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Lillian laughed and dabbed at a tear in the corner of her eye. “Would it be alright if I hugged you, Bryn?”
“O-of course.” I awkwardly held out my arms, and Lillian hugged me tightly. Though I hadn’t been expecting this bit of intimacy, I had to admit that it was a wonderful, joyful hug.
All my life, the only physical affection I had ever received had come from my mom, who hugged and loved on me as often as I let her, and the pups I babysat who didn’t know any better. The Kings’ wolves, however, avoided touching me like I was dirty.
But that had changed when I arrived here. Tavi practically threw herself at me at every opportunity, jumping at the possibility of holding my hand or hugging me. Jasper reached for me every once in a while too, and even Night seemed to touch my arm or my wrist when we were close. I used to watch how affectionate the Kings’ wolves were with each other and crave even a taste of the same treatment.
But here, with the Wargs, I finally knew what it was like to touch and be touched by someone I cared about, someone who wasn’t my mom, and it felt like a door opening for me.
When Lillian let go, she smiled at me once more before turning to her son. “Pax, it’s time to go home.”
Pax whined, stomping his feet.
“Pax, honey, don’t make me say it a second time.”
He whined again, but he couldn’t argue with his mother. He licked my hand as a way to say goodbye and then followed Lillian when she started walking toward the village. Night and I stood quietly together while the rest of the crowd dispersed. I felt like I ought to say something, but nothing I could think of matched the significance of what had just happened. Also, the silence between us was laced with some tension. Some sort of energy bound the two of us where we stood, like static electricity, but I couldn’t figure out what it meant.
“I should go,” Night said gently.
“Right,” I replied, though I was disappointed that he was leaving so suddenly.
Before he left, he leaned close to my ear again. His breath slightly jostled the strands of hair by my ear as he said, “Your laugh is beautiful, Bryn. You should do that more often.”
I shivered. “You c-can’t even see my face from behind me,” I stuttered. The ache in my chest pulled tight. I felt like I couldn’t breathe but in the most delightful way.
He gave that deep chuckle again, and goosebumps spread from my neck and down my back. When cool air replaced the heat of his body, I knew he’d stepped back. “You did well with the pup,” he said.
His voice, again, had that strained sound to it. But when I turned to face him, to see the expression that came with such a tense tone, he was already gone. Like he’d never been there at all.
24
NIGHT
I sat at the dinner table across from Dom, both of us nursing a bottle of beer while we enjoyed chips with salsa made from the vegetables that Bryn had helped grow. The salsa was spicy and fresh, the beers were cold, and the night air blowing in through the windows was cool and smelled vaguely sweet. It was a rare, quiet night following the public shifts of the pups, and Dom and I were relaxing and catching up.
“Oh, I have an update from the sentries,” he said.
I nodded for him to continue.
“Things are quiet, but we have one wolf unaccounted for. Vince.”
My expression darkened. Vince had only recently become an elite tracker. He had a bright, successful future ahead of him, so losing him would be another huge loss after Iggy.
“Hey, hey, don’t worry,” he assured me. “There’s no indication that the Kings have anything to do with it. And besides, we’ve got our best trackers on it. We’ll find him soon. After all, he’s probably just chasing a female shifter in heat. It wouldn’t be the first time that a young man broke form to get lucky.”
I nodded, but after Iggy, I doubted I would ever be able to relax when one of my wolves went missing. “You say there’s no sign of the Kings’ involvement?”
He nodded. “That’s right. So far, there’ve been no indications that the Kings’ pack is even planning to attack us any time soon.”
“Mm. Still, I think we should beef up our patrols.”
“Already on it. We’ve got small packs of three wolves on patrol just in case. But to be honest, Night, I really don’t see that Redwolf coward showing his ugly mug to get Bryn himself. Even he wouldn’t be that bold.”
I took a swig of my beer. Dom always calls her by her first name. They must be close. The thought struck me with its suddenness, but their friendship didn’t bother me much anymore.
Dom cleared his throat. “Speaking of Bryn, and I know you don’t want to talk about this again, but I have to bring this up.”
I closed my eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. I knew what he was going to say, but I wouldn’t stop him from speaking his mind.
