“I maintain that he's a sore loser. Different things.”
We headed back to Evan's truck, the garage noise fading behind us. Nate climbed in first, claimed the middle seat again despite there being no logical reason to do so, and Evan slid in beside him with the ease of long practice.
“They're good people,” I said, watching the garage recede in the side mirror.
“The best.” Nate's voice was soft.
The mill appeared through the trees, and I could see Daniel standing on the front steps. Waiting. Watching the road with the kind of attention that suggested he'd been there for a while.
He smiled when he saw the truck, and something in my chest eased.
Family wasn't just blood. It was who showed up.
And these people, this impossible collection of wolves and witches and humans who'd somehow become mine, they kept showing up.
That was enough. That was everything.
“Come on,” Evan said, pulling into the lot. “Let's get you to your Alpha.”
“He's not my Alpha.”
“Sure he's not.” Nate's grin was insufferable. “That's why he's been standing on those steps for fifteen minutes waiting for you.”
I didn't have a response to that. Didn't need one.
The clearing opened up ahead,cars parked in a loose semicircle, figures moving between them with the easy familiarity of people who'd done this a thousand times. I pulled in beside Evan's truck and sat for a moment, watching.
Wolves in human form laughed and talked, shedding jackets and shoes, preparing for something I could feel building in the air like static before a storm. The moon hadn't risen yet, but its presence was already tangible. A weight. A promise.
I got out of my truck, and Rafe appeared at my elbow like he'd been waiting.
“Michael.” His smile was warm, genuine-seeming. “Glad you could make it.”
“Thank you. Hopefully I won’t disappoint.”
“You'll love it.” He fell into step beside me as I walked toward the gathering. “There's nothing quite like watching them shift. All that power, all that wildness, and they're still the same people underneath. It's beautiful, actually.”
“You've done this before? With your old pack?”
Rafe's expression flickered. Went distant for just a moment before he pulled it back. “Yeah. Before.” He shook his head slightly, like clearing water from his ears. “Feels like another life now.”
Before I could respond, Daniel emerged from the crowd.
He moved through his wolves with the unconscious authority of someone who'd been leading them for decades, touching shoulders, exchanging words, but his eyes found me the moment I came into view. Something in his face shifted. Softened in ways that made my chest tight.
“Michael.”
He crossed the remaining distance between us in three long strides, and then his arms were around me, pulling me into an embrace that felt like coming home. I let myself sink into it. Let myself feel the solid warmth of him, the way his hand pressed flat against my back like he was making sure I was real.
“You came,” he said against my hair.
“Evan invited me. Said I'd be missing out if I didn't.”
“Evan's right.” Daniel pulled back but didn't let go completely, his hands settling on my shoulders, thumbs brushing my collarbones through my jacket. “I'm glad you're here.”
“Me too.”
We stood there for a moment, around us, the pack continued their preparations.
