RAFF

After his argument with Lincoln, they bid the girls goodbye for the morning and went on a much needed run. He thought of the way both women had simply nodded, their expressions guarded and withdrawn. He could understand Thorne's reaction to the events of the morning. Lincoln had been a first class asshole in an effort to put on a good show for Nichols, but Thorne wouldn't have known that. Perhaps Meribella's displeasure was directed at his Beta and not himself, but he couldn't make himself believe that. The way she'd hesitated before going to him, the fear in her eyes when he'd stood outside of the room bellowing for Lincoln.

"What's going through that thick skull of yours?"

Raff's ear twitched as his friend's smug voice blasted in his mind. "That we're both on the shit list."

"But at least we can do something about that. You don't have to worry about the rest of the pack now. You put on a decent show back there. Did you really have to call me a murderer?"

He came to a halt, his paws skidding in the dirt. Lincoln made it a few more steps before stopping and turning around, his russet tail swishing behind him. Even as a wolf, his face was expressive, and his honey eyes were filled with curiosity.

"I didn't mean it," Raff apologized. "I just wanted Nichols to see that it wasn't tolerated. He didn't need to go back to the pack and express any doubt about what he'd seen."

"But you did, and you would be right. That's what I'd be. Thank you, by the way. For warning me before I came to the door."

"I was pissed- don't get me wrong. But it would've been a little hypocritical of me to toss you under the bus like that after the way I acted when I first met Meribella."

The red wolf huffed and rolled over to his back. Wiggling in the grass, his feet pointed towards the sky, he looked more like a domesticated dog than a creature of myth, but every bit of him was Lincoln. He walked to his Beta's side and looked down at him, wishing he could laugh in this form as he spied the open snout, tongue rolling joy on his packmate's face.

"Remove the stick from your ass and join me."

Raff growled, but it was light and playful. With a yelp that sounded eerily like a puppy's, he rolled through the grass, nipping at his friend's legs and dodging return attacks until a truce was called and they found a spot to rest. For almost an hour, they slept, their fur becoming sundrenched beneath the cloudless sky.

"Raff, do you think we could be wrong?"

"About?" He opened a blue eye and swiveled it towards Lincoln.

"About the decree? We've been cursed for thousands of years, but is it not a greater curse to ask men to give up love?"

He waited for anger to rush over him and his usual argument to leap to his tongue. There was no reason his men couldn't find love amongst the Fae. Humans weren't necessary, and it was wrong to end lives to bring lives into the world. But he said none of that.

"I agree- to an extent."

Lincoln cocked his head to the side, his ears pushing forward. A wolf's way of being confused. "Well shit man. I didn't expect you to agree."

"I got lucky and fell in love with a woman I can keep safe, but I remember what it was like to burn for her, knowing I couldn't have her."

"Love, huh?"

He thought about what he'd said, the word flowing from his mind without a second thought. He did love her. Her stubborn streak, her fierce loyalty, her broken pieces. Every one of her jagged edges fit into his, and the passion they shared blazed between the fissures, fusing them until he no longer knew where where he began and she ended.

"We will never go back to the ways of before. The experiments, the research, the torture. Our forefathers couldn't accept the curse, and to protect themselves and their loved ones, they ended the lives of many. But who am I to tell a man who he can and can't love? Especially, if that woman goes into the relationship knowingly. I'm the Alpha- not your god."

"I don't think most men would choose that for the woman they love, but the important thing is that we give them back the choice."

"Thorne really did a number on you." Raff said, stretching and heading back to the main house at a slow trot. "I've never heard you so philosophical before, and if I remember correctly, your response to my decree was 'there's plenty of Fae pu-"

"I don't think you need to repeat what I said. I remember."

"Is that embarrassment I hear in your tone? I never thought I'd live to see the day that you wanted to put distance between yourself and your philandering ways."

"What can I say man, I got a taste of that goddess. I'm just as whipped as you are."

"I will not refute that statement," he said.

"Just think of it this way, the sooner you lift the ban, the sooner you can start acting like the moon-eyed pup you've become around her without feeling guilty. You don't have to pretend to be such a cold bastard."

"Be quiet. You can't run if you're talking, and we've got some explaining to do to two very gorgeous women. And I expect to deliver my apology the way I like to receive my thank yous. Spectacularly."

Lincoln barked in challenge, and they increased their pace. Other packmates fell in behind them, their pants and yips spurring him on. For the first time in a very long time, he felt free. Not even before he fell into the shadows caused by Meribella's- he'd call it a disappearance now- had he run with such abandon and hope. But as his paws beat against the ground, the distance shortening with each stride, one of those shadows swirled around his light, and he knew he had to return her honesty with his own. It was time to tell her the truth about Meghan.