He left, but not before squeezing my shoulder—a pack gesture, silent but absolute.
Afterward, I walked back to the main pack room. It was still buzzing with activity. The sun was already going down, a hard orange through the cloud cover. I could hear the laughter and yelling from the kitchen before I even stepped onto the porch.
Parker was at the table with Maddie, Pearl, and three little kids. Rocket was asleep in the middle of the floor, belly-up and snoring. Parker’s hair was a mess, and her face was flushed. She was teaching a girl how to tie a knot in a piece of string.
When she saw me, her eyes flashed a question: Is it over?
I nodded, and she excused herself from the table.
We stepped outside. The cold was sharp, bracing, real. She hugged her arms to her body, but I could see the tension gone from her posture.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“Better than I expected. They trust you now.”
She gave me a look that was all skepticism.
I laughed. “Arsenal wants to kill Silas. You’re in.”
She smiled. Not a huge thing, but it felt like the first real one since this started.
“Are you okay?” I asked, voice low.
“I am now,” she said. She hesitated. “It’s starting to feel like it used to, before my parents…” she trailed off, words unfinished.
“It doesn’t have to happen all in one day,” I said. “It takes time.”
She let out a slow breath. “Maybe I’ll get there.”
I put my hand on her back, felt the warmth through the flannel shirt. “Of course you will.”
She leaned into my touch, just a little. “What about you? You don’t seem like the pack house type.”
I shrugged. “You’d be surprised. I just moved out about five months ago.”
She grinned. “Oooh, I bet all the ladies cried.”
“You bet they did!” I picked her up and tickled her stomach. She squirmed until I put her down.
“I’m gonna pee my pants if you do that again!”
“Remind me not to do that again.” Damn, it felt good to laugh.
We went back inside, the noise and heat swallowing us up. The night wore on, and when it was time to go, she hugged Maddie and Pearl, and even let one of the kids braid a pink ribbon into her hair.
Driving home, she fell asleep in the passenger seat, with Rocket curled on her lap. I watched the road, hands steady on the wheel, my wolf quiet for the first time in weeks.
Maybe tomorrow might bring war. But tonight, we had peace.
And that was enough.
Chapter 16
Silas Drake
Even though war rooms aren’t built for comfort, we’d taken to meeting in here instead of my office because the vampires and demons showed up when you least expected them. I’d turned on the torches—no they aren’t actual torches, but they are a pretty close facsimile. I had a weakness for the classics, and this meeting needed a certain ambiance. I hoped the demons who’d been joining us from time to time stayed away, for their sakes.
I looked down at the table: a map of our holdings, fresh-printed and although it was new, it was already out of date. Stacks of ledgers. Smeared glass tumblers filled with scotch and God knows what sat ready to drink. No one here ever drank for pleasure.
