“Catch you later,” Amelia said to me, waving at Rachel as she departed.
“Glad you could make it!” Rachel exclaimed.
“I don’t think Elias would have let me skip it even if I had wanted to,” I joked, earning an amused laugh from Rachel.
“Well, after everything you’ve done, I personally think you deserve a bit of basking in glory,” Rachel fired back.
Confused, I tilted my head as my forehead creased.
“Listen,” Rachel said, turning me so that I was in perfect view of the crowds walking past. Every person waved and smiled at me.
“Hi, Emma!”
“Luna!”
“Hey, Luna! It’s great to see you.”
“Hey, Emma!”
I let the greetings wash over me as people wandered by, trying not to look too dazed.
“They like you,” Rachel said, taking a sip of her drink as I turned to look back at her.
“Hell of a lot different than the last party I was at around here,” I muttered, but soft enough that not even Rachel could hear me.
“I mean, it makes sense,” a comfortingly familiar voice said from the side.
A comfortable jolt settled in my stomach as his words wrapped around me. I turned and couldn’t help but smile as Elias sauntered over.
“She did save the entire town,” he added. “I would expect at least a couple of people would be appreciative of that fact.”
“I didn’t beat it, though,” I pointed out. I wasn’t trying to self-deprecate, but I couldn’t hide the bitter frustration in my voice as I admitted it. The wraith had gotten away. It was still out there. I had tried to stop it and failed.
“You did more damage to it than any of our guys have ever done,” Rachel pointed out, and her sharp, chiding tone took me by surprise. “Don’t forget that. If it weren’t for you, the sand wraith would be all over the oasis, we would have been run out of town, and Elias would probably be dead.”
I didn’t answer. She was right, and based on her smug expression, she knew I knew that, too.
“Point being, don’t sell your victories short,” she lectured. “No one else in the pack is.”
“I’m glad someone besides me is saying it,” Elias said, coming to stand next to me. “Lord knows I’ve said it often enough.”
He bent down and kissed me, sending a jolt of pleasure racing through me.
“Are you having fun?” he asked, hand going to my shoulder.
“I am,” I said, genuinely meaning it. I wasn’t going to bring up our last encounter at a party, not wanting to sully what was currently a pleasant moment by dredging up the past.
He raised his eyebrows. “But…?”
“But nothing. It’s just…” I chewed my lip as I tried to come up with the right words. “I never thought that I would feel comfortable here,” I finally managed to articulate, feeling pink creeping up my cheeks.
He nodded in understanding. “I get that, though I certainly plan for there to be a happier ending than the last party you were here for,” he said.
I blinked in surprise as I twisted to look up at him. He cracked an amused, handsome grin.
“Trust me, I remember that night as well as you do,” I said, a coy smirk spreading across my lips. “And it didn’t end as badly as it could have. As far as I remember, I thoroughly enjoyed myself up until the last five minutes.”
His eyebrow arched. “That so?”
