He laughed and held his hands up, feigning innocence. But I sensed his worry under my skin, like an itch I couldn’t scratch.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Caelum whispered.
“Make sure you do,” Fen replied with a thinly veiled threat in his eyes.
“Remember what I told you,” I said to Lyra. “You need rest. And if it becomes too much,” I glanced at Caelum, “come to me.”
“I will. Thank you.” Lyra smiled and took my little brother’s hand to let him guide her out of the infirmary. After that, things quieted down. I didn’t have any patients, and short of the pile of charts, there wasn’t much left for me to do.
Fen followed me into my office and sat in the same chair where he’d once harangued me into going to the Yule party. I leaned against the edge of my desk and crossed my arms.
“Yes?” I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head, my intuition telling me yet another game was afoot.
“The New Year’s Eve party is tonight.” He put his elbow on the metal arm and rested his cheek on his pointer finger.
“Indeed.” I nodded and glanced at the stack of papers in front of my computer. “I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
He scoffed. “It’ll still be waiting for you when you get back.”
Every responsible bone in my body wanted me to turn him down, to give him all the excuses I’d ever used for missing out on pack festivities. But even if I did, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Perhaps this was the real reason fate had brought him into my life. He forced me to let loose, to play as hard as I worked. And I made him realize that sometimes, things were serious. That it was okay to be serious.
Which was how I found myself dolled up and wearing a pretty dress later that night when I walked into the community room. Music blared over the loudspeaker, and most of the pack huddled together on the dance floor, swaying and laughing and indulging.
Maeve and Mill had their arms wrapped around each other, their matching grins nearly too much for me to witness. Sol and Orion stood next to Kodiak and Guin, the latter seemingly in a heated debate about Gods knew what. My heart threatened to burst from the familiarity and warmth of having everyone I loved so close, protected, and safe in the homestead.
This. This was what I worked tirelessly to maintain, what I would give my life to hold onto.
“Wyn!” Jessi shouted, grabbing my attention as she sprinted up to hold my hand. “Come dance!”
“Okay.” I let her lead me out onto the floor and moved to the beat as she jumped around and giggled.
“You look very pretty tonight,” she said.
“So do you.” I brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and leaned closer. “Are you wearing makeup?”
She nodded. “Momma let me put on sparkles!”
I laughed and spun her around, but she quickly became distracted by one of her classmates and raced off after him, and Maeve wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me into a hug. I bounced around the party, catching up with elders and gossiping with the teenager group, and as the night neared closer to the new year, I grew antsy and restless.
I hadn’t seen the one person who urged me to come, nor had he staddled up behind me and taken his turn on my dance card. Since Lyra had been in the infirmary, we hadn’t taken much time for ourselves. I’d been busy trying to figure out what was wrong with her, and he’d done his best to play nursemaid. That late-night conversation in the cafeteria grew farther away.
With five minutes to spare, I figured he’d blown me off, and I’d just been about to leave when the skin on the back of my neck pricked with awareness. My inner wolf yipped and wagged her tail, urging me to glance around, to check again. Cinnamon and bergamot called to me from across the room.
I looked over my shoulder and zeroed in on bright blue eyes near the windows, solely trained on me.
It clicked. My world narrowed. The rest of the party faded away. My stomach jolted, and my nerves blazed to life, all-consuming and mindlessly flayed. A weight sank into my chest, but instead of yanking me down, it forced energy through my veins.
Mate.
Mate.
Mate.
It was him. And it was me. Us.
Nothing else mattered—only this infinite expanse of connection. A tunnel opened between us, surging magic through what had once been a tiny thread. Now, it decimated any barrier between us like a sledgehammer, and Fen’s magic overwhelmed me. I understood what the rest of the pack had been talking about, how one moment could change the entire meaning of my life.
I was made to be the pack’s healer, yes. But I was made for him, too. And he was made for me. And we fit so perfectly together, I’d been an idiot not to notice it sooner.
