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“And so would I,” she says.

The nurse comes in to bring Raewyn apple sauce. She doesn’t fight us this time, and allows us to help her.

“If she’s able to eat and feels okay, she can probably go home tomorrow,” the nurse explains.

That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.

Well, that and Forge isn’t going to prison.

“So this is over?” Raewyn asks, looking between us.

“This,” I say, squeezing her hand. “Has just begun.”

She smiles at me.

“The rest of it is over though,” I say. “The Rangers dug deep and arrested seven different officers involved in Mendes’ scheme.”

“What was he doing?” she asks.

“Blackmailing criminals,” Forge says. “Took a cut of whatever they were doing—stealing, selling drugs, prostitution.”

“I hate how people can abuse their power like that,” Raewyn says.

“We do too,” I agree.

“We have good news, though,” Forge says.

She smiles again, her eyes brightening. “What is it?”

“We are taking a leave from work,” I say.

“What’s that mean?” she asks.

“It means that because of everything that’s happened, we’re able to take an extended vacation,” I explain.

“Really?” She looks between us with a grin.

“Yes, really,” I say.

“For how long?” she asks.

“Eight weeks to start,” Forge says.

“We can bump it to twelve if we need. We’ll see how things go,” I add.

“Why?” she asks.

I look at Forge, then back at her. “Because we love you and we want to enjoy our time together. We want to build a good foundation for our relationship, make sure our pack is strong.”

“Our job takes a lot of our time,” Forge says. “And right now, you—us—are what’s important.”

“We could have lost you before we really had any time to get to know you or what we could be,” I say, sharing a look with Forge. “We didn’t like the thought of that.”

I nod in agreement.

“I love you too,” she whispers, her eyes on Forge, then they flick over to me. “And I love you. Both of you. So much.”

I’ve never felt so much joy from words before.