“I like who I am now. Even when it’s scary.”
We lie there in comfortable quiet while morning sounds filter through the window. Birds calling to each other. The distant rumble of vehicles on the main road. Normal things that feel different now that I can appreciate them properly.
My stomach growls loud enough to make us both laugh.
“Breakfast,” Reeyan declares, starting to sit up.
I hook my leg over his waist and pull him back down. “Not yet. I want to talk about the transition plans first.”
He settles back against the pillows with his arms behind his head. “The Llewelyn pack. How they’re adjusting.”
“Some are handling it better than others.” I prop myself up on one elbow. “Caelan called me last night. She’s loving every minute of emotional freedom. But my mother…” I trail off, searching for words.
“Your mother?”
“She spent decades believing she was broken because she couldn’t express love the way she wanted to. Now that the barrier is gone, she’s processing forty years of suppressed feelings. She cried for three hours yesterday. Just cried and cried. But when I checked on her before bed last night through a video call, she was smiling. Said it felt like coming home to herself.”
Reeyan reaches for my hand and laces our fingers together. “Ash is organizing support groups with the psychics. The transition will be easier with help.”
“My mother already signed up. So did Thora and about a dozen other women. They’re choosing to heal together instead of suffering alone. That’s progress.”
“That’s your influence. You showed them vulnerability isn’t weakness.”
We discuss logistics for another twenty minutes. How to coordinate support systems across territories. Which psychics have the most experience with emotional healing. Whether Veva can create magical aids for the women experiencing the worst overwhelm.
“Matriarch Lydia called a pack meeting for tomorrow,” I tell him. “She wants everyone together to discuss how we move forward as a curse-free pack.”
“Will you be there?”
“She asked me to speak. Share my experience breaking the curse and adjusting to emotional freedom.” The thought makes my stomach flip with nerves. “Standing in front of my entire pack and admitting I was terrified the whole time isn’t exactly appealing.”
“You don’t have to tell them you were scared.”
“But I was. I am. And they need to know that being afraid doesn’t mean you’re weak. That vulnerability is part of being fully alive. Will you come with me? To the meeting?”
“You want me at a Llewelyn pack meeting?”
“I want my mate beside me when I address my people about the most important decision I’ve ever made.”
His eyes search my face like he’s looking for doubt or reluctance. He won’t find any. I’ve made my choice. He’s mine, and I’m not hiding that from anyone.
“I’ll be there,” he promises.
My stomach growls again, louder this time.
Reeyan grins. “Now, can we have breakfast?”
“Fine. But you’re cooking.”
“Deal.”
He climbs out of bed, completely unselfconscious about his nakedness. I watch him pull on sweatpants, admiring the play of muscles across his back and shoulders. My body warms despite the soreness, wanting him again already.
He catches me staring and raises an eyebrow. “See something you like?”
“Maybe.”
“Breakfast first. Then we can revisit that look you’re giving me.”
