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Will barks out a laugh, shaking his head, and I get down from my pedestal. At this point, it’s time to answer any inquiries, and make sure the whole pack feels they’ve had their say.
“We’re going to go alone,” I say. “But thanks for asking.”
“And if you don’t make it back?” Arden pipes up.
I grimace. “If I don’t make it back…you defer to Will and Suyin on any decisions.”
Grant’s eyes go wide at that, glancing at Suyin. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might thinkhewas the next in line—or maybe that there’s something else going on. He recovers quickly enough, though, and I sit down again when Tilda comes back to my side.
“Now, if anyone has any questions, I’ll be here all night,” I say. “Let’s eat.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
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TILDA
I’m exhausted by the time we finally make it back to Reyes’ room, dozens of people having come up to ask questions and offer their congratulations or welcome me to the pack. Everyone seems to be onboard with my joining the pack, to my surprise, and it makes me feel a certain sense of belonging as we mosey back down the corridor and deep into the cave system.
I could see myself making a home here, building a family. For the longest time, it’s just been me and Enid. While my sister has enmeshed herself in Homestead’s social ecosystem, I’ve had a harder time doing that…and I’ve never really bonded with anyone but her.
This is different. I feel a kinship with the people here—people who are wild and hurt.
And Reyes…
I’ve never felt this kind of companionship with anyone else. He makes me feel like God has a plan, when I’ve stopped believing in the big man in the sky over the years. Maybe it’s just that being here has allowed me to see the stars again, or maybe it’s this wolf stuff, but I don’t ever want to leave his side.
Iwantto believe that it’s because I love him for who he is.
I want to believe I love him.
My hardened heart can’t take anything else.
“I liked watching you with them tonight,” Reyes murmurs as we amble down the stone corridor. “With the pack, I mean.”
“For what it’s worth, I liked being with them,” I reply. “But I have to ask—you don’t just think it’s the mating bond, do you? I know it can do some weird things to your mind, and I’m just worried that…”
I trail off. I can’t bring myself to even say the words—that maybe this isn’t real, that I’m throwing away my life in Homestead for an illusion generated by pheromones.
Reyes opens the door and I give him a grateful smile as I step inside. Heat rises in my stomach at the sight of the rumpled sheets on the bed, still a mess from our lovemaking this morning. Isn’t there a chance that I’m just horny?
“What are you worried about?” Reyes asks from behind me.
I turn and fall to a seat on the bed, my brow furrowed. “I think I’m just wondering if this is real,” I say. “Do I feel at home here because I truly belong, or because of some…you know, some wolf shit? I can feel my body changing, and I’m just wondering if it’s my mind, too.”
Reyes frowns, chewing on his lip. His hand reaches instinctively for the big silver cross that hangs around his neck, and he fiddles with it under his shirt before he comes to kneel in front of me.
“Tilda,” he says. “Can I touch you?”
That he evenaskssurprises me—we’ve been in and out of each other’s arms so much in the past few days that I can’t believe he even hesitates. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you…?”
“I don’t want you to think I’m only saying this because we’re touching,” he says. “I want you to know I mean it.”
“Oh,” I say quietly. “Okay.”
“You…” he pauses, frowning—like he’s searching for the right words. “We hardly know each other, but I knowyou. I think, from the moment we met, I could see your strength. Your will. The pain you’ve been through and how you’ve done everything you can to survive and take care of the people you love. And I saw something in you that I recognized as a weakness in myself, that willingness to challenge people and…”
He stops, ducking his head against my knee as he grips my hands. I sniffle, and it’s only in that moment that I realize a single tear is trailing down my cheek. Reyes’ voice is muffled when he speaks again.
