Free Ascend (Wolf in Exile Part 3): Werewolf Shifter/Vampire Paranormal Romance by Ambrielle Kirk, Amber Ella Monroe Page B

didn’t think about how soft her body felt against his.
    He wanted to go to her…he’d go to her soon…
    Would she still accept him for who he was, or take the first opportunity to vanish from his world into obscurity?
    He was supposed to be gathering his thoughts—business and Pack matters. Yet he simply couldn’t concentrate on much of anything except Kalena and how much he wanted her company. But business matters were pressing. He had returned to ShadowRock as his Pack’s Alpha, had immediately settled once more into the role. He had a duty to his people to uphold.
    He’d earned the Alpha title by working his way up over the decades. He’d started in the lowest cast of wolves and ascended, until finally, coming to be named Pack Beta by the previous Alpha, who happened to be his late uncle, Houston Silex. Houston never played favorites, and aside from Thane’s birth father, Harold, Houston always gave the best advice. Thane had approached the man more than a dozen times to gain his wisdom on personal matters. He’d never expected Houston to choose him as successor. Heck, Thane had favored being Pack Beta more than any other position he’d held in the past. But before his death, Houston had handed the ShadowRock Wolf Pack down to Thane. He’d accepted without question.
    Now, both his father and his uncle were gone. The only living relatives bearing the Silex name and genes besides him were his twin brother, Gavril, and Danika. None of them were mated nor had they borne any offspring. Bearing children wasn’t easy among their kind, which was the main reason so few carrying the Silex gene still lived.
    There had been times when Thane had thought about taking several mates as many Alphas of neighboring Packs had done to keep the bloodline going, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Now he wondered if this were in the family’s best interest.
    Gavril had shady ulterior motives. His brother would never bear wolf pups since he didn’t carry the shifting gene. That fool seemed more infatuated with creating drugs like D996 so that he could play God than ensuring his legacy lived on.
    Danika, although promised to another by their father through a betrothal, was not of breeding age. Another decade could pass before she would produce any Silex pups, if at all.
    That left him…
    In that moment, Thane thought of Kalena and how she had awakened the mating urge inside of him. Not just for reasons of procreation and breeding, but because she actually warmed his heart and called to his wolf, who responded in kind.
    But he couldn’t use Kalena for his own purposes and gains. He wanted to keep her near but knew he’d have to allow her to make her own choice sooner or later. But first, he planned to eliminate any threats—present or future—to her life.
    Thane wrung his hands together, thinking of what he would say to her tonight. She was only one floor above him in the mansion. If he gave her space for a few hours, even a couple of days, maybe she’d realize that what they’d shared in the hut in Area S2, although beautiful, would come with a price.
    There were too many Gavrils in the world that could harm her. And there were far greater enemies than Gavril out there.
    If she stayed with him, she’d be subject to whatever scrutiny and threats he faced. Had that been why he’d been so hesitant to take a mate all this time? The uncertainty of a future where shared pain and suffering could last for decades if he bonded with a woman?
    Thane swallowed down his rising fears just as there was a loud knock at the door. He lifted his nose and scented Brant and two unknown female wolves.
    Thane cleared his throat. “Come in.”
    The shifter women Thane had scented filed into the room first, one after the other, and then stood to the side as Brant entered.
    “I came to tell you that all the Alphas scheduled to arrive today are here to discuss your plans for Gavril. Those that could not attend have sent their regards by