We walked to my home, letting the others know I would be staying at Ridge’s for the night. My parents had a softness in their eyes watching the way Ridge kept winding a finger around one of my curly strands. He grinned, squinting at Cody’s reenactment of himself fighting in the battle. Ridge laughed—the kind I hadn’t heard in so long—when Nikko popped up and gave Ridge a deadpanned, “That was me.” to every fighting victory in my little brother’s story.

I don’t think Ridge knew that he was playing with my hair still.

My parents pulled me away from the crowded living room, to where Nigel bowed his head at my approach.

“Your Majesty,” he greeted, making my parents glance at one another and then at me. I shrugged a shoulder that it was going to be something to get used to.

I introduced Nigel properly to my parents who nodded that they got to meet him already. That Iota was the first to welcome the man, along with Vicky, as they were the Quail Wolf Caretakers. Nigel acknowledged that it felt a lot different being under the care of someone who was a vast difference to Madilynn’s cruelty.

We felt for Nigel who frowned and the ground for a moment. His experience as a Quail was misguided and couldn’t be at fault completely. There was a lot of that going around lately.

My dad clamped a hand on Nigel’s shoulder, grinning that any Quail would be welcomed in their home—without judgment of what they were born as. The Head Warrior in Dad, though, dropped his chin a little, narrowing his eyes and pointing at my new Quail Companion.

“As long as they don’t touch my daughter.” He sneered, growling out that Dad already had enough gray hairs because of an certain alpha in the room.

Nigel grinned, understanding completely what my dad was getting at, although—and I quickly picked up on Nigel’s sick sense of humor—my companion did glance behind me before agreeing to my dad’s threat while taking my hand and kissing the back of it.

A growl resonated from somewhere—one guess who— and I was quickly pulled back after Ridge’s arm slid around my waist. My parents had that soft look on their faces again while Nigel placed his hands behind his back and gave a slow nod, apologizing for overstepping. I narrowed my eyes at him before turning to kiss Ridge’s jaw to ease him.

Ridge shook his head, eyes squeezed tight. When he opened them, blinking away the alpha possessiveness, he looked at me. His brows furrowed, apologizing that he didn’t know what came over him and didn’t want to overstep in my parents’ home. I assured Ridge that they didn’t take offense to him feeling territorial. That it was an innate mate thing… even if our bond had been broken some time ago.

Ridge frowned at this, shaking his head that it didn’t have to do with the bond that forced such a strong feeling. Instead, he felt like it just came from himself… as himself. He smiled a little, eyes shiny that we were relying on our own bond we created that week at the square. I smiled, leaning into him because I felt the same way. Officially, Ridge and I had severed the mate bond but unofficially, we mended it through our humans alone. What a win, if you ask me.

I turned to my parents, letting them know about needing to discuss with them about Nigel’s talk with me. Dad shook his head, holding up a hand and told me it could wait. That a lot happened already tonight and it was best to decompress before we got into such matters.

Dad’s gaze focused on the alpha, clearing his throat that hopefully the latter didn’t decompress… too much.

“Dad!” I gasped, my face hot as I glanced at Mom and Nigel. They smirked at me. So gross.

Ridge gave a nod to my dad with a small smile, his ears red.

Iota strolled in, Wade right behind her, after announcing that Emory was bathed and tuckered out from the night we all had. He was sleeping the moment his head hit the pillow.

My older Caretaker turned to us and locked her focus on Nigel. My companion’s brow rose, craning his neck back a bit. Iota pointed at him, ordering that he was due for a much needed bath, some food, and a long discussion of his behavior as a Quail Wolf. Nigel’s eyes widened, glancing at me before growling through a curled lip when I smirked. Ridge growled back.

While everyone was chit chatting or being cared for, I ran upstairs, grabbing some clothes and toiletries then headed back down to say goodnight to my family.

Ridge and I walked towards the alpha section hand in hand. I rested my head against his arm, closing my eyes and laughed when Ridge brought up that he couldn’t stop picturing Nigel as Emory’s age and being scolded while loved and cared for by Iota and my family. I could picture it too.

All of a sudden, Ridge stopped when we got to the back part of the alpha section. He stared at one of the houses that looked like it had some new work done. There was a deep scowl on his face.

I studied the way he kept staring at the house, squeezing my hand to keep me from going toward it. He didn’t want to go in. And when I looked at the house, I remembered why. Ridge didn’t want for us to go into the place that felt like a betrayal towards me because of Molly. I could understand that.

Glancing at the home, I pursed my mouth to the side and suddenly thought of something. I grinned a bit, looking up at Ridge and rested my chin on his bicep.

“Hey…” I waited for him to blink a few times, finally turning to look at me.

Leaving no room to argue, I told Ridge that I needed to take a shower. He stared at me, frowning until I peered up at him through my lashes that I wanted him to join me. After my words registered, that deep forest green color I loved so much flickered to the shimmering gold. A purred growl came out of the alpha and I grinned at him, walking backward as I guided us to the house.

When we got inside, I looked around, raising a brow as I noticed how extravagant the decor was. I frowned in distaste at the tacky throw pillows that didn’t even match the zebra print couches. Molly had questionable taste.

At the top of the stairs, Ridge halted and looked at the hallway we stood in. I studied him again, wondering what he was doing before he muttered that he didn’t want to go into that room. Ah. Yes. I understood why.

I kissed his bicep and when Ridge looked at me, I asked if Ridge had another room in the house that was maybe not shared with Molly for those times. Ridge winced, taking in a deep breath then it out slowly. He swallowed hard, nodding that there was one room in the house that his mother helped him design and made it a point that Molly knew it was a room that was sacred and not to be trifled with.

“Although she wanted me to know our kind’s traditions and history, and respects those deeply, I feel like maybe my mom might have used them to her advantage. Because she knew that even though she told Molly that the room was off limits, Mom didn’t have to worry about Molly convincing me to go against those wishes.”

Ridge shrugged a shoulder that he was proud of where he came from and wanted to uphold those traditions and values like his mother did. Then a frown took over. He was quieter, staring at the ground as he muttered, “I guess I’d always wanted to be more like her… and not my father.”

I hugged Ridge’s arm, resting my chin against his bicep. His gaze glanced my way and I whispered that he was nothing like his father. And despite the title passed down to him, Ridge could make a difference in his own way—not the way he was raised to.

A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. His eyes looked a little brighter now. Shaking his head slowly, Ridge grazed his fingertips down the side of my jaw, his thumb caressing my bottom lip and teased, “Already speaking like a true leader… aren’t you, Quail Wolf?”

My wolf eyes took over, scrunching my nose and giggled. Ridge smiled wider, sighing that he didn’t know what to do with me. When I wiggled my brows up and down and said that I was sure I could come up with a few ideas, Ridge’s growl was deep and more breathy, aroused. Just the way I was.

“You know…” Ridge says softly in between kissing my forehead. “Looking back now, it makes sense why that room was off limits to Molly. Mom really was looking out for me the whole time.”

I frowned and Ridge took my hand, leading us down to the very end of the hall. Ridge opened the door, nodding for me to head inside. Eyeing him as I past him, Ridge had a soft smile on his lips, watching me. Turning away, I stepped further into the room and then stopped immediately.

My eyes widened, lips parting and a hand pressed against my chest while gripping tighter to the blanket I had wrapped around my torso. A warmth spread throughout my body with a deep appreciation to what I was looking at.

There was a tree made of plaster or clay that was molded into the wall in the corner. The trunk went all the way up towards the ceiling, its branches, also from plaster or clay, meshed into the wall and some on the ceiling. A reddish orange hue covered the leaves attached to a wire or string of some kind which were stuck to the branches and a few hanging from the ceiling like a Willow. But it was what was the lights strung in a zigzag pattern up the trunk and through the leaves and branches that had me take in a shaky breath.

My tree that I had drawn for Ridge had been brought to life. The colors might have not been painted exactly the same but I recognized it anywhere. It was gorgeous.

Turning to Ridge, he was admiring the tree too. And he made it better when he turned to flip a switch and the twinkling lights came on. The tree looked more beautiful than I could have imagined. And I didn’t know how to react except to cry.

Ridge held me, turning me so I can cry against his chest. He muttered into my hair, choking back a sob of his own, that he often came into this room to think. He’d find himself wandering in and just thought it was because his mom but it was me.

Ridge kissed my head.

“Somewhere deep down inside you were here, Gianna. As much as I wish I could have known that when you returned, I didn’t. But when you did return, I was stuck in here for hours those three horrible days. It didn’t make sense then but it was my subconscious trying to break through the damn fog to get me to remember you.”

I looked up at Ridge, his eyes shining, and he caressed my cheekbones.

“Mom’s been in our corner since the Day One.”

And I would forever be grateful for that.

Sighing a small laugh, I sniffled that we were such a mess but that at least this room could help us make a new memory. A better one. No matter how bittersweet it was.

Ridge huffed a laugh back. “You really wanna make out with me that much, huh?”

Growling, I showed my wolf eyes to my alpha. “And more,” I promised, pulling away and headed over to the other side of the room with a private bathroom that was quite spacious despite this being a spare room.

A growling Ridge told me to wait here and went to get some towels.

Looking in the mirror, my nose scrunched at the atrocious reflection looking back at me. I scoffed that I couldn’t believe Ridge would want to kiss me looking like this.

Turning away, I went over to the transparent glass doors of the shower. My hand slid the door open and admired the clean white set up. I looked down at the blanket wrapped around me and hesitated before letting it drop at my feet. Turning my hands over, I felt that being clean was more important than feeling self-conscious about how I looked.

After stepping into the shower and turning the knob to get the temperature just right, I leaned forward for the water to hit my face. I sighed, the heat feeling so good against my skin and I already felt the dirt and blood washing away. I opened my eyes as I looked at the floor, the water swirling down the drain was stained a brown-red. The white floor of the shower only deepened the color of the dirty water.

My gaze switched to the glass doors, meeting the alpha’s as he stood there with towels in his hands. His green eyes narrowed, flickering with some gold. I grinned, giving my alpha a Siren Call of my own. The growl I sent his way had Ridge shut his eyes and shiver.

When he snapped his eyes open, his lip curled, a devilish grin on his lips. Ridge tossed the towels on the counter and walked to the door of the shower. I met him there, soaked from the heated water. I reached over, sliding my hands down his chest to the waistband of his jeans and Ridge growled, letting my hands wander up.

I grinned up at him, biting my lip while pressing my wet torso against his.

“Even if this is our last night…” I mumbled, nipping his chin. “I want to remember this night forever.”

My wolf eyes took over, igniting his own gold ones to show through. I bit my lip again, pressing myself further against him as my hands wandered into his pants.

“Show me why you’re my alpha male, Ridge Beaumont.”

The alpha’s gaze locked with mine, reaching up to place a hand on the side of my face and tucked my hair behind my ear. Through a growl that had me trembling, Ridge leaned in closer, gritting his teeth.

His gold eyes shimmering again. “As you wish, Quail Wolf,” came out in a husky growl before Ridge claimed my mouth as his.

Our kisses didn’t stop after Ridge undressed and locked our lips together again, walking me backward toward the shower head. I gasped at the heat on my back and Ridge took hold of my waist, switching us so his back was to the steaming blast. He had me against the wall. His hands on either side of my head.

Ridge bit my lip and I moaned, arching up at him. He pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. The sound of the water echoed off the walls and we stood there, just taking each other in.

Ridge cradled the side of my face before his fingers drifted down. I still kept his gaze even when his arm wound behind my waist. He lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his waist. My fingers raked into the back of his hair, admiring my alpha male with a smile.

Ridge looked at me, sighing, “I love you, Gianna. No matter what happens after today. You need to always know that.”

I nodded, brushing the side of my nose against his. I whispered that I did know that. And that I loved him too. Deeply… irrevocably… perpetually.

Letting my wolf eyes take over, I smirked, “But now I need you to show me.”

Ridge growled, obeying my command. He showed me against that shower wall over and over how much the alpha adored his queen.

.დ.❧.

As I was towel drying my hair, I glanced in the mirror where Ridge was still shampooing his hair. I bit my lip, grinning at the thrumming still going through my body. Alpha Beaumont was an extraordinary lover and to know he is all mine was arousing all over again. But I wanted to make this night count for us so I needed to cool my lady bits.

“You almost done in there,” I asked, trying to get a sense of how much longer he’d be. I pulled on the too large pajama bottoms he brought in and threw on the just as big t-shirt.

“Yeah. Still need to rinse off.”

I nodded then said I was going to grab something to drink downstairs. Ridge replied a mumbled ‘OK’ which gave me a chance to leave the bathroom, shutting the door, after snagging his clothes, just in case he got out faster than I got things ready.

I looked around the hall, squinting as I wondered how much stuff I was going to need. I couldn’t think too long though because Ridge would be out soon.

Wandering downstairs, I looked in the closets but couldn’t see a lot of blankets or pillows. I narrowed my eyes, humming to myself before deciding that I was going to be needing some help after all.

I glanced at the front door.

A bundle of nerves erupted in my stomach, frowning and wondered if my romantic gesture would be ruined because I was nervous of going to the front alpha home where Ridge’s parents lived.

I rolled my eyes, sighing out a curt breath. I was just going to have to deal with it. This was about Ridge, not Mr. Beaumont.

Scurrying out the house, I squealed a little from the cold grass under my bare feet. I raced to the back of the alpha home and then took a deep breath to knock. Looking around, it was strange to not hear anything at this hour. Only so long ago was there bloody savage chaos.

When the back door opened, Mrs. Beaumont raised her brows. “Gigi!”

I smiled widely, tucking my hair behind my ear and immediately thought about the spare room.

“Hi, Mrs. Beaumont,” I greeted timidly, glancing around and scrunching my nose but I think she knew how uncomfortable I was.

The woman smiled and assured me there was nothing to worry about. That Mrs. Beaumont was the only one there in the home. She raised a brow, pointing out that she had made permanent living arrangements for Mr. Beaumont elsewhere after his traitorous punishment was concluded.

“He’s being held in a cell in town. Your father’s warriors made sure the officers in town knew the situation. I can assure you even they didn’t argue holding the former alpha under arrest after what happened to many of the humans.”

My eyes widened, lips parting although I wasn’t sure what to say. I mean… she was pretty being pretty chill about the whole thing despite having been married to her husband for years.

The realization of my thoughts were in her eyes and although she offered a small smile, there was deep grief in her eyes when Mrs. Beaumont admitted that it was a lot easier to let go of who she thought was the love of her life when that same someone overwhelmed and groomed her only child—the person she absolutely adored with all her heart and would give her life for—to lose his innocence and ability to choose for himself at such a young age.

“I’d say that it would make sense for my letting go of Darren so easily is because of us not being True Mates,” Mrs. Beaumont reasons, but then a small glimmer in her eye appeared. “But such a concept of finding one’s True Mate doesn’t feel so rare when the Spirit World has to figure out why two destined young werewolves—torn apart by manipulation, greed, power, and jealousy— and both who broke the True Mate bond because of those vial reasons…”

She cradled my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn’t know was there.

“Still found a way back to one another, fighting against the odds, and giving themselves the chance to truly love each other for themselves… and not because they were meant to.”

Mrs. Beaumont pulled me in when I started crying, hugging me close. Her breathy was shaky as she sighed, “Oh, Gigi… You have no idea how sorry I am for what you were put through. You and my son. But I know the Spirit World has watched both of your suffering with the strength to still fight. And they will repay you in the best way they can, I’m sure of it.”

She kissed the side of my head, pulling back with my head between her hands.

“Now why don’t you tell me what brought you to my door when you should be enjoying your new deserving freedom with my son.”

I stared at her, lowering my gaze and blushed. Tucking my hair behind my ear and pursing my mouth to the side, my nose scrunched as I sighed, “About that…”

Mrs. Beaumont’s brows rose, arms to her sides now. She frowned at my telling her that tonight would be my last night here because in the morning I would be leaving Carmel indefinitely. The former alpha female looked my face over before softly asking what about Ridge and me.

Swallowing hard, I felt my throat tighten and eyes well up again. I sniffled, shaking my head that I loved her son with all my soul but… but that I had a responsibility to the other Quails out there in the world, and Ridge had his responsibility here in Carmel.

When I looked up at her, apologizing for having to hurt her son again, Mrs. Beaumont frowned and pulled me to her again. I hugged her, sobbing against her once more but that that I was going to miss Ridge so much! That it was so hard to breathe just thinking about waking up and not seeing Ridge!

“Oh, Sweetheart…” Mrs. Beaumont sighed, brushing my hair. “Don’t you worry about Ridge, you hear me? I will keep an eye on him for you. You just go out there… and be the remarkable young woman I know you are.”

I sniffled, looking at her and she wiped my tears away. Mrs. Beaumont gently cradled my jaw, asking me to not think about tomorrow but instead just of now. She reminded me that I came to her door for a reason.

It took me a moment to collect myself, remembering the short window I had and told Mrs. Beaumont what I had wanted to do.

“Oh!”

Mrs. Beaumont beamed, clapping excitedly and volunteered to help me. She had already returned into her house, talking to me (herself?) of what she could gather in a few short minutes. The box she found from out of nowhere made me raise a brow at her. Mrs. Beaumont was stuffing a bunch of electric candles into the box and mumbling that she’d be needing to get this and that, all while calling someone on her phone and placed it between her shoulder and ear. My eyes widened when I heard Mrs. Beaumont greeting my mother and saying she needed Mom’s assistance right away.

I stood helpless at the door, watching the woman scurry in and out of sight. My brows furrowed, calling to Mrs. Beaumont if she needed help.

“No, no!” came the reply. She insisted I just go back and stall Ridge for about ten minutes and Mrs. Beaumont would have everything set up for us. Mrs. Beaumont instructed me to give her the time she requested before Ridge and I came back outside to the small garden area she pointed out down the hillside.

I looked over where it was and sighed, shrugging, “Ten minutes then.” and went back to Ridge.

As I climbed the stairs, I looked up and hid my smile behind my hand at the alpha standing at the very top. He had his towel wrapped around his waist and his hair shiny and damp. Those green eyes narrowed at me, growling that I took his clothes.

I grinned, tilting my head as I pointed out that he had a room full of them. Ridge narrowed his eyes more, grumbling that I had taken his favorite nightwear which included the hoodie, long sleeve shirt and shorts. I rolled my eyes, telling Ridge that he was such a baby and he could have put something else on instead being dramatic about it.

I climbed up the rest of the way, standing beside him now and the alpha’s lip curled that he wasn’t dramatic. He was sentimental. There was a difference.

Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his waist and apologized though Ridge didn’t believe I was really sorry. He questioned what I was up to and I smugly replied that he couldn’t know yet. Ridge’s suspicious look was still in place and I kissed the middle of his bare chest before resting my chin on it. He didn’t mind the way I hanging on him.

“You didn’t really go down to get a drink… did you?” Ridge questioned, eyeing me.

I grinned, wiggled my eyebrows up and down while replying that he was just going to have to wait another nine minutes.

“Nine…?” Ridge lowered a brow.

I nodded, “Uh huh,” and then reached up to pull him to me. Just before I kissed him, I whispered against his lips that I could think of something we could do until time was up. Ridge smirked, eyes shimmering gold and he raised a brow, watching me graze my bails gently down his abdomen until I grabbed his towel. I tugged it off, held it out to the side and dropped it.

Ridge narrowed his eyes that if I did what he thinks I’m about to do then we were going to need more than nine minutes because he was going to ravish me again. My wolf eyes shined through as my hands and I drifted down his torso.

Gripping his hips, I raised a brow and shrugged that we could switch places instead. His eyes glowed gold, grinning with a growled, “Anything for my Queen.” as he yanked me up. I yelped, surprised that he took me seriously but then my breath started shaking with Ridge’s eagerness to tug down the pajama bottoms and his mouth immediately between my legs.

My head tipped back against the wall, a long moan escaping and my fingers raking into Ridge’s hair. He tossed one of my legs over his shoulder, gripping me closer and took me beyond the brink of ecstasy for the fourth time that night.