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Embracing me tightly, Gavin held me in the afterglow of our marking ritual before sinking onto his back and pulling me on top of him. He gazed up at me, trusting me as I trusted him. “Show me how you can take the lead,” he urged.

I had no reservations anymore. Nodding, I arched above him and worked our bodies into a heated tempo, amazed at how I could so quickly get his blood pumping, his heart racing, and how I could feel it in myself. I was in charge of this moment, ushering in satisfaction for the both of us with the cadence of my body. My hands went on his pecs, fingers buried in his dense chest hair while his hands gripped my thighs. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we were one.

After that, we both drifted into a vivid dream where we ran together as wolves, linked even in our subconscious.

It would take a lot of work for me to truly become the leader that Gavin needed to be alongside him. I still had a lot to learn about both what it took to lead and make decisions for the pack, and myself. My entire life, I had been meek and shy, easily stepped on, and afraid of my own voice. I couldn’t defend myself, or I’d be cast into the spotlight and forced to justify why I challenged my superiors. I had been a toy for David without even knowing it, and a punching bag for Catrina, and an object of pity for Colt. The family I thought I knew never wanted me; they only sought ways to use me, and had I not mustered the courage to run away, I would still be suffering under their sick and cruel authority. I owed it to my wolf for giving me the determination to become free.

“Are you still happy being Billie Jesper?” Gavin asked me in the evening.

I hadn’t thought much about it. “Elizabeth is my real name,” I pondered out loud, “but I’m still Billie. Just not a Jesper.”

“No. You’re a Steele now,” he snickered.

I beamed at the idea, iterating my new name between us. “Elizabeth Steele… Billie Steele. How does it sound?”

“Sounds good, baby,” encouraged Gavin. “You like it?”

“I love it.”

Later, I told Gavin what David was going to do to me. His anger surged again like wildfire, and if he didn’t have enough reasons to want to kill David, that alone nearly made him call up the Mythguard to bring David to justice. But I felt his anger and I soothed it, and the reckless, wrathful Gavin Steele that I had always known then pacified his temper, returning to rational thought.

“We can’t let him get away with what he’s done,” Aislin said firmly.

I crossed my legs on the couch in the living room of the pack house while Gavin paced in front of Aislin and I. “You’re right,” said Gavin. “Even if he decided today to call off the dragons and stop trying to take over Grandbay, he’s still too dangerous. He has to pay.”

If not for the fact that we were shifters, we could have gotten the police involved. But I don’t think any of us would be satisfied even if the result was that David rotted away in jail for the rest of his life.

“We have to kill him. There’s no way around it,” said Gavin.

“What about Colt?” I asked.

Beside me, Aislin pulled a foot under herself and grimaced. I didn’t know whether she was grimacing at Colt or something else.

“Dalesbloom will need a new Alpha to set everyone straight. I don’t know if Colt is the right person for that role,” said Gavin.

As much as I used to trust Colt, at this point… I wasn’t sure either. But a small part of me wanted to believe that Colt could be capable of better things without the influence of his father.

“If Colt serves David, then our only option may be to kill him too,” Gavin continued. He looked between Aislin and I, gauging our responses.

I sighed. “If that’s what it comes down to…” Even though it hurt to think about.

“You can let me handle that,” Aislin drawled, her eyes darkening. “It’s personal between me and that entitled prick.”

It hurt even worse to hear Aislin speak of Colt that way. “Why?”

“After we took you in, Billie, he had the balls to ask if I wanted get together. He thought he could use me to gain more intel on you.”

No, I wanted to say, it was probably because he felt lonely and wanted to reach out to the person he had feelings for. But my voice dried up in my throat and wouldn’t allow me to defend Colt. And maybe Aislin was right, anyway—I had put too much faith in Colt before. I kept my mouth shut.

“It’s decided then,” said Gavin. “We’ll have to do some undercover work finding someone in Dalesbloom to take over. We’ll exterminate David and replace him, and we’ll give Colt a chance—one chance—to renounce his father, or we’ll exterminate him too. I’ll present this to the Mythguard after our pack meeting tomorrow.”

“And if the Mythguard rejects our proposal?” asked Aislin.

Gavin folded his arms. “We do it with or without the Mythguard.”

Aislin nodded.

It made me anxious to determine the fate of another person, but this was a necessary decision. It was better than lying in wait for David to strike next. I just had to trust that our plan wouldn’t earn us the scrutiny of the Mythguard as well.

The future held a lot of uncertainties. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what would become of me in the next day, week, or month. What I used to know had always been predictable, but it had also been dry and hollow, and as unsure as I was of myself and my survival, I would rather be living this life than one caged inside Hexen Manor. It was time to step forward into the unknown. With the support of the ones I loved, I finally had the confidence to become strong and fulfill my destiny as a leader—as the daughter of Grandbay’s former Betas, as a guardian of those in need. My wolf sang within me, for Alpha Gavin was my mate, and I had finally found my family with him.

I was ready for this new beginning.