In the end, they stayed long enough to watch the vehicles begin to arrive at the green corridor. Sitting beneath the boughs of a leafy maple tree on the university’s side of the street, they silently tracked the progress of the weres as they officially took control of their new territory.
It was time to go.
When dawn broke through the gray, pre-sunrise haze, they quietly climbed in their car and headed to the Financial District, where their pack was only beginning to rise.
They had an m-jet to catch and a home to make.
Epilogue
2046 - Lake Adley Packlands, Prairie, Shifter Alliance
“I really don’t understandthe appeal,” Camille grumbled. She was perched on a mossy boulder to the left of their small, state of the art tent, and deeply disgruntled. “Welivein the woods. Isn’t that camping? Why would I willingly go without hot showers, a toilet,andmy tablet when I could do the same thing by just sitting in our yard for twenty minutes?”
“Because, sweetheart, it’s about freedom. Nature! Besides, weneedthe vacation. If we didn’t go soon, half the pack would have mutinied and forced us onto an m-jet to Cabo or something.”
And as much as he appreciated the pack’s concern for their mental health and their appreciation for all the work their alphas did in getting their new territory up and running, he knew that neither of them would be able to relax so far away from their people.
That didn’t mean they were wrong, though. Viktor knew he and his mate needed a break. Six months of non-stop work hadn’t left much time for relaxation, nor alone time. They had families to settle, dens to help reassemble. They needed to begin work on the neglected, war-damaged ghost town of Prairie. Schools had to be built, relationships with the locals made, and bonds with the land to create.
The work was constant and the emergencies never-ending. Viktor and Camille had thrown themselves into settling their pack into their new territory, but it was time for a break.
And it was about damn time he delivered on that promise he made.
Viktor finished setting up a small metal folding table by the fire pit. Striding back to his bulging backpack resting against a pine tree, he began to pull out their utensils and various necessary things like a portable water purifier, his mate’s carefully packed meals, and the peanut butter cup he had stashed in the side pocket — his favorite camping treat.
“I like nature plenty. More than most elves, even,” Camille argued, eyeing him from her place across the campsite. “I just like it better when I have regular access to a bathroom.”
Shoving the peanut butter cup into his mouth, he mumbled, “Trust me, Cam, you’ll learn to like it.”
He carefully arranged everything they needed on the table before he made one more trip for the bundle of firewood he collected on their hike in. He knelt to assemble the wood in the pit, but only got about halfway before Camille tartly demanded, “Please remind me why you thought I would enjoy this? Is it theatmosphereor something else that I’m missing?”
Viktor dusted his hands. The taste of chocolate and peanuts lingered on his tongue. “All right.”
“All rightwhat?”
“All right, I’ll remind you.” Standing up, Viktor prowled across the campsite to where his mate sat on the boulder, her long legs crossed.
She looked damn delicious in her fancy, previously unused hiking boots and shorts. Mosquitoes and ticks didn’t bother trying to bite her tough lavender skin, so she could breeze through the woods in little more than a tank top and tight shorts that showed off every inch of her pretty legs.
Helovedit. Even the pout she currently wore, which he was fairly certain was just for show. Camille knew how much he liked it when she growled at him. It only made him love her more.
Italsomade him want to lick every inch of her.
“No, no,” she protested. Planting the soles of her boots on the loamy earth, she placed her palms primly on her knees and warned, “I know that look and I’m not having it, Vik. There are bugs out here.”
“Uh-huh.” He dropped his hand to his belt and watched her eyes follow the movement. Biting back a smile at the sight of her pupils expanding to eat up all of that pretty violet, he used his own boot to kick her legs apart, making room for him to stand between them.
“I promised I’d show you why fucking outside is the best — and now we’re far enough away from the pack that no one will hear you or see you. It’s about time.”
Her breath quickened, but still she protested, “I don’t want to get dirt in my hair. Iwon’tget dirt in my hair.”
Sliding his fingers into the silky strands by her pointed ear, he arched a brow. “Sweetheart, just yesterday I caught you making mud cakes with Ivy, Thomas, and Alejandro. You had way more than dirt in your hair.”
“That was different!”
“How, exactly?”
“Well,” she huffed, “they’re cubs. It just is.”
