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definitely Hale.” She pushed at his chest. “Will you get off of me?”
    Hale reluctantly complied, but not because he’d given up.
    “Did you talk to Alder?”
    He gave her a sideways glance. “I did.”
    “What did you tell him? How did he take it?”
    Hale folded his hands behind his head. “It was difficult to make a compelling case when you’re being irrational.”
    She pursed her lips. “How am I being irrational?”
    “What do you think is going to happen once you’re carrying my brother’s pups?” he asked. “Do you really think Alder and I are ever going to let anyone take you away from here?”
    It had been almost a decade since human soldiers had set foot in the mountains. Hale had seen what they were capable of firsthand and didn’t take for granted how difficult it would be to protect his pack from such a force. One thing he knew for certain, though, was that he and his brother would never allow anything to happen to Taylor and her pups.
    The fact that Taylor didn’t answer told him that she knew this.
    Hale pulled the silent female towards him, settling her into the crook of his arm. He liked having her there.
    “I’m not going to lie. I’m not impartial here,” he said. “I want you so bad, I can hardly think straight. But you should know that if there’s any part of you that wants this, then you should go through with it.
    “Unless you have plans to run away and join some other pack, you’re here for good. The valley, this home, my brother—they’re your future. You need to stop living your life in fear of what could happen and trust him to care and provide for you.”
    “I barely know him,” she said.
    “You’re right about that,” he told her. “Believe me when I tell you it’d take you half a lifetime to get to know Alder. He’s a lot more complicated than he seems. Still waters run deep, and that shit.”
    That elicited a small laugh from her. He liked making her laugh.
    “And what about you? What are you going to do once all this is over?”
    “Haven’t given it much thought,” he lied.
    He felt her nod. “I guess you and I will be over, huh?”
    She tried to sound casual, but her voice caught towards the end. In the impending silence, a wild thought whipped through his mind.
    If I ask her, right now, to choose me, she might say yes.
    By now, she had known him almost as long as she’d known his brother. And lately, Hale had caught her looking at him the way she looked at Alder. When she had been worried, she had turned to him for help. That had to mean something.
    What if she cared about him even more than Alder, but was too afraid to admit it, even to herself? What if all she was waiting for was for Hale to say that he wanted her as his mate and that he would be loyal to her?
    “I’ll always be here for you,” Hale finally said. “But I think we both know this won’t work in the long term.”
    Hale stood, pulling up the jeans that had still been bunched at his ankles. He kept his back to her, unable to look her in the eyes.
    There was a chance that what he felt for her was genuine and Hale was fully prepared to explore whatever remained beyond the haze of the mating thrall. But while he might be too selfish to honor his agreement with Alder, he wasn’t selfish enough to make her choose between them.
    At least, not yet.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Taylor lay in her bed for what felt like hours. Lark had knocked on her door a while back to inform her that she was going to take a nap. Taylor wished the raccoon shifter sweet dreams, but didn’t invite her in. Despite the swarm of emotions bearing down on her, Taylor had managed not to cry, and she knew that her resilience would fall apart with even one concerned look from her friend.
    She stared at the ceiling, thinking about Alder, Hale, the mating thrall, and her future. The situation was such a mess and reaching a decision should have been difficult. But the moment Hale had walked out the door, Taylor had known