Page 129 of Taming the Pack

The road opens ahead. The mountains are gold. The woman beside me said “mate” and meant it. Said “love” and meant that too.

I glance at her throat. The red marks from my teeth have faded, almost gone. Soon, there won’t be any trace of them. That bothers my wolf more than it should. When I pulled back in the motel, I told her I needed to be whole first. Certain.

But the man who just conducted Dvorák from the driver’s seat of a pickup truck with tears in his throat and music in his chest…that man is closer to whole than I thought I’d be this soon.

She’ll carry my mark. And I’ll carry hers. Maybe sooner than either of us expected.

Right now, somewhere behind us is Aurora, the Syndicate, a woman with a ruined face and ice-blue eyes who no longer scares me. And a man the size of a building hunting a ghost through corridors without leaving a scent.

Ahead is unexplored territory. A truck that doesn’t trace to anywhere. A woman whose hand is warm in mine.

And somewhere underneath the scars and the conditioning and the number they gave me instead of a name…is music.

Quiet. Waiting to give my identity back.

I’m not alone anymore. We’ll find it.

I keep driving.