“There,” Cross continues. “See? He's just on the couch. He'll stay right there. Can Genie come back?”
She growls again and I'm glad it isn't directed at me.
“I know,” he says softly, gently. “I know. But we have to make this work. I need to talk to her. I know I hurt her. I know I fucked up. But I'm here to fix it. Can she come back? Please?”
It is very interesting to me that he keeps using the wordcaninstead ofwill. Why couldn't she? She was able to shift back for the hunts, what's the difference now?
She stares at Cross, meeting his eyes and not looking away when he looks back. They face each other, waiting, weighing.
“Please,” he says again. “I can be better than I have been. Let me show her. Let me prove it to you.”
Finally, she huffs and turns away from him, trotting off into the dark bedroom. Cross doesn't follow. He gives her time and room to shift without the weight of his presence.
“Are you okay?” he whispers to me beneath the familiar sound of shifting in the next room.
“I'm good,” I whisper back. “She really doesn't like me at all.”
“She will.”
“She might.”
A few moments later, Genie calls out. “Okay.”
Cross holds my gaze for a few breaths before nodding once and walking slowly into the bedroom. I can't see far into the bedroom, I can barely make out the foot of the bed from my vantage point, but I can feel how phenomenally awkward it is inside that room. The sound of fabric rustling as they get settled on the bed forces me to imagine what they look like right now. Cross is probably laying on his back trying not to crowd her. Genie is most likely balled up in a tight knot on her side trying not to touch him. They're going to take forever to fall asleep, but once they do they will naturally come together. Instinct will pull them to wrap around each other. It's how it should be. It's how it needs to be. They will fall in together like all mates do and she will wake up in the morning and allow him to start doing what he was supposed to do years ago.
He will court her and she will allow it.
He will prove to her that he is a good wolf, that he's a good alpha.
And then he will convince her to come home and be our Luna because we need balance. Cross and I need it on a personal level, both separately and together, but our pack isn't as strong as it needs to be. We know the threat against us. We know what will happen if he doesn't provide the balance we need.
I wasn't surprised that Bella Reeves challenged Genie tonight. I'm surprised that it's taken her this long to do it, but the challenge itself was expected. The Reeves pack is ambitious and growing stronger. They are farthest from the Council of Elders and they act like they aren't subjected to the same laws and limits as the rest of us. Bella is after Cross because she knows it will help her pack take over. She wants to rule implicitly and she knows she can use Cross and his pack to do it.
There is a knit throw blanket folded across the back of the couch. It will either cover me from shoulder to knee or from feet to rib cage and it smells like descenter. I tuck it around my feet and tuck them into the crack between the arm of the couch and the cushion. I lay there on my side and close my eyes, willing a sense of calm into my body. It's going to be impossible to relax. I'm even trying to breathe as silently as I can to keep from making any sound that might remind them that I'm here. I'd leave but I'm here to hold them accountable. Genie doesn't know that Cross and I have basically agreed to make things work between them, but that doesn't absolve her from responsibility. She has a responsibility to her pack just like Cross, and they each have a responsibility to the other's pack, too, whether they like it or not. I'm going to lay here on this couch and make sure they know that.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Genie
I'm running again. I know it's just a dream but it's such a good dream. The crisp, pine-scented air fills my lungs and I feel free. I want to stay here. I won't get tired here. I can run and run and keep running. The forest is mine. I have never been here before but I know it belongs to me. Every tree. Every leaf. Every blade of grass. Mine.
The other wolves are here but they're following me. They don't push or crowd or try to lead. They go where I want to go,swift sentries reacting to my every movement. I am safe here. Protected. Sacred. I don't have to be afraid here or worry. The only weight I carry is my own. I can't stay. I know that. No one can stay inside a dream. Everyone wakes up eventually and so will I, but I want just a few more minutes.
We're running toward a river. I can smell the rushing water. It's just on the other side of the trees up ahead. That's where we're going. There's something there waiting for me and I want it. My paws move faster, digging into the loose soil. We're almost there. I can hear the sounds of the other wolves breathing behind me, can feel their heat. They want to get there as badly as I do and they speed up, urging me to move even faster.
Suddenly, we're breaking through the trees and the river is before us. It shines in the moonlight, the twinkling stars reflecting on the sparkling surface. It's so beautiful. I want to stay here forever.
The riverbank rushes toward me and crumbles under my feet but I don't feel frightened and I don't stop running. I paw at the air, almost floating, until I feel a sandy shore under my feet. I look down long enough to see human toes digging into the wet grit instead of curved claws. The river has changed into a still, clear pond but it's no less beautiful. The huge, full moon beams at me from the surface and I can feel the Goddess's warm strength in it. Her power curls around me in a hug that I need so much more than I realized.
“I am here.” Her voice comes from everywhere all at once. “With you.”
Tears blur my vision and I lean into her shining embrace.
“What do I do?” I ask, blinking away the flood.
“Lead them” she says. “Follow them. They are yours and you belong to them.”
I try to look around me to see the wolves she's talking about. These dream wolves who are always with me but who I can neversee. I can hear them and smell them and always feel them, but I don't know what they look like.
