Someday, when he wasn’t such a sore subject, she was going to explain to Vic what he had done for her.
Lyric kicked out of the covers and settled her feet onto the cold wooden floorboards. His bedroom here was small, but it wasn’t cluttered. Vic seemed to be tidy. It smelled like sawdust and new paint in here. She moved around the room and studiedhis belongings. Most of it was still packed into a stack of boxes in the corner, and more boxes in the closet, but he had clothes hanging, and a laundry hamper that was half-full. There were several themed hamster cages along the wall on the other side of the bed along with seeds and shavings for Earl. On the other nightstand there was a basket of knitting yarn, and a few miniature sweaters for Earl. One was half made and still connected to the knitting needles. There was a miniature fridge in the corner, but it was just full of energy drinks and bottled waters, and a random jar of yellow peppers. Her suitcase was the only thing that looked out of place here. She’d laid it in the middle of the floor last night when she’d been searching for something to wear. She had realized quickly that she had left all of her pajamas at Eden’s in her rush to escape. Vic had let her borrow a giant T-shirt. She caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror hanging from the back of his door. The shirt went past her knees, and the sleeves went midway down her forearms. Adorable.
Her hair was a rat’s nest, but that was Vic’s fault.
She grinned at the memory of him fucking her quietly in the dark last night. No man had ever consumed her body the way he did.
She grabbed the mug of coffee and a set of clothes from her suitcase and padded out into the hallway. She listened for a moment to determine if anyone else was home. Vic lived in Nate and Delta’s house, and right next to Vic’s small room was Tabian’s, who was also waiting on a home to be delivered.
She heard someone rustling around in the kitchen and made her way to the mouth of the living room. Delta turned and waved a spatula at her. “Good morning!”
Lyric hugged her small pile of folded clothes to her stomach. “Hello. Making breakfast?”
“For both of us if you are hungry. The boys are all at work. I’m making French toast and scrambled eggs. Want some?”
Lyric’s stomach growled. “Umm, sure.” She made her way to the kitchen table. “Need any help?”
“Nah, I’ve got it. You just relax. You’ve been through a lot.”
But Lyric looked around the cabin that was being renovated and thought of how Aro had gotten this Pack kicked out of their territory and stripped of their ranks. The Rogue Pack was right in the middle of a rebuild. “I think we’ve all been through a lot,” Lyric said softly.
Delta huffed a laugh and nodded, her back to Lyric as she whisked eggs and milk in a bowl. “Destiny has been texting this morning, asking if she can come over and talk to you. I know that Maker Bond is complicated though, so I told her to wait until you’re ready.”
Lyric drew her knees up to her chest and set her clothes on the table. “She can talk to me if she wants.”
Delta texted someone—probably Destiny—and went back to cooking. A minute later, the sound of a small engine filled the cabin, and someone hit the brakes hard outside on what sounded like an ATV. The engine cut and the front door flew open. Destiny stood there with a box of donuts and a wide-eyed look trained right on Lyric. “H-hi,” she stammered, breathing heavily.
Lyric stood, feeling the tug of that Maker Bond. “Hey,” she greeted her softly.
Destiny’s face relaxed with relief and she approached the table, set down a box of what now looked to be half-eaten donuts, and pulled Lyric in for a hug. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Lyric stood there frozen, her arms to her side, but those words loosened something inside of her.
Everything is going to be okay.Destiny had said it with such honesty in her tone. To her, it was the truth, and in this moment, Lyric believed her.
“It does feel like things are taking a turn for the better,” Lyric said, squeezing her eyes closed and hugging her back.
Destiny released her and gestured to the donuts. “Last night I was freaking out, because I knew you would be staying here with Vic after whatever happened on the Lake Pack land, and I couldn’t sleep last night, and I was trying to be a cool girl and not come over here until you wanted me to, but I got up at five in the morning and got donuts just in case. I don’t know what you like so I just got a bunch of different kinds. But then I got nervous and I ate six of them.”
Lyric laughed and opened the lid to find half a dozen donuts left. “Delta, do you want one?”
“Yep!”
She brought one to her and got the milk out, poured them all a glass while Destiny chattered on about last night and being a little disappointed that there wasn’t another war. Her wolf had been ready.
Bloodthirsty little thing, Lyric thought to herself with a private grin.
It was still strange looking at Destiny’s face and seeing her bi-colored eyes that were so much like Lyric’s. And Cian’s. And every other werewolf Lyric had ever made. The Turns would probably haunt her well past the grave, but with this one…with Destiny…she didn’t seem upset at all. She seemed happy in her life. Happy with the Turn. Happy with her wolf.
Lyric couldn’t hold onto guilt with this one. It wasn’t hers to hold onto.
Destiny was here because of the decision they’d made when Aro had decided to kidnap her.
The tension left Lyric completely as the girls settled into easy conversation. Nory was set to come over too after she finished something up at her house, and Lyric was watchful and observant and noticed something big. These females weren’t cutthroat like most female werewolves were. They weren’t competing with each other. No one had taught them to be cruel to other females. They were knitting their Pack together in whatever way felt right to them, and kindness was natural here.
Lyric was quiet for the most part. She was just absorbing the good here. It had never been like this with her sister, or with the other females in any of the Packs she’d bounced around to.
They ate and sat around that table for two hours just chatting and laughing. She learned much about this Pack of misfits. She learned about the quirks, and the complicated layers of some of the friendships here. She learned how Liam was as an Alpha, and how Nate had changed for the better to be a good Second, and every story was tinged with a loving teasing tone from these females. Nory joined and cleaned up the kitchen with them, and then they moved to sit on the back porch to chat on a set of burgundy wooden chairs facing the windy woods.
