"Data," Drake repeats flatly. "We're people, not spreadsheets."
"People are messy data." Jasper sips his coffee. "Still data."
Ragon leans back in his chair, considering. "You want to take everyone out."
Jasper nods. "Group outing. Normal activities. No crisis parameters. Vee's usual haunts. I want to see how you all function where you're supposed to be comfortable."
My heart does something stupid at the phraseVee's usual haunts.
"You mean my stores," I say, trying very hard not to sound like a kid who just heard the wordsfield trip.
"Yes. Nesting place. Bookstore. Whatever else makes you volunteer to leave the house."
"We do groceries," Drake offers.
"I said comfort, not penance."
Eli's mouth twitches.
Marie shifts in her chair, cardigan sleeves pulled over her hands. "All of us? At once?"
"That's the point. Pack unit. Not staggered exposure."
My pulse jumps. All of us. Out there. Together.
This used to be my favorite thing. My stores, my routes, my alphas trailing me like patient satellites while I piled the cart with blankets and books and overpriced tea.
"I don't hate it," I say carefully. "The idea."
"Good. Then it's settled. You lead. We follow."
I should say something responsible likewe could ease Marie into thisorpublic is risky when we're all a breath away from feral. Instead, hope flickers its stupid little match inside me.
"Fine. But if anyone complains about how much fabric I touch, you're walking home."
We leave at ten.
The question of who rides where becomes its own small war I try not to let show on my face.
We only have the one SUV today—Ragon's. He drives, because control. Jasper gets the passenger seat, because new alpha plus long legs. That leaves two in each of the middle and back rows.
Historically, this goes: Vee flanked by alphas, one on each side, everyone's scent mashed together into something that feels like home.
Today, Marie hovers near the middle row like a ghost waiting to be invited in.
"You sit there," I say, forcing lightness. I gesture to the space behind Jasper. "Less leg room in the back. It'll bother you more."
"What about you?"
"I can make myself small. It's my mutant power."
Drake hesitates for half a second, then slides into the middle beside her. Habit, maybe. Scent match, definitely. I feel the choice in my ribs anyway.
Eli gives me a look that's three parts question and one part apology. "Come on."
I climb into the third row and buckle up, the seatbelt clicking like a period on the sentenceyou did this, now live with it.
From back here, they look like a different pack. Ragon's profile carved and calm at the wheel. Jasper's shoulders relaxed but ready. Marie tucked between Drake and the window, already playing with the hem of her shirt. Eli beside me, his thigh a solid line of warmth.
