“Alll….pha?”
My heart squeezed at the filthy face looking at me curiously. I thought I would have been able to recognize the female, if not bysight then by scent, but she was so caked in mud and other gross things, it was hard to make out much about her at all.
“Yes. I am your alpha. You’re all safe now.”
It wasn’t quite like herding cats as I got them out of the cave, but it was slow going. While I couldn’t discern their individual scents, I could pick up the acrid notes of starvation. Even if they had somehow adapted to see within the caves, there wasn’t enough large prey to sustain them. When was the last time they’d eaten? How did they get to the cave? Were they let loose as wolves or had they escaped to the wilds to form their own mini pack? Andromeda still didn’t remember that part.
So many questions, and we might never get any answers, but I didn’t care. My pack was slowly coming together. We had only a handful missing, and I was sure we’d be able to find them, too.
“Auntie!”
Andromeda stumbled forward the moment we came out into the light. Although she was still unsteady on her feet, she rushed past me to an especially emaciated figure in the middle of the group.
“Auntie!”
The woman stared blankly at her niece before the mud on her face crinkled, and she let out a nearly feral cry. “Andy! My little Andy!”
It was like a dam broke open. Ricky and the two scouts quickly strode forward, embracing our lost brethren one by one. Tears flowed down every face, and it was a miracle I managed to keep my composure. I was so completely filled with pride and joy, it was like it was welling out of me, filling every single cell before it flowed out to touch all the members of my pack standing around me.
Against all the odds, we were winning. We were reuniting.
And this time, I would make sure I never failed them.
39
VANESSA
“Iwould like to go on a date.”
“Excuse me?” I looked up from the email I’d gotten about my check deposit—the first one I’d gotten in ages, it felt like.
I hadn’t expected Leo to be all dolled-up in a pair of nice slacks, a blue flannel button-up, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his long hair neatly brushed back. My heart ricocheted in my chest, and I had to swallow hard not to drool on the floor like a cartoon character.
“I said, I would like to go on a date. A real one. I realize I’ve never taken you out, and I want to change that.”
The smile that spread across my face had to be downright sappy, maybe even swoony, as my stomach flipped several times. “I’d like that. What were you thinking?”
“A picnic under the stars. I have the basket all set up, and a couple of very nice blankets Chiga’s family gave us.”
I flushed at the thought. It was simple, but at the same time it was so very us. Almost like a fairy tale.
“Do I have time to get ready?”
“Of course. Take as much time as you need. I’ll be right here when you’re ready. If you want, we can head out at dusk, watch the sunset and the stars rise, or we could get a couple of lanterns and head out in the dead of night. Like something out of a fantasy novel, yeah?”
God, he understood me so well. In all my years on Earth, I truly never thought it was possible for someone to be so completely on my wavelength.
“I’ll be, like, forty minutes,” I said, already rushing up the stairs. “Feed the cats for me, will you, dear?”
“As you wish.”
Oh, now that wasn’tfair.Quoting Wesley fromThe Princess Bridewas usually a top-level move against book girlies, and I was no exception. I nearly giggled out loud as I rushed up the stairs and jumped into the shower. Thankfully, I managed that without cracking my head open.
I’d never gotten ready so quickly, but I did slow down when I started on my makeup. I wasn’t a high-glam girly—makeup was expensive—and I never really had special occasions to doll myself up for, but I still loved the art of it. So, I enjoyed putting white in the corner of my eyes and purple on my eyelid, with a smoky nude in my crease. Was it high art that someone would make an entire YouTube tutorial about? No. But it did make me feel pretty when I looked in the mirror, and that was what I needed.
My hair was a bit harder to figure out. I either wore it down or threw it up in a ponytail, but neither seemed right for tonight. After quite a bit of fiddling and one broken hair claw, I finally tamed it into two curly, cascading space buns. Yeah, that was definitely worthy of a romantic picnic.
Lastly was my outfit. Leo had seen me in quite a lot and also nothing at all, and yet the choice seemed so important. He’d seen me in work clothes. He’d seen me in garden clothes. He’dseen me in my lounge-around clothes. Oh, and not to mention the multiple disguises I’d donned during our hijinks. But he’d never seen me dressed up. Granted, I didn’t want to betoodressed up so I would be uncomfortable lying on the blanket. Talk about ruining the whole point of a starlight picnic.
