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“Don’t let it happen again,” she said. “Or Dad won’t let you hang out with me anymore.”
“I’m soo sorry,” he wailed. “I’ll be good. I swear, Perdy. I swear!”
“I won’t tell on you this time,” she said. “But next time, you’ll be in so much trouble.”
He grinned then, sure he was in the clear, then ran into the house to pet the poor dog inside.
“He staying the night?” I asked, catching up to Perdita to take the bag she was carrying.
“Probably,” she said. “Erin’s at a funeral in Galway, then earlier Mrs Malone fell down the stairs, so Dad volunteered to take care of her senile father for the evening. By the time Erin gets back, Robbie should be asleep, so there’ll be no point moving him.”
We headed inside. Robbie was sitting next to the dog, softly crooning, his little hand splayed on the dog’s head. Perdita smiled to herself then looked me over. “Did you see Margo?”
I made a face. “We kind of had a fight.”
“About what?”
“Lots of things, I think. I’m not sure. It felt like we were arguing in two different languages, to be honest.”
She laughed at that, putting on the kettle before she looked back at me. “I know what that’s like.”
“Do you ever regret it?” I blurted. “Being with the pack, but being human. Living by our rules when you shouldn’t have to do that. Do you ever wish you’d given up and had a normal life instead?”
She froze. “Then I wouldn’t have you.”
I laughed at her expression. “Don’t get sappy now.”
“I’m serious. It’s hard, sometimes, I can’t deny that, but for the most part, I do like the pack. I like that we have a community, family, and even work here.” But she sounded wistful.
“The pack is the only thing that has ever put you in danger,” I said in a quiet voice.
“Most of the danger I’ve been in has kicked off because of choices I’ve made.” She came over to pat my face. “Life is confusing at the best of times, Dorian, especially at your age. Try not to worry so much. We can’t always be fighting against what ifs.”
“You haven’t seemed happy lately.” I avoided her gaze. “I can sense that much. I want you to be happy.”
She hugged me. “I’m happy. I worry about things, too, sometimes, but we’ll all be okay. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect all of the time, you know?”
I hoped she meant it because sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was more worried about Margo or Perdita. Both of them were in strange situations because of my pack. Sometimes… sometimes I even thought it would have been easier to leave the pack behind.
