“Of course,” he laughed, cutting up his food before he began to eat like a starved man. I suppose the fight really had taken everything out of him. “How about you start with trying on your gift if you’ve finished your breakfast, and then you can tell me all about your ballet?”
Cassie let out a shout of glee as she scrambled away from the table. For a second, it left us alone, and Mason glanced at me.
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and I’d never accept it if it was only given in front of Cassie, but I’m here before you, begging for it, Bryce. I never should have left you in the woods that day, not after what we had done together, not after… everything. I’m ashamed of myself, and I hope you know that I want to spend every day you’ll give me to make up for my stupid decisions, both in the past and the other day. I want to be in your life. I want to be in Cassie’s life if you’ll truly let me.”
“Can I have some time to think about it?” I whispered. “I trust you, I think, not to hurt her, but… the pack… what if they don’t accept her and you get swayed again?”
“They’ll accept my daughter,” he growled, suddenly fierce. The voice of the alpha already thinking about pulling rank if challenged. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“And me?”
“I’ll make sure they accept you, too. Let me talk to them again.”
I nodded. “Are you hurt?”
“By myself? By the thought of you leaving?” He laughed hollowly. “Yeah, it pretty fuckin’ hurts.”
“I meant from the ifrit fight.”
“Oh.” He grinned, more of a wince than anything. “A few cuts, bruises, burns. Nothing new when you do the job I do. I have some really good salve for burns.”
I swore under my breath right as Cassie came back into the room. She gasped dramatically. “Mommy!”
And I couldn’t help laughing at her outburst at hearing me curse.
***
“You know the first thing about walking in the woods, Cassie?”
“Yes,” she answered Mason.
“Go on, tell me.”
I walked just behind my daughter and Mason, watching as she looked up at him, listening to his advice. We were deep in the woods, much further than where I had crashed the car. It had been a few days since breakfast, and I had yet to see my brother. Part of me was worried he truly was angry with me for putting him in the position I had, caught between his sister and his alpha. Mason had reported that he hadn’t spoken to Jackson since the fight he’d told me they’d had.
It had been Jackson’s words that had struck him enough to realize his errors.
“The first thing to know is how to use a compass.”
Cassie let out a peal of laughter. “I don’t need a compass! You and Mommy said I’ll be a wolf, too!”
Mason laughed. “Yes, but what when you’renot? It's true that your instincts will be more heightened than those of a normal human, but everyone gets lost in the woods, regardless. So, learning how to use a compass to safely get through the woods is key. The next tip is to always find a water source. As a wolf or human, you’re prone to dehydration, yes?”
“Uh-huh. Mommy says that a lot, especially when I practice dancing.”
“That ‘cause she’s smart.” Mason threw a grin over his shoulder that had my heart thundering. I swallowed hard, feeling a flare in my gut. “What way does water run?”
“Down!” Cassie said.
“Good,” he praised. “And that’s where you should always head if you’re lost. Look for north, and if that doesn’t work, then always go down. Finding flat ground gives you a better chance of finding a road or a hiking trail. The worst thing is to get lost walking uphill because you’ll exhaust yourself, wolf or human.”
I didn’t know if Cassie was able to take it all in, but I loved how she gazed up at him. She wasn’t at the point where she wanted to hold his hand; she still walked close to him, though. I had thought I would feel jealous, but all I felt was relief. She had finally got the other part of her perfect family picture that she had yearned for.
As much as I had done well as a single mom, I knew she needed a father, especially as a shifter. I’dwantedher to have a father.
I kept my eye on them keenly as Mason crouched to show Cassie the differences between poison ivy and Virginia creeper. There was something mentioned about the number of leaves.
“In a panicked situation, you probably won’t remember, so here’s a trick my own dad taught me.” At the mention of a grandfather, Cassie’s smile got brighter. “Ivy has three letters. Three letters for three leaves.”
