Alpha (38 page)

“I don't…I don't know what to say, Marc.” The guesthouse cast its early-morning shadow over us both, and the winter air was several degrees chillier there than in the sun.

“Yeah, me, neither.” He glanced at the berry-laden holly bushes, then back up at me. “I couldn't let you down. Couldn't let the Pride down. But nothing's changed. You don't owe me anything. But if you
want
me…I can't share you, Faythe. I won't. It's all or nothing, for me. You've always known that.”

“I know.” The tears wouldn't stop, and I felt like a fool, because I had nothing to wipe them on. “I want you. I want you so badly I can't stand it. When you left, it felt like the world got darker. Like I couldn't truly see anything. Couldn't feel anything.”

“Faythe…” His frown was dark enough to eclipse the sun, and I realized he'd seen me kiss Jace. “This doesn't matter, if you still love him. So please stop—”

“I do love Jace,” I said, and Marc's face crumpled. He started to turn, but I grabbed his arm and wouldn't let him pull away. “I can't help that. I love him, but I can live without him. I can't live without you, Marc. Please don't ask me to.”

“You…? You're serious?”

I nodded. “As a broken heart. I want you to stay. The Pride needs you, but I'd be lying if I said that has anything to do with this. Stay for me. Stay
with
me. There will never be anyone else. Not in my bed. Not in my life. And not in my heart.”

Marc smiled, hesitantly at first. Then he smiled for
real, and the gold in his eyes glittered with light from within. I'd never been able to resist those eyes.

I glanced down and pulled the chain from beneath my shirt, so that the ring he'd given me months ago hung in full sight. “Marry me, Marc.”

His eyes widened. His gaze snapped from my face to the ring, then back again.

“Is that a yes?” I grinned.

His smile lit up the whole world.

And Marc kissed me.

I held on to him, hardly daring to believe he was real. That he'd truly come back.

My struggles with the council weren't over—hell, my
fight
with them might not even be over—and something told me that my Alpha growing pains had just begun. But this first hard-won victory proved that anything was possible. Jace could be an Alpha. Manx could marry for love. Owen could be a husband and father. My mother could welcome Angela into our lives and openly spoil a human grandchild. Abby, and Melody, and Kaci, and all the other young tabbies, could have options, and both the privilege and responsibility to fight for them.

And I could handle anything life saw fit to throw at me with my men at my back and Marc at my side.

Together, we represented a new page in werecat history: a stray and a tabby, leading the country's largest Pride. The next generation might label us rebels, or—if we were lucky—revolutionaries. But however we'd be described down the road, looking forward, I was content to know that from that moment on, we'd be running things our way. The
right
way, politics be damned.

And by doing that, maybe I could make my father—forever my own Alpha—proud.

Thanks to Kim, who first saw potential in me and in Faythe. Yours was the first real vote of confidence in me, and I will never forget it.

Thanks to my agent, Miriam Kriss, who made it all happen.

Thanks to my editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey, for kick-starting this project and seeing it through. I appreciate both your gentle nudges and the occasional neon flashing arrow. ;-)

And thanks to Number 1, who takes care of so many practical concerns, so I can spend so much time in my fantasy world. This series would not have been the same without you.