Bonded ✔️

Chapter 22

A few hours had passed, and I was wrapped in Lincoln's arms with my head resting on his chest. After he had marked me, my pain had all but disappeared. We had kissed and talked about nothing important for hours. My memories of his cheeky grin and deep brown eyes were nothing compared to having him here with me.

I ran my fingertips up and down the top half of his arm, feeling the muscles tighten as I passed over them. His solid body was wrapped around mine like a cocoon, and he peppered my face with gentle kisses every few minutes just to remind me that he was still there- as if I needed any reminder of that fact.

As glorious as being with him in this way felt I had already made the mistake of getting lost in him once. I raised my head from his chest and looked up at his face, "There are some things that we need to talk about."

He nodded in reply, "There's a lot to discuss. If you have questions about dad it would be better if Wyatt came back, he'll know just as much about the situation as I do."

"Are you sure he'll be okay coming back here?" I looked at my mate with my eyebrows raised.

Lincoln rolled his eyes at me and chuckled, "I just marked you, Harley. Even if another male was thinking about trying something, you wear the mark of a future Alpha. No one is going to mess with you."

I felt a grimace flash across my face involuntarily. Everyone would respect the mark that I now bore because of who had given it to me. Ironically, a lot of those same people would look at the mark that he wore with distaste, "I don't think that your father or Alpha Bennett care if you've marked me Linc."

"Harley, the guards on patrol just caught a couple of different scents at the northern border. It sounds like it's near the same spot that we were at a couple days ago. Do you want me to track it?" Rowan's voice rang through our mind link, and my body went stiff. I could tell that Lincoln sensed the shift in my mood because his attention fixated on my now rigid form.

"What's going on?" Lincoln sat up, pulling me with him. His eyebrows were pushed together, and his face was full of concern.

I shook my head in frustration and let a small growl erupt from my chest, "There have been wolves sniffing at my border over the past few days. The issue is that they are coming in and out through the disputed territory so I'm not sure who is sending them."

"Go back to the pack house and make sure that warriors are ready, just in case we need them. I'm going to try and find out who in the hell is testing my border security strength," I order my Beta.

"I'll make sure they're prepared, but don't go alone. You need to at least take Lincoln with you," the tone of his words made it seem like he had more that he wanted to say. For once in his life though, Rowan held his tongue. Maybe he could learn after all. I stood from the couch and offered a hand to my mate. He accepted, and I pulled him up to stand beside me.

"I'm going to check it out because it's starting to worry me. We haven't solidified an alliance yet, and if something were to happen I don't know that my pack would be able to fight on its own and win," I explained quickly while pulling on a pair of shoes.

"And I'm coming with you because you've finally accepted that I'm here to help?" He looked at me with a hopeful expression.

"Kind of," I playfully patted his cheek, "but mostly because Rowan said to take you."

He smiled and nodded his head in response, "Smart man."

-

Crossing border lines always made my skin crawl. The subtle shift in the air and the feeling that you didn't belong where you stood was very uncomfortable. I turned to make sure that Lincoln was still behind me and found that he was taking inventory of our surroundings with a keen eye.