Hail swallowed nervously, looked away for a brief second before returning her gaze to Jack’s and looking him directly in the eye. “I don’t want to live in Alliance anymore. I want to live here. I want to be a member of your Pride and contribute in any way I can. Even if Titus won’t have me, I don’t want to go back to Alliance. Can I live here? Can I join you as Feral has?”
Jack grinned at her and extended his hand. “Welcome to the Laighin Pride, Hail. All you had to do was ask. We’re glad to have you join us.”
Titus started toward Jack’s front porch where Hail and Feral now stood. He couldn’t quite hear what Hail was saying, but he’d seen Jack smile at her and shake her hand. “Why’s she here?” he whispered to himself, moving toward Jack’s house a few hundred feet away.
“He was angry when I left. How is he?” Hail asked.
Jack’s gaze flicked over her shoulder then back to Hail. “I think you’re about to find out.”
She turned quickly and saw Titus coming her way. “Excuse me,” she said, as she turned away from Jack and walked slowly off the porch and into the yard just a short distance from where Feral and Jack stood. She didn’t want to assume and run to Titus, but she didn’t really have to because he was picking up speed with every step in her direction.
Titus stopped about six feet from her, forcing himself to give her a wide berth just in case she hadn’t returned for him. “Why are you here?”
“Feral said he was coming back. That Alpha Jack had given him permission to join the Pride. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more so I begged to come along.”
“And?”
“Jack gave me permission to join the Pride. I’m going to live here now,” Hail said.
“And?!” Titus asked again, this time less patiently.
“And, I was thinking that if you haven’t replaced me yet, maybe we could try to pick up where we left off and…”
Titus lunged toward her before she was even finished speaking. He grabbed her, wrapping both his arms around her, and holding her body against his as he buried his nose in her hair. “Can’t replace you. There will be no other.”
Hail threw her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek as he held her tightly and kissed her hair, her face, her lips.
“You won’t leave me again!” he insisted.
“I won’t,” she agreed. “Unless I have to go on mission or something.”
“You’re not in that world anymore!” Titus said. “They can do it without you!”
“Unless they call me and need my help, then I can’t turn them down. They’re my friends.”
“You are not going without me,” he said, thinking it was a fair compromise.
“Hopefully I won’t get called to go on mission. It’s not a very high likelihood. They’ve got other teams,” she said, looking up into his eyes as she laid a hand along his cheek.
“Are you tired? Do you need to rest?”
She thought it was a strange question, until she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She focused on Dane who’d moved closer to them and was waving his arms to get her attention and nodding exaggeratedly at her.
“Yes?” she answered, though it was more of a question.
“You couldn’t sleep without me, either, could you? Come, we’ll go home and sleep. First. Then we’ll make sure this mating is finalized.”
Dane darted back toward the rest of the crew and stood there innocently.
Titus turned toward the new home they were building for visitors to the Laighin Pride, but he didn’t even get a chance to speak.
“We got it! We know exactly what to do. Just go sleep, please!” Dane said. “If there are any questions at all, we’ll call you.”
“I’d rather you ask than assume,” Titus said grouchily.
“I know. We won’t do anything we don’t know for sure is the plan.”
Titus nodded, then turned back to Hail. “You will accept my claim? Live with me?” he asked, realizing he’d told her he was going to finalize their mating, rather than ask her.
