Her eyes slid closed.
One by one, we settled around her.
Elias lay down on her left side, an arm draped lightly over her waist. I took the spot at her back, close enough that she’d feel us if she startled awake. Nox dropped down at her feet, hands folded behind his head. Bishop claimed the cornernearest the door. Eamon sat with his back against the wall, legs stretched out, head tipping sideways as sleep finally pulled at him too.
The building creaked a little as it adjusted to having new people inside it.
I lay there with my eyes open for a while, listening to Tamsin’s breathing even out, feeling the steady warmth of her pressed between us, and thought—not for the first time—that I’d followed her into hell and back.
Now, for the first time, it felt like we might actually get to live somewhere that accepted what we were instead of trying to erase us from existence.
It wasn’t peace exactly just yet.
But it was ours, together.
CHAPTER 33
Tamsin
I’d spent the day in too many rooms with too little air, explaining the same thing over and over.
No, we couldn’t simply ‘go back to the way things were’ now that Ashcroft was dead.
Every time I thought I’d convinced one person, two more appeared with new questions and the same old fear, dressed in new words.
My head throbbed behind my eyes. My throat felt raw from too much talking and too little water. My knife hung heavy at my hip, the weight of it a constant reminder of the world I had come from and hoped I could recreate. A world where wolves and humans could live side by side in peaceful cooperation.
When I got home, I pushed the door open expecting more work. Maps spread on the table. My wolves mid-argument over security patrols or rationing. Bishop with another list of names we needed to find before someone else did.
Instead, I stepped into warmth and quiet.
The lamps were turned low, their light softened by cloth draped over the shades. The smell of ink and paper had been pushed back by the gentler scents of woodsmoke, soap, and some herbal aroma I couldn’t immediately place. The clutter was… minimized. Someone had actually cleared the table.
When I traipsed up to the third floor, the big bed in the middle of the room looked different too. The furs had been shaken out and layered fresh over clean linens. There was a basin on a stand near the foot of the bed, steam still curling up from the water.
And there were my five wolves, in human form, waiting.
For me.
Elias sat on the edge of the bed, sleeves rolled up, watching the door like he’d been listening for my footsteps. Griff leaned against one of the bedposts, arms folded, expression softer than he probably realized. Nox lounged on the far side, back against the headboard, legs stretched out, looking infuriatingly at home. Eamon stood near the basin with a cloth draped over his arm like he was about to scold someone into washing up. Bishop was by the window, his outline clear in the lamplight.
All of them were looking at me.
I stopped just inside the door. “What did you break?”
Nox snorted. “Why do you assume we broke something?”
“Because you all look guilty,” I said.
“We look concerned,” Griff corrected.
“Same thing,” I muttered.
Elias rose and crossed the space between us in a few long strides. He stopped close enough that I could see the faint lines at the corners of his eyes. His hand came up to my cheek, thumb brushing lightly along my jaw.
“You’re late,” he said.
“The council wouldn’t stop talking,” I said. “I kept waiting for them to realize they can’t argue the sky is green when we’ve all watched the sun rise, but somehow?—”
