"He won't," Clayton said.
Another knock sounded on my door, and when I got up to answer it, I found Harper outside, along with Jack and Dane. They had a box of donuts with them.
"We came here to show our support," Harper said, pushing her way inside without an invite. "We brought food too, cause we figured you were probably starving."
"Thank you," I said as I took the box, my eyes filling with grateful tears. I knew they'd been friends with Tanner, so it meant a lot that they'd chosen to come here and publicly show they were on our side.
Dane followed Harper inside, though he stopped to rest his hands on my shoulders and give me a firm nod. I wondered why he never spoke, but it didn't really matter—I accepted him as he was, just as he accepted me. I owed him a debt too since he'd shown the truth to Kaden about why I'd left with the Leos.
Jack rested a hand on my shoulder next and gave me one of his charming smiles. "Don't worry. This will all blow over soon. And even though Tanner is one of the pack's best warriors, no one is better than Kaden."
I blew out a long breath. "I hope you're right."
Everyone settled around the couch, and we all ate donuts and drank coffee, catching up on things that had happened over the last few weeks. Harper told me all about how they'd taken down the Leos stationed with the Pisces pack, and I told them about how we'd found the Cancer pack, along with my brother. Grant, Clayton's mate, showed up at some point and joined us too, eating the last of the donuts.
I glanced around the table at my friends, my heart warming despite my fear over what would happen tonight. Maybe I wasn't a total outcast in this pack after all—and my place here was worth fighting for.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The sun fell behind the mountains far too quickly. I knew we had to get this over with, but I wished I would have gotten a bit more time with Kaden before he had to go fight Tanner. When he'd come back from speaking with some of the pack members he seemed frustrated, and he'd asked for some time alone to gather his thoughts. To give him some space, I'd gone out to the lake and smiled at a few shifters there, but they all avoided me. No one wanted to even talk to me until they saw what happened tonight.
Now it was time, and together Kaden and I walked out of the cabin. Most of the pack was already gathered in a circle in front of the lodge, leaving room for Tanner and Kaden. I felt every single eye in the crowd on us as we walked over, and my heart raced faster. Tanner stood on one end of the crowd with a group of shifters gathered around him, while Clayton stood across from him with many other pack members at his side, including our friends. A pack divided—all because of me.
Nerves sparked along my skin as I watched Tanner’s face, which was dead serious, like he was willing to take this to the bitter end. I’d seen my share of alpha challenges before, and I knew how brutal and bloody they could get. Kaden was an exceptional fighter, but I couldn’t help but worry. All of the worst-case scenarios began playing in my head, an endless loop of Kaden’s throat getting ripped out in new and horrifying ways. Each one was worse than the last, and it made me realize something.
Even without the mate bond, I loved Kaden. Everything that had brought my life meaning, the feeling of having a family, of being home, most of that came from him. More than that, Kaden believed in me when no one else had, and he gave me a chance to become a better person. I couldn’t stand it if I lost him.
I looked at Kaden, finding it suddenly hard to swallow. He stared back at me, and heavy emotions flickered across his eyes too. The rest of the crowd seemed to fade away until it was just the two of us.
“Come here, little wolf” Kaden murmured, as he pulled me into his arms. He leaned down and kissed me, not as long or deep as I would have liked, but I closed my eyes and savored the press of his lips against mine.
“A kiss for luck,” I said, as he drew back. “Maybe you’d better have one more, just to be sure.”
"Good idea." He pulled me tighter and kissed me longer, making my cheeks flush.
I took his face in my hands. “Stay alive, or I’ll kill you myself."
Kaden’s smile turned cocky. “No need to worry. I have no plans of dying tonight.”
He turned away to face Tanner, and stripped off his shirt in one smooth motion, making the tan muscles of his body ripple and flex. Tanner did the same and tossed his own shirt to the ground.
Clayton reached up and clasped Kaden on the shoulder, and the two of them shared a few words between beta to alpha. They spoke for several moments, heads bent toward each other to keep their conversation private among the crowd. With the hum of voices all around us, I couldn’t make out what they were saying.