“Yeah.” The grin stretched wider. “Happy. I feel strong and happy, Mom.”
She squeezed the hand she hadn’t let go of, and Trevor squeezed back.
“Well, Kelsey,” Mom said. “It sounds like you’ve come home for good.”
“Yes, ma’am. I can work from anywhere in the world, and…” She looked around the table, making eye contact with each of them. “I don’t think Harmony Ridge ever stopped being my home, no matter how I told myself otherwise.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Even…even after all that happened when I left?”
“We always wanted you home,” Dad said. “We always wanted you as our true daughter, and now you will be.”
Kelsey jumped up, rushed around the table, and leaned down to hug him where he sat. With a deep rumble of affection, he pushed his chair back, stood to return her hug properly, and then Mom was in on it too, throwing her arms around them both while Kelsey cried.
Ezra bumped Trevor’s shoulder. “You’re killing me, bro.”
“Huh?” Only as he said it did Trevor realize the word interrupted a soul-deep rumble that had been coming from his own chest.
“You’ve got your voice back, that’s for sure,” Sydney said with a smirk. “Forget wolf DNA, I’d swear you’re fourteen percent cat, Trev. When you’re happy you purr nonstop.”
“Purr!” Kelsey was laughing through her tears, her scent so light and happy Trevor could float on the cloud of it. “Syd, that’s what I call it too—Trevor’s purr.”
“Well, that’s what it is. What other wolf vocalizes in his sleep? It’s plain ridiculous.” But Sydney’s tease held real warmth. Whatever judgment had come before, she had let it go.
The family stayed together well into the night, and before they split up for their separate homes, Mom wrapped him in a long hug. Somehow, at only five-foot-three, she managed to make him feel engulfed—the arms that had held him since before his first memories as a toddling pup, the scent of roses in the rain.
“My son,” she said. That was all. But he knew the rest. He’d broken her heart tonight, letting her into years of his hurt. He’d mended it again too, bringing her the daughter she had always loved, showing her he was truly well now.
Then he’d thought he was leaving, but Dad followed him onto the porch after everyone else drove off down the lane.
“Trevor,” Dad rumbled. “Something you said you told Kelsey…that story about Alan.”
Trevor nodded as his pulse tripped. Dad might think his hope careless. Maybe it was. “I—Kelsey thinks—I might be able to travel safely, but—but if I can’t, then I won’t.”
“Why couldn’t you? Because of Alan?”
“Because of the paddock. Not being at the paddock, like Alan wasn’t.”
A long sigh and rumble left Dad’s chest. He put an arm around Trevor’s shoulders and walked with him down the porch steps, out into the yard. “Do you know why I told you that story?”
“Sure. So I’d take responsibility for protecting humans from…well, from me.”
“I guess that’s one way to put it. I wanted you to acknowledge the seriousness of being a wolf, to be mindful. But not to be fearful. Not to trap yourself, Trevor.”
“Well…” Trevor shrugged. “Guess the line got blurry for me.”
“If I’d known, I’d have been more careful, made sure you understood. I’m sorry.”
Trevor couldn’t speak. He leaned into his dad’s side, something he hadn’t done since he was a pup. Dad’s arm tightened around him, support and hug both. He gave a deep rumble from his chest, approval and pride in his scent. Pride in Trevor.
“Wolves aren’t travelers, typically, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be. If you and your mate want to see the world, go and see it.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course. And send us pictures.” Dad smiled.
“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”
