“Just doing my job, Alpha.
Even when that job involves…
extended perimeter security.” Extended perimeter security.
That was certainly one way to describe standing guard while your Alpha thoroughly claimed his mate in the back of a car for what had felt like an eternity.
“Get us moving,” Kade ordered.
“And crack your window.
The air circulation needs assistance.” Marcus moved to comply immediately, returning to the driver’s seat and starting the engine with smooth efficiency.
He cracked his own window, allowing cross-ventilation to help clear the overwhelming scent.
The other guards returned to their vehicles without needing explicit instruction, the convoy reforming with practiced precision.
Within moments, they were moving again, headlights cutting through November darkness as they continued toward Nightshade territory.
Inside the back seat, Kade adjusted his hold on Dakota’s unconscious form, making sure she was secure for the long drive ahead.
She remained deeply asleep, her breathing even and steady, her body occasionally twitching with aftershocks.
The oversized shirt she wore carried Kade’s scent now, mixed with her own and the unmistakable musk of what they’d done.
Anyone with wolf senses would know immediately what had occurred, would recognize the fresh mate bond and the intensity with which it had been sealed.
Kade’s hand came up to brush hair away from Dakota’s face, the gesture surprisingly tender.
His fingers traced the mark on her neck, fresh and raw and unmistakably his, the old claim already fading beneath it.
She would wake eventually.
Probably in a few hours when they were closer to or already at the estate.
She would be disoriented and sore and likely furious about how thoroughly he’d claimed her, how completely he’d overwhelmed her defenses.
There would be questions she deserved answers to.
Explanations about bloodlines, bond hierarchies, and why his mark had overridden her existing claim.
Discussions about what happened next, about pack politics and family complications.
But those could wait until she was conscious and capable of processing complex information.
For now, Kade simply held his mate and watched the dark landscape pass, his mind already working through the logistics of what needed to happen once they reached Nightshade territory.
He’d just claimed the daughter of his rival pack’s Alpha.
Marked her and mated her and bonded her in ways that couldn’t be undone or hidden.
Her father would find out, probably sooner rather than later.
Her previous mate would discover she now carried another wolf’s claim.
Her sister’s engagement celebration had ended with Dakota fleeing into the arms of an enemy Alpha.
The political fallout was going to be spectacular.
But Kade found he didn’t particularly care about politics or pack relations or his rivalry with Richard Winters.
Dakota was his mate.
His to protect, his to care for, his to defend against anyone who tried to take her back to a situation that had broken her badly enough to send her running into traffic.
And Kade protected what was his with ruthlessnessess efficiency.
Let Richard Winters rage.
Let her previous mate come demanding explanations.
Let the pack politics explode in whatever direction they wanted.
Dakota Winters belonged to him now.
And he was keeping her.
He looked down at Dakota’s peaceful face, at the marks he’d left on her neck and shoulder, at the way she curled instinctively into his warmth even in unconsciousness.
She’d given him everything, more than she’d probably intended.
The bond had demanded complete surrender, and she’d provided it even as it destroyed her ability to remain conscious.
His superior bloodline had overwhelmed her in ways a normal claiming wouldn’t have.
The intensity had been necessary to override the existing mark, but he hadn’t anticipated quite how thoroughly it would devastate her.
She would be sore when she woke.
Probably furious.
Definitely confused.
But she was his now.
Completely, irrevocably, permanently his.
The bond was sealed in ways that couldn’t be undone.
Whatever complications awaited them, her father’s reaction, the situation with her previous mate, thand e pack politics, they would face them together.
Because Dakota Winters was no longer just the daughter of his rival or the sister of someone else’s bride.
She was his mate.
His equal.
His responsibility.
And Kade protected what was his with ruthless efficiency.
The car drove on through the night, carrying them toward Nightshade territory and whatever future awaited them there.
Dakota slept through all of it, her body and mind needina g complete shutdown to recover from the thorough claiming.
And Kade held her the entire way, his arms secure and protective, his golden eyes watchful even as his mate rested in forced oblivion.
Tomorrow would bring reality and conse,quences and complications neither of them had chosen.
But tonight….
she was his.
Completely.
Irrevocably.
And that was enough.