I wrap myself in a towel when I finally drag myself out of the water and sit on my bed instead of the shower floor. All those building sensations and desires completely snuffed out. My body’s still. I feel hollow. Numb.
Will I ever be able to be normal again?
Sofia and I arrive at a diner in the nearby human town. My hands are clammy, my heart racing. It catches me off guard—this anxiety about leaving the pack grounds. When did this place become my safe haven? My nerves ease when Sofia points out that two warriors—Mike and Simon—have been trailing me on Jackson’s orders.
She waves them over with a grin and insists they join us for a milkshake. And once we all share a laugh about the terrible spying job they were doing, it’s actually fun. I won’t even begin to ponder the implications of warriors following me since my arrival.
Sofia knows all the warriors, including these two, and they seem to be infatuated with her. I don’t blame them. She’s kind of impossible not to love.
And I’m just... soaking it in. Sitting with people my age, no pressure, no expectations of me being responsible for how someone else feels. No one treating me like a problem to manage. It feels so normal it almost hurts. Sofia has welcomed me since day one, but this is different. I’m part of a group. Like, maybe I could be a part of the pack here.
“Oh my goddess, Simon!” Sofia screeches with laughter. “You cannot bring that up!”
“Hey if the pack princess wants to skinny dip in the lake, then you need to expect that to be in literally everyone’s spank banks,” responds Simon. My face heats furiously. But Sofia just laughs louder, and I love that. I love how unapologetically real she is.
“Hey in my defense… it was stupid hot the summer after we finished school,” Sofia offers with a shrug. The whole table erupts in laughter again, and it’s so wonderfully carefree.
“What’s your excuse for that time you joined cheerleading and had to pretend you had been in gymnastics since you were three?” Mike asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, how else was I supposed to explain my natural talent?” Sofia asks in mock seriousness.
“Uh, you could have not joined a human sport like the rest of us,” Mike says before explaining pack rules to not join human sports at the risk of drawing unnecessary attention. It makes sense. Shifters are already so much more attractive than most humans and obviously faster, stronger, and more agile. Playing sports against them would be risky for both them and us.
“Yeah, but I toned it down until I was only a little better than them. Which was a lot harder than it looked, by the way.” Sofia shrugs her shoulders and slurps her milkshake loudly. “And totally worth it to piss off Ryan and Luca.”
Mike groans. “Luca almost combusted when you walked into the pack house in that little cheer uniform.”
“I thought I was literally going to drop dead in training for the next few weeks,” Simon agrees, dropping his head to the table. “I’m tired again just remembering it.”
“How long have you guys been warriors?” I ask.
“Well, we’re both twenty-two, so joined patrol officially four years ago, but we did part-time training before that too.”
“This one,” Mike says while nodding to Sofia, “can still kick all of our asses, though.” There’s a reverence to how they speak about Sofia. I still can’t believe she wantsmeas her friend.
On the drive back to the pack, my sides ache from laughing and I feel a lightness that I can’t remember ever experiencing before. It's free and easy.
“You’re kind of a rock star,” I tease. “Those guys were fangirling all over you.”
“Yeah, being an alpha female is weird,” she laughs and rolls her eyes. “Like I can take any of them down. It’s hard to imagine that my mate could be any of the warriors, unless, um...” she trails off.
“What is it?” I ask, confused by Sofia’s out of character shift to uncertainty. She’s chewing on her lip, and her eyes are laser focused on the road for a few moments before she responds.
“Can I tell you something?” She asks before darting her eyes in my direction. “But you can’t tell anyone?”
“Of course,” I agree instantly, sitting up straighter. I would love nothing more than to be able to support Sofia for a change. To be there for her with something that’s obviously a big deal.
“So, okay…well, I’ve never told anyone in the pack this before. I’m bisexual.”
“Okay, and…?”
“Okay?” she echoes, confused.
“Yeah, okay. I’m not sure what I’m meant to say so I’m sorry if this is the wrong response, but you didn’t tell me anything that changes how I feel towards you. So, you like males and females? Not a big deal. Who you like doesn’t make you any less my favorite shifter in the world. Honestly, I kinda wished I liked girls myself, but unfortunately not.” I say with a wistful sigh.
“Seriously?” Sofia asks with a laugh, but she also swipes her eyes and I’m pretty sure she was ready for a very different response. My heart hurts for her that she could believethat her sexuality would have anyone seeing her any differently. “Okay, I think I might have been building up this whole coming-out thing!”
“And you haven’t told anyone? Not even your brother?”
