He kept an eye on Leon, and relaxed when he saw that he wasn’t trying to fight his way through the wolves mobbing Karl—sensible choice, as well as being verycat. Instead, he and Tom were deep in conversation.
Then the back door opened, and the other cats came in. Karl frowned. “Who’s out—”
“Matt called everyone in for supper,” Colby said. “Just this once. A kind of marker of how things’ll be from now on, he said. The sensors will go off if there’s anyone out there.”
It wouldn’t have been Karl’s choice—it felt a little too risky to him—yet he couldn’t regret it either. Not with Matt and Luna coming into the kitchen, meaning everyone was here. Everyone was safe.
He caught Leon’s gaze, and he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips as Leon raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. Leon had been cornered by Tristan, and that eyebrow raise… Whereas before, it would’ve been full of sardonic judgment, it now had a hint of fondness as Tristan plunged into one of his complicated stories.
Leon would probably swish his tail in annoyance if he realized how much softness he’d just let show, not only to Karl, but in the way he was listening to Tristan.
And watching Leon withhis pack… Karl drew a long, deep breath, and for once, there was no weight on his shoulders. His pack was safe, Leon was here. They were both, finally, home.
Chapter Forty
LEON
Leon had assumed the wolves en masse would be territorial, loud, and overbearing. They were definitely talkative and boisterous, a tangle of voices and casual touches. But it didn’t feel exhausting and too much, the way he’d thought it would.
Part of him didn’t like it, and yet, if he were brutally honest, another part of him yearned for it. It wasn’t just pack—it wasfamily.He’d loved Grandpa, but it had been just the two of them, for so long. This was something more, and hewantedit. With Karl sitting beside him, his large hand resting on Leon’s thigh. Not even sexually, except for how every damn touch from that wolf lit up his nerves.
The wolves still wanted Karl‘s attention, were still reassuring themselves he was back with them, was safe. And Leon understood for the first time what he’d have been taking Karl away from if they’d left together. It wouldn’t only be Karl who’d be hurt by leaving them. Not like Leon, who only had Luna. He loved herwith every bone in his body, deep and abiding, but she was all he had.
Not all, he reminded himself, as Antoni passed him a dish of vegetables. He hadn’tseenwhat else he had, not until he was giving it up. Antoni had risked life and limb to offer him the vegetables, fending off Jesse’s determined assault. Earlier, Ava had bumped her head against his shoulder, and Joaquim had been ready to wage war on anyone who’d made Leon resign. They’d all been there. He’d just never looked hard enough.
He thought Matt must have issued instructions when he’d briefed the pack, because the wolves didn’t ask a single question about the Argents. Although Tristan glanced over at them both frequently, eyes bright and full of curiosity, he held his tongue on the subject. Probably, they were respecting Jesse’s feelings.
Once Jesse had met with his old pack, it would be open season for questions, he suspected, and promptly decided to climb a tree at that point. He liked Tristan, but that was a lot of enthusiasm and inquisitiveness to cope with. He wondered how Colby, quiet as he was, handled it, until he saw the way the two of them leaned into each other without even noticing. Even while talking to other people, they stayed in one another’s orbit. Because it was part of who Tristan was, Colby probably loved it.
Wolves were weird. Just as well Karl was an honorary cat.
Tom was asking Karl about the trail they’d followed, the topography of the land, and the location of their caches. Apparently, he hadn’t been a pack member long enough to know that area well. It surprised Leon, because Tom was part of the pack’s dynamic in a way that suggested he’d been here a while. His questions were sensible, efficient, and insightful enough to tell Leon why Karl liked him. Leon kept watching him a while, saw how he easily adjusted his tone to the flow of the room, and the softness inhis face whenever he looked at Bryce. Yeah, he’d be an easy person to be around.
Hell, if he and Colby were as good as Karl said, maybe they could bring them in to help on some contracts in due course. And then he snorted. Not only had he decided somehow that he and Karl were going into the security business, but he’d already expanded their firm.
Bryce’s voice broke into his thoughts. He was leaning across the table, offering Leon a basket of rolls. “You got a favorite carb? Or are you more of a champagne-and-caviar man?”
“I’m an equal-opportunity hedonist,” Leon replied, taking two. “But I’ll admit, you people do food distressingly well.”
“Oh, Jason’s our secret weapon,” Bryce said, jerking a thumb toward the wolf in question, whose cheeks turned slightly pink but who smiled at Leon.
And he realized—Bryce was… annoying. But that’d been a way to bring him into the conversation, to welcome him. And he couldn’t fault that kind of generosity.
The chatter swelled again, loud and chaotic but never unpleasant. Luna was laughing as she responded to Tristan’s questions.
“If you’re elected,” he asked her, “how are you a queen?”
The room hushed suddenly. It seemed Tristan wasn’t the only one who wanted to know.
Luna gave a mysterious little smile, the one that had driven Leon to distraction his entire life. “Because we’re cats.”
The laughter that broke out after that wasn’t fair to Tristan, but it was good-natured, and he didn’t seem to care, grinning as widely as anyone.
“Leon.” He looked up to find Joaquim leaning behind Dave’s back, trying to get his attention. “Get Karl to show you the tech they’ve got. It’s impressive—I’d like to compare notes once you’ve taken a look.”
He nodded, and Joaquim returned his attention to the plate in front of him. Of course Karl would show him, now he was going to be living here, so he didn’t know what that had been about.
And then he realized—Joaquim had used Karl’s name. He’d accepted that Leon was staying, that Karl was his mate. And yet, he’d also made it clear in his understated way that Leon was still one of them. Still a cat, still one of Luna’s guard.
