In the end, I picked a milkmaid dress with a cute strawberry print and paired it with thin but sturdy, knee-high, white socks. I figured it would be a fashion faux pas to wear Crocs with it, but I didn’t wanna twist an ankle while we were walking. Besides, I could take the ugly shoes off once we reached the picnic spot.
Yeah, that sounded like a great plan.
Giving my reflection one last nod, I headed downstairs. It was a bit silly, but suddenly my heart was pounding like I was going to prom for the first time. Not that I actually ever went to prom, but the parallels seemed pretty strong when I came upon Leo standing in the kitchen, a heavy basket in the crook of one of his elbows, and a bouquet of flowers in his free hand.
“Are these for me?” I said a bit coquettishly. It sounded strange coming from my mouth, but Leo still grinned at me, nonetheless. Goodness, sometimes the way he looked at me made me feel... utterly incredible. This felt like a movie moment—one I never thought a girl like me would have.
“Do you see any other gorgeous women around?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. America is pretty gorgeous,” I teased.
Leo gave a little huff and rolled his eyes before handing me the bouquet. I buried my face in it, appreciating that it didn’t contain anything toxic to cats. Some people really underestimated how harmful a single lily could be, and yet somehow, Leo was on top of that.
“They’re beautiful,” I said, taking a deep breath. We were starting to enter the wild phase of the growing season, and I’d always loved how that time was punctuated with wild bloomsand thick, green foliage in the garden. “Let me put them in a vase.”
I rinsed the stems under cool water first, then propped them in the vase and set it on the kitchen table for all to enjoy. I could have taken them up to my room, but I wanted everyone to see and appreciate their beauty. Not only was it pleasing to the eye, but the flowers were a testament to the fact that I was loved. It was still such a new sensation for me.
“Ready?” Leo asked, but he didn’t offer his arm. I wasn’t mystified as to why, however, as he pulled a chair back from the table and revealed those comfy blankets he’d been talking about. They did look nice to lie on, that was for sure.
“Ready,” I confirmed.
Together, the two of us strode out the back door. Since I had been so quick to get ready, the sun was beginning to set, golden rays just beginning to sink down into the lilac of dusk. Sometimes, I got frustrated with the approaching darkness because it meant my time working in the garden was done before I’d finished my to-do list. But I still loved this time of day when the sky shifted to a beautiful range of soft golds to deep lavenders until finally being swallowed up by the cobalt of true night. It was undeniably beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to watch it happen with Leo.
We walked the now-familiar path toward the embankment and our cave. Although, I supposed it wasn’tactuallya cave compared to the one where Leo had found a huge chunk of his people. I still couldn’t believe that had happened while I was at work, and it was a special surprise coming home to almost a dozen more people in my space. I wasn’t mad about it, though. In fact, I was overjoyed.
With the warlock brothers all gone, I’d figured we’d focus on finding the rest of Leo’s pack members, and I’d thought it would be a long, drawn-out process with a lot of disappointmentin between. But thanks to Andromeda, most of the pack had returned. The change it brought about in Leo was palpable. He was still my same sweet, considerate guy, my garden helper, but he also was thealpha.I mean, he’d always been the alpha, but it seemed so different now. So much more real. He stood with his shoulders squarer, and there was a lightness to his step that hadn’t been there before.
I was happy for him. Sometimes it felt like I didn’t have the language to properly express it, but seeing him sit in a circle with his recovering pack members, his voice a gentle rumble as he told them things about themselves, made my heart soar. And, yeah, maybe I did prepare a near industrial amount of bone broth, buy a hundred dollars’ worth of Ensure shakes, and made sure I had the largest bag of rice my grocery store carried, but it was so worth it. No, it was beyond worth it. It legitimately brought me so much peace to help him heal his shattered family, because although I didn’t really know them yet, they were my family, too.
Who would have thought the orphan girl would end up with such a large brood? I certainly hadn’t.
“What’s going on in your head?” Leo asked softly. “You’ve been a bit quiet.”
“I suppose I have, haven’t I? Just thinking about all the changes that have happened recently.”
“There have been a lot, haven’t there?” Leo chuckled, but I picked up a sliver of uncertainty in his tone. “Are you okay with that?“
Ah, I understood that uncertainty now. He was probably worried it was too much, too soon. That I would be overwhelmed by his pack and everything that came with it. Thankfully, I was built of hardier stuff.
“You know, I was actually thinking we should bring some of the brothers back, go back to being hunted and having themenslaving people right and left. That definitely would be an improvement.”
Leo laughed and reached over as if he was going to ruffle my hair but seemed to think better of it. “Smart Alec.”
“But you love me anyway.”
Leo paused and turned his full gaze to me. Although the smile on his lips was kind and sweet, there was such an intensity to his gaze, I could barely breathe. “Yeah, I do.”
What a fucking thing to say. I could feel those stupid tears begin to prick at my eyes as pure happiness bubbled up within me. I had spent so many years begging to be loved, fighting for scraps wherever I could get it. But with Leo? With Leo there was never any emotional starvation. He never withheld his love and affection, not even when he was at his darkest.
How did I ever get so lucky?
“I love you, too,” was all I could utter, and then I was in his arms.
It wasn’t like any of those bodice rippers my aunt used to read—we didn’t suddenly fall to the blankets below us and begin tearing at each other’s clothes. Mostly because I got the impression it would hurt. We held each other, our heartbeats ricocheting off each other’s chests until they slowly, slowly began to synchronize.
God, I loved this man, this wolf, and every day we got to be together was a gift I would not let go to waste.
Eventually, we parted, but only to arrange ourselves across the blanket. I got the feeling Leo was quite proud of whatever he’d put in the basket and wanted to show off a bit. Sure, I wanted to jump his bones, but there was no reason it couldn’t wait until after I saw all the effort he had gone through to make the date special.
