His flesh and blood.
Byron had been quiet for a few days after that, withdrawn from the world, more distant than he had ever been. Whenever she had started to feel guilty, Grey had reminded her that Byron had brought it upon himself, and that he deserved to suffer for what he had done. He did, she felt that too, but he was also her brother, and despite the things he had done, she still loved him and it hurt her whenever she saw him in pain.
When he had finally talked to her, it had been to apologise, to beg her forgiveness and to ask her to put him out of his misery, because he wanted to make everything right.
She only had to tell him what to do.
Maya had told him straight that there was only one thing he could do.
Let her be with August.
She could understand his wariness, but his fear was misplaced.
August would never hurt her.
She was going to make her brother see that.
She stared up at the plateau.
Gods, she needed to see August.
The trail swept around a bend and her breath left her in a rush as the beauty of the world August called his home hit her full force.
The trek had been hell, but gods, it had been worth it.
She was starting to see how August managed to live up here, high on the mountain. Such a view was worth putting up with a little cold.
It felt as if she could see the whole world.
The valley dropped below her, a swath of white that ended at the cliff. Beyond it, the green of the forest stretched far, covering the lower half of the mountain range. At the bottom of the winding valley, a river glittered in the sunshine, and the spray from a waterfall caught the light, casting a rainbow. On the other side of the river, mountains rose again, coated with green at their bases but fading to pure white at their cragged peaks.
The valley extended forever, forking into more valleys to her left, and dropping into the plain to her right.
Above them, the sky was purest blue, the sun bright and dazzling.
“Maya,” Byron said, and she realised she had stopped walking.
She looked over her left shoulder at him and smiled, unable to contain it. His amber eyes narrowed with the smile his scarf hid, and he held his gloved hand out to her.
She went to him but didn’t take his hand. He turned away from her and kept walking, catching up with their guide. She looked up ahead of her at the plateau.
As she drew closer to it, awareness of August grew inside her, becoming stronger with every step she took.
He was waiting for her.
She wanted to be there now, in his arms again, but the damned trail turned away from the village and continued to skirt the edge of the mountain.
Maya fought for patience. She had been waiting days to see him again. A few more minutes wouldn’t kill her.
She felt eyes on her.
Lifted her head.
Her heart soared.
Ahead of her on the path, a lean figure clad in a red jacket and black trousers was striding towards them, his footing sure on the slippery trail.
August.
His wild hair matched the colour of his jacket, tousled by the wind as he hurried towards her, his handsome face shifting from a pensive look to one of sheer relief edged with a note of desperation as he spotted her. His pace quickened, until he was jogging.
His silver eyes were dazzling in the sunlight, liquid precious metal with a corona of gold in their centres around his dilated pupils.
She was sure her own amber eyes were equally as bright, a blue shimmer around her pupils that gave away her excitement and her heritage.
She was past Byron and their guide in a heartbeat, running to meet August.
He swept her up into his arms the moment she was within reach and spun with her, holding her high above him. She planted her hands on his strong shoulders and smiled down at him. He slowly lowered her, his smile fading as his gaze dropped to her lips, and her heart kicked in her chest, anticipation fluttering in her belly.
She let her hands slip from his shoulders and tangled one in his short red hair, ripping a low growl of pleasure from him.
“Gods, I missed you,” he rasped so earnestly that her heart warmed and melted a little.
Before she could tell him that she had missed him too, his lips were on hers, searing her with their heat, chasing away the cold that had seeped into her bones despite the thick layers of clothing she wore.
His grip on her tightened, his left arm banding around her waist, hand clutching her ribs, and his right hand holding her backside.
She lost herself in his kiss, in his taste, her heart singing and soaring.
Someone cleared their throat.
They broke apart.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t her brother.
The guide rolled his pale golden eyes. “You were meant to stay at the village.”
August glared at him. “I am at the village.”
The male huffed, pulled his scarf down and shoved the hood of his green jacket back, revealing long silver-gold hair tied in a ponytail.
“This is not the village.” The male pointed towards the plateau. “That is the village.”
“It’s the path to the village,” August countered, and Maya had the feeling their guide was more than just a regular member of the pride.
He ran his hand over his hair in a way that screamed of frustration. “I said I would make sure she reached you safely… to trust me with her… and you said you would.”
“I did… I do… but she’s here now.” August grinned up at her. “Come on, Dalton… don’t ruin the moment. Be mad at me later.”
Dalton huffed again. “I’ll be mad at you now. What were you thinking running down the path like that anyway? One slip and you end up down there.”
When Dalton pointed, Maya looked down, and her stomach turned at the drop to the valley and the wide crevasses that ran across it like scars, dark blue in their depths.
“I have good footing,” August said, and she realised he was talking to her when he gently lowered her to the trail. “I wouldn’t have dropped you. Dalton is just trying to frighten you.”
She got the impression Dalton was trying to scare some sense into August, not frighten her.
Byron growled. August narrowed his eyes on her brother.
Gods, she wasn’t sure she was ready for this.
Talon had called to tell her that he had spoken with August and clued him into the fact he needed to win Byron’s approval or her brother was unlikely to leave without her. She just hoped that August could hold back the anger she knew he felt on her behalf.
He blamed Byron for what had happened to her.
She blamed her brother too, but she knew when to forgive and forget, and this was one of those times. She wanted to be with August, without the constant threat of interference from Byron, free to live her life how she wanted, and to achieve that she was willing to let go of the past and focus on her future.
August needed to do the same if he wanted to be with her.
She turned her back to August, coming to face Byron. “So… this is August. August, this is my brother, Byron.”
August extended his hand over her right shoulder. Byron looked as if he wasn’t going to take it and then reached past Dalton to shake it.
She squeaked when August wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed her, bringing her back into contact with his front. Gods, he was so warm. She wanted to snuggle into him and hibernate.
Among other things.
“Come… let’s get you both warmed up.” He took her hand and led the way along the trail.
Dalton muttered things behind her about how a pride’s alpha was meant to be safe at all times, and how reckless August could be. He didn’t sound angry though. He sounded as if he had expected August to meet them here, had known his alpha wouldn’t be able to wait for them to reach the village, and was thankful August had been able to hold on this long before coming to her.
&n
bsp; She was glad that he had too.
She didn’t like the thought of him climbing down the cliff face.
Being hauled up it had been frightening enough.
“It was nice of you to agree to come here to meet me,” August said over his shoulder, and glanced back at her brother. There was a shimmer to his silver eyes that made him look mischievous. As he turned away, he spoke in a low voice. “The cold might slow you down enough to stop you thinking about trying to kill me.”
She smiled at that.
She could feel the trickle of dread that ran through his feelings as he clutched her hand and led the way towards the village. She squeezed his hand, silently letting him know that she wouldn’t let Byron kill him.
He was wrong about her brother anyway.
Byron had been upset by what had happened, but he had taken making reparations with the Altay pride and the ruling council of their kind in his stride, had been willing to do whatever it took to smooth things over.
Thankfully, the council had been on her brother’s side when they had heard her account of what had happened and the accounts of the females Talon and Grey had freed from Pyotr’s cages.
Her pride’s reputation had remained intact, and the Altay pride had been handed over to another pride in the area, one who would make sure the surviving males were reformed and the females were taken care of in the future, given the rights they deserved.
Byron hadn’t come all this way to kill August.
He had come here to thank him.
Although she did suspect that there might be some growling involved and a few death stares, and the odd threat about what would happen to August if he didn’t take care of her.
She stared up at the back of August’s head, letting the fact she was finally with him again soak in.
It felt as if the journey here had been long, difficult, and it had challenged her, pushed her to her limits, but it had been worth it.
She had been tested, they both had, but now they were finally together.
Nothing would keep them apart.
His head turned slightly and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his lips curved into a soft smile, as if he knew her thoughts and he liked them.
“Not far now,” he said as they left the trail and hit a wide expanse of snow.
Footsteps littered it, and there were places where it had been tamped down, marked with long scrapes.
Someone had been playing there recently, making snowballs.
One whizzed past her head.
She barely dodged it.
August growled, stopping dead and pivoting on his heel to face whoever had thrown it.
A young girl in a pink jacket and purple trousers stood frozen a few metres away, wide silver eyes full of fear. The boy she had been playing with crouched closer to Maya, his back to August, little shoulders rigid beneath his jacket.
Maya released August’s hand and stooped, and felt his eyes on her as he turned her way. She gathered a handful of snow, formed it into a small loose ball, and tossed it gently towards the little girl.
It tapped her on the leg and broke apart, showering snow onto her black boots.
The girl looked down, frowned and then looked up at her. “You make bad snowballs.”
Maya smiled, hoping to hide that it had been the point. She was hardly going to make a solid snowball and hit a child with it.
August maybe, but not a child.
“You’ll have to show me how it’s done,” she said, and the girl beamed at her, her fear forgotten. “We’ll make a play date… if you’d like that?”
The girl nodded.
The boy shot to his feet so fast he slipped, and August had to snatch his wrist to keep him from falling on his backside.
“Me too,” the boy said as he stood with his arm hanging from August’s hand, holding him upright.
She nodded. “Of course.”
The boy and the girl glanced at August.
He released the boy.
“If… it’s okay… with…” the boy stammered, his pale gold eyes locked on August.
Maya stooped while August was distracted, scooped up a handful of snow and rose back on her feet.
August cocked a red eyebrow at the boy. “She’s free to do as she pleases.”
That was good to hear.
Because right now she wanted to do this.
She tiptoed, caught the hood of his red jacket and shoved the snow down his back.
August roared and twisted, tugging at his jacket as he spun in a circle, a pained look on his face. The boy and girl laughed hard, and she giggled along with them as he fought to get the snow out.
A few of the people passing by stopped to stare, some of their lips twitching as they struggled not to laugh at their alpha too. Two of the females cast her smiles that warmed her, eased her nerves and made her feel welcome.
“Godsdammit.” August shuddered and pulled at the bottom of his jacket, and snow tumbled out of it.
He stilled, his eyes locking on her.
A shiver ran down her spine.
Her instincts screamed to run.
“You,” he said in a low voice.
Maya shrieked and ran.
She made it two steps before August had tackled her, taking her down into the snow. She fought him, laughing the whole time as he struggled to pin her down. He grinned when he finally caught her shoulder, and she shook her head, her eyes wide as he gathered a handful of snow.
“You wouldn’t.”
His smile said that he would.
“I’m a guest—”
Her words cut off in another shriek as he quickly tugged on the front of her jacket and stuffed the snow down it. It was a smaller amount than she had thrown down his, and he had only shoved it between her jacket and jumper, but it was freezing, sending a blast of cold over her chest. She shivered, teeth chattering as she pushed him off her and rolled to her knees, and opened her coat. The snow dropped out, leaving her dark orange jumper covered in white flakes.
“Oh, this is war,” she said.
August was on his feet before she could grab him, his kissable lips curved in a broad grin that made her heart thump harder. Gods, he was gorgeous.
Hers.
Dalton cleared his throat.
August froze and looked at him.
Maya beaned him in the side of his head with a snowball.
It rolled off his face, down his chest, and hit the snow with a thump.
He sighed and shook his head. “I’ll get you back for that later.”
He held his hand out to her.
Maya placed hers into it.
And pulled him down into the snow with her.
He landed on top of her and stared down into her eyes, his silver ones bright with excitement, with happiness.
He dropped his head to kiss her.
Dalton cleared his throat again, a little harder this time. Byron huffed.
August groaned, rolled off her and helped her onto her feet, muttering under his breath, “Spoilsports.”
She was right there with him, but she supposed Byron had come all this way to meet with him as two alphas, and August was so swept up in her that he was probably making a bad impression.
Although, the warmth in Byron’s amber eyes said that wasn’t the case at all.
He looked happy.
For her.
“I didn’t climb up a mountain to watch you two frolicking in the snow,” Byron growled with no trace of real anger in his tone and followed Dalton as the male led him deeper into the village.
He liked seeing it though. He liked seeing her happy.
“Is your brother always this gloomy?” August said as they trailed behind them.
Maya thought about that as she glanced around the village, meeting the eyes of some of the pride and smiling at them. “Always. He used to smile… before our parents died and he became alpha.”
August nodded. “He sounds like Cavanaugh. He was alpha before me, but he didn’t w
ant it. He wanted the freedom to choose his mate, to be with his fated one, but tradition expected him to mate with a highborn female.”
She stilled, heart thumping hard against her chest and all the warmth rushing out of her.
August stopped and looked back at her. He shook his head, stepped towards her and caught her cheek, tipping her head up so her eyes met his.
“Fuck tradition.” He lowered his head and kissed her, sweeping away her fears, the thought that he might not want her as his mate after all and might choose one from among his pride, forcing her to see him with another. He broke away from her lips, pressed his forehead against hers, and sighed. “You’re the only one I want, Maya. If it meant giving up the pride as Cavanaugh did, I would do that so I could be with you.”
She pressed her brow harder against his and nuzzled him, his words warming her heart and chasing the chill from it.
She felt the same way.
If she had to give up everything, she would do it without hesitation.
She would do anything to be with August.
Not because he was her fated one.
Because she was in love with him.
CHAPTER 18
It was hard to keep from looking at Maya as she sat on his couch. He had meant it when he had told her that he had missed her. He had lost his fucking mind just one day after they had parted, before he had even made it home, and had gradually been going more and more crazy ever since.
It had really pushed Dalton to his limit.
August had shoved him right past it when he had received word that Byron and Maya were coming to visit.
It had taken a two-hour-long argument for Dalton to convince him that his place was at the pride, waiting there to meet Byron and greet them, as an alpha should. August had only caved when Dalton had promised he would be the one to pick them up at the airport, and he would get them to the village as quickly as possible without compromising their safety.
Still, it had taken over a day.
Gods, he hadn’t slept a wink last night.
He had lain awake thinking of Maya, wondering where Dalton had set up camp and whether she was afraid to be in a strange forest.
One where tigers roamed.
He glanced at her again, fielding a frown from her brother.
There was so much he wanted to talk to her about. He wanted to know everything that had happened while they had been apart. He wanted to know everything about her life up until this point. He wanted to know all of her.
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