The salt gets stronger, the sun brighter, but it’s when I see that white sand that everything slips into place like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that wasn’t in quite right. I kick off my shoes, leaving them up in the carpark.
The sand is hot, not enough to burn, but it’s enough to have me moving quicker. Danger barks and buries his face, flicking his muzzle up and spraying my leg with sand.
I giggle and try to dance out of the way, but he spins, and sand flies everywhere.
Before I can go more than three feet towards the ocean, he’s dug a hole half his body size and is lying in it, looking up at me with huge, devious eyes.
“Come on, Danger, this way.”
He bounces out of the hole, butt low to the ground, the whites of his eyes showing as he explodes into movement.
With Danger at my side, jumping and zooming like a little brown merle hurricane, I make my way down to the water. The sand transitions from soft to hard, cracking under my feet. Waves lap at the shore, leaving white bubbles behind before they vanish. The water is mirror-smooth with onlythe tiniest lift, one of those perfect days. The sun glimmers off the ocean, leaving white, glowing shimmers in a world of turquoise and aquamarine.
The cove looks the same. Oh, there are tiny differences. At one end is a cliff and rocks that can be climbed at low tide. The town is situated more towards the middle of the cove. There’s a couple of new houses, and the signs in the carpark are new. As I turn, I see the lighthouse on the far point of the cove, the jetty not far from it. Just where it was when I left. It looks like someone has built something at its base, but I can’t be sure from here.
We used to go out to the lighthouse and have parties when we were teens. Playing music and dancing with friends. Drinking when we got older.
I’m so distracted in memories that I don’t hear him until he’s almost on top of me.
“You can let the little guy off if you want. Everyone is getting ready for Smitten Knot Bitten. He should be safe to stretch his legs.”
My shoulders tense, and I mouth his name in a panic. Nope, being home has me imagining things.
“What’s his name? He’s kinda adorable?”
Is this really happening? It can’t possibly be happening. I pat my hair down and turn because I must be wrong. Obviously, I’m wrong. And I think I am looking at this broad-shouldered alpha who is a foot taller than me. He’s got a wide smile and the most arresting and warm brown eyes.
I recognise those eyes, even if I don’t recognise the body that goes with them.
“Mack?”
His head jerks up. It would be almost comical except I’m hit by the full force of him, and it’s potent. I clench my hand behind my back, swallowing the urge to purr.
There’s stubble on his jaw, his hair is brown but with golden highlights, and he’s got this confidence that the nerdy guy I was besotted with didn’t have.
“You came back?” I say in the most undignified squeak.
“Yeah,” he says at last, finally breaking his silence. “Yeah, as soon as I was old enough, I came back.”
I exhale roughly.
“Sofia, you look so different.”
I wince and look down at Danger’s lead in my hand, twisting it in my fingers.
“Good different.”
He steps closer, and I inhale before I can stop myself. Rain on warm concrete and cinnamon. It’s strong, and I want nothing more than to throw myself into his arms.
I think he must be a mind reader because, suddenly, I’m pressed against his chest, his arms around me in a hug that I remember.
“I thought about you so much over the years,” he says.
He holds me for ten seconds longer than is appropriate and then lets go, and I feel the loss of that warmth keenly.
“My pack and I had no idea you were coming back.”
Pack? He has a pack? Of course, he has a pack. I try not to let my disappointment show on my face.
