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Chapter 21
Margo
Once the plans were decided, everything moved quickly. I barely had time to worry about being apart from my dad. Not having Dorian around was going to be strange, too. My parents had seemed positive in the run-up to the trip, but once we met up at Dorian’s place to say our goodbyes, too many of us looked upset.
Perdita’s eyes were red as she hugged Dorian. Reality hit me. He was leaving, but if his trip went well, I would know more about my biological family. I wasn’t sure how to feel.
Dorian came to me for a hug.
“Be safe,” I whispered. “I don’t know. I have a weird feeling.”
“That’s because you’re going to miss me,” he teased. He pulled away to hold my gaze. “You know me. I always play it safe. You don’t have to worry. Focus on getting better, okay?”
“I’m already better,” I said. “I’m back to school in the morning.”
“Even so, take it easy.”
“We should get moving,” Byron announced.
I reached for my dad for one last hug.
He squeezed me back. “Take care of your mother. We’ll be back before you know it. It’ll be fun. A trip with the boys.”
“Please don’t say it like that,” I pleaded, while he laughed heartily.
Mam and Nathan accompanied the group to the airport, leaving me with Perdita and Amelia. The pack members who had come to say goodbye left us alone to watch our loved ones drive away.
“Well,” Amelia said after a long, quiet moment, “I have a lot to do, so I’ll leave you to it.” She hadn’t even looked our way.
“Did I do something?” I said, baffled.
“Nah,” Perdita said. “That’s Amelia’s guilty face. She’ll get over it in a bit. You okay hanging out in my place today?”
“Of course.” Being in Dorian’s home would make me feel closer to him while he was gone. His absence already made me feel like I was missing something.
We headed inside. I caught a glimpse of Victor skulking around outside before I shut the door behind me. He was such a weirdo sometimes.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me being here?” I asked. “I don’t want to get in your way.”
Perdita put on the kettle. “Of course not. It’s nice having a little bit of non-werewolf company sometimes.”
“Do you ever feel… never mind.”
“What is it?”
I had been thinking about the meeting a lot, how all of the encounters between my family and the pack had worked out. “Doesn’t it feel weird that somebody else is always the boss? Like what you want doesn’t even matter. I mean, everyone can have opinions, but in the end, they all do whatever Byron decides. Okay, that’s how the pack works, but you’re not a werewolf.”
“Hmm.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Honestly, it never feels that way. I trust Byron, and I’ve known him from before he was an alpha.”
“What was he like?”
“Sort of cold and stand-offish.” She smiled, her eyes taking on a far-off look. “He’s grown as a person since then, become warmer and kinder. On the surface, that could conflict with his role as the leader of the pack.”
“He still has to boss everyone around.”
“It feels more like guidance.” She served the tea and some snacks, far too many, considering no werewolves were joining us. “He takes everyone’s thoughts into account, but with this many people, there has to be somebody who drives the decisions.”
“So it is his way or no way.”
