Red tosses her flowers roughly at Rickon and races toward me, throwing herself into my arms. “Calli!” she squeals. “You did it!”
I swing her up, laughing as her enthusiasm seeps into my soul. “Yeah, I did.”
Her eyes shine as she stares down at me. “Do they give you a plaque or something?”
“No, but they should, shouldn’t they?”
Rickon and Zack arrive at a more leisurely pace. “Congrats, Calli,” my best friend says.
“Thanks.” I lean over and offer my lips, a little shy as I realize this is our first time in public.
Zack stares at me for a moment and then offers his cheek. I chuckle as I kiss his scratchy beard, but of course he has ulterior motives. His hand shoots out to hold me in place as he scrapes his jaw over mine.
“Always gotta have the last word, huh, Zack?”
He smirks. “Cal-ee did good with laws. Proud.”
“Thanks, Zack. It was a lot of hard work over many years.”
He nods sagely. “And many more years ahead helping ferals.”
I groan. “Sure but let me enjoy today first, okay?”
“Fine. Today, and gala day, and heat days.” He counts them off on one hand. “Then work after.”
“Whatever you say, taskmaster,” I mutter through a smile.
Ricky passes me the flowers, and something dangling off his elbow slaps my side. I squint to see better.
“Oh!” Red claps her hands. “We made something for you.” She grabs the thing off Rickon’s arm and holds it up, revealing a kind of chain made of small candy bars, which she hangs around my neck in two loops. “I was looking up graduation gifts, and I found this one from overseas that puts candy chains on a graduate.” Her voice shines with pride as she adds, “There are exactly one-hundred and three candies. We counted as we stapled them.”
I laugh and lock my arm around her waist. “Thank you, gorgeous. I love it!” Genuine, sweet, and a little eclectic; the gift suits Red to a T.
She grabs my hand and tows me toward the back door. “Let’s blow this stinky joint! We’re going out for dinner.”
“Another first,” Rickon says, following with Zack.
“Sounds perfect.” Dinner out with my pack and maybe a drink before we stumble home to collapse in each other’s arms where I can sate the thirst for my pack that far outweighs any desire to work.
As I reach back to close the door behind us, I catch sight of Hale still standing in the hallway. He lifts his hand in farewell, a thoughtful look on his face. It’ll be a shame to leave him behind, but a new adventure awaits me.
While officially I’m on vacation and don’t have any cases, one matter still requires my urgent attention. After a well-earned sleep in, I drag myself out of Red’s embrace and get ready for the day, taking a moment to enjoy the scents in the apartment.
Although Zack’s perfume still dominates, the combination of a happy omega and two other alphas balances him out. With abandoned clothes lying over the couch and shoes tumbled down the staircase, our home looks more lived-in than it did when I stayed here alone. And my heart feels just as full.
For a long drive, I’d often be on a conference call with Hale or one of my colleagues, but today I listen to cello music by Kye Romdine off the music app, an alpha I heard was in Red’s omega friend’s pack. Which makes him a pack mate of Colt Nesters.
Funny how the universe brought two of the country’s wealthiest scions into packs with feral alphas and abused omegas, but I can’t think of a better way to use money. The drive flashes by under his expert bow, and all too soon I’m turning into the barred gates of Laversham’s Alpha Lodgings.
The guard greets me by name and lets me through for my legal appointment with the criminal Keith Alhedy.
He slides into the chair opposite me in the consult room. “Well, if it isn’t the hotshot Callisto Wren,” he says with a smirk. “And here I was thinking you’d forgotten all about me.”
I shake my head. “We had a few unforeseeable delays, but I didn’t forget.” I slide the dossier across the table. “Signed and delivered, as promised.”
He flips the top page, reads, and whistles. “An injunction ordering my return to the district of sentencing.”
“To be carried out within forty-eight hours.”
