“I’m…doing. Some days are better than others. It’s hard knowing on any given day I might run into Garret.” Garret Michaels was Jacob’s biological father, but Casey preferred to call him the sperm donor. “Jacob is getting so big, you should see him. You won’t even recognize him as the toddler you last saw.”
“Casey, you don’t have to stay there, you know. I know that being in the same town with that piece of shit, risking running into him every time you’re out, it can’t be easy. Why don’t you and Jacob come to New Orleans? We have our own pack, well, it’s a ragtag group of misfits, but we’re still a pack.”
“We? Who is ‘we’?”
“Well, you know my father sent someone to fetch me and bring me back there, right?” When Casey said ‘yes’, she continued. “His name’s Declan; he’s Liam’s older brother—the one who left right after he turned eighteen to join some secret government organization…and he’s my mate.”
“Oh wow. If you hadn’t taken off like you did…that could have gotten really ugly when he returned and you were married to a different pack member. What do you mean you’re a ragtag group of misfits?”
“Our pack isn’t just wolves. There’s me and Declan, of course, and one other wolf, Steele. Then we have a grizzly shifter named Holden, two jaguar shifters named Sasha and Echo, and a Siberian tiger shifter named Nikolai. We’re allies with the Black Water Pard; they claim half of New Orleans while the other half is now our territory.”
“Whoa, that really is a ragtag group of misfits. How do you all get along?”
“The others worked with Declan in Special Ops, so they already had a close-knit bond between them. They took to me the first time we met. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m with Declan or if it’s also because I’m an Alpha female and they sensed it.”
“I’ll think about it, okay? I don’t want to make any rash decisions, and Jacob gets a say in it too since this will affect him just as much as it would me.”
“That’s all I ask, Casey. You have my number now, so keep in touch, yeah?”
“I will. You keep in touch too. You’re the one who went and disappeared before, after all.”
Lily laughed at the teasing tone in the younger woman’s voice before they said their good-byes and hung up. By the time she hung up with Casey, Lily really felt like she’d accomplished something. Sure, Casey wanted to get her son’s input on the move, but she had the feeling it wasn’t going to matter. Casey would be coming to New Orleans, and she was going to need a place to stay until she got back on her feet. “Time to find a house,” she said softly and headed home. She would use her computer to search for something in the area.
Hours later Lily had a list of houses varying in bedroom size and price that she would show to Declan so they could decide which ones they wanted to go take a look at. It was crazy to think they were already talking about buying a house when their relationship was still fairly new, but it felt right. They were in love, they were living together; she didn’t need a wedding ring to know he was dedicated and committed to her.
When she thought about the path her life had taken since the night her father gave her his ultimatum and she’d chosen to disappear instead, she was happy with where it had led her. Sure it had taken time to get to this point—six long years to be exact—but she was happy. She had a great job, amazing friends, a pack she could be proud of, and a mate who loved her just the way she was.
