to one day. Val had offered to walk me home, but I'd declined. I wanted to stop by the inn and see Mama Iida first, and I wasn't about to ask him to stand around waiti

*Val* Estelle was spending a lot of time with Lucky and I was grateful for it. As her pregnancy progressed, it was harder for me to understand what she was experiencing. I did my best to take care of her and make sure that she didn't have to lift a finger if she didn't want to, but there was only so much that I could do. Having another woman to talk to about her experience helped. Estelle was so fascinated with the entire process. I knew it wouldn't be long before Gabe had a little one on the way, too. The pack was finally stable enough that it felt safe for us to start a family. My anxiety over the pregnancy was driving me a little mad. I did my best to hide it from Lucky. I didn't want her to have any additional stress to manage. The best thing that I could do to assuage my fears was to prepare for our pup's arrival. It was still many months away, but it was never too early to get ready. I'd already renovated the guest room in our home to be a nursery. There was no furnit