Ava ran a finger across her lips, as close to licking an unconcerned paw as she could get in this form, disguising her uncertainty. “So you’re stayinghere?”
About to laugh at the ridiculous suggestion, Leon instead paused. Because… he’d be welcome. Karl had made that clear. And this was Karl’s home.
Maybe they could make it work. Matt wasn’t like any other wolf alpha Leon had met—he couldn’t imagine staying here if he were a normal alpha. Karl loved it here. And Leon loved Karl.
But he’d rather backcomb his hair than admit it in those words to the three cats so closely studying him. Antoni was calculating, Ava amused, and Joaquim still on edge, ready to attack someone, just as soon as Leon pointed him in the right direction.
“Yeah,” he said, and it burst through him, a feeling ofrightness.“I guess I am.”
Ava bumped her head against his shoulder. “You don’t have to be with us to stillbeone of us, you know.”
Leon stared at her. He wasn’t one of them. Never had been. They weren’t from the pride that had bullied him before he was sent away, but he still knew he was different from them. They were all from prides who wereproudof them for being so damn good at what they did that they’d been selected for the queen’s guard. They belonged, both to their prides, and to the tight unit they’d formed guarding Luna. And like always, he’d been on the outside, having to lead, having to make decisions, be responsible for them. Or so he’d thought. Had he really gotten things wrong all this time?
“You want this?” Joaquim asked, threat vibrating through his voice.
Leon nodded, still processing Ava’s words.
And just like that, the hostility melted away. “Damn it,” Joaquim said. “Gonna miss you and your hair flips and your schedules… yeah, actually, maybe it’s not such a shock. It’s not right, how much you like structure. You’ll do okay with the wolves.”
“He’d better treat you like gold, or we’ll eat him,” Antoni said.
Leon’s throat felt suspiciously tight. He’d thought he’d make the announcement, then walk away. He hadn’t expected this revelation that he’d be missed. “Right,” he said, voice a little rough. “Good talk.”
They shifted back to cat form as he turned away, no doubt to exchange meaningful glances about the fact his mate was a wolf.
His throat was still thick as he started toward the house. He’d better tell Luna his decision. Hell, he’d better tellKarl.
He paused when he saw Karl leaning against the porch railing, arms folded, backlit by the warm spill of light from the kitchen. He looked like he’d always belonged here. Which meant, maybe Leon could too. The thought took root somewhere deep in his chest, and it feltgood.
Karl straightened when he saw him. He didn’t say anything. Just waited, calm and solid as always.
Leon stopped at the foot of the steps and looked up at him.
“I told my cats,” he said.
Karl raised an eyebrow.
“That I’m staying here. On the ranch, with you.”
And Karl, so often unreadable, looked astounded for an instant, before joy filled his eyes. He stepped down off the porch, closing the distance between them, and with every step, Leon loved him more.
“You sure?”
Leon tilted his chin. “Are you going to argue?”
“Nope.”
“Try to talk me out of it?”
Karl gave a slow grin. “You’re a cat. Like Icould.”
Leon smiled, then—real and soft and more than a little stunned at himself.
“I don’t know how I’m going to fit here,” he admitted. “I like city lights and shops and expensive coffee and… not cow shit.”
Karl slid his arms around Leon’s waist. “You don’t have to fit. You just have to be here.”
“And if I need a weekend in Denver now and then?”
