You could’ve ended up as a news report
Clover:
But I didn’t
Be on my way in a few minutes so you can gaze at me disapprovingly in person
Love yoooou
Give my sapling some kisses and tell him Auntie will be there soon
Meadow:
Kisses delivered
Love you too
I tried my luck at standing, blessedly finding that while my muscles still shook, I wasn’t in danger of collapsing to the floor.
I resorted to catching a rideshare home, already mourning the temporary loss of my car. I had never enjoyed relying on anyone else to get me where I needed to go, so I would probably just hoof it until my baby was returned. That was okay. Forest could have some stroller time while I jogged around the neighborhood. I hadn’t spent much time exploring the enormous gated community Meadow and her pack had moved me into, so this would be a good opportunity.
Maybe fate would be extra nice to me and I would pass a house with an omegaless pack who believed in love at first sight.
A laugh bubbled up as I slipped out of the rideshare down the street from where I actually lived. The community was safe, but I still didn’t want strangers to know where I lived.
The walk home gave me time to muse. I had delayed starting law school to move down here with Meadow. Her pack loved her, so I didn’t worry about her on that front, but I hated the idea of our friendship changing because she was in LA and I was up in Seattle. A year’s break to help her settle into this new life and spend time with my baby nephew had felt like the right choice.
It still did.
Life was just different now.
The more time I spent enjoying my life, the less I wanted to return to school. I knew from people already enrolled that law school was soul-crushing exhaustion at the best of times, and this taste of freedom before joining their ranks was too tempting for comfort.
Much as I might’ve had a reputation for partying and being a wild child, I hadneverfucked around with my grades. My 4.0 GPA was a point of pride, but discipline had its limits, and that was why I’d partied so hard. You could only hold yourself on a short leash for so long before you had to give a bit of slack.
Meadow wasn’t great at that part, so it was a good thing she had me, or she’d have never met her pack and had the cutest baby boy in history.
She deserved all the happiness in the world.
I wasn’tunhappy, but it did get lonely now that Meadow was no longer glued to my hip.
“Why do you look so sad?” Hendrix—the alpha who had gotten my bestie knocked up—looked up from the passionfruit vine he was tending. His therapist had recommended gardening to help him relax, and he had taken to it like a duck to water.
“Nothing important,” I replied. “Mostly feeling sorry for myself.”
“Do you want to stab some dirt?” He offered me a spade from the stash of tools at his feet.
“Sure, why not? I’m already a sweaty goblin—why not be a dirty one too?”
Hendrix laughed and passed over the spade. “I hear you had an adventure today.”
“Is that Meadow’s polite way of describing me railing my roadside savior?”
“Pretty much.”
“The adventure was fun, but it was a one-time thing.” I shoved the spade into the dirt, carving out a space to plant one of the California poppies Hendrix had ordered.
“I thought that about Meadow too.”
